In today’s competitive digital landscape, businesses are constantly looking for ways to reach their target audience and boost their sales.
Paid ads offer one such way, as they can help businesses increase their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) and drive traffic to their websites. However, there are both pros and cons to using paid ads.
Pros of Using Paid Ads
It’s no big secret that paid ads are the lifeblood of giants like Google. Where else would they get their revenue from? But before suspicion gets the better of you, find out what’s in it for you:
Fast results:
Paid ads can provide quick results, as they can start showing up in SERPs within a few hours of being created. This can be helpful for businesses that need to reach their target audience quickly – it takes time to build a business.
Targeted reach:
Targeted paid ads reach specific demographics through driven data performed by AI algorithms. These detect things like viewer interests and behaviors, which can help businesses reach their ideal customers. This can be more effective than traditional marketing methods, which may not always be as targeted.
It’s worth noting that artificial intelligence (AI) should improve targeted ads dramatically from 2024, and this should improve things like conversion rates, making it more viable long-term.
Trackable results:
Highly trackable, paid ads mean that businesses can see how much money they are spending and how many conversions they are generating. This can help businesses to optimise their campaigns and get the most out of their budgets.
Flexibility:
Paid ads can be scaled up or down easily, which means that businesses can adjust their campaigns based on their budget and goals.
Cons of Using Paid Ads
While it’s understandable that businesses are lured by the prospect of immediate sales, it’s vital to know the true ins and outs and make allowances, and find more cost-effective alternatives:
Cost:
Paid ads can be expensive, as businesses will need to bid on keywords to have their ads displayed in SERPs. The cost of paid ads can vary depending on several factors, including the competition for certain keywords and the bidding strategies that businesses use.
We’ve mentioned before how things like keyword trends can change in a blink. So, in some ways, it becomes more like an eBay pi**ing contest than a sensible business investment, as the urge to bid for the desired # takes over sensibility.
Need for expertise:
Running successful paid advertising campaigns requires some level of expertise.
Click fraud:
Click fraud occurs when someone clicks on a paid ad without any intention of engaging with the advertiser’s website. They might have tapped it in error or because the ad popped up and took over their screen.
This can be a major problem for businesses, it can waste their advertising budget. Ask: What can a business owner do about this (very little), and what are the tech giants doing to combat it when they’ve already been paid?
Potential for ad fatigue:
If you run the same ads too often, they may become less effective.
Limited control:
Businesses don’t have complete control over where their targeted ads will be displayed, as search engines determine the order in which ads are displayed in SERPs. This can be frustrating for businesses that are trying to reach a specific audience. However, as mentioned, improvements around AI algorithms should make this more effective…
Paid Ad Conversion Rate Statistics
The average conversion rate for online businesses is around 2%. This means that for every 100 visitors to a website, only two will make a purchase. However, there’s a wide range of conversion rates, with some businesses in the retail sector achieving rates of 10% or more, while others struggle to achieve even 1%. It’s a gamble.
Are There More Efficient and Effective Ways to Reach Customers?
Yes, there are several more efficient and effective ways to reach customers than using paid ads:
Content marketing:
Content marketing involves creating and sharing valuable content that is relevant to your target audience. This can help to build trust and credibility with your audience, and it can also drive traffic to your website.
Search engine optimisation (SEO):
SEO involves improving the ranking of your website in SERPs. This can be done by creating high-quality content, building backlinks to your website, and optimising your website for relevant keywords based on the most up-to-date data.
Using Google Metrics and Analytics will equip you with data and trends, and provide everything else like which countries traffic comes from and which pages they browsed, etc.
Social media marketing:
Social media marketing involves using social media platforms to connect with your audience and promote your products or services. This can be a great way to reach a large audience and build relationships with potential customers. Check out our article about using social media for marketing.
Email marketing:
Email marketing is a powerful tool that can be used to nurture leads and drive sales. By building an email list and sending regular newsletters or promotions, businesses can reconnect with their customers and encourage them to take action.
Conclusion: Mix it Up
Paid ads can be a useful tool for businesses, but they should not be the only marketing strategy that businesses use. By combining paid ads with other marketing channels, businesses can reach a wider audience and achieve more effective results.
As we’ve said a million times, only a handful of advertisements or sponsored ads will – and can ever be – at the top of the results pages, the rest are organic search results that earned their spot through publishing regular content, just like Google advises. Read this article for more on this and about how to improve results in Search.