Google AdWords is one of the top Pay Per Click (PPC) ad platforms on the web and in 2015, Google used it to distribute some $67.39 billion in digital ads. While AdWords is a platform that requires you to pay for every single click that you get, making it more expensive than SEO, content marketing, or earned marketing, it can offer measurable value to businesses of all sizes. While cost is one of the most common reasons why businesses do not use AdWords, the platform offers many advantages over other forms of digital marketing. Many small business owners think that they cannot compete with big businesses and big marketing budgets on AdWords, but that is not always true. If you have been steering clear of AdWords, or are still trying to make up your mind, these 5 benefits of Google AdWords may just change your perspective.
AdWords is Fully Measurable
While any PPC advertising platform will offer in-depth analytics, Google was one of the first to do so, and they lead the technology curve. AdWords allows you to track your sales and lead generation from their ads in a variety of ways. In fact, Google offers both single and multi-touch attribution, making it easy for you to pick an attribution model that offers you value. Multi-touch attribution allows you to see when your ads send a customer your way, even if they eventually become a buyer through your email campaign. This type of measurability makes it easier to track what you are getting from AdWords, so you can stay on top of your return on investment (ROI).
You Pay for What You Get
If you were taking out an ad in the newspaper you pay a set fee for that advertisement no matter what. If no one calls you, then you lose money. And that is a risk because you are simply showing your ad to everyone rather than a targeted audience. With PPC, you only pay for what you get, and in this case, what you get is traffic. While you are not paying for sales, you are paying for lead generation through targeted exposure, because you are targeting consumers who are actively looking for your products or services. 64.6% of search engine users click on Google Ads and that allows you to tailor your ad specifically to the people most likely to follow through on a purchase. While you are still paying for exposure, it is much more likely to generate sales than a general ad, and therefore much more likely to generate a return.
Businesses Can Target Their Exact Demographic
Targeting is crucial to seeing an ROI in PPC. Because you are paying for the click and not the conversion or the sale, you have to target your audience in order to ensure that your conversion rate remains as high as possible. Google gives you the tools to do so with a range of features. ‘Keyword targeting’ ensures that you can control who your search shows up for. You can also narrow your audience to your location, which creates value for brick and mortar stores and reduces competition with big businesses. Other tools allow you to display your ads at a certain time of the day (such as just before lunch for a food and catering), to specific age groups and genders, by language, based on whether they have visited your website before, and even by their browser or device. How does this help you? If you understand your demographic well, you can target your consumers to create a high conversion ad campaign that produces results.
Google AdWords Offers Fast Results
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the most popular form of digital marketing, usually because it is cheaper and requires less effort. However, SEO can take months or even a year to start working for your business and no amount of optimization will guarantee you the first spot on the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) for your keyword if you have a lot of competitors also doing SEO. AdWords and other PPC can send customers your way in a matter of hours or less. While the effectiveness of the campaign will depend on how well you have setup and targeted your audience, AdWords starts showing your ads immediately, and you will start getting relevant clicks right away.
Owners Have Complete Control Over Costs
Campaign owners can control everything from the maximum bid for an ad to their daily spend on the campaign, and this allows you to control costs to every dollar and cent. While some keywords come with high bids, and some are worth it, you can choose the keywords that fit into your budget and then set a daily maximum spend. Once you set it, you would not go over your desired budget, because Google will simply stop showing your ads when you hit your maximum spend.
Should you limit your campaign? Yes. Google ads do not promise sales from clicks, so it is important to start small and increase your ad spend as your conversions go up. Setting a marketing budget in advance allows you to decide your daily spend based on what you can afford. A larger budget might drive more consumers to your website or ad, but it would not necessarily generate sales to offset high ad costs right away.
Should You Do It?
Google AdWords is a valuable marketing tool that you can use to target consumers interested in your products or services, so you can generate leads and build sales. While AdWords initially comes off as expensive for most smaller startups, it can provide a high ROI, especially when you use AdWords tools correctly to target your campaigns. AdWords should be an essential part of your digital marketing, even if you are already using other types of marketing. It is an important channel for consumers to discover you when searching online.
