by Jen Doyle, Senior Research Analyst

The Effectiveness of PPC Objectives


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PPC can require a significant investment of both time and money, but when executed effectively, the rewards are well worth it. PPC has been rated as a very effective tactic in achieving increased lead generation, website traffic, increased online sales revenue and increased brand or product awareness, making this an important tactic for B2B and B2C organizations alike.

It's possible that the perception of PPC's effectiveness for increasing offline sales revenue is a result of difficulties in tracking the original source(s) of offline sales. Additionally, the improvements PPC has on website traffic and increased brand or product awareness will lead to an increase in offline sales revenue.

The effectiveness of PPC in improving brand and product reputation or public relations is undervalued, with only 19% and 6% of organizations indicating that PPC was a very effective tactic in achieving these objectives, respectively. PPC can be used to improve brand or product reputation and improve public relations. Having a PPC ad appear above a direct competitor's ad conveys authority on the paid side of search. Additionally, PPC can be utilized to address any negative press that may appear on search results pages. These are just a couple of examples of how PPC can be used to improve reputation and PR.

For additional research data and insights about search marketing, download and read the free Executive Summary from MarketingSherpa’s 2011 Search Marketing Benchmark Report -- PPC Edition.