By Hayley Gurtler, Media Manager
If you’ve ever turned on the TV, flipped through a magazine or even just took a stroll through a city center, you likely understand the power of advertisements. And, if you’ve ever used the Internet to search for something, you are also likely to understand the power that online advertisements have.
Think about it. Have you ever clicked on an ad at the top of your search results because it directly addressed your query? That’s the power of PPC (pay-per-click) advertising!
An Efficient Way to Advertise
While good SEO practices—like scheduling posts on Facebook and Twitter, optimizing your website, and regularly publishing relevant content—can help increase your website’s traffic and conversions, paid search advertising is an excellent way to extend your reach even further, boosting traffic and gaining more conversions. In fact, PPC ads yield higher conversion rates than many other search results.
PPC search engine ads enable advertisers to directly target users based on location and the keywords they’ve searched for. The ads are displayed at the top and bottom of the search results, and, if you opt for the cost per click bid strategy option, you only pay when the ad is clicked upon.
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Although this type of advertising isn’t free, it is a great way to compete with other communities in your area without spending a ton in advertising costs. It also gives you the chance to advertise your community at the top of the page, above all other search results, competitor listings and directories. Ultimately, the goal of using PPC advertising is to extend your reach, grab the attention of prospects in your target market, get them to click on your ad and visit your website or squeeze page, where they will either fill out a form or call you.
Below are a few examples of some PPC ads that you might see on Google.
Visually stimulating
PPC advertising doesn’t necessarily stop at search ads. Have you ever been surfing the web and noticed some ads at the top, bottom and side of the page that were from a website you recently visited? These are called display ads, and are an extension of PPC advertising.
Display ads are often referred to as banner ads because they act like banners across a web page. Just like a banner you might see outside a new business, you want your display ads to provide a good representation of your brand by featuring your logo, a background image, minimal text and a clear call to action.
These ads are typically used for remarketing, which is when banner ads are served to online users who have previously visited specific sections of your website or taken a particular action on your website. These visual ads can be a great way to gain brand awareness and generate additional leads. In fact, according to Google, these ads have the potential to reach up to 90 percent of people on the Internet. With remarketing, you can target specific Internet users who have viewed part of your website or a squeeze page, but did not complete an action. For the next month or so, your banner ads will be displayed on webpages, keeping your brand top-of-mind among your audience. Then, consciously or subconsciously, these ads may prompt someone to either click on the ad itself or specifically seek out your community later when a need arises.
Because of the extended reach and ability to target specific groups, display ads are often much less expensive than search ads. However, that doesn’t mean that you should simply invest in one aspect of PPC over another.
The Value of PPC
By having a combination of display and search ads marketing your product and brand, the diversity and relatively low cost make PPC a valuable part of your digital marketing strategy.
Using search engine ads and display ads together can help you get more conversions and qualified leads because you are targeting prospects from multiple angles, while spreading awareness about your community. Along with other digital best practices, including both types of ads within your marketing mix can only help increase occupancy and improve ROI.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to harness the power of PPC for your community, Love & Company can help! Call Tim Bracken at 410-207-0013 or Rick Hunsicker at 214-906-3801 for more information about Love & Company’s digital and integrated media services.