Digital Marketing - PPC Search vs PPC Social

Hi,
Over the last few years, PPC advertising on social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn have become very popular. While PPC on social networks are a vital part of digital marketing plans, it is important not to get carried away by their ‘hotness' quotient, and shift budgets from PPC search to PPC social. Here are five reasons why :

1. Social media boredom: According to digital marketing research by various agencies, users from many demographics are displaying signs of social media fatigue. This includes early adopters and younger, smartphone users. As social media ads are served based on profile info rather than behaviour, it is expected that your targeted audience will see your digital marketing ad a lot. This could cause banner blindness, resulting in abysmally low click through rates.

2. It is easier to harvest demand than to create it: Digital marketing activities for improving search engine rankings also build brand awareness about a company and enhance demand. There is nothing better than PPC search for harvesting this demand at an opportune time, when users are ready to call, register or buy online. Unlike PPC social, PPC search assures you of getting a direct response from customers, as well as increasing awareness and brand recall.

3. Not enough information on social media sites: A large number of profiles on social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn have insufficient information about the owner, preventing digital marketing specialists from properly targeting interested searchers. Even though social media websites are working hard to gain as many users as possible, they are not encouraging these users to fill out their profile information, which is essential for targeting purposes.

4. Incorrect information on social profiles: Many people are prone to lying on social networking websites. While millions of profiles are totally fake, a large number of profiles have outright lies, boasts or flourishes added to them. In such a scenario, how are digital marketing professionals supposed to target their ads, when the targeting information given in profiles is itself wrong?

5. A ‘Like' does not help much: Ads on social media sites like Facebook simply take the clicker to the Facebook business page of the company. The most that digital marketing specialists can expect out of this action is a ‘Like'. As such, a ‘like' does not guarantee that a user will definitely view one's messages.