Pay per click advertising is one of the most famous ways of promoting a brand online. Most marketing companies in the world are using PPC ads from Google. If you move to social media advertising, Facebook ads, Instagram ads and many others work on the PPC marketing. Therefore, it is very important to understand the meaning of PPC ads if you are running a business. In this article I am specifically writing about Google Ads and Facebook Ads. I will write a separate article on Instagram Ads and other available options.
What is PPC advertising?
The meaning of PPC ads is in the name itself. Full form of PPC is pay per click. This means you pay for an advertisement as soon as someone clicks on your ad.
Difference between traditional marketing and digital marketing
The difference between traditional marketing ways and digital marketing is that way of working and expectations. First of all, in the old times, people used to spend a lot of money on marketing. The cost of promoting a business was very high. There was only an expectation of getting a good result. For example: you bear the cost of a TV advertisement but you are not sure about the outcome. However, in modern times with options like pay per click or PPC, you are more focused. You set the goal before spending your first dollar on marketing. Additionally, you can also measure return on investment easily. In addition, there are many free marketing tools you can use.
Benefits of using Pay Per Click Advertising
There are many benefits of using pay per click advertising in business.
Quick Results
If you want fast results, there is nothing better than pay per click marketing. You start getting results as soon as the PPC advertising platform approves your campaign.
More traffic via pay per click advertising
In addition to the above point (quick results) PPC advertising can give you more traffic. Most people use Google for searching information. Additionally, everyone also has a Facebook account. Therefore, both the marketing platforms have the capacity to bring more traffic to the website.
Lead Form Submission
With pay per click marketing, you can ask the user to provide some information. You can create a lead generation form or a landing page. From the advertising platform, visitors get redirected here. Due to this you can easily generate leads online and convert them to sale later. You can also use a sales management software or lead management software for this purpose. With a lead management software, you will not miss on follow ups. As a result you can expect more sales.
Dark side of Pay Per Click Advertising or PPC Ads
All modern marketing techniques come with some benefits and drawbacks. Similarly, pay per click marketing also has a dark side. Normally people ignore these fact or there is a miscommunication. As a result, they bear losses in business. You should understand this before investing your first dollar in PPC marketing.
Unplanned Google Ads Campaigns lead to huge losses
When I say unplanned, there are newcomers mushrooming everyday in the digital marketing space. Due to this not only the domain has become competitive but also there is wrong information. Most of them do not have enough experience to manage a Google Ads Campaign. For example, the wrong location in the campaign can bring a lot of traffic with zero result. Incorrect keywords also have a similar impact. Due to this you should focus on planning everything. Above all, Google will not refund your money because you already used the services.
Facebook Campaign with poor design
People are using Facebook for different types of business requirements. From selling a product online to hiring sales executives, Facebook is helping people. Same as Google Ads, you shout be careful when creating a Facebook campaign. Starting from designing a Facebook Ad to selecting the audience, you need to be very careful. Facebook also works on a pay per click model of advertising. Therefore, if someone clicks your Ad or likes the post / page, your money for that click is gone. If you are not alert at the time of creating an advertising campaign on Facebook, you will surely lose money.
High cost of advertisement & fake commitments
The dark side of PPC ads is the advertising cost itself. When PPC marketing companies say that there will be a certain number of customers on the website. They really do not mean customers by the statement. Therefore, you should not over expect sales from these visitors. Additionally, a lot of money goes into taxes and commissions in the marketing companies.
Over Optimism
Many people are over optimistic about pay per click advertising. Due to this they invest heavily in marketing the brand. Pay per click can bring users to your website for sure. Making a sale online depends on your product, quality, price and a lot of other factors. Therefore, do not be over optimistic about marketing. Check your campaign if you are not getting expected results from Google Ads or Facebook Ads.
Fake companies
There are many fake marketing companies. These companies do not spend your money on pay per click advertising. Therefore, you must check if the company is fake or real before signing a contract.
Why learn Google PPC Advertising
Google is the most famous tool for promoting business via PPC ads. Above all, there are fake companies. As a result your money is always at threat and there are very limited options. Due to this I recommend that you learn AdWords Marketing as a small business owner. When you learn, it is possible to reduce losses in business linked with marketing cost.
Which one is the best PPC advertising platform?
If you want to compare Google Ads with Facebook Ads you need to consider the purpose. Additionally you should also be sure about what kind of results you are expecting from the advertising campaign. For example, if you are looking for branding both have options available. But if you specifically want to promote a social media page, Facebook Ads is better. If you just want to bring more traffic on the website Google Ads works better.
What is the cost of PPC Ads?
The cost of PPC advertising depends on your budget. Yes, the cost of advertising is not fixed. You can start low as per your budget and keep increasing the amount if results are positive. All the advertising platforms work on the same model. Due to this, the cost of social media marketing, Google search ads or image based ads is not fixed.
If there is no budget, how do Google or Facebook spend ad money?
Google or Facebook spend ad money based on your instructions. Normally, companies ask you about your daily or monthly spending limit. Once you create spending limits in ads campaigns they organize the budget. You can do this on a micro level also. For example you want to set up a pay per click advertising campaign. Additionally, you also want to run ads at a specific time. You can do it using both the platforms.