Unlike with Facebook P.P.C., the clicks/interactions resulting from a Google AdWords campaign originate exclusively from keywords, the corresponding phrases of which are chosen by you, the campaign manager. This offers you the ability to cast an incredibly wide net of search terms relating to how you think your customers are looking for you, then cull the ones that turn out to be ineffective. Google’s Keyword Planner tool (a free service that’s part of the AdWords network) can even help you discover keywords pertaining to your business that you might never even have thought of otherwise.

You Only Pay For Results

One of the biggest selling points of P.P.C. advertising is that your credit card is only billed it people actually click on your ad. What this means is that Google affords you an essentially unlimited trial and error period to fool around with different keywords and demographic targeting options until you get it right. It’s a very compelling case on Google’s part: Despite having a more expensive average cost-per-click ratio than Facebook, the AdWords network offers exposure to a much wider range of users (ie. everyone in the world who uses Google) and allows you to direct them to specific pages within your site. The same performance-based billing applies to the Google Display Network, which is the section of AdWords that allows you to showcase full image ads on an extensive range of popular websites that your potential customers could be browsing.

Campaign Segmentation

Let’s say, for example, that you work for a creative firm which offers an array of different web design and online marketing services, and that you want to market them separately under one campaign in the AdWords network. Not only does Google allow and encourage this, they make managing multiple ads quite easy. You could create one about web design, one for social media management, one for back end development (etc.), then track their respective performances both individually and in the context of the whole campaign. You can also assign different budget for different ads within a campaign, focusing the bulk of your spend on products and services that you’re trying to push more than others.

As we’ve explored in previous posts, business owners around the world are increasingly leveraging the tremendous marketing power of Facebook en masse. In terms of advertising value, it’s built in Adverts Manager and pay per click management system offer serious bang for your buck, coming in cheaper than Google Adwords and with far more targeting options than Twitter.

To take advantage of Facebook advertising, you must understand the basics of the pay per click (PPC) model. In a nutshell, it allows you to create custom text and image ads for your business (to Facebook’s specifications), then display them in the sidebar or newsfeed of a targeted demographic of users that you select based on your own market research. The beauty of the model is that you get to set your own budget (minimum of $2.50 per day), and you’re only charged if and when someone clicks on your ad. Now that we’ve covered that, lets go over a couple of useful tips that’ll help you get the most out of your PPC budget:

Understand The Difference Between Sidebar Ads & Promoted Posts

The two main types of ads on Facebook are sidebar ads and what are known as “promoted posts”. Though they share similar budgeting options, their visual differences are distinct and they serve different purposes depending on your business’s goals.

Sidebar ads are exactly what the name implies: Static ads that appear on the right-hand side of a user’s newsfeed. Comprised of a 100w x 72h-pixel image, a headline with a maximum of 25 characters and a text blurb with a maximum of 90 characters. Though these specs might sound constraining, they actually encourage you to distil your message into something punchy and succinct, which ultimately convinces more people to click through. Ultimately, sidebar ads are most suited for increasing brand awareness and generating fans (page “Likes”); not necessarily for promoting a specific offer.

Promoted posts are business ads that appear directly in users’ news feed, allowing for longer, more detailed messaging. They show up just as a normal post from an individual user would, only that they’ll be flanked with the word “sponsored”, indicating to everyone that it’s a paid ad. These are typically more effective than sidebar ads at generating interest in a specific offer, but not always as good for driving more page “Likes”. There is no text limit, and the image can be any size.

Ideally, your Facebook PPC campaign should feature a strategic mix of both sidebar ada and promoted posts for maximum effectiveness.

Tinker With Your Ads Frequently To Get It Right

One of the cool things about the Facebook Adverts Manager is the ability to change the content of your sidebar ads as many times as you want within the timeframe of a campaign. What this means is that if a particular ad isn’t performing well, you don’t have to wait til the end of the campaign cycle to test out another one: you can just edit it and apply the changes immediately.

With this freedom, you can essentially use a live ad as not only an advertisement, but a testing ground to see what works for future ads. With a minimum daily budget of $2.50 ($75 per month), altering unsuccessful ads will hardly break the bank and you’ll know what not to do next time.

Managing pay per click on Facebook is user-friendly, but also time consuming, and the demographic targeting system can be complicated to those unversed in social media. If you’re unsure about the benefits of outsourcing your business’s Facebook marketing, check out our previous post on finding the right social media management services.

Image Credit: Found U B4

Pay-Per-Click

Pay-per-click or PPC is one of the most popular forms of Internet advertising. In PPC, marketers pay their publisher only when a user clicks on their ad. Commonly done through search engines, PPC allows you to target your audience through keywords that relate to your small business. Ideally, this kind of advertising places a link to your company’s website in front of people who are looking for what you have to offer. The beauty of PPC is that, even though you’re only paying for people who are actually interested, you can still reach a sizeable audience. You can also get a bigger bang for your buck, and increase your conversion rate, by sending “clickers” to a specialized landing page offering a free related resource, such as an eBook. An easy-to-navigate PPC option is Google AdWords.

Local Listings

Local listings are a simple, effective, often free way to guarantee that your small business is showing up on the Web. Establishing, maintaining and expanding local business listings makes it much more likely your company will appear in related search results. Resources such as Google’s Places for Business, the Yellow Pages online, Yahoo Local, Bing Local and Yabsta’s own jurisdictional platform allow you to advertise to customers in your area. Some even let you add photos, videos and current promotions, all things that attract and engage potential customers. Reach an even wider audience by optimizing your listings for a relevant keyword, such as “Toronto digital agency.”

Guest Blogging

Guest blogging is another incredibly useful tool for small businesses (is there anything blogging can’t do?). This low-cost technique involves crafting valuable, interesting posts and submitting them to relevant websites within your industry niche. Aim to build trust and credibility – you want to position yourself as an industry leader. Avoid blatant self-promotion and instead focus on content that relates to your services and products. Utilize guest blogging to forge partnerships with other companies and get your name out there. Always remember to return the favour on your website.

In today’s digital world, business communication doesn’t need to be expensive to be effective. Pay-per-click campaigns, local listings and guest blogging are three ways to be seen by users without breaking the bank, which is especially important if you’re just starting out. If you’d like to learn more about advertising for small businesses, check out our posts on banner ad design and integrating popular print and Web tactics.

Image Credit: Morningstar Multimedia