Even after you get your ecommerce website up and running, there are still a lot of things to be done before you hit your stride as a successful, profiting business. One great way to build momentum and bring people into your website is through advertising. There are plenty of different ways to advertise for your business, but when it comes to ecommerce, there are two primary forms of advertising: PPC and programmatic. Both are incredibly beneficial forms of advertising, but what sets them apart from each other?
This article will discuss the differences and similarities between PPC and programmatic advertisements and the strategies that go along with them. Both forms of advertising are effective and worthwhile for particular types of businesses or brands. While we may not be able to settle the debate over programmatic vs PPC advertising, we will at the very least try to determine when both ad types are most useful. Additionally, we will touch on Google ads and the ways that they can serve as a helpful addition to your advertising campaign.
What are PPC Ads?
Let’s start by discussing what PPC advertising actually is. PPC stands for Pay Per Click, and it is one way to measure your advertising budget easily and target interested web users. Specifically, PPC is a great way to connect you with searchers who are looking for your products. PPC advertisements appear on search results, so customers will immediately see your website when they search for the right terms.
With PPC, you pay for the use of specific keywords. Keywords are phrases and terms that people type into a search engine. A lot of different keywords will likely connect to your products or your company as a whole. When it comes to Pay-Per-Click, you get to choose the keywords you want to focus on advertising for. Keywords all cost different amounts, which can be tricky if you choose a couple of extremely expensive ones. However, the right company can help you find the best keywords for your products. SEO Design Chicago specializes in ecommerce advertising like PPC and programmatic ads.
When it comes to Programmatic vs PPC, PPC is built to be beneficial for customer acquisition and budgeting. Because you are spending money on advertising based mainly on keywords and frequency, you get full control over when and where your advertisements pop up. This is especially helpful for companies that are just getting started or have a limited advertising budget. These ads are also built to draw in new customers who are interested in products like the ones your company sells. You can raise your traffic and keep your budget low with PPC.
Effective PPC Advertising
Just like any form of advertising, PPC takes an effective strategy to be successful. Here are a few tips on how to build a strong PPC advertising campaign:
Keyword Research
As previously mentioned, keywords are the way that advertisements pop up onto search engine results pages (SERPs). In order to have an effective ad campaign, you need to make sure you do quality research and find the best variety of keywords possible. Look through basic search terms, but don’t forget about long-tail keywords, or keywords that are 3 to 5 words long. Long-tail keywords make up the majority of search traffic, so it is especially important to target the right ones for your products.
Measuring Ads
Make sure you are always checking in on your advertisements and properly measuring them. If you are using Google, then Google’s analytics feature should allow you to easily keep track of how often your ads are being viewed and clicked on. This can help you measure how effective your advertising campaign actually is. If something is not working the way you want, you can easily reevaluate and move forward with new strategies in order to keep your ads working to their fullest potential.
SMART Goals
Before you get started with your campaign and as it continues along, make sure your goals for your PPC ads always follow the acronym SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based. This is an easy way of making sure your goals are not only achievable but well-thought out and helpful to your entire business’s success.
What Are Programmatic Ads?
In the debate between programmatic vs PPC advertising, the conversation must now swing toward programmatic advertisements. In its simplest form, programmatic advertising is a great way to buy and sell ads based on data. The goal of the system is to allow you to purchase advertisements with less human interaction, but also with less error.
The heart of programmatic advertising is data collection and analysis. It is all about information. It allows you to focus your advertisements on specific demographics, whether they be by age, gender, or even zip code. You can gather insight into the habits of your target consumers and learn about the best ways to advertise to them based on data. This system is all about efficiency.
The benefits of programmatic advertising are many. You are able to get a high Return on Investment (ROI) by targeting advertisements very specifically. You are also able to successfully monitor data in real time, so you can make updates as they are needed instead of relying on old information. Thirdly, the system is incredibly cost efficient because it cuts out the middle man. The fewer people involved, the less money you have to spend.
The one unfortunate element of programmatic advertising is that due to its reliance on automated data collection, it can sometimes be susceptible to ad fraud like spam, ad stacking, and bot traffic. You have to be very careful when working with programmatic ad systems to make sure that you are protected from this false data.
Effective Programmatic Advertising
Just like with PPC ads, it is important to make sure you use programmatic advertising carefully in order to get the best solutions. Here are a couple of tips and ways that programmatic advertisements can change the game for your business:
The Active Pixel Program
One of the best ways to work with programmatic advertising is to partner with the Active Pixel Program, available only through SEO Design Chicago. The Active Pixel Program is a proprietary type of programmatic advertising that has been created and specialized by our team. We cannot tell you everything about it, just in case our competitors are watching, but we can give you some insight into our program. There are four primary components that we focus on: Demand-Side Platform, Supply-Side Platform, Data Management Platform, and Ad Exchange. We are able to bring the best elements of all of these categories into one clear and easy-to-use package.
Target Widely
As mentioned before, in the debate between programmatic vs PPC, there are a lot of benefits to programmatic advertising. One of these benefits is the immensely large level of targeting available to advertisers. Programmatic advertisements are able to target based on context, behaviors, location, and even device. One of the best ways to fully take advantage of programmatic advertising is to ensure that you do not forget about any type of targeting. Utilize every opportunity and targeting type available to you in order to gain the best results.
PPC and Programmatic vs. Google Ads
In the debate of PPC vs Programmatic advertising strategies, you may have already considered another competitor that has the potential to enter the ring. Google’s advertising program is incredibly strong and has a lot of support from businesses across the globe. So, what sets it apart? Is it truly as strong of an option as PPC or programmatic ads?
It may surprise you to learn, but Google’s ad system is actually just a different type of Pay Per Click advertising. The only thing that really makes it stand out is the fact that because it is through Google, you automatically have the additional connectivity and benefits of working with other Google products and services. Working with Google’s PPC system might be helpful because of your access to the Google Display Network, where you can advertise outside of just the SERPs, but there are plenty of other avenues to take in order to best market your company.
Crafting The Perfect Ads
Before you choose to work with Google Ads because it is an easily accessible option, don’t forget about the other great ways that you can advertise for your ecommerce platform. At SEO Design Chicago, we are a team of ecommerce professionals. We specialize in a variety of different website and ecommerce aids, from helping you design your website for SEO to offering you our own special PPC system, the Active Pixel Program. Ecommerce advertising is our bread and butter. We have extensive training and experience in building both PPC and programmatic ads to help your company reach its full potential. That means setting you up for advertising success.
Join us today at SEO Design Chicago for the best ways to advertise your ecommerce website to the world. Experience increased traffic, increased revenue, and a well-maintained budget with our team.
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