What Is PPC in Digital Marketing, and How Does It Work? A Guide for Beginners
In the ever-evolving world of digital marketing, where every click counts and visibility is key, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising emerges as a powerful tool for businesses aiming to capture the attention of their target audience. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just stepping into the world of online advertising for the first time, understanding PPC is crucial for crafting effective marketing strategies that drive results.
This introduction to PPC marketing will break down its fundamental concepts, explain how it operates within the broader digital marketing landscape, and highlight why it's an essential component for achieving your sales, branding and business development goals. From keyword targeting to bidding strategies and performance tracking, we'll guide you through the basics of PPC, providing you with the knowledge you need to get started on the right foot.
What Does PPC Stand For?
In marketing, PPC stands for ‘Pay-Per-Click’, a model of internet advertising where marketers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked (in some cases, this can also be when it is seen). Essentially, it’s a way of buying visits to your site rather than attempting to earn those visits organically via SEO.
PPC ads can appear on search engines, social media platforms, and various partner websites and are designed to drive targeted traffic to a business's website or landing page. This model allows for precise audience targeting and budget control, making it a popular choice for businesses looking to achieve quick and measurable results.
What Are the Benefits of Using PPC?
PPC campaigns provide marketers with a range of powerful benefits, including:
- Speed of Results - PPC campaigns can be launched quickly, providing immediate visibility in search engine results or on social media platforms.
- Budget Control - set daily, monthly or lifetime campaign limits to manage spending effectively.
- Analytical Insights - PPC platforms provide data on ad performance, including impressions, clicks, search terms and conversions.
- Increased Brand Awareness - Even if users do not click on your ads, they still see your brand name, helping to increase brand awareness and recognition.
- Real-Time Management - PPC campaigns can be easily adjusted or paused, allowing businesses to respond to market changes, seasonal trends, or budget fluctuations.
- Lower Cost Barrier to Entry - Unlike traditional advertising methods such as print advertising, PPC enables smaller businesses to place highly targeted ads to maximise ROI on small budgets.
- Precision Audience Targeting - PPC is highly effective for local businesses looking to attract customers in their specific geographic area.
Other Marketing Acronyms to Be Aware Of, Relating to PPC Advertising
As well as PPC, there are several other marketing acronyms that you might come across, which are important to know:
- CPC stands for ‘Cost Per Click’
- PPI stands for ‘Pay-Per-Impression’
- CPI stands for ‘Cost Per Impression’
- CRO stands for ‘Conversion Rate Optimisation’
- CTR stands for ‘Click-Through-Rate’
- ROI stands for ‘Return On Investment’
- SEO stands for ‘Search Engine Optimisation’
- SERP stands for ‘Search Engine Results Page’
- CPM stands for ‘Cost Per Mille’ (Mille = 1,000 in Latin), often used as an alternative to CPI
How Does PPC Marketing Work?
Contrary to what people may think, PPC isn’t just used within search engines; PPC marketing can be used across various platforms and types of digital media. If your website is high quality and your chosen landing page is relevant and persuasive, then PPC is a brilliant marketing tool for increasing sales and growing your business. Let’s take a look at how this form of marketing works on search engines and social media:
PPC on Search Engines
The most popular form of PPC is search engine advertising, especially through Google Ads. But what is the basic process of PPC on search engines?
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Step 1
Essentially, you create search ads based on search terms that you want to appear for, known as keywords, and choose the page on your website that you want that ad to lead to (the landing page). You also set the maximum bid you are prepared to pay per click on that ad, e.g. £2. Though you’ve set £2 as your maximum bid per click, you may end up paying less, especially if your ad quality is good.
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Step 2
A search is made involving the keywords targeted by a business. Your chosen keywords should be based on data found through keyword tools from platforms like Google Ads, Ahrefs or SEMrush, which inform users of the popularity and general performance of the keywords.
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Step 3
When someone searches for a keyword, the PPC algorithm instantly and automatically runs an “auction” (which takes just a fraction of a millisecond) between some of the advertisers who have said they want to appear for that keyword. Ads that ‘win’ the auction will then be displayed on the SERP. Typically, there will be three or four ads that ‘win’ and appear at the top of the SERPs. Additionally, there will often be three or four that appear at the bottom of the SERPs.
The ‘winners’ are chosen based on a combination of factors, including the quality and relevance of their ads and keywords, and the size of their maximum keyword bids. The order in which the ads are displayed is determined by the “ad rank”, which takes into account the above factors, with higher-scoring ads appearing higher. The organic results are sorted entirely separately, determined by a separate SEO algorithm.
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Step 4
At this stage, your advert will be displayed in the SERPs, and you won’t have to pay anything until it is clicked on. When the user clicks on your advert, they will be taken to the chosen landing page on your website. To ensure a good ROI, some advertisers will make sure this page has been specifically designed to maximise conversions for that given ad.
When considering your maximum bid, it’s important to think about ROI. You may be thinking £2 is still a lot to pay for one click-through to your website. However, if that click results in a large sale on your website, then it can actually equate to a very cost-effective way to minimise costs and maximise the efficiency of your advertising spend. We regularly monitor our ROI and have achieved conversion ratios of 17:1 for clients who originally aimed for a conversion ratio of 4:1. That means, for every £1 spent, they got £17 back. It’s safe to say that with that kind of ROI, they’re happy to increase their advertising spend!
How Is PPC On Social Media Different?
PPC on social media actually follows a very similar process. You create your adverts (often with pictures or videos and a short piece of text) and choose a page on your website for the advert to send the user to. Ads on social media are most commonly used on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn, but they can be used across all social media channels which allow for advertising.
However, a key difference between search engine PPC and social media PPC is that social media doesn’t entail keyword-based advertising at all, but interest-based advertising. Instead of choosing what keywords you would like to appear for (search ads), you choose what demographics and types of users you would like to appear in front of. This uses the social media platform’s database of users, taking into account a user’s likes, follows and even job role to target your ad to your desired audience.
Different Providers Of PPC Advertising
Due to its size and wide-ranging use, PPC is often used synonymously with Google Ads; Google’s platform for pay-per-click advertising. However, several online advertising platforms offer a pay-per-click advertising spend model, including:
- Google Ads
- Google Shopping (Google Merchant Centre)
- Microsoft Advertising (formerly Bing Ads)
- Meta Ads Manager (Facebook Ads)
- Instagram for Business (owned by Meta)
- YouTube Ads
- LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
- X Ads (formerly known as Twitter)
- TikTok for Business
- Pinterest Ads
- Snapchat Ads
Ultimately, deciding which platform to use depends on the aims of your business. It’s important to consider the demographic and size of the user base that uses each platform and choose the one that best suits your business and its goals. Google Ads will likely be on that list, simply because of the enormity of its user base, meaning your potential customers are almost definitely among them.
What Is the Difference Between Impression-Based Advertising & PPC?
As mentioned earlier, PPI in marketing stands for ‘Pay-Per-Impression’. You may also see the term CPI (Cost Per Impression) when looking into impression-based advertising. The impression-based advertising model is similar to PPC, but instead of paying a fee when your ad is clicked on, you pay a fee any time it is shown. Therefore, it is up to you to make the ad as engaging as possible to get that click to ensure your money is well spent.
CPM (Cost Per Mille) is another impression-based advertising model, but this time, you pay a fee based on a per-1,000 impression basis. The CPM model is often a lot simpler, and you may have less control over the targeting of your advert. For example, you may only be able to define the page where you want the advert displayed, and each time that page loads, it counts as an impression. This type of model was a common way of charging for “banner adverts” before the introduction of PPC.
What Is the Difference Between PPC & SEO?
Another acronym you may have heard in the digital marketing space is SEO, which, as mentioned above, stands for Search Engine Optimisation. But what is SEO? Whilst PPC is paying to appear at the top of SERPs, SEO is a way of organically appearing at the top of SERPs. SEO is optimising your website and pages so that Google recognises that you are the best organic result for that search term.
Which Is Better?
PPC and SEO both have their strengths and weaknesses, and for a strong, well-rounded digital marketing strategy, they should be used side by side to achieve the best results for your business or organisation.
Want to know more about SEO? Check out our Search Engine Optimisation services and improve the quality and quantity of traffic to your website.
Important Considerations for PPC
There are several considerations to keep in mind for a more successful PPC campaign, such as:
- Know Your Budget - Choose the right bidding strategy that aligns with your campaign goals, and stick to your chosen budget.
- Define Your Intended Audience - Tailor your ads to specific demographics (age, gender, income, etc.) to reach the most relevant audience.
- Use Keyword Research Tools - Use available tools, such as Ahrefs, to ensure your keywords have been thoroughly researched for targeted searches.
- Target the Right Platform - Choose the platform(s) that are most suitable for your marketing goals, such as Google, LinkedIn or Facebook.
- Monitor Progress - Set up conversion tracking to measure the effectiveness of your PPC campaigns. This includes tracking sales, leads, sign-ups, and other key actions.
- Analyse Competitors - Understand your competitors’ PPC strategies, ad copies, and keywords to identify opportunities and threats.
Using Beyond Your Brand for PPC Campaigns
When it comes to PPC, it’s far too common and easy to waste time and money if you don’t know what you’re doing. You could spend ages creating ads that rarely get clicked, or spend money on ads that get clicks but aren’t tailored in the right way to make a sale.
That’s where we come in - we're experts in all things PPC and have a huge range of experience, including achieving a 17:1 conversion ratio for one of our clients (whose initial goal was 4:1) and increasing clicks by over 300% in just 16 weeks for one of our charity clients. We’re also a Google Partner - evidence that we’re pros at Google Ads!
Let the Experts Do the Hard Work
Get in touch with Beyond Your Brand for a friendly, no-obligation chat about our PPC services. We, as the experts, can do the hard work and bring you the best results, leaving you to focus on what you’re an expert in - your business!
