In today’s advanced digital time, advertising predominantly takes place online. For the last century, television was the preferred channel for advertisers to promote their services and goods, but now the advertising landscape has changed. There are now several brands to choose from, a wide range of different broadcast publications and channels, and technologies that have completely shifted the way we communicate.
The crucial change in the advertising industry is all about changes in consumers’ choices and the newly launched technologies. Consumers are now in control of the media they watch/consume and how they use it. As a result, advertisers need to adapt to the changing habits of consumers and media trends/environments. They need to explore new ideas of advertising beyond old methods.
Current trends in advertising are showing a shift away from the traditional advertising approach and moved towards more advanced, efficient, and consumer-friendly ways. People are accessing, consuming, and sharing content in a more varied way than before. Marketers are seeking new opportunities to understand, attract, reach, and engage with consumers. We are about to see the next generation of changes in how advertising/content is distributed. The evolution of advertising has experienced some major milestones over the years and accepted the changes to suit new audiences and mediums.
One of the most popular ways of advertising online is PPC or Pay-Per-Click marketing. This article will tell more about PPC advertising and the benefits of PPC for small-scale businesses.
What Is PPC Advertising?
PPC stands for pay-per-click, it is a type of internet marketing in which advertisers pay a fee each time one of their online ads is clicked. Simply it is the way of buying visits to your site, rather than trying to earn those visits organically. It presents a meaningful opportunity for digital marketers to grow their traffic, business, and conversion metrics. There are many types of PPC ads but the most popular form of PPC is paid search engine advertising that allows advertisers to bid for ad placement in search engine’s sponsored links. These ads appear when the audience searches for things online using a search engine like Google or Bing. Some other forms of PPC advertising involve remarketing and display advertising (typically, serving banner ads).
In pay-per-click advertising, businesses running ads are paid only when a user clicks on their ads. It is a complex job to build a winning PPC campaign, from researching and selecting the right keywords, to organizing those keywords into well-organized ad groups and campaigns and setting up PPC pages for conversions. To create and manage outstanding PPC campaigns, it is preferable to use marketing automation tools such as PPC management software. Advertisers can place their product, brand, and service front and center in the form of an ad that targets a specific behavior or keyword.
Types Of PPC Advertising- There are three main types of pay-per-click advertising:
- Text Ads- This ad is composed of a written copy by the advertiser. Characters and format limits are depending on the PPC platform you are working with. These text ads are clicked through the search network via Google or Bing for a keyword held within your PPC campaign.
- Display Ads- A display ad is specially delivered in the format of an image or motion graphic. These ads typically show up and are available for advertising placement on the website on the internet and contextually placed where the advertiser’s target market/ consumers visit. Advertisers must comply with size and content when creating their visuals.
- Shopping Ads- These ads are delivered after a searcher submits a query via a shopping engine or a search engine. It involves an image of a product, price, size, color, dimensions, etc.
The Major PPC Platforms- Countless platforms offer display, text, and shopping PPC ad placement but three core platforms rule the advertising industry.
- Google Ads- It is Google’s primary PPC advertising platform that offers pay-per-click advertising in its search network.
- Microsoft advertising- It is formally known as Bing ads and is Microsoft’s PPC advertising platform. It allows pay-per-click advertising on its search network bing.com.
- Amazon Advertising- It is the fastest- growing PPC platform for e-commerce retailers as over 45% of product-related searches begin on Amazon.
Benefits Of PPC Advertising For Small Business
A well-managed PPC campaign is crucial and greatly beneficial for small businesses as it can target a specific audience to find fast results and define your marketing budget. It is a cost-effective and easier way to raise brand value and get new leads. Some of the important benefits of PPC advertising for small businesses are mentioned below.
- Cost-Effectiveness- PPC advertising is a cost-effective option when it is managed correctly as it offers small businesses a higher ROI compared with other forms of marketing. PPC’s conversion metrics and highly precise reporting tools help to measure everything, hence spending more on a campaign you can examine and optimize accordingly.
- Direct Connection With Target Audience- PPC can help you connect directly with your desired target audience through the use of location, keywords, demographics, along with time, date, and days your ads to be shown. For small businesses, it is possible to show the ads only to those who are interested in their products/services. It also helps to minimize spending on uninterested customers/audiences.
- Strong Brand Value- PPC advertising is beneficial when a small business uses keywords related to its industry and people will be able to see its ads. So it helps increase strong brand recognition and establish the business as an authority in the business world or industry.
- Test Your Services or Products- A PPC campaign is the most effective and fastest way to find out if your products or services are what people are looking for. It gives detailed reports that can help you determine if you need to make changes or improvements.
- Advanced Marketing Techniques- PPC offers remarketing or retargeting which is a highly advanced and effective tool that can be easily used to reconnect with individuals/customers who have visited your website earlier. Another popular and effective advanced marketing technique is the creation of display campaigns.
Conclusion
Pay-per-click advertising is the most popular way of advertising in the global marketing industry. It is very beneficial for small businesses as it gives better ROI than using any other form of marketing. It offers fast and measurable results to reach the right audience at the right time. PPC Is a budget-friendly technique that takes advantage of business opportunities. So every small business or new start-ups must use this great technology to achieve their marketing goal. If you are aspiring to enter the world of marketing, then taking a PPC course would give you the required start.
