Why Your Marketing Efforts Need to Include Paid Search

 ​The world of digital marketing never rests. Rather, it is in a constant state of evolution. That is why sophisticated marketers know that they have to stay one step ahead, or at a minimum, stay relevant. The end result is that many marketers dabble in a bit of this and that to determine what is working now, and while we agree that it is important to test, we have noticed that some of the marketing strategy fundamentals seem to be going by the wayside. A perfect example of this is paid search. Some brands seem to be ignoring paid search marketing in the pursuit of other mediums such as social advertising, and while we at Think Media agree that social advertising should be part of the marketing mix, paid search is still the most effective way to drive conversions. 

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​For the doubters among us, the statistics speak for themselves. To start, most businesses make $2.00 on every dollar spent in advertising on Google. According to Unbounce, pay-per-click visitors are 50% more likely to purchase than an organic visitor. Moreover, Wordstream data suggests that when someone is looking to buy a product, paid search ads get 65% of all clicks. All of which amounts to some pretty compelling reasons to jump into paid search. These stats don’t even speak to the increased brand awareness that occurs via greater search presence or the positive impact to other ad campaigns and channels.
 
The truth is that paid search is a critical tactic in driving qualified traffic to your business. This applies to virtually all brands whether you have a website that drives people to brick and mortar stores such as Walmart, or to an online storefront. This is particularly true if your brand has an ecommerce store. In this case, paid search is a must because search exposure will be one of the main ways your brand captures sales and qualified leads. It is also a great asset for increasing your brand’s visibility to new visitors or people who aren’t familiar with your brand.
 
If you’re a relatively new brand, paid search is, perhaps, even more important because gaining visibility organically is increasingly challenging. After all, first page Google search results is limited real estate that is dominated by established brands, and 95% of internet users don’t go beyond the first page of search results. That means that your brand needs to use paid search to take advantage of first page search results. Beyond that, it takes months before search engine optimization really starts to pay dividends whereas paid search offers immediate returns. 
 
With that said, paid search marketing isn’t child’s play. It requires an expert to set-up, monitor and continually optimize your brand’s ad campaigns. The search landscape is increasingly competitive and budgets can quickly get eaten up with little positive outcome. Don’t be fooled thinking that you can hire a junior person and have them learn as they go. Your brand needs and deserves an expert to be effective, and experts tend to come at a high cost. However, in this instance (and as always), you get what you pay for. Make sure that you’re vetting and hiring the seasoned professionals with a track record of success. If you can’t find this, look to hire a firm of digital marketing experts with this expertise. Paid search can give your business a quantum leap. Just because it isn’t sexy or flashy doesn’t mean that it isn’t tried and true.