Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising can do more than simply create traffic for your website. If creatively executed, you can put the search engines to work for you and create a brand people can identify.

When it comes to PPC advertising solutions, Google AdWords is pretty much king. But since Google’s king of search engines, that’s really no surprise. Customers search Google more than any other search engine.

A recent study comparing AdWords to Yahoo Search Marketing noted that it’s often 50 percent cheaper to bid on keywords with AdWords. So not only is Adwords based on the most used search engine, but it also tends to be cheaper. That doesn’t mean you should only consider using AdWords. Using both Search Marketing and AdWords can be a good strategy. But if you’re operating on a small marketing budget, AdWords could help save some money.

PPC is designed to create traffic, but of course, like any advertising strategy it does have limitations. PPC can sometimes fail to bring business to companies competing with larger corporations. In other instances, you’ll fail to reach a receptive audience. Many searchers choose not to click on the paid search results, believing the organic results are going to be more relevant. And sometimes, you just can’t compete with the main keywords of your niche because the cost per click will simply be too expensive.

However, PPC advertising has many advantages over other internet advertising programs. Here are some key advantages to using PPC.

Shoestring Budget
It is possible to start a PPC campaign with a just a few bucks. With an endless supply of keywords and keyword phrases, you can generally build a localized or very niche, long-tail keyword campaign on a small budget. You might get fewer impressions, but when you do win the click you have a better chance of actually being what the search is looking for. Of course, if you’re looking to go after more generalized or popular keywords just as “books for sale” or “movie sales,” to compete you’ll need a much bigger budget.

Branding
If you want to build a brand, you need to market not only your services or products, but also your company. PPC is one of the best tools for getting your company name noticed. With PPC, your company name and ad will display at the top of the search engine when potential buyers search your keywords. Even if buyers don’t click on your ad, they are still seeing it, giving you free exposure.

Page Domination
Like I stated earlier, a lot of people choose not to click on the sponsored search results because they believe the organic to be more relevant. Well the opposite is true for another subset of searchers. Therefore, one of the best strategies for PPC advertising is to use it in conjunction with search engine optimization. This can give your website the potential to show up in the sponsored and organic search results, allowing you to dominate the search results and show that you are the true expert in your industry.

You may have never considered it, but in a way Pay-Per-Click and branding actually do go hand in hand. But with the amount of exposure search engines offer, it’s really quite simple. Your buyers are using them to find you, why not make it easier. A well executed PPC campaign can get you brand exposure, help you build your brand identity, establish you as an expert in your field and direct traffic to your website.

Just about every company is implementing cost-cutting measures to deal with the current recession. In many cases, companies are significantly cutting their advertising budget. A number of recent studies have come out that would suggest this is a significant mistake. Indeed, a recent research study by McGraw-Hill of 600 businesses found businesses that maintained or increased their ad spend saw higher sales growth during a recession and in the years following. The study found those who maintained or increased their ad budgets experienced a 256% increase in sales compared to those who cut their budgets.

Armed with this information, the prudent course would suggest a company maintain or increase its advertising budget during the current recession. Agree? Actually, this is a trick question. It’s similar to saying “practice makes perfect.” However, that’s simply not true. Only perfect practice makes perfect. This is also true of advertising. A significant amount of money can be easily wasted by advertising in the wrong media. For example, the phonebook is infrequently used to find business services. The go to source today has become Internet search engines. I doubt few would argue with this. Many of us use a search engine, like Google, every day. In my own case, which I believe is representative, I rarely use the phonebook to find goods and services. Today, Google is even used to find phone numbers. In effect, it has replaced the phonebook. Therefore, advertising in the phonebook would likely yield a poor return on investment.

Getting results in today’s economy

As the president of an Internet marketing company, it would be self-serving for me to suggest that search engine marketing is where a company should spend its advertising dollars. Not only would that be self-serving, but in my opinion it would be a half truth. Getting results in today’s recession economy requires a new approach. I believe the new mantra should be promotion during a recession, not simply advertising.

Obviously search engine advertising has its place and deserves serious consideration when developing your marketing communication plan. However, there are numerous other marketing, public relations and sales thrusts that deserve equal consideration.

Here are some to consider:

Search Engine Optimized Website

Every company, from a one-person consultancy to a Fortune 500 enterprise, needs a search engine optimized Website equal to or better than the competition they face in the marketplace. Let’s face reality. The go-to source for information has become Internet search engines. Having a competitive Website is simply not enough. Statistics show that approximately 90% of all Websites are found as the result of a search. Therefore, if your Website is not found in the search engines, and more specifically within the first two pages of search returns, your Website is virtually invisible. 65% of searches stop on the first page of search returns. Only 35% proceed to the second page. Seldom does anyone go further. Therefore, the first step in the new mantra of promotion is to have a search engine optimized Website equal to or better than the competition.

• Read more about search engine optimized web design. (http://www.iblogmarketing.com/2009/06/01/website-design-critical-to-business-success-online-and-off-line/)

Optimized Press Releases

Companies want to work with companies that are busy. They probably don’t teach that in the Harvard business school, but it’s a fact of life. One great way to demonstrate that the company is both busy and in the forefront of its industry is through the use of search engine optimized press releases. When done properly, the search engine optimized press release will rank highly in key news portals, such as Google News and Yahoo! News. Over 70% of journalists use news portals to keep abreast of the news in the industries they cover. In addition, search optimized press releases are picked up by numerous Websites throughout the Internet. This is also a great way to build link popularity (i.e. external links pointing to your Website), which in turn will help your Website rank highly in the search engines.

E-Mail Marketing

E-mail is making a comeback and provides an excellent way to generate leads, increase sales, and keep your company top of mind. I covered this in a recent blog post, E-mail Marketing Soars in Recession.

• Read more about e-mail marketing. (http://www.iblogmarketing.com/2009/05/26/email-marketing-soars-in-recession)

Social Media Marketing

Lastly, consider launching a social media marketing campaign. Social media sites like Facebook, networking sites like LinkedIn, and micro-blogs like Twitter are proving to be highly effective marketing and communication channels. Our agency, TMA E-Marketing, has been helping a wide spectrum of clients, ranging from Fortune 500 enterprises to startups, develop effective social media marketing campaigns tailored to their specific objectives.

• Read more about social media marketing. (http://www.iblogmarketing.com/2009/04/20/social-media-marketing-critical-to-business-success-part-i/)

As an Internet marketing, advertising and public relations agency, we strongly believe in the value of advertising. However, don’t be fooled by statistics that simply hail the merits of advertising in a recession. We believe that the advertising must be strategically targeted to reach the right audience. We also believe in a balanced approach, including the elements discussed above. Don’t simply develop an advertising plan. Develop an integrated marketing communication plan that cost-effectively promotes your company to your target market.

Part 1:  What is Social Media Marketing?

Most businesses back in the 1950’s relied heavily on “word of mouth”.  Of course, there were also several significant advertising mediums available, such as newspaper, radio, direct mail, and the new embryonic media called television.  However, “word of month” played a significant role and for some businesses was their life blood.

In today’s high-tech world, “word of mouth” still plays a significant role. 

Let’s look at some recent statistics:

• Recommendations from family and friends totally outweigh other consumer touch-points when it comes to influencing purchases (ZenithOptimedia, AdAge, April, 2008)
• 86.9% of respondents said they would trust a friend’s recommendation over a review by a critic, while 83.8% said they would trust user reviews over a critic. (Marketing Sherpa, July 2007)
• Consumers say that word of mouth is still the number one influencer in their apparel (34.3%) and electronics (44.4%) purchases (Retail Advertising and Marketing Association/BIGresearch Study, November 2008)
• According to a global Nielsen survey of 26,486 Internet users in 47 markets, consumer recommendations are the most credible form of advertising among 78% of the study’s respondents. (Nielsen, “Word-of-Mouth the Most Powerful Selling Tool”, October 2007)

Undeniably, on the Internet, “word of mouth” has become “word of mouse” and a critical element in influencing the decisions people make.  For example, comScore and the Kelsey Group reported that reviews generated by fellow consumers on Internet shopping sites had a greater influence than those generated by professionals (comScore/The Kelsey Group, October 2007). 

What does “word of mouth” have to do with Social Media Marketing? 

Actually, it has everything to do with Social Media Marketing.  Just consider the results of JupiterResearch.  Online social network users were three times more likely to trust their peers’ opinions over advertising when making purchase decisions. (“Social Networking Sites: Defining Advertising Opportunities in a Competitive Landscape,” JupiterResearch, March 2007).

What is Social Media Marketing? 

From my view point, Social Medial Marketing is a form of Internet marketing which seeks to achieve branding, marketing communication, and sales through:

• Participation in social media sites – such as Facebook, MySpace, Classmates.com, YouTube, Flickr, iBlogBusiness, iBizRadio, LinkedIn, and Digg
• Utilization of social media – such as blogs, micro-blogs (like Twitter), audio/video media & podcasts, and public bookmarks

Now, we are ready to address the key question:  Why is Social Media Marketing critical to business success?  Stay tuned for Part 2, which addresses this question.

Part 2:  The Internet Marketing Plan

It is widely accepted that the Internet has become the “go to” source to find products and services.  For this reason and in today’s difficult economy, it’s critical for every company to utilize the Internet to generate sales and/or leads to fuel their business.  Whether you’re an enterprise company or a small business, you should have an Internet marketing plan.  Obviously, a larger company requires a more sophisticated and comprehensive Internet marketing plan.  However, independent of company size, the central element of any Internet marketing plan is a search engine optimized Website.  This being the case, let’s examine what it means to have a search engine optimized Website.

A question I am often asked in my seminars and workshops is:  What makes a good Website?   The answer to this question is relatively simple:  It needs to be equal to or better than your competitors’ Websites and it needs to be easily found in the search engines.  There are all types of Websites and generally, the price of the Website is directly proportional to the level of sophistication.    It is possible to spend millions of dollars developing a Website.  Good examples of a multimillion-dollar Websites are Amazon and Dell.  These Websites contain some of the most sophisticated technology available.  However, the technology has only one goal: Meet the company’s online sales objectives.  So the complete answer to what makes a good Website is three fold:

1. It must be equal to or better that your competitors
2. It must be built to achieve your company’s online objectives
3. It must be easily found in the search engines for keywords that your target market is likely to use

If it doesn’t meet all three criteria, it isn’t a “good” Website.  No matter how attractive and sophisticated a Website may be, it must meet the above three critical criteria to actually do a company much good.  Think about it.  Let’s assume you have an attractive Website and when people see it they usually say “Wow.”  That’s really a “so what” if it isn’t easily found in the search engines.  The reason for this is that search engines account for almost 90% of all the found sites on the Internet.  That means that even a company like Amazon must be easily found in the search engines.  Do a simple search for any thing that Amazon sells, for example “gardening books” and you will find them on the first page of Google.  If the result isn’t in the natural listings it will be found in the paid listing (i.e. listings a company pays for when someone clicks on their advertisement).  They do this because even with their immense branding and online presence, they completely understand the power of search engine marketing.  In the example I just gave, as of March 8, 2009, Amazon had the number one paid listing in Google and the number one natural listing.

Do you have to spend millions to have a “good” Website?  The answer for most of the companies that will read this blog is no.  You will need to spend whatever it takes to meet or beat the competition and be easily found in the search engines. 

Another question I am often asked in my seminars and workshops is:  Can I do it myself?  For most companies, even those with Information Technology people on staff, the answer is no.  The techniques of building a competitive Website that is easily found in the search engines isn’t just a technology challenge.  Technology plays a role, but it also requires:
• A thorough understanding of user friendly, as well as attractive, Web design
• Online copy writing that compels the target market to take action once they get to the site
• A thorough knowledge of search engine optimization

Obviously, while a search engine optimized Website is the central element of any Internet Marketing Plan, there are numerous other elements to consider.  These include:

• Social Media Marketing
• Mobile Marketing
• Online/Traditional Public Relations & Branding
• Shopping Comparison Site Advertising
• Email Marketing
• Integrated Media Advertising (i.e. integrating Print/Radio/TV with Internet marketing)
• Blog Development & Promotion
• Audio/Video Production
• 360’s Panoramic Views
• Podcasting & Promotion
• Contextual Internet Marketing (example:  a hotel banner ad on a travel site)
• International & Multicultural Internet Marketing

All elements of the Internet Marketing Plan need to be responsive to the company’s objectives.  Some companies may stop with a search engine optimized Website, while others may utilize some or all of the elements delineated above. 

Once again, it’s not about technology.  It’s about using technology combined with marketing savvy to meet the company’s return on investment (ROI) objectives.