As a decision-maker in your organization, you have a lot of choices to make when it comes to the implementation of search marketing strategies. You are likely already intimately familiar with current Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices and may have a dedicated specialist or team working in that role to help generate organic traffic to your website.
The lion’s share of your web traffic is likely coming from search engines; methods such as social media marketing, email advertising and other promotions all play a role, but ultimately, when it comes to being found online, the major search engines are king.
If your organization has had an active SEO strategy in place for some time now, you may have already gained significant traction in moving up the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), and you should certainly continue building on the foundations laid by your SEO efforts. Continued maintenance and improvement of SEO is key to its effectiveness, which means that starting a paid search campaign should not be seen as a replacement for or an alternative to SEO work, but merely as a supplementary or targeted strategy.
An effective paid search marketing campaign is one that captures the attention of bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU) customers who are already looking for your specific product or service and drives them towards a purchase. It’s also effective for newly launched websites that don’t have much of a search presence yet. But how can you be sure it makes sense for your organization’s needs?
PPC isn’t a one-size-fits-all marketing solution and it doesn’t work for every business. If you aren’t generating leads and sales through search traffic, it may not be relevant. But for any organization that wants and needs to be found via search, PPC can be exceedingly useful. Consider the following examples:
Organization A is a nonprofit focusing on soliciting donations through direct outreach in a specific community and sector. They capture donations not through their website but by developing relationships with business leaders and other organizations in their geographic area. Their website is primarily a repository for event information and photos, along with some basic biographical information about their board of directors and a mission statement.
Organization B is a small retail business selling specialty products online and in person. They tend to have two peak seasons that account for most of their online sales and a trickle of in-person business throughout the year. They update their eCommerce store seasonally and offer themed promotions at that time where they discount selected products.
Organization C is a medium-sized service business providing year-round services. They operate in a highly competitive market within a certain geographical range. They have an eCommerce store, but only for the purpose of taking invoice payments for services rendered. Their competition is vying for the same customer pool and has a similar presence online.
Now, let’s break down the paid search needs of each organization. For Organization A, PPC is not a relevant solution. They don’t need to generate additional search traffic and have little interest in visitors finding their site via search anyway. Most site visitors will learn of their URL via non-digital media such as pamphlets, business cards and banners at in-person events. Their website is strictly informational and does not serve as a donations hub, so paying to drive traffic to it doesn’t make sense.
Organization B’s needs are more complex. They want to be found through local search all year long, but their priority is generating sales during their peak seasons. In this case, it makes sense to use PPC strategically, turning it on during the peak months as needed and relying on SEO throughout the rest of the year. In combination with creative SEO practices, such as special promotional domains that redirect to their main website, paid search marketing can be an effective tool for this organization, just not one that gets used all year long.
For Organization C, PPC is an essential part of their online marketing throughout the year. In a highly competitive online space, every lead and sale matters. Supplementing organic SEO strategy with paid search spend optimized to high-traffic, high-attention times of day can help them gain an edge on the competition.
There are many other examples of types of organizations that can benefit from a tailored PPC strategy. Whatever the specific scenario happens to be, it’s important to work with a partner who understands that your organization is unique and that your requirements could very well change over time, even from week to week and month to month.
When you turn to Network Solutions for PPC advertising help, you can be sure of the following:
Network Solutions is the team you can trust for prompt assistance in developing a paid search strategy and ongoing support for your campaigns over time. Get in touch with us today and find out for yourself why organizations in so many fields turn to us for all of their PPC needs.
Images: Shutterstock