Pay Per Click Ads Are By Far The Best Advertising Medium Ever

Comparing and contrasting advertising options in these turbulent economic times is essential so that our clients get the best bang for the buck. For most businesses the Internet is by far the best advertising and marketing medium ever invented. Nothing can compete with the Internet as it continues to attract more and more advertising dollars every year. Why? Its the search engines like Google and Yahoo! that direct people to the products, goods or services they want to see because theyve typed a specific query into the search box.

When someone types in 'tires for a Ford Focus' they are really looking for tires for a Ford Focus and probably want to buy them. Now consider the way traditional marketing and advertising worked. An ad comes on between entertainment segments of a TV program, football game etc and they tell you about their tires or, a product you really dont care about and couldnt use if youre a male, like tampons. What a waste of money for the tampon maker since 50% of the people that just saw that company ad were of the wrong sex who have no need for tampons!

Same with the tire company. If my car doesnt need tires I dont pay attention to that ad. In fact people are now well trained to tune out ads or fast forward through them using TIVO or other DVR thereby making many TV ads less and less effective every day.

Theres a famous line attributed to the Chairman of Proctor and Gamble who said that only half of his companys ads were working but he "didnt know which half!"

That doesnt happen with search advertising aka Pay Per Click or PPC for short. The Google Ad Words advertiser knows exactly which search term brings someone to his web site. And in some cases they can even tell which words 'convert' into business more than others. This is why certain key words have been bid up to $50 per click because they really are that valuable. Words like 'mortgage loan' or 'birth injury lawyer' and others generate big returns for their clients and are worth that much. In the case of 'mortgage loans' the high price bidders may sell the name of the person clicking on the ad after filling out a form, to several other loans companies. Have you ever heard the slogan "when banks compete you win?" Of course, and the reason is that company just sold your name to five different mortgage brokers as a hot lead and have the money to keep advertising. As they say on their web site, "we share it with lenders in our network."

In the case of the term 'birth injury lawyer' one case can bring in a multi-million dollar settlement of which the attorney gets 33%. That fee will pay for a lot of $50 clicks! The Internet also has the potential to level the playing field amongst players. How? By allowing smaller companies to compete against bigger more established firms by giving them an equal presence on line. Smaller companies can look bigger online thereby attracting business only larger firms could attract previously.

There are several primary mediums that compete with the Internet. TV, Radio, Newspaper, Magazines, Yellow Pages, Telemarketing, Direct Mail and Highway Billboards.
With the exception of Yellow Pages in the case of all of the other mediums the ads are being foisted upon the consumer. Yellow Pages, like search engines, the consumer is actually looking for the product or service. The rest are bombarding consumers without regard to their interests or wants.

In the case of radio, when the ad comes on people can reach for the button and change the station to one that doesnt have an ad running. In the case of highway billboards, its a great medium if youre looking for a hotel, McDonalds or an Exxon gas station, but, does it really work for LASIK eye surgery?

As for newspapers, its no secret that ad revenue is declining and even companies like GM and FORD announced they are going to spend more money on the Internet and less on all other mediums because its more effective to do so. "Over the next three years, General Motors will shift half of its advertising budget to digital," says Michael Estrin, Deputy Editor of iMedia Communications, Inc. http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/18878.asp

In the case of telemarketing, people revolted against the intrusion of sales people calling to interrupt their daily lives and most likely dinner to hear a pitch from someone trying to sell them something. Consumers rebelled so much that Congress passed The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in 1991 in protecting consumers from unwanted calls by registering on a "do not call list." This is a sterling example of the overbearing marketing that was once accepted as normal and is now looked upon as ridiculous.

Direct mail has the same problem. People call unsolicited mail "junk mail" which is really advertising from a myriad of businesses. It too has lost it effectiveness and major coupon brokers like Valassis (VCI) struggle to survive in a world where coupons in the newspapers no longer have the impact they once did. The New York Times reported that "The era of waiting, scissors in hand, for the Sunday newspaper circular is over." http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/business/media/27adco.html?fta=y

The Internet is by far the best medium for advertisers. In fact even politicians have discovered its usefulness. According to the Washington Post, "Barack Obama raised half a billion dollars online in his 21-month campaign for the White House, dramatically ushering in a new digital era in presidential fundraising," says Jose Antonia Vargas of the Washington Post. With results like that the Internet isn't going away anytime soon. No, we're just getting started. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/20/obama_raised_half_a_billion_on.html

The bottom line: Look closely at all advertising options and seriously consider adding 'pay per click' to the mix. At the very least re-allocate a healthy percentage of your ad dollars from other mediums. If you are not sure you can do it consult a professional to create and manage your campaigns.