In 2022, almost everyone is online, from personal social media profiles to businesses, there are multiple relationships with the internet being conducted every single day. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is one of the most well-established and results-oriented digital marketing activities that you can use to increase the success of a marketing campaign over the internet, but how does it fit into your wider strategic marketing plan?
What is PPC?
It’s a type of online advert (usually found through paid results on Google search results) which businesses pay a fee for each time one of their ads is clicked. When a user types a related keyword or phrase into a search engine, PPC allows the delivery of your website to appear at the top of the search results page. In simple terms, it’s a method of purchasing visitors to your website over opting for organic views.
The benefits of PPC
When included into a wider strategic marketing plan, PPC can see huge benefits for a business.
- Traffic increase for your website – buyers clicking on your advert will end up on your website and at the very least your website will see an increase in traffic.
- Specific target audience – PPC campaigns allow you to create specific target audiences based on their interests, location, the device they are using, their online behaviour and the keywords they are using.
- Lead conversion – the end goal of PPC is to convert website visitors into sales which can easily be tracked, particularly for eCommerce businesses.
- Cost efficiencies – technically, you are only paying for the visitors that you receive to your website, however the activity cannot guarantee leads or sales, so this is something to bear in mind.
Using PPC to your benefit
There is a danger that PPC can be seen as a quick fix for marketing campaigns and in some cases this may be true, but not all cases. There are some things you need to consider before making this investment:
- Your website needs to be performing correctly and have a number of excellent landing pages you can use in your campaigns.
- Your SEO activity needs to be up to scratch to ensure PPC results appear more relevant for your target audience.
- Your content needs to be regular both on the website and other areas online, such as social media, this helps to build brand trust for any new PPC leads visiting your brand for the first time.
- Your reviews or testimonials need to be many and of a good quality to further instil trust into your target audience and encourage them to buy or make an enquiry.
What metrics do you need to consider with PPC?
It’s important to have a clear goal in mind when you’re investing in PPC, which is why we always advise a one-off campaign for first timers. For example, do you want to increase your table bookings for Christmas? This might be an excellent test for your first campaign. These are the most important metrics to consider:
- Clicks – the number of people physically clicking on your advert
- Average cost per click – the average amount you have paid for each of those clicks
- Click through rate – the frequency your ad has been clicked after it has been seen in search results
- Conversions – the number of times a click becomes a sale
It’s possible that PPC can be a welcome guest in your strategic digital marketing plan, as long as you factor in the essentials we’ve outlined above. If you’d like a marketing specialist to produce a strategic marketing plan for your business, contact us for more details.
