Are paid ads required for a successful marketing campaign?
Yes, according to some marketers. Others disagree.
In reality, it is dependent.
Sometimes, paid advertisements are the only way to achieve a goal. When things are time sensitive, you may not have the luxury of waiting for content to grow organically. You require something that produces results quickly.
Sometimes it’s the complete opposite approach. It could cost a lot of money and slow your progress toward your goals.
So, before you decide whether to use paid ads in your campaign, consider these five reasons to see if it’s right for your brand.
Three Reasons to Use Paid Ads
- You Require Fast Traffic
When time is of the essence, paid advertisements produce much faster results than standard organic searches.
Buying ad space on search engine results pages gives you much better placement on the page. Instead of competing for the top spot, you can use the money to boost your content as high as it can go.
Organic marketing takes time. It takes enough time for visitors to interact with it so that Google knows if it’s worth ranking on the page. That is not an issue for paid advertisements.
As most platforms allow you to view your metrics easily, you can adjust accordingly to produce a more engaging advertisement continuously.
- You Need to Target a Particular Audience
Paid search allows you to target a particular market. This is especially useful for highly niched brands or understanding the intricacies of their client’s persona.
You may be able to re-target people who have previously visited your website through some of the agencies you work with. This allows you to re-engage them and potentially convert a window shopper into a customer.
Google allows you to target your audience depending on who they are, their preferences, or whether they have previously engaged with your company. This feature lets you be more specific with your ads, resulting in more relevant campaigns.
- You Have an Online Store
Paid advertisements can be an effective way to gain customers if you have an eCommerce store. When customers are looking for a specific product, advertisements are incredibly beneficial.
If you bid on the right keyword, the ad can be what drives people to your website to buy your products or services.
This is possible for all your significant offerings. You can also use your collected data to optimize these ads, displaying the image and title that generates the most engagement.
Two Reasons Not to Use Paid Ads
- You Wish to Achieve Long-Term Compounding Results
Organic marketing always dominates the SERPs. Content marketing continues to gain traction, making it so effective.
Your traffic disappears when you turn off the cash flow for paid advertisements. At the very least, with organic search, you still have content potentially increasing in value since it was published.
It’s also worth noting that many consumers know that paid ads only appear because a company paid for them. They’ll ignore paid results until they reach the first organic result, knowing that it earned that position by providing value to users.
- You’re On A Tight Budget
Paid advertising is expensive, and the cost rises year after year. The cost of a specific term rises as more people search for it. Unfortunately, conversions have remained constant, implying that you are paying more per lead.
You may also get caught in a keyword bidding war with another company.
Furthermore, there is always the possibility that a user will click on your ads by accident or will not convert. Every unintentional click costs money that cannot be recovered.