What Makes Pay Per Click an Effective Marketing Tool in Generating Traffic?

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There are several variables that come into play when PPC is used as a tool by businesses for lead generation.

The target audience asks to read your PPC adverts
Most advertising materials are defined as interruption-based. This means that sales scripts and messages “get in the way” while you are going through your daily routine. This is what can happen every time you watch a TV program or every time you drive to work listening to the radio and seeing huge billboards. To a certain extent, this form of advertising can produce desirable results.However, its relevance is slowly wearing thin as we continually go through major changes with modern technology. Most of us are just too preoccupied and in some instances, this form of advertising is perceived to be a bit too intrusive.On the other hand, PPC adverts are perceived to be more accepted when it comes to their occurrence as these are delivered at a time when information that is relevant to the adverts shown is being sought by the target audience. In all intents and purposes, your PPC adverts are only displayed to your target audience when they are searching for relevant information.

The PPC ads gain a semblance of value and importance, and they appear at a time when they are “needed” or “wanted” by the searcher. This is one of the main reasons why Google is ranked a strong second among the “2011 Media Power 50” by the B2B Magazine. Wall Street Journal took the top spot while Google came out ahead of big players like the New York Times and Forbes.
Pay Per Click is Perceived by Your Target Audience as the “Better Alternative”
Before the Internet became a potent marketing medium for small businesses, most entrepreneurs and managers have considered those ubiquitous bookshelves teeming with all sorts of directories and copies of old business journals as their link to their business prospects. With the rapid development in the field of information and communication technology, all these antiquated media have been driven to the dustbin of history. PPC has brought marketing to a whole new level. This marketing tool is readily available and can be accessed at anytime and from anywhere. This is a far cry from the hit and miss approach of traditional business listings and directories.In addition to this, PPC is considered by your target audience as “more credible” and devoid of any commercial motivations. This favorable perception can be attributed to the positive impact of having your “sales pitch” shown alongside or above the organic results of search engines. Google, for instance, has created a new advertising platform where the line that separates paid ads from the organic search results doesn’t appear to be “outwardly” perceptible. In fact, searchers perceive them to be more objective and credible than their counterparts in mainstream media.How can we assess the full impact of the perceived objectivity and relevance of PPC ads? In an industry survey sponsored by Enquiro, results showed that 9 in every 10 respondents made their B2B buying decisions after considering information and data gathered on the Internet. In the same study, nearly 64 percent of the respondents consider the search engines as their primary source of lead information.
PPC Delivers the Goods in Real Time
When you resort to the traditional adverts – trade shows, direct mail, trade journals, etc. you may have to wait for some time before you can feel the impact of your marketing strategy. There is no middle ground in as far as your commitment to the marketing program is concerned. Everything is in black and white and it either works or it doesn’t.On the other hand, the PPC model allows you to control your exposure and decide how far you want to go in your marketing campaign. You can make the necessary changes and modifications even at midstream. You can track your progress in real time and make the appropriate adjustments to your marketing campaign on the fly. You can literally change gears or stop your campaign altogether at anytime. This is definitely a better proposition than offline advertising, where you will be tied-up to specific timeframes of weeks or even months. On the other hand, PPC operates on a real time basis.
PPC Allows You More Leverage in Your Ad Spending
One of the major advantages of PPC is that it gives you more control of your ad spend. This means that you are able to minimize wasteful spending on ads that don’t make the grade. Adverts in trade journals are at best a hit and miss affair. This shotgun approach would not narrow the potential readers of such journals. Hence, not all of them will have an interest on the products or services that you are offering. And if you get a hit from your target audience, there is only a slim chance that they will respond to your sales pitch.On the other hand, you only have to pay for the actual clicks made on your PPC adverts. This is what you could call output-based ad spending. The operating principle is pretty straightforward – You pay when the advert is clicked and it is free when it is not clicked by your target audience.
PPC adverts eliminate the Guesswork
PPC adverts get rid of the mystery and the “what-ifs” that normally dominates traditional adverts. When you invest in PPC adverts, you automatically get accurate and instant reporting and feedback. You will be able to pinpoint exactly which ads and keywords or key phrases are providing the most clicks and conversions. Thus, you are able to track your ROI in real time. You can even customize the reporting to suit your needs and requirements. For example you can assess the performance of a particular product or service, a specific keyword or key phrase or even your landing pages based on defined metrics.

In summary, entrepreneurs and managers of small businesses should be able to learn how to harness the full potential of the PPC model and learn how to create synergy from the integration of PPC adverts with the current spectrum of marketing strategies of the company. PPC is a cost effective marketing tool which is easy to handle, control and measure. Small businesses are able to present their marketing campaigns in equal footing with the “big boys” and enjoy the same level of exposure as that of large companies. PPC is definitely your best bet when it comes to lead generation and sales online.