There are many options when it comes to “PPC” promotion. Just to name some common platforms, Google AdWords and Facebook are two very popular ways to get PPC traffic. Both work very well when it comes to getting paid traffic. As for the best one I’ll let you decide.

Both Google AdWords and Facebook ads are very powerful, because you can test and view your results and see what is working and what you need to cut from your campaign. You can build a target audience with factors such as age, gender, geographical region, interests, and view your conversion rates. You can set up a daily budget or set up a campaign budget, change that budget on the fly, and cancel it at any time should your campaign be a stick in the mud. Therefore, let’s get into some of the reasons.

1. Results Tracking

“PPC” results can be seen within a few hours of your ad being up and running. You can filter between mobile and desktop, browsers, geographical areas and see how many people have clicked on your ad and how much it has cost. You have the option to pause your campaigns at any time and restart them when you need more traffic and/or your budget allows. This really is a great way to get more traffic when you need it. And traditionally works faster than organic traffic.

2. Targeted Audience

Laser targeting your audience is very easy and has enormous potential to get the right people at the right time to your website. Never in history has it been so easy to target the exact people who you are trying to reach with your website. Set your keywords and let Google and Facebook point the right people to your ad.

3. Target by Demographics

Before the internet, it was almost impossible to target by demographics without having to place advertisements in magazines and newspapers which were published in the country you were trying to reach. Now you can select any country in the world to target your ads to.

4. Target by Interests

With the added option of targeting your audience by their interests it makes “PPC” even more business savy. For instance if someone has shown an interest in dog grooming then they may see your advertisement if that is what you are promoting. This will really narrow down your results and get the exact audience that you are looking for.

5. Easy to Track Results with Tracking Pixels

Tracking pixels can be used to see how many users have gone through to your Thank You page. This will give you real-time results and let you see how many conversions you have achieved in your campaign. You can of course place your tracking pixels on any page on your website for instance a sales page for a certain product you are promoting. You can put your tracking pixels on a thank-you page for your opt-in email list.

Conclusion

There are many ways to drive traffic to your website, blog, promotion, email subscription landing pages, and sales, but pay-per-click advertising with Google or Facebook is one of the fastest ways to really make an impact. Google something or scroll your Facebook feed and you will see right away how many people and businesses use this pay-per-click advertising.

Author Bio

Jonathan Ketterman has been working with WordPress and online marketing since 2011 and has run a few successful blogs through affiliate marketing, content marketing, blogging, and eCommerce. Jonathan is Currently a student at Texas A&M University Central Texas pursuing a degree in Aviation Science and Management. For more info please visit Www.amerdus.com.

Facebook reports that it has 757 million visitors a day, and this number has increased by 22% from December 2012 to December 2013. Businesses of all sizes are aware that they need to build a presence in this virtual social space; however, they are often not clear on how to go about doing this. This article focuses on a real scenario, where a savvy Facebook user decided to promote a post, and then watched the Facebook reach on it increase by a remarkable 57,000%.

Facebook Promoted Posts

Facebook sponsored posts are exactly what they sound like they are – they are regular posts with the exception that Facebook is paid a reasonable sum to place the promoted posts on the News Feeds where they are likely to receive the most exposure. Users can target specific goals with a promoted post, such as luring clicks to a website, inducing browsers to take a specific action on a website, signing up for a newsletter or even building a larger audience by increasing the number of likes received.

When a Facebook Promoted Post Increases Your Post Reach by 57,517%

Optimism dictates that when a marketer decides to pay to have Facebook marketing manage the distribution of a particular post, it should display more prominently than when the identical post is placed in a News Feed without the aforementioned sponsorship. As seasoned marketers know, introducing an idea, project, product or service to new people is a crucial aspect of building an audience that will be receptive to a particular message. Knowing that promoting a particular post was able to increase its post reach by 57,517% was an astonishing feat.

When a Facebook Promoted Post Increases Your Engagement Rate by 2,500%

When a Facebook user creates a post, the hope is that those who read it will engage with it by liking it, clicking on it, sharing it or commenting on it. The term “engagement rate” refers to the percentage of people who performed at least one of these actions on a particular post. Engaging people who read a post means that it has connecting with them and that they have responded positively to it. Part of disseminating a marketing message is to place it in the proper spaces, squarely in front of a target audience. Facebook marketing can undoubtedly get a sponsored post noticed, as our real-life example of a week over week increase of 2,500% has clearly demonstrated.

When a Facebook Promoted Post Increases Your Number of Likes by 100%

Facebook likes are important for several reasons. Their very presence shows that a brand or company has an engaged audience that they regularly interact with. A Facebook page with few likes leaves a potentially negative impression on visitors because it sits unnoticed in an ironically visible way. A Facebook page that has a relatively high number of likes is more likely to attract additional likes and interaction, just as a crowded restaurant draws more new customers than an empty one. Our real-life marketer saw the Facebook likes on the promoted post increase by 100%, week over week.

Are Facebook Sponsored Posts Costly?

Taking the real-life example that this article examines as a case in point, a total of $30.98 was spent on a Pay Per Click or PPC promotion scheme. For those unfamiliar with such payment structures, the Facebook user pays Facebook an agreed amount for each click that the sponsored post receives, with the obvious allure being that if a sponsored post receives no attention, its poster does not pay for the advertising. The poster can set a daily limit as well, so that financial ruin does not descend should a post goes viral.

Why an Authentic Example From the Real World is Meaningful

Small business owners, ambitious bloggers, would-be chefs with catering services and dog-walkers have something in common – they need to let the world or at least the people in their neighborhood know what they do. Facebook, with its stunning number of active members, is a natural social media space to choose to release a message to a target audience. When a marketer reports on a particular success, as we have seen in the above mentioned example, laypeople can learn from a simple and concrete example just how effective a Facebook marketing tactic such as that of sponsored posts can be.

Keen Facebookers who have a message that they would like to share with the world need only go to www.facebook.com/advertising to read about the available Facebook marketing options and learn how to sponsor or boost a post which is important to them.

Most businesses rely heavily on Facebook for their social media marketing strategies, which can be an effective practice. Relying solely on Facebook social marketing, however, can also be a huge mistake. You should try to maintain an arsenal of several marketing strategies for your business that go beyond Facebook to fully reach your audience and avoid leaning on tools that may soon be obsolete. Facebook is wonderful but their are other outlets out there.

Sidebar Ads Alone Don’t Cut It

Businesses used to be able to purchase Facebook marketing through sidebar advertisements. As businesses pull sidebar ad contracts from Facebook, it has become apparent that many users simply ignore the sidebar ads altogether. Though they may be worth purchasing, depending upon your target demographic, they should certainly not be the be-all, end-all to your marketing strategy. Facebook should be one ingredient in your marketing mix.

Facebook Isn’t the Only Big Player in Town

Though more and more people are using Facebook, it’s not the favorite place to be as it once was. It has become more integrated with businesses, offering ads even in users’ news feeds much to their great annoyance. Social media like Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr have rapidly become the new best loved sites and great alternative choices. Other platforms, such as Square and Eventbrite, are growing in popularity as well.

It’s Not Very Mobile-Friendly

Many of your customers probably cannot even view Facebook on their mobile devices which is becoming the most popular way to view content. Facebook website marketing won’t get you anywhere if the majority of people in your target market use their mobile phones to access information. That’s where social networks like Twitter, which only offer tiny pieces of digestible information at a time, come in quite handy.

Don’t believe us?

So-So Metrics

Or you could simply say no metrics. It can be very difficult to discern whether or not your Facebook website marketing is really getting through to your audience without decent metric measurements. You can’t customize your page or monitor as much as you would like, and while using “likes” and comments may be helpful for research, they ultimately do not provide you with answers regarding how engaged your customers are with your actual product.

PR Problems

From bad press over comments made to continuing privacy and photo sharing issues, Facebook users are continually losing faith in their old favorite social hub. Teens, one of the largest target market groups, are leaving the site as well. Even when news may be incorrect, the impression and distrust lasts with your customers. If you want to build trust with your customers, you may not want to align any, or at least all, of your business strategies with Facebook marketing.

Lack of Decision Making Ability

Since only Facebook investors own the company, you really have no say about what the site can do to your business page or ads in general. When you utilize Facebook marketing, you may be giving up the control you would normally own over marketing in other venues, particularly those you pay for. As Facebook constantly changes, from its layout to its policy, investing your time and money there could prove to be risky in the future of your business.

Facebook marketing can be a simple, cheap way to spread the word about your business. You don’t have to delete your Facebook page just because it’s not a perfect platform for your marketing strategies. Venturing out into other areas instead of placing all of your eggs in a single basket, however, is a wise idea.

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