Social Media Marketing Vs. Pay Per Click
Business owners like the idea of fast, easy, and inexpensive (a.ka. cheap) advertising. They also know however that traditional methods of advertising like mailers, newspaper ads, and billboards to name a few are becoming less effective and remain costly. So in search of a new way to both advertise and get their business out there, many businesses discover a fast, easy and cheap method of advertising online by implementing a pay-per-click marketing strategy.
Before we talk about pros and cons, lets first consider why old school advertising doesn’t work anymore. There is an old cliche that says people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. What that’s saying is that people are looking to connect with you and with your business on a deeper level, and throwing a mailer at them or blasting a big ad in the paper or via even email simply doesn’t get that done. Your business doesn’t appear to care so neither do they. Trash can!
We understand that business owners would prefer not to worry about marketing and Pay-Per-Click is the perfect fire and forget strategy. The problem is you are paying for a click, not a customer. How often have you clicked on a site, not found what you wanted immediately and clicked the back button? Do you even click in the sponsored links at the top of Google? The reality is Pay-per-click is an online billboard.
The Social Media Alternative
Social Media is all about relationships. Through a little consistency and very little money if any, you build meaningful relationships with your clients. People know you care because they talk to you interact with them and or others regularly. Bringing relevant info into their lives, not a sales pitch.
When someone comes to your site, its like a warm call or a referral. The person knows you and is interested in what you do. They aren’t looking for something specific, they are probing into your business and if you have something relevant to offer and they have a need its likely they will do business with you.
So when it comes down to it, the product or service you provide effects your the strategy you decide to implement. If you rely on return clients and customers, relationships are key. Are you using Pay-Per-Click? If so, how is it working for your business. Have you considered social media?
What are your thoughts?
Your Thoughts?
6 Comments | 
Apr 18 2011
DamienSS
New blog post: Social Media Marketing Vs. Pay Per Click http://bit.ly/112TT2
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
More from authorRob Laughter
Two issues from a colleague.
First, you’re comparing apples to oranges. Social media and PPC are in no way related, nor are they replacements for one another. Here’s a notion: how do customers get to your site in the first place? Social media is a start, but it will not by any means replace traditional advertising for the foreseeable future.
Second is the suggestion that social media is free. A well-played social media strategy takes a huge amount of resources (time and energy) to develop and more resources to maintain.
How do you address these matters with a business owner? How does it in any way pertain to guerrilla marketing?
Cheers,
More from authorRob
Damien Steiner Smith
Rob,
Thanks for stopping by and for providing some amazing questions and insights. As the face of online advertising and presence develop I see PPC and SM as very much related from a business perspective. As a business owner, the only reason for having a website at all is to bring people to it. PPC’s ultimate goal is to get a potential customer to click on your link based on a certain keyword search. The online marketplace is evolving and customers are becoming more aware of ‘advertising tricks’ and are looking to more reliable sources like blogs and online word of mouth i.e. social networking both of which fall under the umbrella of social media. Customers are looking to relationship based entities to determine who they do business with online. Social media is a more reliable place to attempt to generate a click. This post isn’t necessarily saying that social media will completely replace traditional advertising its saying that social media is a much better way of connecting with people rather than trying to bombard them with messages they clearly don’t want.
I always ensure that my clients understand the time commitment involved in a social media marketing strategy however, an effective strategy doesn’t have to be incredibly time consuming in fact, I encourage a Slight Edge approach for most of our clients. Social Media doesn’t have to be a dive-in strategy. We often encourage clients to get their feet wet first. There is much curiosity but also much anxiety about social media and I believe that for a business owner, not only can it be incredibly fun, but also fulfilling to get involved and interact with their customer base.
When it comes to guerrilla marketing, I believe that every business has a target market and in short, social media allows businesses to occupy social media space with their target customers. I analyze the businesses demographics and help mold a guerrilla social media strategy tailored specifically for my client’s goals and target customers.
Hope that answers all your questions.
More from authorDamien
DamienSS
thanks to @RobLaughter for an awesome comment on my most recent blog post! really made me think and respond. http://bit.ly/16BXkG
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
More from authorJamie Favreau
I have to agree. I have firefox and am able to block all ads so what would having a pay per click campaign do for me? I am not sure how many users use the Adblock feature on FireFox but it is there and when people go to Tweet ups they talk about these things.
This affects your sale because you are NOT being seen by the person even if you are high on the Search Engine rankings. For all the hype of social networks. They are valuable for building relationships.
I wonder how my grandfather did business. Times were different in his day and he did very well until the 80s when everything crashed.
Relationships were important in his day. We are getting back to them just in a hyper connected way.
More from authorppc_advice
Social Media Marketing Vs. Pay Per Click | Guerrilla Social Media http://ow.ly/15MaFK
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
More from authorJustin Williams
PPC is a fast way in getting to the top of Google but you have to be VERY careful on your ROI. If you are spending more than you are making then this is not worth it. The best choice obviously is organic results but if PPC works well too then use both in your combination.
More from authorRob Laughter
Great response, Damien. I see how both channels can drive customers to a website and affect a business’ bottom line–in that way, they are very similar solutions to a tricky problem. At the same time, the mechanics of each approach are totally different.
I like the idea of your “slight edge” approach–it’s an idea that I’ve been toying with for a while. I come from the school of thought, though, that if I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it right. It’s sort of a “go big or go home” mentality. For the small business owner, it’s fun to dip your toes in and play around with the tools, but during that time, businesses can make some fundamental mistakes that will put them in a messy situation.
I’m still having trouble with the “guerrilla” concept, though
In my marketing study and practice, I’ve always seen guerrilla tactics as the down-and-dirty, “undercover” marketing activities (along, sadly, with the junk Jay Conrad Levinson peddles to the masses). I used to play with guerrilla marketing during my college years with pretty good success. I’m somewhat interested in the idea of social media (an interactive, overt marketing approach) as a GENUINE “guerrilla” tactic (undercover, not overt, and certainly not conventional) to set it apart from the noise that we’re experiencing in a crowded market today. Shoot me an email sometime–let’s explore.
Cheers,
More from authorRob
Justin Williams
@Rob – Social Media is the new form of Guerrilla Marketing it seems, check out the latest wiki you might be surprised yourself. I think Damien came up with a great concept since Guerrilla Marketing is all about un-conventional marketing tatics that goes viral on a small budget!! Kudos!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_marketing
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