Your brand has the potential to connect with millions of people globally in just a few minutes using pay-per-click marketing. This method has an amazing reach and lets you target specific groups effectively.
When done right, PPC marketing can bring significant returns for your business. However, if not managed properly, it can also be a huge waste of money.
So, what exactly is PPC marketing? And how can you use it effectively?
ScaleStation is here to answer these questions. Here’s a simple introduction to PPC marketing for beginners to ensure you get it right.
Pay-per-click advertising lets you pay to have your website or webpages show up on search engine results pages when people search for certain phrases or keywords.
When someone types in these keywords, the search engine displays your ads, directing visitors to your site. You only have to pay a specific amount of money when someone clicks on your ad.
Pay-per-click advertising can help you attract new customers and grow your business. It brings visibility to your brand and directs specific set of audiences to important pages that support your business goals.
Let’s dive into why PPC Services are so valuable:
PPC ads let you reach very specific audiences using precise targeting criteria. This way, you can communicate with the right people and avoid wasting money on irrelevant clicks.
The targeting options vary by platform. For example, Google Search offers different targeting options than Facebook.
With pay-per-click advertising, you can start attracting traffic the same day your campaign begins. This is much faster than search engine optimisation (SEO), which can take months to show results.
PPC solutions offer budget control. You have complete control over the campaign and decide how much you want to spend in total and per click. Additionally, you only have to pay when someone clicks on your ad.
Combined with effective targeting, this means you can reach a relevant audience at a cost that works for you.
Pay-per-click marketing offers more data and analysis than traditional marketing methods. This makes it easy to see how well your ads are performing.
Unlike billboards or magazine ads, where you never know how many people saw them, PPC lets you track exactly how many people clicked on your ad and what actions they took next, such as making a purchase.
Managing a PPC campaign is straightforward. You can set and adjust the maximum cost-per-click, allocate budgets, and tweak your strategy as needed.
This control allows you to optimise your campaign quickly. For example, you can increase the budget for successful ads and modify or pause those that aren't performing well.
PPC marketing not only generates clicks and conversions but also enhances brand visibility.
Even if users don’t click on your ads, they still see your brand and message. The best part is you only pay if they click, so many people can see your brand without costing you anything.
Pay-per-click marketing and SEO work hand in hand. Running both simultaneously can help you occupy more space on search engine results pages, likely driving more traffic and sales.
While SEO focuses on organic search rankings, PPC provides immediate visibility, making it a powerful combination.
The process of pay-per-click advertising is quite straightforward:
There are various platforms, ad formats, and strategies, but these main principles are consistent across the board, highlighting the importance of PPC for your marketing efforts.
When you start a pay-per-click marketing campaign, you can choose from various ad formats, depending on the platform you're using.
Search ads are shown on SERP, like Google, when users look for information.
These ads come up when users search for specific keywords. This makes search ads highly effective in targeting the right audience.
Display ads can be banner or image ads that are displayed on various websites within the Google Display Network and other partner sites. These ads can show up anywhere at the top, bottom, side, or anywhere else on a webpage.
Video ads are shown on websites and video platforms like YouTube. There are different types of video ads, with a common one being pre-roll ads that play before the main video the user wants to watch.
Remarketing, or retargeting, lets businesses show ads to users who have used their mobile app or visited their website previously. These ads appear as users browse other websites or use apps, reminding them of the business and encouraging them to return.
Sponsored social media ads work like search ads, allowing you to add content and set ad parameters before launching your campaign. Each social media platform (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) offers specific ad options and native analytics to measure performance.
Now that you know the basics of pay-per-click advertising, you might wonder where to place your ads.
There are many platforms where you can spend your ad money, and the best way to choose is to evaluate each platform's potential return on investment (ROI).
The most popular platforms are effective because they’re user-friendly and attract a lot of traffic. However, you might want to consider lesser-known alternatives if you have a smaller budget.
Here are some top PPC platforms to consider:
How often do you hear someone say, "let me Google that?" Probably more times than you can count. This is why Google Ads is the leader in pay-per-click advertising. With Google processing more than 99,000 search queries every second, you have countless opportunities to target keywords that will get your audience to click.
The downside is that keywords are very competitive on this platform, which means you'll need a larger budget for your ads.
Best for: Since Google remains the most popular search engine, Google Ads service is an excellent choice for any marketer wanting to reach a large audience.
YouTube ads lets businesses promote their products or services on the YouTube platform. These ads come in various formats:
YouTube ads can be bought on a cost-per-view (CPV) or cost-per-click (CPC) basis, meaning you pay when a person views or clicks on your ad. This makes YouTube a versatile platform for pay-per-click marketing.
Bing is the second-largest search engine, and it offers its own advertising program. Interestingly, 61% of Bing searches are branded queries.
This means that if you run a PPC campaign on Bing targeting specific keywords related to your brand, your ads are more likely to reach the right audience.
Bing Ads is ideal for marketers with a smaller budget. The advantage of using Bing Ads over Google Ads is a slightly lower cost-per-click (CPC), but it comes with the trade-off of a smaller audience.
Facebook ads let businesses promote their products or services on the Facebook platform. These ads can appear on the news feeds, the Stories section on mobile, and the right-hand column of the desktop site.
Here are the types of Facebook ads:
LinkedIn Ads enable you to reach 900 million users on the leading professional networking platform. With LinkedIn's advanced targeting options, such as job title, employer, industry, and professional skills, it’s perfect for B2B marketing.
TikTok, known for its short-form videos, is an excellent platform to engage a younger, active audience with TikTok Ads. This platform offers various ad formats, including branded hashtags and in-feed ads.
Instagram Ads help businesses promote their products or services on the platform. These ads are displayed as sponsored posts in users’ feeds and resemble regular posts.
Instagram offers different ad formats:
With Google Ads service, advertisers create ads by selecting a set of keywords they want to target and placing bids on each keyword. For instance, if you bid on the keyword "online courses," you're telling Google to display your ad for searches related to online courses.
Google uses a formula and an auction process to determine which ads appear for a search. When your ad enters the auction, Google assigns it a Quality Score from 1 to 10 based on its relevance to the keyword, expected click-through rate, and landing page quality.
Google then multiplies your Quality Score by your maximum bid (the highest amount you’re willing to pay per click) to calculate your Ad Rank. Ads having the highest Ad Rank scores are the ones that get displayed.
This auction-style system allows advertisers to reach customers at a cost that fits their budget, highlighting one of the key benefits of PPC.
Keyword research for PPC can take a lot of time, but it's essential. Your entire PPC campaign relies on keywords, and the most successful advertisers in Google Ads continuously expand and refine their keyword lists. If you only research keywords once when setting up your first campaign, you might miss out on many valuable, low-cost, long-tail, and highly relevant keywords that could bring traffic to your site.
For an effective PPC keyword list, you should aim for:
Understanding the benefits of PPC and the importance of PPC keyword research can significantly enhance your campaign's effectiveness.
After setting up your campaigns, regular management is crucial to ensure they remain effective. Consistent activity is a key factor in account success. Here’s how to optimise your campaigns:
Getting started with pay-per-click marketing isn’t too hard, but it does require some understanding of the process. Thorough planning and research are also necessary to ensure the best return on investment (ROI).
Here’s how ScaleStation can help:
Understanding the benefits of PPC and the importance of PPC management, ScaleStation is here to guide you through every step, making sure your campaigns are successful and cost-effective.