You are no doubt familiar with PPC advertising, even if you’ve never leveraged it on your brand’s behalf. You see PPC ads every time you conduct a Google search; these ads are located on the top and bottom of the page, beyond the standard organic search results. For those who are only passingly familiar, PPC stands for pay-per-click marketing; basically, a system wherein you pay for each time your ad gets clicked by a search engine user. PPC exists in many forms, though the best known is probably Google AdWords. More to the point of our discussion today, PPC ads represent one of the most effective ways to build your brand online.

But what makes PPC so valuable to marketers? That’s what we’re going to address in this post.

Google Emphasizes PPC

When it comes to online marketing, there’s a basic rule of thumb: If Google values something, you should probably value it, too. There’s not much point to going against the grain, so the mere fact that Google emphasizes PPC is reason enough to consider it.

When we say that Google emphasizes PPC, we mean that literally. Google has recently changed the design of its SERP, making PPC ads more prominent, and moving organic listings further down the page than ever before. Not only do PPC ads occupy increasingly valuable SERP real estate, but, for mobile users, it’s likely that PPC ads will be seen and clicked before the organic results are even visible.

PPC is Cost-Effective

Another reason for us to champion PPC ads: It’s a smart use of your marketing budget. After all, what you ultimately want is for potential customers to engage with your brand—not just to read your ads but to click them and find themselves on your website or landing page. With PPC, you pay only for the ad displays that get clicked, so there’s nothing wasted here. If your ad doesn’t get results, you don’t pay for it—simple as that.

And what if you do have ads that don’t get clicked on? Those ads aren’t quite meaningless; at the very least, they build some visibility for your brand, drawing a few additional eyeballs, and at no cost to you. In a sense, it’s a win-win.

PPC is Targeted

Arguably the main reason to use PPC is that it allows for incredibly detailed levels of targeting. Here’s what you need to know in a nutshell: With PPC, you can make sure that your ads are only being shown to the right audience at the right time so that they generate plenty of qualified leads.

The targeting options are vast, too; you can target your audience based on age or gender, as well as device preferences. You can also use retargeting options to show your ads only to consumers who have shown an interest in your products before—for instance, those who viewed your products previously but ended up not committing to a purchase.

PPC ads also allow you to deliver a specific message to your audience that matches where they are in the sales funnel, optimizing your chances of conversion. And on a related note, PPC ads can be tested, tweaked, and enhanced until you get just the kind of results you’re after. With PPC, you always have total control over your messaging.

PPC Can Deliver Results Fast

It’s pretty simple to get started with PPC. You can set up your account and get the first ad posted rather quickly.  Unlike other mediums, there are no production costs or ads to create. 

And unlike organic search results, which tend to be long-term prospects, PPC ads can start generating traffic almost immediately. Indeed, it usually doesn’t take much time at all for you to determine just what kind of results your ads are going to generate.

You Can Track Your Results

One more note to make about PPC: There are advanced tracking capabilities that make it easy for you to get an accurate sense of your return on investment.

For example: It’s possible to determine how many people filled out a form, emailed your company, or called the business directly after seeing one of your ads. Using that information, you can further tweak and optimize your messaging accordingly.

PPC Can Be the Best Marketing Tool in Your Arsenal

PPC isn’t necessarily meant to work alone; ideally, it’ll be paired with a solid investment in SEO, allowing you to stake out a claim for all parts of the Google SERP.

Even when you understand it as one part of the bigger puzzle, though, PPC is invaluable. In fact, when it is implemented, tracked, and analyzed appropriately, it can be the most effective marketing tool at your disposal.

The enCOMPASS team delivers clear, measurable results through strategic PPC implementation. We can handle all the keyword research, the ad development, the testing, the tracking and reporting, and more. And we’d love to talk with you about it today. Start the conversation by reaching out to enCOMPASS right now.