Do you own a small business? If so, have you ever considered investing in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to boost online reach? I ask only because I have spoken with numerous small business owners convinced that PPC is just for big corporations. Believe me when I say it’s not.
PPC advertising definitely isn’t right for every business. It is not right for most nonprofits. But PPC isn’t just for the biggest companies, either. Even small businesses can get a lot out of PPC advertising.
PPC services are on the menu at Webtek Digital Marketing in Salt Lake City, UT. I asked them about PPC advertising and why small businesses should consider it. Below is a summary of what they told me, organized as five key reasons small businesses should consider PPC.
1. PPC Is Cost Effective
I am a small business owner myself, so I know there isn’t always a lot of money to spend on marketing. One of PPC’s biggest strengths is its cost effectiveness. By design, PPC advertisers only pay when their ads are clicked. That means every penny spent on a particular ad translates into someone clicking that ad.
While it is possible to spend a lot of money on PPC services and get nothing in return, a good service provider committed to doing right by its clients doesn’t let that happen. Your average service provider makes sure that PPC turns into a good investment.
2. PPC Generates Instant Results
Next up, PPC advertising generates instant results – whether good or bad. Think of it this way: it could take 3-6 months to see the results of traditional SEO. Not so with PPC. Advertisers see the results of their efforts within a day or two. In some cases, they can start seeing the results in hours. The fact is that PPC provides nearly instant visibility and traffic.
3. PPC Is Flexible
Some forms of marketing are very rigid. PPC advertising is not. The PPC model allows advertisers to adjust everything from budget to targeted audience, all on the fly. They can even modify advertisements in the middle of a campaign. Everything happens in real time. Other forms of marketing are less forgiving when it comes to in-campaign modifications.
4. PPC Can Be More Targeted
Yet another reason small businesses should embrace PPC services is the fact that campaigns can be more targeted compared to other forms of marketing. Advertisers can tune their ads based on virtually any kind of criteria an ad platform tracks.
Ads can target certain age groups. They can target income levels, education levels, shopping preferences, consumer hobbies and interests, and on and on. Ads can even target geographic locations – even down to individual zip codes or neighborhoods.
Note that some platforms offer more detailed targeting than others. From my experience, the most refined targeting is usually found on social media platforms. Yes, social platforms do sell PPC ads.
5. Performance Is Measurable
Finally, PPC advertising is measurable in ways that other forms of marketing are not. Business owners do not have to settle for looking only at sales revenues. Advanced analytics can reveal who is clicking ads, what those users are doing after clicking, how much time they spend on the advertiser’s website, and dozens of other things.
It is true that PPC services are not right for every small business. However, they are a good deal for most. If you own a small business and you are struggling to reach your audience online, at least consider PPC services. If they are a good fit for your business, they could make a world of difference.