What is PPC advertising?
Pay-per-click advertising or PPC is an advertising model based on the cost an advertiser pays when their online advert is clicked. PPC advertising can run across a number of search engines like Google (where it's known as a Google Ad), or on social media where it's known as a sponsored post.
Some businesses use a combination of PPC and social media adverts in their marketing mix to make sure they are front of mind when customers are searching for the services or products that they offer. Other companies may use one and not the other, whereas some companies might not use paid advertising at all.
So what's the point of PPC advertising?
If people want to find out about a product or service, the first place they'd likely go to is Google. They type in their search term and at the very top of the results, will be three or four listings with "Ad" next to them - these are PPC adverts. Effectively, the advertiser has paid to be high up in the search results. This is the main benefit of PPC advertising. Another benefit, is the opportunity to re-target people who click your ads. The paid adverts also have a degree of reporting available, enabling the advertiser to re-target the same user with social media adverts too.
Let's say you work for a brewery and you have a new range of IPA's you'd like to sell...
(First off, if you are a brewery - I'd love to work with you).
Ideally, you'd have PPC adverts set up on Google using a number of pre-defined keywords and search terms. You'd also input the names of businesses who are your direct competitors so that when people are searching for your competitions products, your adverts show up.
Once your potential customer has clicked on your PPC advert you'd have a "pixel" added to your website so you can then show social media adverts to the same people too - encouraging them to buy your new beer. You could also target cart abandoners with specific messages too.
If you're reading this, it's quite likely that:
- You are looking to hire someone to manage your social media adverts and PPC internally.
OR
- You are thinking about commissioning an agency to manage your social media and PPC adverts on your behalf.
Being completely honest with you..
There are pros and cons to both so I want to give you enough information to make a more informed decision.
- Hiring someone internally will allow you to prioritise their training and make sure you have the right mix of skills in your team, working with an agency will mean you get instant access to expert designers who have years of experience creating pixel perfect graphics and copywriters who can craft the perfect messages for your brand from day one.
- An agency will already have the latest tools that you need to run effective advertising, meaning you won't need to spend your marketing budget buying new equipment and licenses, something you'll have to purchase if you want to hire someone new.
- No-one will know the ins-and-outs of your business better than your staff. They are personally vetted and chosen by your business because their work ethic and values align with your company. At GEL we'll set time aside where we'll be solely focused on learning about you and your business. Spending time getting to know you, your goals and your objectives is key for us. We'll work so closely with you throughout the process, you'll think of us as part of your team.
- If you've got a very limited budget, you may find it more beneficial to run your own adverts. In order to work with some agencies, they'll expect you to spend a certain amount on advertising a month. That's not how we roll at GEL though. Whatever size budget you're working with, we know that your advertising spend is important to your business and we'll make sure it's used in the most effective ways possible.
- While getting your new starter up to agency standard will take a number of months, in the long run it could be more financially beneficial to have someone inhouse as agencies will have a fee per hour. Obviously this depends on how much the agency fees are vs the salary of your new hire.
- Everyone at GEL who runs PPC advertising is Google Ads certified. That means they're recognised by Google as an advertising specialist. You'll get access to that from day one. Your new starter however will need time to learn how to manage multiple campaigns using 'real budgets'. Working with GEL also means you'll also have access to our designers, developers and our marketing team if you need them. We regularly read articles and listen to industry podcasts to make sure we know the latest updates for our industry.
- A good agency will monitor your PPC adverts everyday to make sure they are delivering the results that the business needs. They'll also keep tweaking and amending your adverts based on what your real-time data is telling them. Before this they will also have tested your copy, your graphics, videos and photos (if you have them) too. Doing this will means you'll only be using your budget to run adverts that are optimised for your audience. If you're looking for complete control over the management of your ads, inhouse may be better a better option for you.
So, is an in-house team member or agency best for the job?
Ultimately that's your decision to make but hopefully the above has given you a few points to think about.
We've recently added PPC Google Ads to complement our Social media advert and marketing offering. If you'd like to chat a little bit more about the type of support we can offer, feel free to get in touch.