Digital Marketing – Why PPC Search Is Better Than PPC Social

Pay-per-click in social media is the latest craze on the digital marketing circuit. While PPC ads on LinkedIn and Facebook have a place in the digital marketing mix of some companies, it is important not to get caught up by the hype surrounding it. Below are some reasons why PPC search beats PPC social media, any day:

• Social media boredom: Recent digital marketing trends show that almost two-thirds of young users are getting bored of using social networking websites. As social media ads are targeted to a user’s profile information, rather than their search behaviour, it is possible for users to be served the same ads, repeatedly. This leads to ad blindness, and dismally low click-through rates. On the other hand, in the ‘search’ sphere, there is no such thing as ‘search boredom’.

• It is easier to harvest demand than to create it: While most PPC social ads aim to build brand awareness and increase demand for a particular brand’s product or service, PPC search ads help catch customers who are already interested in the brand/product. Customers who arrive through search are more likely to register at a website, place a phone call or make an online purchase.

• Social media profiles lack relevant user information: Most users on Facebook or LinkedIn do not put up complete information about themselves, due to privacy issues etc. Some of this missing information could have given digital marketing advertisers the chance of targeting customers, who might actually be interested in what they were selling.

• Social media profiles generally have significant untruths: According to many digital marketing estimates, millions of profiles on social networks are either fake or embellished with untrue information. As digital marketing professionals rely on this profile information for targeting users, one can assume that most of the time, one’s social PPC ads will be displayed to the wrong people.

• A ‘Like’ is not a good metric for measuring success: People log-on to social networks to interact with their friends, not to buy products. In the rare instance when someone clicks your digital marketing ad on Facebook, they will be taken to your business page, where the most you will get is a ‘Like’. It is not really clear how a ‘Like’ will help your digital marketing strategy, as updates need not be displayed in a fan’s user feed.

Qudos Digital is a leading digital marketing agency, and can be contacted on 0845 388 5583 or info@qudosdigital.co.uk.

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