The ABCs of PPC: How Does PPC Work?

eCommerce sales account for around 20% of retail in the United States. Social media giants make astounding profits, and numerous business owners make a killing online.

What drives all of this unprecedented growth? Pay-per-click advertising (PPC).

There's more to it, but PPC underpins a really important piece of internet history. It's been around for roughly 20 years and advanced to allow users incredible specificity when targeting customers.

We'll look at the ABCs of PPC today, giving you insight into what you can do to make it work for your business. So, how does PPC work?

Let's get started.

How Does PPC Work?

So, what is pay-per-click marketing? It's a method for you to list advertisements on various sites and only pay whenever that ad gets an engagement.

An engagement is an instance when someone clicks, likes, shares, or engages with your ad in some way. You might display the ad to 20,000 people and only get a few hundred engagements.

That's a lot of exposure without a lot of costs. Engagements drive sales, sure, but brand familiarity is a massive benefit to any business and that comes for free with PPC.

Keywords and Costs

Every PPC ad you create is based on a particular keyword. The keyword or keyword phrase connects you with individuals who search that phrase or search something close to the phrase.

Your job is to conduct keyword research to see what your target audience is searching online. When you identify that keyword phrase, you use PPC ads on relevant platforms (social media sites and search engines) and target the ad to people who have searched that phrase.

Certain keywords are more popular than others. The most popular keywords cost more to advertise with. The top keyword in your niche might cost more than $1 per engagement, whereas a smaller keyword could cost just a few cents per engagement.

Some popular keywords are bid on before the company determines a price. This competition drives profits for companies like Google and Facebook which make a lot of their money through advertising.

Pay-Per-Click in Action

If you use Google or social media, you see PPC ads on a regular basis.

They're pretty slick, so you might not even notice that they're advertisements. Innovation in data harvesting and ad targeting allows search engines and social media platforms to present ads that you have expressed interest in.

These platforms have a digital profile of your interests, and they're typically very accurate. So, you'll scroll down your social media feed and see something that you've never seen before but you're interested in somehow.

Most of the time, that's a PPC advertisement. There's always a note that says "sponsored" or "advertisement," but they tuck those notes in a hard-to-see place.

Some PPC ads are obvious as well. There are numerous styles and placements for these ads and you can choose those when the time comes.

The Significance of PPC Ads in Internet History

We'll look at how you can run a campaign in a moment. First, it's important to note the significance of this advertising style.

There was a period in the early 2,000s when the brand new eCommerce industry reached the $150 billion mark. Shortly after, the bubble burst and left thousands of companies in shambles.

It was then that Google released PPC ads. This was roughly the same time that Facebook was founded. The ability of these companies to make profits through advertising has been a guiding force in innovation since that time.

It's also the reason that small business can grow so effectively online. the point, is PPC ads work.

The Basics of PPC Campaigns

Now that you know the fundamentals, it's time to start thinking about your own campaign.

The first step is to do a little bit of market research. Where does your target audience spend the most time online? Which search engines and social media platforms will be most profitable to market on?

Google is a pretty safe bet, but particular platforms tend to yield more specific results. For example, someone using Pinterest might be more inclined to make a purchase than someone on TikTok. Someone on Facebook could be more interested in engaging with a new community than a person using Instagram.

The data is out there. You can make your ad budget go a lot further if you're using the right platform.

Keyword Research

Your goal should be to find the most popular keyword that fits your budget.

Note that you can also tailor your keywords in a very specific way. Unique products that you sell might have popular, corresponding keywords. In those cases, odds are that you won't be charged too heavily for clicks.

Professional Help With PPC

PPC is possible to handle yourself if you have the time and energy.

It's not an easy thing to do, though. At one time, there was little competition in eCommerce. Now, the bar is high and it's difficult to stand out with your PPC campaign.

The most effective thing might be to consult with professionals about your advertising efforts. They know the system, understand the nuances, and can scale your campaign to drive real sales.

You can do this on your own, too, but it requires a lot of time. It might start to feel like PPC advertising is your full-time job even though you've got a small business to run.

If you're not looking to hire an agency, there are numerous other ways to improve your skills. You can find myriad PPC courses online. A little expert insight will go a long way when you're starting your campaign.

After all, you're putting money and energy into your advertising so why not make sure you turn that effort into profits?