I didn't start out as a Pay Per Click (PPC) consultant. In fact, quite the opposite; I was a small business owner, juggling marketing and sales responsibilities along with everything else that goes into running a business. One of my frustrations back then was lead generation. We had good products, good service and a great team, but it seemed to me we spent a lot of time and too much money, trying to get in front of the right people.
We went to trade shows, sent direct mail, ran ads, sent press releases, etc. Of course, some of these tactics worked some of the time, but even when they did, it always felt random. Often, I couldn't help but notice that many of the things we did seemed to have no impact at all.
Enter Pay Per Click. With this new, Internet-based tool, I discovered a lead generation approach that worked consistently. An approach that let me target an audience, manage my spending, track my results, refine my tactics and, most importantly, generate leads.
In fact, I became so convinced of PPC's value, that today, all of my work is focused on helping other small businesses benefit from this tactic. If you've heard of PPC and are intrigued by what it has to offer, this brief white paper is for you.
What is PPC?
If you've ever done a Google or Yahoo search, you've seen PPC advertisements. Also known as "sponsored links," these ads appear at the very top and along the right side of search results. In brief, here's how it works:
Advertisers bid on the terms ("keywords") that they anticipate searchers will use in conducting a search. When the search results appear on the page, the advertisers' ads also appear, in the form of short, text ads. When a searcher clicks on one of these ads, he is taken to the advertiser's site.
The more money an advertiser bids on a term, and the more relevant his ad is to the keyword used in the search, the more prominently his ads are displayed. Advertisers pay only when their ads are clicked - that's why it's called "Pay Per Click."
What makes PPC so effective in generating leads?
There are several elements that go into making PPC an ideal lead generation tool for small businesses.
1. Pay Per Click users ask to see your ads.
Most advertising is "interruption based" - it inserts itself in front of you as you're going about your daily life, whether that's watching a television program, driving in traffic or waiting on hold for customer support. It's somewhat effective certainly, but it's limited, because the people who see these ads are preoccupied with other things.
Pay Per Click advertisements, on the other hand, are delivered at the precise moment that a prospect is looking for information and in perfect alignment with the search topic in question. PPC users have, in effect, asked to see your ads - ads which arrive on time and on topic, as they search for information. As a result, PPC users are highly engaged in the process.
It's no wonder that B2B Magazine's "2006 Media Power 50" ranks Google as #2; second only to The Wall Street Journal, and ahead of both Forbes and The New York Times (Yahoo was ranked #7).
2. Pay Per Click is perceived as "better" by your prospects.
In the days before the Internet, small businesses relied heavily on bookshelves filled with directories and piles of old trade journals, as a means of finding products and services. If a quote on a particular item was needed, these files would be consulted, in the hope of finding the information or solution needed.
PPC has changed all that. It's available anywhere at any time; to anyone with a web connection. The end result is that the speed and convenience of Internet search has eliminated the need to store information "just in case." It's more efficient to simply look for it when you need it, and today, the Internet is where your prospects turn.
Additionally, PPC - because it presents ads alongside the impartial results delivered by the search engines - is perceived by information searchers as being highly credible. In effect, Google and its search engine peers have created an advertising model in which the line between pure search and paid results is blurred. As a result, searchers consider these ads to be more independent and credible than ads in other media.
How have accessibility and perceived objectivity impacted the popularity of PPC? A 2004 Enquiro survey found that 93.4% of respondents use the internet to research B2B purchase decisions, and of these, 63.9% said that search engines are the first place they turn to.
3. Pay Per Click works in real time.
When you advertise the conventional way - via trade journals, direct mail, tradeshows, etc. - it takes time to ramp up and time to ramp down. You simply can't turn on a dime. For example, if you place an ad in a magazine, not only is the required lead time several weeks in advance, but once the ad runs - even if it is failing miserably - you can't shut it off until next month. In general, the only way to jump in with conventional advertising is with both feet.
Compare that to the PPC model. Here, not only do you control - in real time - when your ad starts and when your ad stops, you can make changes to it on the fly, literally adjusting your ad program based on real time expenditures and results. While conventional, offline advertising works within a timeframe of weeks, PPC is a medium that operates in terms of hours.
4. Pay Per Click lets you spend your ad money precisely.
One of the things which fueled my ad spending disappointment in the days before PPC was knowing that much of the money was wasted. For example, whenever I placed an ad in a trade journal, I knew full well that only a fraction of those reading it had an interest in my products. And, of those, only a fraction would notice the ad and still fewer would respond.
With PPC on the other hand, the advertiser only pays for the ads that are clicked on, regardless of how many people read the ad or, frankly, never even notice it. If they click you pay; if they don't it's free. This means that if I sell "left-handed blue widgets," I can target - and only pay for - the small group of people who want that product, rather than the entire world of potential widget users. It's like placing an ad in a print publication and only paying based on the number of people who read it and take action. In terms of precision spending, that's incredibly efficient.
5. Pay Per Click removes the mystery.
When you run PPC advertising, you receive immediate, dead-on accurate reporting. You can see which ads, which key words and which bid amounts result in clicks and conversions. You can track ROI; not only by product, but by key word and landing page as well. All this information is available in real time, and easily downloaded and formatted into useful reports.
In contrast to the ambiguity often associated with offline advertising results, with PPC, you have the information you need in the time frame you need it, allowing you to make adjustments quickly. The result? Fewer wasted dollars and more immediate results, a combination which allows you to monitor and improve ROI swiftly.
In summary, Pay Per Click truly is the best thing to happen to the small business advertiser in quite some time. It's cost effective, measurable, easy to manage and puts you in front of your most important prospects at precisely the time they are searching for your product or service. As a lead generation tool, you couldn't ask for anything better.
John Grant is president of Take Aim Search (
www.takeaimsearch.com), a search engine marketing company specializing in pay-per-click lead generation for small and medium-sized companies.