Did you know that 97% of Google’s revenue, roughly $33 billion, comes from Adwords and other advertising? (TechCrunch)  That’s a staggering statistic. While it’s clear that PPC is still dominated by Google, this post takes a look at social pay-per-click as an alternative.  Specifically, I’ll break down PPC on the platforms of LinkedIn and Facebook, both of which can be beneficial if used correctly.

LinkedIn Ads

Pros

1)  Great for B2B. As you’ve likely noticed, LinkedIn has a corporate vibe. This gives marketers a great platform to reach businesses in a social environment.

2)  Reach the Decision Makers.  In the old days, it was quite a task to reach the CEO, COO, or Director of Marketing of a large company. Now, most of them are only a click away on LinkedIn. You can target your ads to reach the decision makers and increase your conversion rates.

3)  Highly Targeted. You can target your ads with a combination of the following categories: job title, job function, industry, geography, age, gender, company name, company size, or LinkedIn Group. This allows small companies to stretch their marketing budget with a very specific target audience in mind. Waste less dollars on users outside of your target market.

Cons

1)  High CPC. LinkedIn ads are expensive.  While you can limit your spending to only $10/day, the CPC can be steep.

2)  Right People at the Wrong Time. Unlike Google Search, LinkedIn users aren’t actively looking for a related term or product when your ad appears.  You aren’t reaching them when they’re ready to take action, but instead may be taking away from their experience. They are less likely to navigate away from LinkedIn and respond to your ad if they aren’t actively searching for a related solution.  This con is balanced by the fact that more people will actually see your ad; the click-through-rate is lower and you don’t pay for anything until someone clicks through. If you can create a memorable ad with a high recall rate, these impressions can help you in the long run.

Facebook Ads

Pros

1) Very Highly Targeted. Facebook users willingly give out so much personal information; marketers can use this knowledge to cater ads to very specific groups. The legal and moral issues surrounding Facebook’s use of personal information is well documented, but it’s a good opportunity to give users ads that spark their interests.

2) Huge Pool of Users. More than 800 million and counting.

3) Promotion of Own Social Media Channels. Some companies use Facebook Ads to promote their own Facebook Page. You don’t have to re-direct people straight to your website, but instead engage users within the Facebook domain and get added exposure through “Likes” and shares.

Cons

1)  Right People at the Wrong Time (see explanation from LinkedIn Ads above)

2)  Credibility Factor. I read this one in an older blog post here and it really resonated with me. There are so many junk advertisements on Facebook that it’s diminishing the value for everyone else. It’s like the boy that cried wolf; users are becoming immune to ads because there isn’t a process in place to weed out the poor quality advertisers. I don’t want to see any more ads for “get rich quick” schemes or penny stocks!

3)  Rising Costs. Facebook Ads used to be a cost effective alternative to Google Adwords, but the CPC is rising fast now that the tool is well established.

We recommend a combination of all three PPC platforms to our clients, depending on their industry and focus. While Adwords still dominates, social PPC is no joke. For example, one of our clients can attribute 25% of their revenue directly to Facebook Ads. In the end, it isn’t about which platform you like better, but instead which one gives you the best opportunity to impact your core audience.