As social networks continue to unveil new social media advertising tools, brands have found themselves scrambling to keep up. This has no doubt raised the question which advertising platform should brands be using: social media advertising or traditional pay-per-click (PPC).
According to a report by eMarketer social media ads only represent about 14% of digital ad spending. What this tells us is that although you may feel like you’re falling behind it’s worth noting that many businesses are just starting to explore this avenue of advertising.
This may seem like a very small percentage but when you consider that social media ad spending is likely to exceed $35 billion in 2017 you shouldn’t throw it out just yet. As this means of advertising continues to evolve its proving to be quite popular in the Business to Business space for a number of reasons:
- Social ads are very visual this gives advertisers more options and allows them to incorporate more video into their campaigns.
- Social ads are perfect if your target market spends a lot of time on social networks.
- Social ads are generally quite affordable, meaning you can test out what works and what doesn’t without breaking the bank
It’s not all sunshine and roses though, social media advertising does have its down side, for one you will you’re likely to reach your customer too early in the sales cycle because your ad will probably be seen by your customer when they’re not really looking to buy. This is where PPC comes in.
Social media marketing is the process of reaching prospects and customers, and acquiring traffic and visibility through social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many others. By utilizing the social aspect of the web, social media marketing is able to connect and interact on a much more personalized and dynamic level than through traditional marketing.
The power of PPC
When a person clicks on your PPC ad you know that there is a greater chance to convert them. This is because someone who inserts a keyword or phrase into a search engine is very clearly searching for something. They are in a state of mind where they are ready to click and buy much more than someone casually browsing through social media.
PPC advertising is also much more advanced than social media advertising, simply because it’s been around longer. Paid search platforms have had more time to refine their tools and develop important features that help advertisers with their campaigns.
When it comes down to it PPC advertising is probably a better advertising option for most but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t diversify your advertising efforts. A hybrid approach to your online advertising is probably a very good idea.
