What is PPC? A Simple Guide to Pay-Per-Click Marketing
When this guy clicks, somebody pays
PPC, CPC, CPA…..so many acronymns when it comes to online advertising – what do they mean? And what should you & your small business be paying attention to?
PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click – which refers to any online advertising where the advertiser pays a certain fee per click on his or her ad.
You have definitely seen this kind of advertising around the web – promise (unless you have some sort of ad blocking software enabled).
Maybe Google Adwords when searching for something online?
Google Adwords Ad Example for the phrase "kid toys"
or Facebook Ads when you were checking up on your friends?
Facebook Pages can advertise right next to your news feed, but still only pay per actual click.
These are two of the most popular PPC advertising venues that exist on the web at the moment but almost any online advertising opportunity could be constructed in a PPC manner – even online banner ads.
Why would you consider using a PPC ad instead of other venues?
I think it comes down to two reasons:
- You need FAST traffic to your site (maybe you have an event coming up – online or off – or maybe you’re testing something
- You have a REALLY good handle on your bookkeeping numbers like how much a newsletter sign-up or new customer equates to over the life of your business
When you know exactly how much you can spend to acquire a new customer or subscriber you are a MUCH more powerful PPC advertiser because you’ll know *exactly* where to set your budget when it comes to the maximum amount you’d like to pay per click.
Click to Tweet: “PPC advertising is best for people who *really* know their bookkeeping numbers or who need traffic FAST – @lizlockard”
How do these PPC venues generally work?
You pick your targeting – by keyword or interest or location or other, you design an ad – text or otherwise, you design or choose an existing appropriate landing page (where the visitors will go when they click on your ad), and you set your budget limits.
There are some nuances to how the different systems work, but that’s the basics of it.
What can you do to ensure you don’t waste your PPC money and get more out of your PPC campaign?
The short answer is a lot but here are a few ideas:
1) Find out what that traffic is doing on your site
Clicks are not the only metric you should use to measure your campaign. Make sure you have Google Analytics set up and you tag the links you give to your PPC program (Google Adwords does this for you if you set up auto-tagging. However, if you’re using a non-Google venue like Facebook, you’ll want to use this auto-tagging tool.
2) Make more than one ad
Most of these venues allow you to serve up more than one ad – take advantage of it! By serving more than one ad to your potential clickers, you’ll be able to learn what marketing messages are working best and adjust accordingly.
3) Watch your spend
The specifics vary, but every PPC venue has the ability to set a budget – whether by max CPC (the amount you’re willing to pay per click – aka cost-per-click) or by daily or monthly spend. Keep a close eye on this as it can be *really* easy to go *WAY* over budget without intending to. And no, you won’t be able to get a refund.
4) Pick the right landing page
You almost NEVER want to send your PPC visitors to your homepage. What are you advertising in your ad? What specific offer do you have to give? Send them to a page that delivers exactly what your ad promised with little-to-no distractions. I’ve had success sending PPC visitors to this page when my ad advertisers the 3 Most Common Marketing Mistakes report.
5) Target, target, and target some more
Remember – we don’t really care if the entire country sees your ad, in fact, we most likely don’t want that. The broader your target, the more you’re likely to pay in PPC fees but the less results you’ll see. Narrow your target PPC audience as far down as you can to keep costs down while keeping value up. Is your product or service limited by location? Use that. Are you only targeting women interested in Harry Potter? Do that (yes you can do that – with Facebook)
There is a LOT more you can learn about PPC but these are the basics. PPC can be a great tool for growing your small business’ online audience, when used correctly. If you’re looking for more on Google Adwords, check out these posts. Facebook Ads are a bit of a different PPC monster, but the Facebook Ad Queen has you covered.
Your Turn
What about you? Ever run a PPC campaign? Google Adwords? Facebook? Other? What did you think of it? Any advice for a newbie PPC advertiser? Did you find this post useful? Let me know in the comments!
photo credit: shawe_ewahs via photo pin cc
