Understanding PPC

Pay per click, also known as PPC, is an online advertising method in which advertisers pay each time a user clicks on one of their online adverts. There are 8 different pay per click methods that businesses use in order to promote their business.

Search Ads

Firstly, search ads. This is the most common PPC method and is usually the first method businesses use when experimenting with pay per click advertising. Advertisers choose keywords that they want their ads to show on. They then tell Google Ads what ad copy they want to show when a user searches for their keyword as well as input the maximum amount that they are willing to pay if their ad is clicked. The most common search engine that is used is google ads followed by microsoft advertising. Prices do vary for each business but it could be as cheap as $1. Which could be great for businesses who are just starting out or companies that aren’t bringing in much work.

Paid Social Media Ads

Paid social media advertising means your product / service popping up on people’s social media feed. There are numerous social media platforms this could be done through including Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat or Tiktok. Different platforms offer different prices to individuals and businesses depending on how many times you want the ad to pop up on people’s feed, which area you would like individuals to see the ad etc. A lot of businesses like the idea of this method but a study has reported that 71% of businesses do not like this chosen method as the business has to create the social media poster themselves to be displayed on individuals pages.

Gmail Sponsored Ads

Sponsored gmail ads allow businesses to advertise their product / service through their gmail services. This is great for businesses that use google search ads to promote their company as they can easily branch out and start to use gmail to advertise their businesses. 

As you open up the emails they would pop up on your screen like on the image above, once you click on the email the advert will expand. Gmail ads are a great way for businesses to increase their brand awareness and get more traffic to their website.

Display Ads

Display advertising is another form of paid advertising where you advertise your product or service to people while they are browsing the internet. Display advertising differs from PPC search advertising in that with a Search campaign; your ad can potentially appear in front of users who are currently searching for your product or service. Display advertising is often used to increase awareness of the advertiser’s brand. So, if you have a relatively unknown product that you want to build awareness of, then Display advertising could be the option for you.

Remarketing Ads

A remarketing campaign shows ads to people that have previously visited your website. As the user has already shown some form of interest in your products / services, a remarketing campaign is a very safe option for those who don’t want to spend money on an ad with no guarantee of people viewing it. The remarketed campaign will have much more information on as they want to give the customer more information to lure them in to buy their product or service. It is also great for businesses as if someone has bought a product from you, you can advertise another product which might convince them to buy another product from you. Here are some examples of audience lists that are created via a google remarketing campaign:

-watched a youtube video

-signed up to your newsletter

-all previous users on your website

-people that have started shopping on your website but stopped for whatever reason

Video Ads

With social media platforms like youtube and tiktok, video advertising is becoming increasingly popular. Studies show that 85% of businesses use videos as part of their marketing campaigns. The benefits of paid video advertising over organic video advertising are that you can get your videos in front of people who are not currently aware of your business or following you. You do not have to do the work to build an audience first. Just like gmail, if you are already using google ads to advertise your product you can also use paid ads to go on youtube. Video ads might not be for everyone as time and money will have to be put into it to look professional, so if you’re willing to spend money on a professional camera and create a 30 second advert, video advertising could be great for your business.

Amazon Advertising

This way of PPC is specifically for businesses that sell their products through amazon. With so many businesses on amazon trying to sell their products it can be hard for companies that are trying to sell the same product but aren’t appearing on people’s pages. This is why Amazon offer Amazon advertising where businesses can use a pay per click model to get their products in front of people who are searching for your products.

Shopping Ads

A Shopping campaign allows ads to show on search engines just like with a Search campaign. However, unlike a Search campaign, Shopping ads contain a picture of the product being sold, the price, title and a description of the product. A Shopping campaign can be created by e-commerce businesses that have products and not services to sell. A Shopping campaign can be one of the most profitable parts of a business’s PPC advertising efforts. This is because the user has already seen a picture of the product and the price. They know a lot more about the product before they click and cost you some money. This means that the conversion rate on a Shopping campaign is often higher than a Search campaign.

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