Let’s Take a Step Back and Have a Broader Look on PPC Marketing Today
PPC as a marketing channel emerged from search marketing. In the early days not many knew what that is and were able to ride the wave for a long time ripping profits we won’t see again. Overture (then bought by Yahoo), Google, MSN all coined the term PPC (pay per click). That is what we were all accustomed to for many years. But is that the whole reach?
Pay per click search engine marketing was largely used by affiliate marketers due to its simplicity and low entrance level. Big companies could afford offline advertising, banner ads, email marketing. Little guy like affiliate had the best shot at search PPC. But when Google started kicking out thousands upon thousands of affiliates out of its advertising platform in 2009/2010 things shifted a little bit. Affiliate marketers and business owners realized how unstable and untrustworthy relationship with companies like Google can be. So the poor started searching for other ways to monetize. And to their surprise 3 search engines were not the only PPC services on the internet. Something changed. Now the world became a little wider than before.
No longer are you bound to the search marketing. Cost effective marketing campaigns that don’t require large investment can be successfully managed outside of the search engines. So let’s look at your options today, shall we:
- Contextual PPC Platforms – These are basically media buying platforms designed for all size users. With investments as little as $50, almost anyone can afford PPC. Places like Pulse360, Adsonar, AdBlade offer top quality traffic at affordable prices. No it’s not search, but rather contextual advertising. Targeting by sites, categories or user demographics is a breeze.
- Contextual Keyword Bidding – Just like Google’s content network, many large networks offer contextual keyword targeted bidding platforms. Not only you can choose from specific sites or directories, you can select broad keywords. It’s not as accurate as search marketing, but can produce lower CPA’s and better effectiveness of a campaign.
- Social PPC Marketing – Myspace and later Facebook changed the way people use internet. Well not exactly, but they put a large imprint in web history. Largest social networks offer auction based media buying at PPC and CPM rates. This makes it easy for anyone to reach out local or global user base with unheard of targeting options.
- Direct PPC Site Buys – While 97% of website owners will charge you CPM rates or monthly fees, some will agree to do PPC based media buys. It requires more effort to approach each site individually, but rewards are usually higher giving you better ROI and virtually no competition.
- Large Ad Networks – Just because you see CPM’s in their rate cards doesn’t mean it’s all there is to it. Negotiation skills come in handy here. Some networks will agree on PPC based pricing model if you negotiate a good deal. This is always a better option when first testing the campaign.
These places can provide even better quality traffic than search engines. While it’s not as simple as bidding on a keyword and offering a related solution, it is one of the few ways to grow beyond leaps and bounds.
Search marketing campaigns are limited. Limited by the number of searchers there are for any given keyword. When you reach the ceiling, your only option is to expand to other search engines. And there’s only major 2 at the time of writing. But contextually based or socially based networks have no limits. If your campaigns has broad appeal, you can target even unrelated demographics to make conversions. Large scale media buying is the only way to take your whole business to a new level. So stop thinking in terms of search engines and expand your mind to new possibilities with these billion impressions serving networks.
