The 10 Most Popular And Profitable PPC Platform To Choose From

The people of today’s online world are constantly consumed by phones and computers, either typing away on search engines, browsing through websites, or scrolling through social media platforms. The availability of so much digital content out there makes it essential for present-day marketers to compete with this content in order to grab people’s attention. Small and large businesses alike have started to dedicate chunks of their marketing money into digital avenues. And this is why the pay-per-click (PPC) advertising industry is worth billions of dollars today.

In our last blog, we gave a more thorough introduction to PPC, so check it out if you haven’t yet! We also went over the several benefits of implementing a PPC strategy and what you should be looking for when choosing a PPC platform. To recap, PPC has several long-term benefits: it is measurable, trackable, faster, easier, flexible, accurate, and great to combine with other marketing strategies.

You must be wondering, all these benefits of PPC sound well and good, but how do I know which PPC platform to choose? Afterall, there are several platforms that exist beyond Google, and not every platform works for every business. You may already have a Kuwait online marketing agency running your PPC campaigns for you, but it’s always a good idea to bring yourself up to speed on the most profitable PPC platforms. Here we have listed the many PPC networks available to businesses today, even those with lower market share, and highlighted the pros and cons of each to help you decide the platforms of your choice.

The 10 Best PPC Platforms You Need To Know

Search Engines

1. Google Ads/AdWords

   Needless to say, Google Ads is one of the most popular and widely used PPC platforms. It is a high-intent platform and currently has the largest market share. Easy to set up and navigate, Google Ads can be automated in a way that it does the bidding for you, keeping in account your marketing budget. You get good control of your campaigns, are able to track conversions using simple coding, and can target customers in specific regions. With Google Display Network, you can advertise on partner sites like YouTube, making it ideal for both search and display ads. Keep in mind though, that since Google has such a wide reach, it has a lot more competition and higher-priced keywords. It’s also relatively easier for Google users to install ad blockers through plug-ins, limiting your reach.

2. Bing Ads

   Formerly known as Yahoo, and now also known as Microsoft Advertising, Bing is similar to, although not as popular as Google. Advertising on Bing will get you displayed on the Yahoo search engine and give you access to users through Microsoft’s digital assistant. Bing ads are a whopping 70% less expensive than Google Ads which means you have a better chance of reaching the top of the SERPs. They also give you a lot more campaign control and a broad range of analytical tools for campaign monitoring. Additionally, Bing ads feature a Social Extensions app that can help drive traffic to your business’s social media. If you are looking to target an older and high-earning demographic, which is not very easy to do online, Bing ads should be a part of your chosen PPC platforms. Bing ads’ disadvantages include a lower click-through-rate (CTR), lower reach, limited access to the younger demographic, and popularity limited to only a few countries.

Social Media

1. Facebook Ads

   Coming in second to Google in terms of market share, Facebook is the most-used social media platform in the world. Since it has more than a billion users, it is easier to target users on it. With the help of a Facebook marketing company in Kuwait, you can also target users based on their interests, a feature not available on Google Ads. In general, while Google is more keyword focused, Facebook is more interest and demographic focused. So, a user doesn’t have to actively search in order to activate your ad. Advertising through Facebook also lets you advertise through Instagram, which is great for expanding reach to multiple platforms. Plus, using ad blockers on Facebook will not stop your ads from being seen. On the down side, Facebook’s newsfeed is relatively cluttered, which can make it harder to attract users’ attention. It also has a lower CTR than Google. Moreover, if you plan to advertise on Facebook, you will need to make your ads visual, shareable, catchy, and clickable, as there are no text-based ads here.

2. LinkedIn Ads

   Because of LinkedIn’s targeting options and its typical user base, it’s a great platform for B2B advertising. LinkedIn uses demographics like location, job title, industry and position, that lets you target your ads to the right audiences. It’s perfect for targeting people in specific roles and seniority. And since it features narrow targeting, it has a high return on investment. LinkedIn ads can either be sponsored posts, InMail, text ads, dynamic ads, or displayed through a partner network. However, advertising on LinkedIn is pretty expensive, almost 4 times the price of advertising on Google. And since you can only use one ad type per campaign, testing many ad types can produce a cluttered structure.

3. YouTube Ads

   YouTube is the most popular video sharing site in the world with a reach of over a billion users. An audience can be targeted through demographics, topics, keywords, interests, etc. Ad formats include pre roll ads, display ads, and promoted videos. Although YouTube is a lower-intent ad channel, video ads have the ability to hold audience attention far better than a display ad. You also get the option to make non-skippable ads to ensure that your ad is being watched. Since the first five seconds of the ads are free, it can be a very cost-friendly option. On the other hand, YouTube does not allow any third-party tracking, which makes tracking and measuring campaign analytics quite difficult. Plus, if video creators use irrelevant tags, your ads can appear on unrelated videos.

4. Twitter Ads

   Previously, advertisers could only post ads on twitter if they were invited to. Now, anyone can. Twitter is a high-intent platform as it focuses on both keyword targeting and audience targeting. It is also much cheaper in terms of average cost-per-click (CPC) compared to other social media platforms. Since Twitter is primarily a text-based platform, you can use text ads to give your ads that native feel. Although, Twitter is by no means limited to text ads. It also includes video ads, carousel ads, moment ads, and image ads. Keep in mind that Twitter can easily get filled with a lot of posts, making it difficult to have your ad stand out and drive engagement, especially without the help of social media marketing companies in Kuwait. Moreover, if your conversions are more complicated than usual, they can be harder to set up and get accurate results.

5. TikTok Ads

   TikTok for Business is a fairly new advertising platform that is perfect for targeting the younger audience group. If your ad or organic content goes viral here, it can have a great positive impact on your business. The fully immersive video format increases user engagement. Some cons: it’s on the expensive side and has minimum spend requirements per campaign/ad group, and if your ad is not entertaining enough for TikTok users, it will probably be overlooked.

6. Snapchat Ads

Snapchat too has one of the youngest audiences compared to other social media platfroms. You can target people based on their demographics, interests, purchasing habits, etc., and experiment with ad types like image and video ads, story ads, lenses AR experiences, commercials, and filters. It is cheaper on average than TikTok, while maintaining the user engagement as it is also a video-driven platform. If you manage to score influencer marketing on this platform, it can do wonders for your business. However, since the user base is so young, the platform may not be ideal for a lot of products.

7. Pinterest Ads

   Not a lot of advertisers prefer Pinterest as their go-to PPC platform. But surprisingly, Pinterest shoppers have been found to spend 2x more than shoppers on other platforms. Since people visit Pinterest to specifically look for new projects and products to invest in, it’s a great high-intent platform for new brands and businesses that are looking to increase brand loyalty. Like Twitter, Pinterest also focuses on both, audience interests and demographics, and keywords. Almost half of all Pinterest users are women in the 25-44 age group, so you need to have a pretty specific target audience to market here.

Mobile In-app

Some research says that ads on mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, and wearable technology, posted through apps, are more likely to get clicked. In-app ads can be made interactive, give access to the global app market, and offer advanced analytics and targeting capabilities to Kuwait digital marketing companies. But if your app is located as a banner ad, it can not only be hard to place information in that small space, but it also makes your ad much harder to get noticed, producing an extremely low CTR.

Choosing the right PPC platform for your business requires a clear definition of your business’s needs and objectives. This definition will guide the kind of targeting options and analytical tools you need to be looking for. Most importantly, your chosen platform should be user-friendly and provide enough technical support. Check out our previous blog for a highlight on what to look for in a PPC platform. If you’re still hung up on the kind of PPC platform most suitable for your business, we’re just a call/ping away.

Design Master is one of the top digital marketing companies in Kuwait. Our web marketing team will formulate a custom PPC campaign for you and select keywords that best represent your brand, helping you generate leads, increase sales, and promote brand awareness.

Next, we will talk about some alternative PPC platforms that complement the mainstream ones really well. If you’re looking for something new and exciting, or want to experiment with ad formats and placements not available on the PPC platforms discussed above, stay tuned for the upcoming blog!