45% of small firms now use it, and it is anticipated that digital advertising will cost close to $233 billion this year in the US.
Costs are increasing as websites compete more intensely for traffic. On all platforms—Facebook, Google, YouTube—CPMs have increased in price.
Because of this, marketers must use more discernment when deciding which paid traffic sources to use, when to use them, and how much money to spend on each.
What Are The Sources Of Paid Traffic?
All visitors that access a website through a paid click on an advertisement or link are considered sponsored traffic. The principal sources of paid traffic sources are listed below:
Ads on display or banners
Paid search with Bing Ads or Google Ads
advertisements on social networks like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, etc.
Networks like Outbrain encourage sponsored content, also known as native discovery.
Influencer marketing is having influencers advocate your brand or product to their audience.
Affiliate marketing refers to having a third party advertise your website.
Your individual demographic, brand, and objectives will always determine the magic ingredient for a successful PPC plan. Here are five things to think about initially when testing paid traffic sources:
Do you know that sensation you get after visiting YouTube and seeing the ideal video in your feed? Notable, isn't it?
Unquestionably, video is one of the most widely used marketing tactics. According to Ahrefs, YouTube is the most popular website in the world, with over 8 billion searches per month. In 2021, YouTube visitors spent an average of 29 minutes on the platform, indicating that they are interested, curious, and ready to be delighted by your advertisement.
Additionally, YouTube targeting provides a comprehensive approach with various audience targeting options. These comprise the customary demographics and audience targeting based on topics and related demographics (AKA Lookalike audiences). Additionally, affinity targeting concentrates on individuals with interests related to your niche, and life events targeting zeroes in on users at critical junctures in their lives. YouTube combines the well-liked video format with a sizable worldwide audience and various cutting-edge targeting choices. In addition, it is reasonably priced, with an average cost of $2000 to reach 100,000 people.
All you have to do is start making engaging and effective video advertising. Here are some helpful tools for making videos.
Currently, Google receives about 9 billion queries every day. Google claims that approximately 60% of consumers conduct online product research before purchasing.
You don't have to believe what Google says. Consider the last time you wished to make a purchase, make travel arrangements, or join up for a service. You could google the topic first.
As a result, Google search advertising is huge. Securing the top spot on the first SERP, even before organic results, is one of the keys to increasing visibility, clicks, and conversions. Google's Dynamic Search Ads enable you to reach new audiences via search by dynamically creating ads based on the pages and content of your website that correspond with search terms. This is an excellent method for discovering new keywords and search phrases outside of your normal search efforts.
Naturally, Google's Google Display Network also provides display adverts. Display ads undoubtedly have issues, such as the rise in ad blockers. Additionally, display ads frequently receive fewer clicks and interactions than native ads.
However, it isn’t easy to contest Google's assertion that their ad network reaches 90% of internet users. Is spending money on display ads a good idea? Here is a flowchart to aid with your decision-making.
LinkedIn Ads
LinkedIn Ads are undoubtedly one of the primary paid traffic sources if you are in the B2B sector. 63 million of the over 700 million users of LinkedIn are categorized as decision-makers, and 10 million are C-level executives. You can target visitors to your website, contacts or accounts, and people based on their titles, industries, demographics, or locations. Similar to Facebook's lead ads, LinkedIn offers a pre-filled contact form, but what makes LinkedIn so fascinating is the opportunity to target specific individuals based on their professional profiles and communicate with them directly. Users view adverts and read information differently on LinkedIn because they are in "professional" mode. For the proper advertiser, particularly those who want to use account-based marketing, that may be highly effective.
The disadvantage of LinkedIn's network is its high cost; for CPC or CPM campaigns, the lowest bid is $2, and the average price is $5.26 for a click, $6.59 for 1000 impressions, and 80 cents for each InMail send. However, LinkedIn may yield impressive returns for B2B marketers when appropriately used. The many ad types that are offered on LinkedIn are described in this helpful guide.
Outbrain is most known for the advertisements that show up as Recommended Posts on the websites you visit. In case you're unfamiliar, here's a quick rundown of what Outbrain does.
Using Outbrain's advertising network, you can advertise on the open web or all kinds of websites other than search and social. Outbrain Smartads feature a variety of ad forms created for various target markets and objectives. For instance, the Carousel Smartad is excellent for showing different linked products or starting a business story. Clip Smartads offers a brief animated ad experience to attract viewers and grab their attention.
Through the whole marketing funnel, from awareness to conversion, advertisers may increase their reach and broaden their possible audience pool by using new targeting options based on interest and context rather than just traditional targeting data, such as location.
Outbrain native ads offer a more affordable alternative that generates quality traffic sources and leads as consumers turn away from social media.
With its brief, bite-sized, and edgy content and success (in 75 languages! ), TikTok has elevated video to a new level. With more than 1 billion users monthly, TikTok is one of the recent success stories in the social media ecosystem.
Although TikTok Ads are only available in video format, the platform's unique user experience offers some unique ad options. TopView advertising, for example, is advertisements that appear once daily when a user launches an app. An astounding 14% of people use these. InFeed commercials function similarly to advertisements on other platforms; TikTok attention rates can reach 6%.
TikTok's algorithms' potency is one factor contributing to its enormous popularity. TikTok emphasizes the quality and relevancy of the ad content in addition to the highest bidder when allocating ad slots. Users will have a far more exciting and pleasurable experience as a result.
TikTok's advertising rates are very reasonable. The average CPM for 1000 views is over $10, while the average CPC is around $1. The majority of TikTok users are Gen Z and Millennials. If your company caters to a younger demographic, you should consider TikTok advertising if you can afford it.
Conclusion
A combination of paid and organic internet marketing platforms will be your best bet. Selecting the best-paid channels for your target audience is the first step in a successful PPC plan since it will help you attract the highest-quality traffic sources that has the potential to become a customer. Pay attention to LinkedIn if you work in B2B marketing. You can't exist as a B2C company that caters to Gen Z without TikTok. Testing and trying them out are the only ways to be specific. The secret to identifying your company's greatest paid traffic sources is to do just that.
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