Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising (also known as “search engine marketing” or SEM) is gaining popularity among online marketers in practically every industry, from small businesses to large corporations.

Many small business owners begin with “free” online marketing methods like SEO and social networking, but if you value your time, you realize that executing such things correctly is not “free.” Many business owners believe that paid online advertising solutions, such as PPC, are the obvious next steps as their businesses grow.

PPC, on the other hand, is not like other forms of online marketing. To do it properly, you must first determine if it is appropriate for your company and if the moment is right. If that’s the case, it’s difficult to know where to begin, and mistakes are common.

Continue reading to learn whether your company is ready for a PPC campaign, what you’ll need to get started, and how to optimize your campaign for the greatest results.

Is PPC Advertising Appropriate for Your Small Business?

Marketing techniques, like other business decisions, appear to weigh heavier on small enterprises. SMBs require as much exposure and promotion as possible, but they have limited resources to do it. Every win is a big success because of this, but the risks are also increased.

Furthermore, today’s small firms have access to more marketing options than ever before. Options are great, but deciding where to begin, what would work best, and how much to invest in each one can be difficult. PPC is one of many digital marketing tactics available, but how do you know if it will generate qualified leads and help your company close sales?

It can give results immediately and consistently

This is, without a doubt, the most compelling reason to use PPC. Unlike SEO, which focuses on “organic” traffic growth, PPC advertising can provide advertisers with results almost immediately after their ads go up.

This is why PPC is crucial for firms who want to generate cash rapidly or take advantage of a limited marketing window (such as for special events, product launches, holidays, seasonal sales, etc.). In fact, PPC is a crucial aspect of a short- and long-term digital marketing plan for broad advertising campaigns.

Advertisers buying search advertisements on Google or Bing set up their ads through each platform’s interface, creating ad campaigns/ad groups, setting up a budget, and determining ad specifications — once the ads are published, they can start appearing in search results and garnering clicks/conversions right away. However, it’s worth noting that PPC campaigns can achieve better results if they provide enough campaign performance feedback — this information can be utilized to fine-tune campaign scope, improve keyword targeting, focus on high-value audiences, and apply bid techniques more effectively.

Part of the value of PPC comes from the ability to use the short-term data it generates to cut or cancel expenditures for ineffective campaign variables and focus on high-value campaign features.

PPC contributes to your business goals and revenue

Another reason PPC is significant is that it immediately adds to a company’s core KPIs and can generate income in a direct (and measurable) manner. That is, after all, the whole point!

Given that, as previously said, this type of advertising produces such speedy results, the fact that it also serves as a steady source of income makes it even more appealing. When running advertising across search engines, partner sites, and social media demands payment, why utilise PPC marketing? According to Google, for every $1 spent on Google Ads, businesses can expect to receive $2 in income. That’s a fantastic ROI of 2:1!

KPIs are embedded into most PPC systems as campaign goals, allowing business to target specific business goals:

Ads for search engines can be tailored to create a variety of results, including sales, leads, website traffic, brand awareness, app downloads, off-line conversions, session duration, and more.
Brand awareness, product sales, video views, messages, app downloads, post engagement, and other comparable objectives are available on social media platforms like as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and others.
This is one of the main reasons why PPC advertising is so vital for online businesses. Major ad platforms are developed with the sole purpose of assisting businesses in growing online through a variety of ad formats tailored to your specific objectives.

These ad types can help businesses advertise for their specific needs as well as to measure results and track performance.

You get a greater amount of budget control (only pay for the clicks)

Pay-per-click advertising is based solely on money, and as a result, it provides far more control than traditional paid advertising tactics. One of the most compelling reasons to employ PPC advertising is that businesses have complete control over how their cash is spent.

Furthermore, for common paid ad styles such as search engine PPC, you only pay for clicks! There is no cost to participate, and there is no requirement for a minimum ad budget. Businesses have the option of spending as much or as little as they wish.

Marketers can establish a campaign hierarchy in Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising (Bing) by breaking it down into account > campaign > ad group > ads > keywords/audience. The hierarchy of popular social media networks is usually similar. Marketers can break down and fine tune their budget in any way they choose, with precise controls over how money is spent on each campaign, group, or individual ad.

Unlike traditional paid advertising, PPC allows businesses to increase ad spend in regions/demographics/queries that work while decreasing ad spend in areas that don’t – meaning that the value of PPC lies in its capacity to squeeze every penny of money for a greater return-on-ad-investment (ROAS).

This may appear frightening to many organizations, but it’s a significant reason why so many choose to engage PPC management experts – especially since the benefit of having a professional return-on-investment is so appealing.

Targeted, more controlled advertising

Control over ad budget also applies to other crucial ad indicators, as we indicated earlier. Targeting a certain audience. Few other advertising methods provide for such specific control, which is one of the reasons why PPC is so vital for many firms.

Most businesses understand that a larger audience is necessary for more transactions and sales, so why employ PPC advertising? PPC ads can be tailored to reach extremely specific demographics.

PPC marketers using the Google ad network have complete control over which ads appear where and when. PPC gives advertisers complete control over how, when, and where their advertisements show, including which days, which places, which search queries (and which keywords they should not appear for), which user demographics, interests, prior purchases, and more. The control over target ad demographics for PPC across social media platforms can be much more precise.

Because these platforms have such a large amount of user data, they can provide ads based on criteria such as:

• Age, gender, language, and other demographic data.
• Global, national, and even local locations.
• User interests, hobbies, careers etc.
• Previous shopping habits, brand interests, and web browsing.
• Device, mobile vs. desktop use, and cross-platform browsing habits.
• Education level, income, and employment.
• Life events.
• Political affiliations.
• And more.

PPC visitors are more likely to convert

According to Unbound, visitors who arrive at a retailer’s website via a paid search ad are 50% more likely to convert than those who arrive via an organic link.

According to Formstack, PPC advertisements are one of the top three sources of on-page conversions. Another significant advantage is that PPC advertising place brands at the top of the search engine results page (SERP), where over 40% of clicks go to the top three paid ad slots.

Another reason PPC is significant for quick results is that it may be a quick approach to get your brand/products in front of buyers and generate cash for businesses ready to pay-to-play.

It’s easy to get started

All marketers agree that getting started with PPC is typically very simple.

Unlike content-focused marketing, slow-working SEO, and time-consuming traditional advertising, PPC is simple to set up and get up and running. Marketers can sign up for a free account with Google Ads or Microsoft Advertising and start developing ads almost immediately. Ads can display in search soon after they’ve been produced and approved, so they can start driving results right away.

Unlike other marketing channels such as email and social media, there are no prerequisites for organically growing an audience or obtaining contact information from a particular demographic. These platforms walk advertisers through the ad creation process, and once they’re ready, they have rapid access to millions of global users.

Ads can be activated quickly and de-activated instantly as well, meaning that boosting brand visibility is as easy as flipping a switch.

Learn More About the Importance of PPC

Promix Digital’s team of professional marketers can help businesses understand why PPC is important for modern digital marketing and sustainable business growth. Our paid marketing methods help brands expand online by taking advantage of a wide range of search engine management strategies.

Contact us to learn more about why PPC is important and to get PPC advertising services for your business.