Too much attention on social? Don't forget the PPC
11/02/2011
This month there is a lot of attention on social media. But as marketing managers rush to embrace this latest part of the marketing mix, is attention being drawn away from the hugely profitable and beneficial PPC advertising?
With all the emphasis at the moment on social media and effective tweeting and posting it is easy to ignore the best form of online advertising for fast and measurable results. This is of course pay per click. On Google this is AdWords, which is the most important for business in the UK.
When many businesses are forgetting about PPC and investing heavily in social media, there is opportunity to make your PPC campaigns do even better.
And of course these are results now. It is true that PPC has a disadvantage over natural search (SEO) and social marketing in that it is short term, so investment now will have little impact next year. But it can give leads and sales now rather than waiting until next year. So sometimes this short term-ism is a good thing, and is very good at helping with immediate cash flow issues.
Our research shows that January 2011 has been a fantastic month for PPC advertising, with many of our clients seeing huge returns and increasing benefits compared to previous months.
Of course this research is only based on our clients (and may not be general), but the latest summary results show excellent improvements in campaign performance. In January it is rewarding to be reporting ‘transactions up by 38%, and CTR (click through rate) increasing by 25%, especially when these are in markets with traditionally really strong December sales.
Last month also saw new accounts doing really well. It takes time to get an account optimised and returning good figures, so when one new account in competitive market started with a total conversion rate in first month of 5%, we were delighted. So was the client. We are looking forward to even better results this month.
And of course these are results now. Yes PPC does have the disadvantage over natural search (SEO) and social marketing that it is short term, so investment now will have little impact next year. But it can give leads and sales now rather than waiting until next year.
