In the life of a small business owner, the number of questions that are constantly being asked is endless. Is it time to hire another employee? Do I have enough business to pay the bills this month? Could I even handle more business right now? The list could go on and on…

In this article, I want to answer one of the most common questions that we hear from small business owners: “Would my business benefit from PPC?”

My answer to this question is “Yes, of course. Everyone should be doing PPC. What are you waiting for?”

But just in case you think that I’m completely biased towards this type of digital marketing (okay, maybe a little), I’ve outlined 3 reasons that every small business can benefit significantly from PPC:

1. PPC Has Immediate Results

One of the major problems that small business owners typically have with marketing efforts is the wait time that comes with many common advertising initiatives. Purchasing ad space in a magazine or newspaper is common, but how many of those readers are actually reading your ad? And of the few that actually read the ad, how long before they finally need your product or service? Or what about paying top dollar for billboard space on a busy road? How many of those drivers ever call, visit your website, or even read your expensive ad within the first 3 months that you pay for it?

However, with PPC you could turn on your ads in the morning and have new customers before lunch. And because PPC offers advertisers so much control, you can ensure that the only people who see your ads are people who are genuinely looking for your product or service. Do you have a seasonal product or a specific sale that runs through the end of the month? Simply edit your ad copy to highlight what sets you apart from your competition, and wait for the phone to ring later that day.

PPC provides a marketing platform that doesn’t require you to show ads to everyone and hope that one day they become a customer. You only show ads to potential customers that are in the market for your product or service.

2. PPC Has Measurable Results

One of the beauties of PPC is the amount of data that the advertiser is given about the account’s performance. You can know every keyword that’s searched, how many times that keyword leads to a click, and how many clicks eventually turn into new customers. And these are only a few of the metrics that are used to determine whether or not your account is successful and if there’s room for growth.

Other marketing initiatives require you to figure out for yourself if your efforts are even profitable, much less if it’s worth the time and energy. However, your PPC account can measure success down to the penny.

In fact, a client in the legal space recently hired Blueprint to build and manage their PPC account and came to us with the mindset that after a certain amount of time they would cancel their account and direct that money to other marketing initiatives. The term that they used was that they wanted PPC to be a “shot in the arm” to gain some initial business, but eventually thought it was going to be too expensive to maintain for the long-term.

However, after seeing just 4 months of a huge return on their investment, they actually increased their PPC budget by 66% and have expanded the number of markets that they are targeting. Without the level of detailed metrics and measurable results provided to them, they would have canceled their account to pursue more expensive marketing avenues with smaller results.

Does your business only have a small starting budget? Are your profit margins so tight that you’re worrying about whether you can even afford to start marketing at all? Have you tried advertising in the past and had no idea if it was worth it? Then allow an experienced PPC company to understand your company, help set your expectations, and then build an account with clearly measured results that has room to grow as your business grows.

3. PPC Can Focus on Building Your Brand

One of the reasons that your business is still small could be because not very many people know that you exist. You may have the cheapest service or the fastest turn-around time in your industry, but if your potential customers haven’t seen your offer, then you could be indirectly sending new customers to your competitors every day.

PPC allows you to focus your ad copy on the very things that set you apart from your competitors. Is your customer service better than the other guy? Tell the people that are searching for your product. Is your company endorsed by a leading voice in your industry or do you have a special certification that no one else has? Explicitly state that in your ads to build trust with potential customers.

PPC allows your brand to set the standard in your industry and enables you to tell every potential customer that you exist and that you’re the best. What’s more, PPC not only allows you to expose your current brand, but it also allows you to improve upon it in real time.

Have you ever wondered if instead of selling your product for $20, you would get more interest if you listed it for $19.99? Have you ever thought how much business would increase if you extended your New Customer Discount to 15% instead of just 10%? It’s as simple as rewriting your ads, updating your website, and comparing the data at the end of the test period. Testing calls to action, comparing ad copy, and changing promotional offers are all standard practice for PPC marketing.

What Are You Waiting For?

With the long list of things that you have to worry about as a small business owner, wondering if marketing is right for your company should not have to be one of them. Because PPC offers immediate results that are measurable and trackable down to the penny, you should never be forced to wonder if your marketing efforts are even worth the time, money, and effort that’s going into them.

Having a company build and manage your PPC account could be the missing piece in your marketing efforts that will not only build brand exposure in your area, but also help you figure out the best way to sell your service or product to potential customers.

So there’s only one question left: What are you waiting for?

By: Jeremy