Pay Per Click or Social Media Marketing?

By Sarah Stern / March 26, 2022

Until now, several marketers and business managers are still struggling to determine the best platform that they must use for their lead generation campaign. This is a common issue that we often encounter with our clients here at Webtudy. There is absolutely no exact answer to this, and it will depend upon several factors such as the nature of your business, target market, the season, etc. You need to reach out to your prospects by developing the right message. This article will discuss which channel you should use for lead generation, pay per click advertising or social media marketing.

Pay Per Click Marketing or Social Media- Which is Better?

Gone are the days when social media channels are exclusively used to share the latest news. Businesses have now acknowledged the power of social media. Nowadays, they use this to reach out to potential leads, nurture them, and convert them to customers. On the other side of the fence, Pay per Click Advertising enables businesses to activate and advertise campaigns on search engine sites, such as Bing and Google. Some social media channels offer this option, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The business will be charged a fee if someone clicks on the ads.

Why Social Media Marketing?

Social media offers a range of benefits that pay per click will not provide. For instance, an organic social media marketing strategy is completely free. You can build a business profile without any charge. It comes with a particular targeting system that focuses on the users’ interests, demographics, activities, and location. Most platforms are composed of a massive active community; as long as you do your assignment, you can reach out to a massive pool of potential leads. With SMM, you can build a group of loyal brand ambassadors who will refer your business. As mentioned in our past articles, people highly trust the companies referred by people they know. It also helps you build a relationship with influencers in your field.

Why Pay Per Click?

PPC also has numerous benefits that SMM cannot offer. For instance, with PPC, you can target a particular keyword, which means that you can limit the appearance of your ads to people who could be interested in your business. It comes with a detailed monitoring system that enables you to track the number of clicks and the amount of money you’ve spent on your ads. Depending on several factors, there’s a high chance that your website will appear on top of the organic search results. You can seek the help of the Pay per click agency if you lack the knowledge in managing this. You can also test several forms of ads and see which one works better. With this method, you can bid for keywords with buying intent to ensure that you will reach out to potential leads on the end stage of their buyer’s journey.

Social Media Marketing Leads to Impulse Buying

With social media marketing, people will often result in impulsive buying. People will see a product on the post or advertisement and decide to purchase it immediately. It is more apparent on luxury items. While it may be an excellent way to generate business, understand that impulse buying will often lead to a less satisfying customer experience. It also increases the chance of receiving negative reviews from the audience. Also, not all people who will see your advertisement will be interested in what you can offer. This is contrary to what Pay Per Click marketing can do.

PPC Reaches Out to the Buying Public

With PPC, you can target people ready to buy your product or hire your service. They are already interested in things that you can offer. When people search for something in the search engine, they will primarily look for information. However, with PPC, you have total control over the keyword that you will target. Therefore, you can limit the appearance of your advertisement to a keyword with purchase intent. This is just one thing that makes Pay per click advertising so effective. You will never waste your time and money promoting your offerings to those people who will not be interested in your company.

Services or Product That Will Be Effective on Social Media Marketing

We’ve mentioned above that the benefits you can enjoy will depend upon the nature of your business and several other factors. For instance, luxury items are considered ‘hot’ on SMM. People will also gravitate towards stuff that is easy to purchase and affordable. Some of the businesses that thrive on this platform are those in the industry of accommodation and travel, décor and homewares, skincare and cosmetics, and fashion and clothing accessories.

Services or Products Effective on PPC

Based on the report by pay per click agency, this channel is more suitable for products that are more expensive and those that need more consideration before buying. Some of the products that will experience a high return on investment include durable goods, cars, financial services, and insurance.

How to use Social Media and PPC together for Lead Generation

It is relatively normal for marketers to be overwhelmed by the number of choices that they have. Unfortunately, those who will find the process daunting will often stick to one thing they are familiar with, completely disregarding the other methods. There is absolutely no reason why you must choose between Pay per click and social media marketing. The omnichannel approach will often produce better results. Don’t look at these two channels as if they are found in two different dimensions. With the methods we mention here, you can advance your lead generation campaign by leaps and bounds.

Gather the Necessary Information

Choose a platform that you will use to gather data. Experts will often recommend Twitter to understand headlines that can be effective for your lead generation campaign. With the information you’ve collected on Twitter, try to use that headline on another platform like LinkedIn. This advertising method in multichannel offers an opportunity to refine and have a better idea of what strategy is practical. Here are more ways to gather information.

Monitor ROI- Understand which platforms works and which does not.
Track Your Competitors- Learn the insights that your rivals use to boost their SMM and PPC success.
Test- Successful campaigns are all about continuous tests and adjustments.

Ensure Brand Consistency on Different Channels

Among the various headlines you’ve chosen, the difference in the images and tones will let you understand how it is common to suffer from brand inconsistencies. Understand that brand consistency is not just about the idea of making your company more memorable. It is more on building trust between the prospects and the company. Therefore, before you even make a profile on social media or generate a Pay per Click campaign ad, try to develop a solid copy first. Think of how you can present your company well and that it must cover all essential details. Here are some ways to ensure consistency.

Messaging- You need to first settle with your company’s Unique Selling Proposition. It would be best to find a solution to this before you even try to combine these two intricate platforms.
Tone- You don’t necessarily need to have the exact headline to guarantee consistency. However, you must use the same tone for both Social Media and Pay Per Click Advertising. Pick your style; are you minimalist, efficient, or quirky?
Visuals- Your visuals need to appear consistent in the different platforms you plan to use. If your social media uses other visual cues compared to your landing page, this can lead to confusion. This will translate to a below-average conversion rate.

PPC to Boost Your Social Media Presence

Using social media might be a good idea, but what happens if you have zero presence and find it challenging to accumulate followers? You can build your audience by taking advantage of social media platforms’ Pay Per Click marketing. You can also boost your post using Sponsored Post. Be sure that you offer an exciting post that comes with valuable insight. You should also consider embracing the current trend. You have no idea how many followers you can capture if you have one viral post.

PPC to Increase Social Shares

To increase your social media shares, you want to develop valuable content. This means that the post should focus on the desire or needs of the audience, or it must solve their everyday concerns. Producing good content can help you boost your social shares. There’s also a chance of your post going viral by encouraging enough people to interact with your post. However, you need to ensure that your content will remain shareable. You should never expect your audience to do all the work if you want to become viral. One way to do this is to boost the presence of your content by using PPC according to the Pay Per Click Agency. Remember that your post should aim to tell a story; you should not just write what’s crossing your mind. Your content must be designed to solve a particular problem.

Using PPC for Remarketing

If you’ve ever been to Facebook, you will notice how there are so many posts appearing on your newsfeed. Perhaps, you’ve clicked a sponsored post once and decided that it is not the best time to purchase the product. While this may seem unfortunate for the business, this can also mean that the person has already been exposed to your company and that they have developed a certain level of brand awareness. You can improve this familiarity about your brand through remarketing tactics using Pay per Click marketing. Here’s how you can do this and combine them with social media.

Displaying PPC Ads to Previous Visitors- This may seem counterintuitive to some, but you want to make sure that you will nudge your potential leads to your social media account or the right platform.
Email List Remarketing- Remarketing using Email gives you an opportunity to target people already familiar with your offerings and company. It is a process that increases customer retention and encourages repeat business.
Using Remarketing Insights- With remarketing, you will gain valuable insights that you can use on your social media marketing and Pay per Click advertising.

Choosing which platform works for you can be a struggle. However, combining social media and pay per click is an excellent solution if you want to ensure more effective lead generation efforts. Use our recommendation above to optimize the buyer’s journey and improve your conversion rate.