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PPC 101: A Beginner’s Guide

By Snap Agency February 11, 2019

Looking for a way to revamp your marketing strategy and increase your advertising efforts, but not sure where to start? Allow us to point you in the right direction. Pay per click advertising, generally referred to as PPC, is an internet advertising tactic that’s quickly becoming more valuable in the digital space as websites look for new ways to monetize their traffic. We’ve created a guide to fill you in on this form of advertising and help you get started introducing this method to your company’s marketing strategy.

What is Pay Per Click Advertising?

So, what does “pay per click” actually mean? Who is doing the clicking, and who are they paying? It doesn’t work quite like that. Essentially, PPC allows a company to gain traffic to its site by purchasing advertisements on search engines or other websites. These ads show up in response to certain keywords or information like geographic location, which also determines the cost of those ads. Each time an internet user clicks on the ad, he or she is taken to that business’ page. The company, or advertiser, pays a dollar amount for those clicks.  

Have you ever googled “best steakhouse near me” or “movie theaters in my area” and clicked on the first link on the search results page before realizing it was an advertisement? That’s an example of a pay per click ad! But PPC isn’t limited to search engines; you can also run campaigns over social media networks and websites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. If you choose to advertise on these platforms, your ads will typically take the form of sidebars, banners, or pop-ups before a video begins to play. Lastly, websites can offer a form of PPC similar to that found on search engines by including “sponsored links” in search results. This means that your chosen link will appear when an internet user searches for a specific keyword on that site.

The Benefits of a PPC Campaign

Increase Traffic to Your Website

The ultimate goal of PPC is to put your company in front of a consumer at exactly the right moment. That could mean when he’s shopping for the perfect tie to wear to work, or when her search history indicates that she’s interested in installing new kitchen appliances. When the process works as it should, your ad will appear to targeted groups at the ideal moment in their search activity, which will predispose them to click on the link and follow it through to your website.

Boost Sales

The increase in traffic to your website also results in an increase in sales. PPC campaigns can boost your business’ sales by targeting online shoppers looking for your products. When that perfect product or service pops up during their search, shoppers will ideally navigate to your page and purchase something from your company.

Easily Track Results

The nature of some marketing strategies makes it difficult to track results, but evaluating the ROI of PPC campaigns couldn’t be simpler. Because your company is paying for each click, you can see exactly how successful that ad is in bringing people to your site. If things aren’t

Improve Brand Recognition

The great part about a PPC ad is that people don’t even need to click on it for you to share your message. Even if they choose to scroll past it, their eyes will still glance over your company name and whatever product, content, or service you’re showcasing in the banner ad or search result. This works to build recognition of your brand, so that customers are more likely to engage when they come across your brand again, whether online or in person.

Implementing Pay Per Click Advertising at Your Company

Pay per click advertising can make a significant difference when added to your marketing strategy. One benefit of the tactic is its ability to be customized for your company’s needs. Similar to email marketing campaigns, you can tailor your PPC campaigns to certain demographics, which will give you better results. The reasoning behind tailoring ads is simple: the smaller the group you’re working to connect with, the more specific you can get when creating ads meant to appeal to the people seeing them.

While you can allocate time and resources to run a PPC campaign on your own, we recommend employing a digital advertising agency that specializes in this form of marketing to help you set up and run your campaign efficiently. Your agency will work with you and use the conveniently available results of PPC to adjust your ads and produce better results.

Upgrade Your PPC with Snap

When it comes to pay per click advertising, agency help is your best bet. Snap’s PPC services can put your company where it needs to be, increasing traffic to your site and boosting sales. You may find that search engine optimization (SEO) also fits into your marketing strategy alongside PPC. We’re eager to help you iron out all the aspects of your marketing strategy, so give us a call today!