Are you just getting started with PPC publicizing? Perhaps you are trying to learn more about it for your business. Or maybe for the job you just got, which requires you to know about PPC marketing. Whatever the reason, you are at the right place. One of the quickest ways to learn about this unique marketing strategy is the plethora of online resources available to you. Once you get the hang of it, you can easily value your company in the search engine results and grab more traffic and conversions, ultimately leading to more sales.
What is PPC marketing?
PPC is short for pay-per-click marketing. In simple terms, it is a type of online marketing campaign that will assist in making your business rank higher than the others on a search engine. Due to its nature, it’s also known as search engine marketing. So, how does it work? We will get into the details in a second, but simply put you are bidding to be in the top result when an individual searches up a unique keyword by employing this technique. So, every time someone clicks on your advertisement, you have to pay for the click.
Nonetheless, it isn’t as effortless as it seems in theory. Owing to the immense population, demands, and the ever-growing industry, it isn’t easy to market through a PPC campaign. In addition, there are many errors a newbie can make if you aren’t aware of how the whole thing works.
What do you need to know?
The world of advertising is complex. However, courtesy of the pandemic, the world is knitted closer together and has become more digitally active than ever before. Naturally, this leads to more competition for such advertising techniques. Nevertheless, it would be best to have a few basic things on your checklists to make sure your marketing campaign isn’t a flop.
- It would help if you were well acquainted with the formats used in advertising. Text ads, image ads, call-only ads, and many more are just the tip of the iceberg.
- You also have to learn the details about the most crucial Ad networking platforms out there, such as Google ads, ad roll, etc.
- Lately, you have to have sufficient knowledge of the whole process. It would help if you learned all the basic terminology and the abbreviations that come with the technique. For example, you need to know what CPC or Ad ranking is.
How does it work?
To explain this. Let’s take the example of Google ads, one of the biggest advertising platforms out there. The advertising on google search engine also employs the pay-per-click marketing technique. But there isn’t only a single applicant for the top post of a specific keyword. Hence there is an auction. The leading contender is not selected based on how much money they are willing to spend but on a combination of other factors too. Here is how it works
- It all begins from a query
Whether an auction would be set up or not depends on the users’ searches of that search engine, in our case, Google. Once someone searches for a specific keyword, Google checks the pool of marketers in that particular category. Then, if the algorithm deems it fit, it initiates an auction by noticing the number of advertisements on a keyword. There are thousands and millions of such auctions every month to display the most relevant ad on the search of a specific keyword.
- Who gets admitted in the auction?
So, nextly, how does google know how many advertisers are there for a specific keyword. Well, potential advertisers identify the list of keywords they are interested in. They also mention the amount they are willing to pay and the ads that are paired with the keyword for auction. However, you are only allowed to have a single entry from one account for one query.
- What is the theory behind the search engine’s choice?
After the bids have been made, the search engine determines what ad deserves the top spot. However, the search engine has its ways of choosing the best contender for the post. Two things matter while bidding for keywords.
- The amount you are willing to spend.
- The quality score of your advertisement.
So, how does it work? Well, Google checks the highest amount you are willing to spend for the advertisement and multiplies it with your quality score. The quality score of your advertising is used to check the relevancy your ad has with the keywords and how helpful it can be to the users of that specific platform. This helps you stay on budget and ensure the quality of the ads you see on search engines.
- Determining how much you pay
So, how much do you pay after you have a high-ranking ad from the quality score and your maximum bidding offer? This is calculated by the bid below you and your quality score. For example, suppose the bidder below you had an ad rank of 10, and your quality score was 5. You have to divide the ad rank with your quality score. In this case, the answer is 2, and then add 0.01$ to your result. This will give you the amount you have to pay per click for your ad to remain at the top. So, 5 and 0.01 would be 5.01$ per click for that advertisement.
- Additional details
The keyword you auction for checks the amount you are willing to pay and your quality score, too; this means that even though there may be contenders paying more for the same keyword, you still win and pay less. With google ads, you can apply with the least amount of funds you have at hand for advertising, and on the other hand, these assist google in generating billions of dollars of capital.
Benefits of PPC marketing
PPC marketing is one of the best ways to advertise, and here’s why
- This marketing technique can boost your traffic.
- Aids by judging whether your ad is relevant
- Assists by providing more clicks and conversions to more sales.
- As compared to the increase in sales, the cost of PPC marketing is pretty affordable.
- Through PPC, you will have a wide array of potential clients.
- They can lend you some pretty warm leads.
Although there may be downsides to this specific marketing technique, the pros certainly outweigh the cons.
The downsides of PPC marketing
With the positives, there are a few things you should know about PPC marketing. First, PPC marketing consumes and demands an enormous amount of time for the advertisers. It’s not something you pay for and leave; you have to keep updating and optimizing according to the keyword. Furthermore, to win the bidding, you need to know more about PPC marketing, how it works and how to bid for the right keyword relevant to your advertisement.
Another potential downfall can be losing ranks, placing more bids and not optimizing the ads now and then. If you aren’t as well acquainted with how to do that, you will probably end up spending more money than you initially planned.
Read More: 8 Career Paths for SEO Specialists
Is it the right choice for your project?
Choosing and deciding on marketing strategies can be a bit of a hassle. But whether you should opt for this technique depends on the enterprise you have under your wing. If you deem it fit and in your budget, Google ads and the like can be a great platform to advertise your business, and you only get to pay per click. Furthermore, you will instantly see a change in the traffic coming to your site.
Although if your social media presence isn’t your most vital point, you should work on ads and your site first, then invest in PPC. There is no point if the user does land on your page but leaves without a sale.
Final words
The world of advertising and PPC marketing is ever-changing. The complexities do increase, but most of the time, the results are worth it. The pros of such a marketing technique are many, such as boosting sales and more visitors on the site, but for a business to be successful, it needs to understand how marketing works and then put it to good use weighing its pros and cons.