You likely already know the importance of running Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns to help drive traffic to your website. Not only is this a great way to quickly spearhead marketing efforts to bring in new customers who are interested in your products or services, but it can also be an excellent method for getting your name out in the marketplace and building a positive reputation.
However, many brands that are new to paid advertising wonder whether to choose paid search or paid social media. The truth? The right choice depends on what you hope to accomplish and who you’re targeting.
What is PPC Advertising?
Traditional pay-per-click (PPC) advertising generally uses major search engines such as Google to drive traffic to web pages and businesses online. Advertising this way has become a necessary part of any digital marketing campaign.
- People use Google and similar sites to make specific product searches compared to social media. This is a great advantage because you can instantly reach your target consumer.
- PPC advertising is flexible in terms of budget options. For instance, marketers can disperse budgets based on device type.
- PPC ads focus on relevant, high-quality ads and user experiences.
What is Paid Social Media Advertising?
Paid social media advertising places ads on social platforms like Facebook, TikTok,X/Twitter, and other social media platforms to drive traffic or users to websites and businesses – 1.55 billion people use social platforms each month.
- Extremely specific audiences and demographic targeting often create a lower cost per click (CPC) compared to traditional Google Ads advertising that uses keywords to determine relevancy and ad rank.
- Marketers can use the unique availability of information to optimize ad campaigns. Users unknowingly offer a plethora of personal and demographic data that is unusual to find anywhere else and can be invaluable to marketers.
- Social media sites are compatible with full-scale mobile advertising. Mobile advertising revenue constitutes approximately 51.2% of total ad revenue for marketers, per emarketer data.
- Interactive, high-quality ads give these campaigns an indisputable edge in the marketing industry. Marketers can move beyond traditional text ads on these social platforms and use graphics and videos to help promote their business. This expands on the interactive quality of the ads and increases efficacy.
When Is Paid Search an Ideal Choice?
In some instances, paid search is an ideal choice for driving traffic to your website and business. This is generally a lower-funnel conversion play, as your audience is directly looking on a search engine for what you’re offering.
Paid search can be especially useful if you want to engage with customers who are already using a smartphone or computer to find products or services that are related to your business. A great example of this would be a landscaping company. Most people looking for someone to mow their lawns or trim their shrubs use Google to find a contractor in their area. In this instance, paid search will probably get you farther than paid social. Try using a responsive search ad to see results.
When Is Paid Social a Better Idea?
While paid search is often instrumental to a successful digital marketing campaign, there are times when paid social media is more effective. This is considered a higher funnel awareness play, as the goal is to get your brand in front of customers who weren’t looking for you in the first place.
The benefit here is that you can reach a high number of targeted customers at a low cost. This is a great approach if you’re offering something new to the market, or your business is entirely online. For example, if you’re opening a new yoga studio, paid social would be an easy way to get the word out to a large audience that is both qualified and interested.
Questions to Ask When Deciding Between Paid Search and Paid Social
Deciding between paid search and paid social doesn’t have to be that difficult. Really, it comes down to asking yourself two key questions:
- What Are Your Goals and Objectives? Knowing your business’s goals and objectives is important when deciding what type of campaign to run. If you want to reach people who are ready to purchase now, use paid search. If you’d like to get your name out there and be on their minds the next time they need what you’re offering, consider paid social advertising.
- Who Is Your Target Audience? Knowing what social media platform to choose when running paid social is also key. For example, if you’re targeting stay-at-home parents, you wouldn’t want to run a large campaign on LinkedIn. Instead, you would likely look at paid ads on Facebook or Pinterest as an alternative.
Of course, there’s a lot more that goes into this decision, such as your budget and the necessary timeframe for results. Additionally, there may be times when running both paid search and paid social makes the most sense. At the end of the day, it’s best to work with an experienced Pay-Per-Click team to develop strategic, effective campaigns.
If you’re ready to take the leap into paid media advertising, Zero Gravity Marketing can help. Contact us today to learn more about our services!
About the Author
Daniel Hamilton
