Does paid advertising really work? In today’s article, we’ll discuss how Cost per click (CPC) advertising benefits a startup and how you can use it for your marketing campaign. Read on!

As consumerism evolves, so do the tactics of marketers. Gone are the days that people only feed off what the traditional media entices them with. We’re now dealing with a generation that has lots of choices. From favorite colored shoes to customized outfits, the Internet has expanded each consumer’s options. This means the competition is stiffer, and brands have to work twice as hard to stand out.

On the bright side, the Internet has also expanded all the ways you can reach and interact with people. One post on social media can go viral and help your brand become a household name. You may not be able to predict which posts will click with your audience, but you certainly can control how often they’ll see them. This strategy, in particular, has gained traction in recent years.

Cost per click has become a go-to method for marketers to expand their online presence and reach a wider demographic. The idea of cost per click involves tapping into popular online platforms that have millions of active users. For example, Facebook has over 2 billion monthly active users. Running an ad on the network will certainly boost your exposure. But before we break down all the nitty-gritty of CPC, let’s first understand how paid advertising truly works and how it benefits a brand.

Paid Advertising

Paid advertising is an advertising model wherein a brand pays a platform to promote a product. Unlike owner or earned advertising, it doesn’t rely on customers finding the brand but intentionally reaching them.

Ever wondered how that Facebook ad knew you were into white maxi dresses recently? They seem to know what type of websites you’ve been browsing through lately.

Thanks to the advancement of technology such as Data and Machine Learning (ML), advertisers can now strategize on what type of ads their customers will get. It’s now easier to find, target, monitor, and reach new audiences based on their activities. You can see it commonly used in social media marketing.

Advertisers use paid advertising for the following reasons.

Brand awareness

People recognize what they often see. If your business ad appears in their news feed regularly, they will start to associate with a particular product. If your shampoo and conditioner ad has frequently been on their feed, they’re most likely to think of your store next time they want to purchase those products. This kind of association is valuable in establishing your online presence and credibility. It also drives engagement and purchasing behavior.

Lead generation

The great thing about paid ads is having the ability to filter who sees them. Your ad will appear on the platforms your target demographic uses. This is a genius strategy to collect leads from the target market. For example, if you run a contest to win freebies of your products, then you get great leads with every entry on the deal.

Website traffic

What’s the point of a great website if its target audience is not visiting it? Let’s face it unless you advertise your site; only a few people will get to see it. Paid advertising drives traffic to your site by convincing them first-hand it’s worth looking into. A unique and creative banner that says click here will surely lead more people to your website.

Audience engagement

Running a paid ad will boost your engagement with customers. You get to interact with them through their inquiries about your product. Nothing beats directly pitching to customers to patronize your product. A great customer experience will leave a long-lasting impression, hence, repeat buying.

Market insights

Want to learn what clicks? The advantage of digital marketing is you get to study consumer behavior. It allows you to observe how your customers make decisions on their purchases.

It is important to understand what they want and need to buy a product. This insight will help you strategize your promotions based on how potential customers respond to a new product or service. It also helps identify what areas need improvement.

What is CPC?

Cost per click, also known as pay per click (PPC), is a type of paid online advertising. CPC determines the cost of an ad based on the times a visitor clicks on it.

It plays a significant factor in choosing bidding strategies and conversion bidding types. This maximizes clicks to fit the budget size and the target keywords.

Remember those ads you see when you’re watching a Youtube video? Or how about the little banner that pop-ups when you’re shopping? Every time you click on them, brands pay for it.

How does it work?

A CPC ad runs on a set daily budget. When it hits the budget, the ad is automatically removed from the rotation for the rest of the billing period. For example, you can set a CPC rate of 10 cents, and if that ad reaches around 1000 clicks, the bill would be $100. The amount can be set to a formula or through a bidding process.

These are the common types of ads used in CPC advertising.

• Text ad
• Video clip
• Graphic ad
• Shopping ad
• Twitter promoted ad
• Facebook ad
• Instagram ad
• LinkedIn ad

Tips on CPC Advertising

Paid advertising is a tricky trade. Doing too much can turn off customers while doing too little might take you off people’s radar. It’s a balancing act between getting the right amount of attention for the right reasons. So, here are some things to remember when you’re using CPC advertising.

Don’t overdo it

Your ad can be crazy awesome, or crazily annoying. Pop-up ads can annoy customers more than entice them. You have to be mindful of where you’re placing your ads and when they’re showing up.

People are already estimated to encounter around 10,000 ads in their daily browsing, You don’t want to overwhelm them with information overload. Ensure your ad won’t be another inconvenient tab they want to close.

Manage ads

Following the first point about producing thoughtful ads is you should also keeping track of them. You can’t just advertise and then cross your fingers that it will do well. You need to monitor its performance and change the ad management setting accordingly.

For example, changing the publishing schedule to peak hours. Yes, you can control who sees the ad, when it will be seen, and how it will be seen. Learn how to maximize the ad management filters of whichever platform you choose.

Budget it

The timeless question every entrepreneur encounters, “can we afford it?” To pay or not to pay is the ever-consistent dilemma in every major spending decision. How much is your marketing budget? And, how much of it are you willing to invest in paid advertising?

CPC gives you a lot of flexible options in payment. You can pay for ads regularly or do it when the occasion calls for it. Make sure you’re not putting your hard-earned money to waste. Compute how much your CPC would be based on the duration and type of campaign you want to run.

Commit to it

Perhaps one of the most overlooked parts about paid advertising is the commitment it requires. Some business owners eventually take the strategy for granted once they’ve hit their goals in sales.

On the contrary, you have to push through with your campaign consistently and to the finish line. You can’t leave a marketing campaign incomplete or else it will damage your brand. See to it that you can finish whatever campaign you started, paid or unpaid.

Build your Brand with Full Scale

When it comes to building an online presence, you’ll need all the basics covered. From creating social media accounts to building a reliable website, your startup will need a good foundation before diving into advertising. After all, a good ad can only do so much if your website doesn’t provide a great user experience. This is why it’s crucial to invest in all your foundation.

Full Scale helps businesses by providing them with the essentials. Whether you need an impressive website or you plan to run a marketing campaign, we can help you! We have seasoned developers, managers, creatives, and QA specialists ready to be deployed at your service. So, if you want to reach your business goals faster, talk to us!