Picture it: you own a small store that sells sports gear. You have a visible, well-placed sign out front; you have all of your inventory stocked and ready to go; and you have a entire marketing program set up for current customers. It seems you are all set, but there’s an issue: there are a dozen other sports gear stores within a 2 mile radius of yours! What can you do to draw potential customers into your store?
Imagine now that you make a deal with the local taxi company. You tell them that if, for every athlete they pick up, they take a route that passes your storefront. In exchange, you’ll pay them a small fee. More than that, they have to speak well of your store to their passengers. Soon, your business will likely start outpacing your competitors.
That may not be a realistic scenario in the physical world, but in the online world many companies make a very similar deal with search engines like Google and use social media platforms like Facebook to promote their products. How so? By means of two marketing strategies: “pay per click” (or PPC) and “social media marketing” (or SMM).
A Brief Overview
Pay per click marketing is a type of marketing that allows a company to pay Google, or another search engine, a small fee every time a user clicks on one of their ads. In return, Google gives higher priority to the company’s website in its search results. This has several advantages. For one, the business owner is paying a fee for potential customers that are already somewhat interested in his product (a warm lead). Additionally, PPC eliminates a lot of the headache that comes from intensive marketing research, and placing ads on many smaller websites in the hopes that your target audience will see them.
Social media marketing is a related strategy. This type of marketing allows users to upload content onto Facebook or other social media platforms – content that is designed to increase their brand’s exposure, broaden its appeal, and generate interest through paid targeting. Because so many social media users share personal information, companies can target social media marketing campaigns to very specific subsets of the consumer base and even make lead collection as simple as clicking a button. This can make for a very effective and inexpensive method of generating new customers.
Unlock the Power of PPC and SMM
Without a doubt, pay per click and social media marketing are powerful tools to gain an edge on the competition. If you would like to learn how PPC and SMM can bring more customers to your storefront than ever before, reach out to us to schedule a free consultation.
