Why You Should Be Generating Leads with PPC
It doesn’t take a genius to understand that In order to achieve business growth you need to be generating new customers. Of course existing customers can help fuel growth, but to achieve long term and sustained success a constant stream of new customers is required.
While there are many avenues for generating leads, and we advocate for businesses to deploy a strategy that incorporates many of these, this blog is going to focus on pay-per-click advertising (PPC) via Google Ads.
Is PPC Right For Me?
The first thing you might be asking yourself is: is PPC right for me? Well, if you’re a business looking to generate new customers online and drive sales through your website, then yes - PPC is right for you.
This is not however a blanket ‘yes’ because the suitability of Google Ads will be circumstantial. For example, if you are a business that relies on large quantities and small margins, whereby you make £3 profit per sale, Google Ads may be charging you up to £5 per click in the most competitive markets. This quite obviously will not work.
The most important thing when deciding if PPC is going to work for you is to run the numbers and determine if you are going to generate a return on investment. Calculate your total budget, then calculate how many sales are needed in order to generate an effective ROI. Once you have done this work backward. If you need to generate 10 sales to deliver an ROI but your budget will only allow you 100 clicks at a 1% conversion rate this will never work! Run these types of scenarios out in your head and it will help you determine if PPC is right for you.
Why PPC?
PPC stands for pay-per-click, and is an advertising method in which you only pay when you see results! For example, your initial aim with PPC is to generate clicks through to your website and you’ll only pay for your ad placements when these clicks are confirmed.
Additionally, PPC will guarantee your website appears on page 1 of search engine results, and at the top of the page. This enhances your visibility and contributes to greater brand awareness. PPC can also be a great support as you build up your SEO.
Finally, in a world where personalisation and targeted messages are critical to marketing success, PPC ad placements allow you to control the message you share to your audience at each stage of the conversion funnel. This enables your business to tailor its messaging appropriately for its various buyer personas - leading to higher conversion rates.
Why Should I Advertise on Google Rather Than Other Search Engines?
To answer this question simply - you shouldn’t advertise on Google rather than other search engines. You should advertise on Google as well as other search engines. However, if budget and resources are tight and you do need to focus on just one, we’d recommend Google without hesitation.
While there are many reasons we’d suggest Google, here are 3 of the most compelling:
Google is King
Google owns 92% of the search engine market, which means 92% of people who are searching for products and services will be using Google. In order to achieve the best ROI on your marketing spend, it’s vital to apply your budget to platforms with the greatest chance of a high reach.
People engage with Google Ads
Not only do the large majority of people use Google to find the product and services they’re looking for, 63% of those will click on a paid ad rather than an organic result. This means that results that display as part of Google Ads listings are 2x more likely to be clicked than results that appear organically as part of an SEO strategy.
100% ROI
We alluded to ROI moments ago and with good reason. For every £1 spent on Google Ads, businesses generate on average £2 in sales revenue - a 100% ROI. Not many channels can offer such a positive return on investment and be able to reach an audience as wide as Google can.
Summary
PPC advertising is a must-have component of your digital marketing strategy if lead generation is a key goal. With PPC you can target specific audiences, manage budgets, and enjoy healthy returns on investment. Adopting Google Ads as your main channel for PPC will open your business up to huge numbers of potential leads by leveraging a search engine with 92% market share.