PPC Marketing: Definition, Basics, and Why You Need it?

- Sejal Patel

PPC Marketing: Definition, Basics, and Why You Need it?

- Sejal Patel

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In marketing, PPC is the most lucrative advertisement format due to the quick results it can bring if all things are done right.

What are PPC Marketing Tools and Ads?

PPC is paid advertising on internet platforms such as search engines like Google and Bing and social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. The complete form of PPC is pay-per-click, which means pay only when somebody clicks on your ads.

People often have the impression that PPC is for search engines only, but all internet platforms offer these advertising services.

Is PPC still worth it?

Yes! PPC is still worth it, and what makes it even more lucrative is the fact that if you nail your copywriting and targeting for the ad, it is dirt cheap.

Here is the reason: The most common ad services, like Facebook ads, charge you based on every thousand impressions, i.e., they will charge you for even showing your ad. On the other hand, PPC marketing agencies, will only charge you when somebody clicks on your ad.

Why does clicking on an AD is so important?

You can share only so much on an ad, especially if you are doing ads on search engines like Google, where you can’t use any creatives in search ads. Only when somebody clicks on your pay-per-click advertising google they get on your landing page, where they will get to know more about you, your business, and your offer.

If nobody clicks on your ad, it is worthless. Because the number of clicks defines how interested people are in your offer/service/product.

Only an ad with clicks will lead to sales.

Platforms that offer PPC Marketing Ads

Platform	Ad Format	Description
Instagram	Photo Ads	Single images with captions can include a call-to-action button.
	Video Ads	Videos up to 60 seconds, with sound and motion.
	Carousel Ads	It is a series of images or videos that users can swipe through.
	Stories Ads	These ads are full-screen vertical photos or videos that appear between users’ stories.
	IGTV Ads	Ads appearing within IGTV content are primarily suitable for longer video content.
	Reels Ads	Short, engaging videos appear in between Instagram Reels.
Facebook	Image Ads	is a simple format using a single image to showcase your product or service.
	Video Ads	Ads with video content showcasing product features or storytelling.
	Carousel Ads	Multiple images or videos in a single ad, each with its link.
	Slideshow Ads	Video-like ads are made of a series of static images.
	Stories Ads	Full-screen vertical ads that appear between users’ Stories.
	Messenger Ads	Ads that appear within the Messenger app in between conversations.
Google	Text Ads	Ads appearing on Google Search results consist of a headline and description text.
	Responsive Display Ads	Ads that automatically adjust their size, appearance, and format to fit available ad spaces.
	Product Shopping Ads	Ads that showcase products with an image, title, price, and store name.
	Video Ads	Ads that appear before or during YouTube content.
	App Campaign Ads	Promotes mobile apps across Google’s Search, Play, YouTube, and the Google Display Network.
	Local Service Ads	Ads for local service providers appear at the top of Google Search, with business details and reviews.

However, Google ads are the most used PPC platform due to the search ads.

PPC Marketing cost

When it comes to marketing costs, you can never find the exact numbers online because four variables will decide how much PPC marketing costs.

Your ad spending budget, a.k.a how much you want to spend on ads,
Costs of PPC advertiser/marketing agency
Your keyword targeting strategy, because you will find keywords with cost-per-click as low as $1 and as high as $50.
Other additional requirements

But just to add some perspective, you need at least $2000 a month for PPC ads. This will cover the ad spend and a very basic PPC ads agency or freelancer because the basic retainer rates are anywhere from $500 to $1000 a month.

Furthermore, some agencies charge based on your ad spend. It means they will charge you a certain percentage of the ad spend. The average range goes from 12% to 17%.

However, this model is found more in premium agencies, smaller agencies, and freelancers, who mostly charge on a monthly retainer basis.

PPC vs. SEO

Business owners are often confused when it comes to investment in marketing, like which is the best channel, paid vs. organic, and whatnot.

PPC is not spared from that discussion either.

The two most common questions people have about PPC are:

Is PPC Marketing better than SEO?

Definitely, yes, when you are facing a time constraint. See, if you need sales today, you can’t wait for six months to rank on some low search volume keyword on the top 10 positions on the Google search engine result page.

Furthermore, the question is not about PPC Marketing or SEO. It is “ when to PPC and parallelly SEO.”

Is PPC Marketing cheaper than SEO?

Yes! It is not even a question if you know how to do PPC yourself or if you hire a good agency.

But if you fail in both. Your PPC campaign is dead.

Oftentimes, the reason for this comparison is that people compare the cost of one campaign to one blog. And this comparison is horrible.

Both are different in all possible dimensions of marketing, whether it’s time, ROI, or results. But I strongly advocate for the fact that PPC is way cheaper than SEO because, when done right, it gives you quicker, better, and more direct results.

If you don’t have that kind of investment right now, start with a blog or social media.

Never pause marketing for any reason, money, time, or anything. If you feel money constraints, do free marketing. If you feel that you don’t have time, use money to buy back time.

Just keep doing what you can to market your business.