January 12, 2023
We quite often come into conversations with retailers who ask when it comes to PPC vs Paid Social, which wins the conversions battle? Our team has outlined the basics to help you decide which channel could be the best option for your brand, or better yet, why both together is a smarter move…
What do we mean by Paid Social?
As the name suggests, Paid Social refers to the paid advertisements or sponsored posts you see on social networks. They enable brands to display content to specific targeted audiences outside of their following, that are likely to be interested in their products or services.
What is PPC?
PPC or paid search as it is also known, refers to pay-per-click advertising that is displayed above organic (non paid) search results. They are easy to distinguish as they feature “Ad” to the left of the display url and they are triggered by targeted keywords that are relevant to your business or service, but more on that later!
Why would you use Paid Social in your marketing strategy?
By using paid social a brand is able to reach their target audience a lot faster than relying only on organic posting. There’s so much you’re able to test in order to understand what resonates most with your audience, from different ad formats (more on that here!) to ad copy and creative type. By testing those you can ensure you get the most out of your paid social budget, the benefits really are huge.
To ensure your brand reaps the benefits of paid social, you must ensure that you are set up and ready to rock! You will have a tracking pixel implemented firstly, with this you’re able to really maximise performance by having access to even MORE data than the norm. Unsure on what the tracking pixel is? Basically, it tracks users actions across your website and social media, meaning you can then create custom audiences to target with your ads such as: website traffic, past purchases, people who have added to cart but not purchased, those who have viewed specific products/categories, then you can create a lookalike audience from each of those. Taking advantage of that data and creating those types of audiences gives you as a brand a better opportunity to achieve your performance objectives.
Why would you use PPC in your marketing strategy?
Arguably the most common form of paid advertising, PPC allows you to boost your business’s visibility by targeting specific keywords that trigger Ads to potential customers. PPC works in harmony with search engines (primarily Google & Microsoft) and sophisticated algorithms that can detect user behaviour, therefore, showing your Ads to those with the highest intent of converting, after all that's the aim of the game here!
Fun fact, Google processes in excess of 8.5 Billion searches per day, that's almost 100,000 searches every single second! Furthermore, research shows that consumers are most likely to click on first page results rather than second or third. How many of us are guilty of changing our search query if we can’t find what we are looking for in the first few results? Yep, thought so. We’d rather change the keywords and search again, than trawl through pages and pages of results, making PPC a valuable asset to any business wanting to be seen.
Better together?
What do you get when you cross Paid Social and Paid Search? A digital marketing powerhouse, that’s what!
Gone are the days of single channel marketing to achieve growth, it’s all about a holistic approach here at Ortus so there is no ‘PPC vs Paid Social’. Typically speaking, PPC is known for its speedy results and ability to boost visibility, whereas Social is more focused on brand awareness, so of course, when PPC and Social align, beautiful things happen. By combining both channels you can reach more consumers, entice them with compelling content via social media, then align messaging through PPC for a seamless user experience across all platforms.
Learn more about our holistic approach to Paid Marketing using the button below!
