Week 9: PPC Marketing

I remember the first time I heard PPC, CPC, ROAS, CAC, and CPM all mentioned in the same class. I was so confused because there were so many C’s and P’s!

Let me define each term real quick:

  • PPC (Pay Per Click): This is how much you pay when someone clicks on your ad to visit your website.
  • CPC (Cost Per Conversion): This refers to how much you spend on marketing per person who makes a purchase.
  • ROAS (Return On Ad Spend): This is the ratio of how much revenue you generate on average for every dollar spent on ads.
  • CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost): This is the average amount of money you spend on marketing to acquire a new customer.
  • CPM (Cost Per 1,000 Impressions): This is how much you pay for 1,000 impressions, where an impression means someone simply sees your ad.

These are all parts of PPC Advertising, or Pay Per Click Marketing.

Now, let me explain how PPC ads work. When you create an ad, there are several ways to set it up. From what I’ve learned, Pay Per Click is the most common payment model, especially on Google. Here’s how it works:

When you run an ad, platforms like Google will do their best to show it to people who are most likely to be interested in it. These instances are called impressions. If someone clicks on your ad and visits your website, that’s a click—and that’s when you pay. Platforms count the number of clicks your ad gets and charge you based on that. If a visitor who clicks on your website ends up making a purchase, that’s a conversion.

Here’s the flow:
Impression → Click → Conversion

These three metrics—impressions, clicks, and conversions—are used to calculate the formulas mentioned earlier.

Best Practices for Pay Per Click Advertising

  1. Choose the Right Platform
    • Google Ads: Ideal for reaching people who are actively searching for your product or related topics. Keywords are essential for Google Ads.
    • Social Media: Perfect for targeting specific demographics and educating users about your product, even if they aren’t actively looking for it.
    • LinkedIn: Best for B2B advertising, where you target other businesses.
  2. Select the Right Keywords Through Keyword Research
    • Use keyword planner tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush.
    • Focus on keywords with high search volume and low competition.
    My professors shared two strategies:
    • My Google Ads professor suggested starting with shorter, broader keywords and narrowing down to longer, more specific ones over time as you identify what works.
    • My website business creation professor recommended the opposite if you have a lower ad budget: start with niche, longer keywords to target a smaller but more relevant audience.
  3. Create Quality and High-Converting Ads
    • Design high-quality ads that address customers’ problems and clearly highlight the benefits of your product.
    • Include strong CTAs (Call To Action), such as “Buy Today!”
  4. Eliminate Waste
    • Set up multiple ad campaigns, ad groups, and individual ads. Continuously monitor and eliminate underperforming ads to find the ones that work best and give you the highest ROAS.

Works Cited

Shewan, Dan. “What Is PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Advertising and How Does It Work?” SEMrush Blog, 15 Sept. 2023, www.semrush.com/blog/what-is-ppc/. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.