I got a call from a potential client last week talking about these YouTuber’s that are encouraging people to build 1-product ecommerce businesses and they promise overnight success. All they need to do is set up a proven drop-shipped business and run a bunch of PPC ads on social media and Google. This client had lost thousands in ad spend before calling me! THOUSANDS! People, STOP! Don’t fall for this! PPC should never be your first approach to marketing and I’m going to explain why in this blog post.
What is PPC and How Does it Work?
PPC stands for pay-per-click advertisement which just means you pay a set amount of money for every time a lead clicks on your ad. That set price is determined based on the popularity of the keywords you are planning to utilize for your ad in the search engines. The more popular the keyword the more money you will pay per click.
Many marketing agencies offer PPC advertising services and I want to make sure you understand what you’re buying into when you get these services. PPC services typically bring zero profit to marketing agencies. This is because your ad spend goes to the ad platforms like Google, Bing, Facebook, etc. Most agencies will charge you a set amount above that ad spend amount in order to pay for putting together and managing the campaigns which takes a good amount of time and effort.
So I’m sure you’re thinking, it isn’t recommended to start with PPC because marketing agencies don’t really profit off of it right? That couldn’t be further from the truth! Here are the reasons why you shouldn’t start with PPC first:
1. COST:
The average cost of a strong PPC campaign is from $2000-$10000/month which is quite a large range dependent upon your industry. Most start-up companies don’t have that type of marketing budget to blow in hopes of a successful ROI. This money could be better spent on branding yourself on social media, ramping up your SEO, or even print advertising. Spend the money on building organically before going straight for the commercial market which is far more competitive.
2. NO DATA:
When you are just starting your marketing strategy, you likely have zero data to go off of. We suggest marketing organically on social media, email marketing, SEO, print advertising, and other more cost effective methods to assist in a means to gather data. These will all allow you to identify what things land and what falls flat. Organic marketing and analysis will help you narrow down your target market better so that you can plan your PPC advertisements in a more narrow way to prevent wasting money on unnecessary clicks.
3. INEXPERIENCE:
There are a lot of DIY videos out there or blog posts that will give you a crash course on how to run PPC ads, many of which charge you for the full run down. Unfortunately, you don’t get the full gist of the skills necessary to do so and they leave you will false promises of high ROI’s, thus resulting in you feeling defeated and ultimately giving up after wasting your hard earned money. If you take one of these courses be sure it is accredited by one of the major platforms like Google, Bing, Facebook, etc. Do your research. Some companies try hard to deceive you with seals and pictures of proof for different types of accreditations. Trust your gut!
Let’s Wrap Things Up
In summary, PPC is a great tool for advertising after you have exhausted all other forms of organic marketing. Don’t get suckered into wasting thousands of dollars that are you going to go back into the pockets of the already monstrous platforms you’re buying into. They stay wealthy whether or not your ad campaigns succeed. If you don’t feel confident in what you have learned in your DIY, pay the money to hire an expert. It’s well worth it to ensure you don’t waste your hard-earned money on dead ads that don’t bring you any new clients or any new money. Our professionals are standing by to assist you with your marketing needs now. Reach out to one of us today.