PPC stands for pay-per-click. It’s a type of digital marketing where you pay each time a user clicks on one of your ads.
To see what PPC ads look like, run almost any search on Google (or Bing). You’ll see ads displayed at the top of the results page:
See the listings at the top marked “Sponsored”? Those are PPC search ads from Google Ads, Google’s ad platform.
PPC is sometimes referred to as CPC. But there’s a subtle difference.
Cost per click defines the actual amount an advertiser paid per click. And PPC is the term for pay-per-click marketing.
You can run PPC ads in a variety of places, including:
Search engines like Google and Bing
Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram
Banners on websites
Videos on YouTube
Marketplaces like Amazon
Why Is PPC Important?
PPC marketing can help attract new customers and grow your business. By making your brand visible to specific audiences and taking them to high-value pages that support your business goals.
Let’s explore what makes PPC so valuable:
PPC Ads Allow for Effective Targeting
PPC ads allow you to reach highly specific audiences, based on very specific criteria known as targeting. So you speak to the right people and avoid wasting ad spend.
The exact targeting options vary depending on the platform. Google Search has different targeting options compared to Facebook, for example.
Here, you can see how Google enables you to target users based on demographics, keywords, topics, and more:
You can even target users who already visited your website or engaged with your brand. This is known as remarketing, or retargeting.
This enables you to remind the potential customer of your offerings. And encourage them to return and convert
PPC Ads Drive Fast Results
With PPC, you can start driving traffic the very same day you start your campaign. This is much quicker than search engine optimization (SEO).
SEO can take months to start driving results.
Here’s a chart from Domain Overview (a tool that gives you insights into your competitors’ organic performance) showing how long it took Lululemon to start gaining traction with SEO.
PPC Ads Are Cost-Effective
With PPC, you have control over your budget.
You decide in advance how much you want to spend in total, and per click. And you only actually pay when someone clicks on your ad.
This combined with powerful targeting means you have a good chance of reaching a relevant audience for a price that seems fair to you (we’ll touch on this more when we discuss bidding).
PPC Is Easy to Measure and Track
PPC marketing provides much more data and analysis than traditional forms of marketing. So, it’s easy to understand how your ads are performing.
You’ll probably never know how many people saw your billboard or read your magazine ad. But you can easily track how many people clicked on your PPC ad and what they did from there. Like make a purchase.
You can check anytime how many clicks and conversions your ads have generated in whichever platform you’re using:
You can use this data to make informed decisions for future campaigns. And optimize your strategies for better results.
