Addressing PPC Disadvantages to Turn Negatives into Positives

Pay-per-click (PPC) disadvantages are a given challenge to the job that can be managed with a few expert hacks.

Every strategy has its strengths and weaknesses – even PPC advertising. Be it influencer marketing, search engine optimization, and so on. But none of the pitfalls of those disciplines can be so detrimental to your efforts as the disadvantages of digital advertising.

Imagine putting your money into efforts that are influenced by two of the most volatile influences on your online marketing efforts – evolving technologies, and audiences. Feels like a gamble most of the time, doesn’t it?

READ ALSO: 6 Key Benefits of PPC Advertising for Online Brand Growth

Significant PPC disadvantages

Every digital marketing agency can tell you that as you can’t really do without paid advertising efforts online, let’s tackle how you can work around the disadvantages of paid digital advertising and get the most out of your investments.

1. Can be costly and wasteful.

The biggest disadvantage you face in paid digital advertising is the risk of heightened costs and resource wastage.

In running a PPC advertising campaign, it’s common practice for your PPC managers or agency to tweak the ad budget to meet the performance goals. They will either reduce or increase it depending on how your ad sets are performing.

Poor performance could lead them to increase the budget, while an ad that’s performing well will not require any increases. Better, even, if they can perform just as well for less the budget.

Your worst case in this scenario is a case of sunk cost fallacy where your PPC managers continue to invest in a lost cause.

How an expert prepares to address this disadvantage

Before anything else, PPC management experts will A/B split test ad materials and ad sets before they deploy them to your bigger audience.

A/B split testing is a technique where two different versions of your ads are boosted to a small portion of your audience to see which one performs better for a tiny investment. This marketing experiment involves rigorous comparisons and tweaking of your ad materials.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: In-depth Guide to A/B Split Testing Like a Pro

This is done to ensure that you are putting out the best-performing ads each time. Impeccable ad materials and copies don’t need much boosting as they are already effective on their own. So strive to improve your ad copies and media as best as you can before boosting your budgets.

Ultimately, it leads to budget maximization, as it affords you more wiggle room to either extend the run of your campaign with the existing asset or invest in a new set of ads.

2. Audiences suffer from ad fatigue.

Ad fatigue is a phenomenon where audiences become tired of and unmotivated to engage with advertisements.

It’s another major disadvantage of digital advertising as it is caused both by overexposure to your ads, and to that of other brands – competitor or otherwise. This leads to more budget wastage, if not addressed immediately and properly.

To spot when this ad fatigue is already happening, Hubspot writes three key signs:

• low click-through rates;
• fewer engagements, and;
• fewer impressions

Your PPC management agency or experts should learn how to spot these patterns quickly and, in turn, employ the appropriate techniques to address it.

Some will recommend retargeting or remarketing, while others will advise you to resort to simply switching up your ad assets.

3. Platform limitations deter performance tracking.

This disadvantage of paid digital advertising comes after Apple introduced security features in their recent set of updates. For quick context, the updates involve permissions to opt out of user data tracking and ad experience customization, among others.

What did this entail for advertisers? Simply that your data is sparse, and can run the risk of you developing inaccurate insights from your ad campaigns. Without insights, you can’t optimize accordingly.

These kinds of updates are the reasons why your PPC management company should always be: updated with industry trends, and have technical mastery of analytics. Given those prerequisites, your PPC managers should be able to:

• ensure that basic tracking tools are set up and updated;
• diversify your tools tack to make use of other tracking options, and;
• prepare ahead for anticipated challenges in tracking.

This is so that you can sure accurate and timely reporting so much that it eliminates the risk of your campaigns running amock.

When running a paid digital advertising campaign, there are a few best practices to keep in mind. First, be sure to target the right customers with your ads. You want to make sure that the people who see your ads are interested in what you have to offer.

Additionally, be sure to track the performance of your ads closely. This will help you determine whether or not they are generating leads or sales for your business. Finally, make sure to budget carefully. Paid advertising can be expensive, so make sure you don’t spend more than you can afford.

4. Platforms want you to pay to play.

We wouldn’t be surprised if most of you came telling us that your organic content isn’t just performing as well as it used to. Hence, you turn to paid digital advertising.

This declining performance of organic content (especially from brands) is because of algorithm changes that platforms claim to be for the benefit of their users. To put it in exact figures, the average organic post from a brand or publisher will only reach 5.20% of its audience. A number that is so minuscule you can hardly hope that it will meet your targets for conversions.

Admittedly, the playing field is getting tougher as platform handlers pile demands on top of those that come from your audiences. On the one hand, your customers demand customization and more intuitive ad pushing but want more organic content. While on the other hand, platform handlers are demanding you pay more for visibility while crippling your tracking capabilities.

Working with a veteran PPC agency can help ease much of this burden by supporting your business with marketing experimentation skills, and the tools to deploy effective ads.

Other important considerations when running a campaign

When planning a paid digital advertising campaign, there are a few other considerations to take into account.

First, be aware of the different types of paid ads that are available. There are a number of different options, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Additionally, be sure to set a realistic budget for your campaign. Paid advertising can be expensive, so make sure you don’t spend more than you can afford.

Finally, make sure you track the results of your campaign closely. This will help you determine whether or not your ads are generating leads or sales for your business.

Key takeaways

Paid digital advertising can be a great way to reach a large audience quickly and easily, but it’s important to be aware of the disadvantages as well. Paid ads can be expensive, and so entail care in usage.

When doing it for yourself or with the help of an agency, always remember that:

• PPC doesn’t have to be risky. Keep yourself updated with trends in your market, customers, and developments in the advertising landscape so you can prepare ahead for mitigating any and all possible risks.
• Know when to kill a campaign. Ego can be a misleading guide when you run ad campaigns. When an ad isn’t performing as much as you expected, take a step back and see if pausing, ending, or modifying the campaign will help improve it, rather than keeping it running.
• Track performance closely. And no, the tracking limitations are not an excuse – not for PPC partners who really know their craft. Tracking is vital to optimizing campaigns and ensuring that your online marketing efforts pay off each time.

What have your experiences with paid digital advertising been like? Let us know over on Facebook, X, or LinkedIn. We’d be happy to answer any of your questions.

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