What Is PPC Marketing?
PPC stands for pay-per-click, a digital marketing strategy in which you, as an advertiser, pay for every click on your ad regardless of whether it converts or not.
Generally, PPC is more cost-effective than any other advertising medium in which you pay based on views or impressions.
Why Is It Important?
There are various reasons why PPC is important. Few are as follows:
Reach to a Wider Audience
PPC done on search engines like Google gives you the leverage to reach a large audience.
Cost-effective
When and if done well, PPC is an extremely cost-effective strategy. It also allows you to leverage the facility of adjusting your budget according to your needs at any time. Furthermore, it allows you to create multiple campaigns, and you don’t need a minimum budget. You will only pay if someone has clicked on your ad.
Reach the Right People
In PPC, you can target the right audience based on gender, age, or any other ethnicity. Moreover, with the help of selected and targeted keywords, you have the freedom to show your ad to only those high-potential clients. Another unique feature of PPC ads is that you can easily retarget your old customers.
Quick Results
If you are impatient or need immediate results, you must opt for PPC. Unlike other marketing strategies, like SEO, which requires a lot of time to deliver good results, PPC can yield results in as little as two weeks.
It is equally possible that the day you launch the campaign becomes the day it appears in the top spot, but the only prerequisite for this is to craft your campaign tactfully.
Measurable Results
Unlike other marketing strategies like SEO, in PPC, Google will report back when your ads are running. Many factors, like CTR or conversion rate, are there for you to check the effectiveness of your campaign.
Such metrics let you adjust your campaign and optimise it on the basis of performance.
Testable and Changeable
Moreover, you can design and test your campaign to see how it performs. You can test multiple campaigns and select the one that performs the best on search engines. Moreover, this method also allows you to bring changes to an ongoing campaign, and ads can be paused, adjusted, and updated at any moment.
Types of PPC Ads
There are many ad choices available, and each performs a specific function. They include:
Search Ads
These text-based ads appear most commonly in search engines like Google. Generally labelled as sponsored, they appear at both the top and bottom of the pages.
Such placement helps enhance the chance of your ad being more visible to the target audience. Try searching for “Roofing Birmingham”, and at the top or bottom, you will see an ad like this.
Display Ads
Display ads are banner—or image-based ads shown on websites within the Google Display Network (GDN) and other partner platforms. They specifically target users based on their usual behaviour or interests.
They are an ideal way of increasing brand awareness, and you can commonly find them on websites which show a display ad on both sides of the news.
Video Ads
These appear on platforms like YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram, offering an engaging format for storytelling or complex messages. They provide great benefits for delivering impactful and memorable content.
Try watching a video on these platforms; the ads you will see in between lie under this category.
Retargeting Ads
As the name suggests, these ads retarget those customers who visited your site but didn’t make a purchase. They are also known as remarketing ads. The benefits it offers include encouraging repeat visits from your customers and boosting conversations.
For example, if you add shoes to your cart but abandon them, these remarketing ads will be shown continuously, encouraging you to make a purchase.
Shopping Ads
These visually rich product ads appear in search results and Google’s Shopping tab, showcasing specific products. The benefits these offer you include their effectiveness for e-commerce businesses that want to target those who are ready to purchase.
Here, in this example, when writing, “buy Jordan sneakers,” These ads popped up before organic results.
Each ad format is tailored to specific goals, ensuring flexibility and effectiveness in PPC campaigns.
Top platforms to do PPC ads
Google Ads
Google Ads is the largest PPC platform, covering Google search results, YouTube, Google Maps, and 35M+ third-party sites/apps via the Google Display Network (GDN).
The best features offered by PPC ads include keyword bidding for targeted ads in relevant searches and the ability to segment your audience for refined targeting.
Google ads let you enjoy search, display, shopping, and video ads.
Meta Ads
Meta Ads Manager runs ads on Facebook and Instagram.
These ads let you reach your customers by allowing you to target them on the basis of metrics like demographics and interest. Meta offers many formats, such as image, video, and carousel ads.
TikTok Ads
TikTok Ads offer short-form video advertising on a platform favoured by younger audiences. Such ads deliver the best results when targeted at people who saw the rise of social media or were born with it in their hands, like Gen Z and millennials.
Two types of ads are being offered, i.e. in-feed ads and TopView ads.
Microsoft Ads
Microsoft Ads expand search engine reach to Bing, Yahoo, MSN, and partner sites like Ask.com and Forbes. You can run search, display, video and shopping ads.
LinkedIn Ads
The special feature of ads on LinkedIn includes their capability of targeting based on job title, skills, employer and industry to get great results.
All platform has their specialities and offers unique features that best suit different marketing goals.
Building a PPC campaign
Define Your PPC Goals
Start with clear goals to shape your campaign strategy. Common objectives include:
- Brand Awareness: Increase visibility for new products, services, or regions.
- Web Traffic: Drive potential customers to your site to gather insights and optimise for conversions.
- Sales: Focus on keywords with transactional intent to target ready-to-buy customers.
- Lead Generation: Offer trials, consultations, or resources to build connections for future sales.
Perform Keyword Research
Use tools like Keyword Magic to identify relevant and cost-effective keywords. Prioritise relevance and average cost-per-click (CPC), and create a list of negative keywords to avoid irrelevant clicks.
Analyse Competitors
Study competitors’ PPC strategies to uncover their target keywords, ad copy, and landing pages. Tools like Advertising Research can provide actionable insights to refine your approach.
Craft Effective Ads
Focus on clarity and value in your ad components:
- Display URL: Use keywords and concise paths to align with your messaging.
- Headlines: Include target keywords and a compelling message.
- Descriptions: Highlight unique offers, CTAs, and trust-building details like customer numbers or reviews.
Choose a Bidding Strategy
Select a bidding approach that matches your goals:
- Conversions: Optimise for actions like purchases or signups.
- Clicks: Drive traffic for broader awareness.
- Impressions: Maximise visibility on SERPs.
Set Up Audience Targeting
Specify locations, languages, and audience segments to reach the right users. Google Ads allows detailed customisation to match your ideal customer profile.
Monitor and Optimise Regularly
Track performance and make data-driven adjustments to bidding, targeting, and ad copy. Analyse metrics like CTR and conversion rates every 30–60 days to refine your campaign for better ROI.
By following these steps, you can build and sustain PPC campaigns that deliver measurable results.
Reasons Why PPC Campaigns Fail
PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising can be incredibly effective, but several common pitfalls can derail your campaigns. Here are the top reasons why PPC campaigns fail—and actionable tips to overcome them.
Lack of Conversion Tracking
Conversion tracking is essential to understand how users interact with your ads and complete desired actions (e.g., purchases and form submissions). Without it, you can’t measure ROI or refine your strategy.
In order to fix this issue, you can set up conversion tracking to monitor user actions and optimise your campaigns accordingly.
Ignoring Negative Keywords
Failing to use negative keywords leads to irrelevant clicks and wasted budgets. To fix this issue, you need to add negative keywords to prevent your ads from appearing in unrelated searches, ensuring better targeting and higher ROI.
Budget Constraints
Small budgets often result in low bids, poor reach, or campaigns stopping prematurely. Fixation of budget constraints can be done by starting with a realistic budget, prioritising high-performing keywords, and scaling as you see results.
Misusing Landing Pages
Sending users to a generic homepage instead of a dedicated landing page confuses prospects and reduces conversions. Create goal-specific landing pages with clear CTAs, tailored content, and visuals that align with your ad.
Overloading Keywords
Using too many keywords dilutes your campaign’s focus and increases irrelevant traffic. This issue can easily be fixed if you target a concise list of high-intent keywords that align with your audience’s needs. Regularly refine your list based on performance.
Overemphasis on Cost per Lead
Focusing solely on cost per lead overlooks conversions and long-term value. Fix this issue by prioritising conversion metrics over cost metrics and optimising campaigns for actions that drive meaningful results.
Poor Campaign Management
PPC campaigns need consistent monitoring and adjustments to succeed. To fix campaign management-related issues, you can dedicate time to optimising bids, testing ad copy, analysing performance, and refining keywords. If needed, consider hiring a PPC manager or agency.
Undefined Goals
Without clear objectives, you can’t measure success or focus your efforts. Fix this issue by setting specific, measurable goals (e.g., increasing sales by 20% in three months) before setting up your campaigns.
Giving Up Too Quickly
Many campaigns fail due to impatience. Optimisation takes time to deliver meaningful results. You can fix this by allowing campaigns sufficient time for testing and refinement. Use data to identify trends and improve outcomes.
PPC VS SEO: What to Choose?
There seems to be endless confusion about which type of marketing to choose. Both have pros and cons, and there is no one size fits all. It entirely depends on your marketing goals and how quickly you want to achieve them.
If your goal is to generate sales and results faster, then PPC is the best option. However, if you are looking to grow your organic traffic and rank higher against keywords organically, you should opt for SEO.
Compared in terms of prices, for SEO, you don’t have to pay for every website click, but the management rates vary depending on whom you are hiring. On the contrary, in PPC, you need to pay for every click, while the management rates vary again.
In terms of website placement in Google searches, SEO results typically appear below the paid search results regardless of their ranking in the first spot, but PPC results usually appear first in search results and at the bottom of the page. The organic results are in between, while PPC results are at the top and bottom.
Final Thoughts
PPC ads are a quick and result-oriented way of expanding your business, but a few small issues can let you burn your money. Avoiding them and hiring a professional will help you achieve your dream goals.
