If someone asked you to explain the main reason for investing in PPC services, what would be your answer? If you are like most business owners, you see PPC (pay-per-click) as a way to directly boost sales. You focus more on click-through rate (CTR) then impressions. But what about increasing brand awareness? Can PPC be leveraged for that purpose?

The experts at Webtek Digital Marketing say it can. Among other things, Webtek offers PPC services throughout Utah and the rest of the country. They say that increasing brand awareness is a worthwhile goal that far too many PPC advertisers do not pursue.

Being a Bug in the Ear

Are you familiar with the idiom ‘a bug in the ear’? In a literal sense, you would most certainly know if you had a bug in your ear. You couldn’t help but feel and hear it. Idiomatically, being a bug in someone’s ear is to continually be in the back of that person’s mind. The person cannot help but think of you every now and again because you are in their head.

Leveraging PPC services to increase brand awareness is based on that very principle. You are putting ads out there in order to get your name and brand in front of potential customers. More importantly, you are looking to get your ads in front of them as often as possible so that they remember your brand.

Well known SEO expert Neil Patel discusses this very idea on his website. He cites the example of listening to a podcast and hearing the name of an unfamiliar company for the first time. You listen to another podcast and hear the same company name. After three or four times, you are curious enough to look that company up. You have just been influenced by brand awareness.

Impressions Are More Important

When brand awareness is the main priority of a PPC ad campaign, CTR is not necessarily what you’re after. Impressions are more important. Why? Because impressions are a measurement of how frequently your ads appear in front of users. CTR measures how often those users click your ads.

In a perfect world, a PPC campaign would realize equally high CTRs and impressions. But doing well with both is not the norm. It is usually one or the other. Perhaps that’s why Google recommends utilizing a ‘brand awareness and reach’ strategy on PPC campaigns designed to get your brand in front of as many potential customers as possible.

Establishing Campaign Goals

Google also recommends setting up campaign goals before you start. Those goals will influence a variety of things including where you choose to advertise, your keyword choices for each ad, your bid price for each keyword, and where users will go when they click on your ads.

Ultimately, impressions are what you’re after. But there is another thing to consider – multiple impressions involving a single user increase the chances of your brand becoming a bug in that user’s ear. One way to achieve such a goal is to begin a companion campaign that focuses on retargeting.

Retargeting is the practice of aiming new ads at people who have already visited your website. If someone has visited but not purchased, you still need to keep your brand fresh. That’s what retargeting does.

There is a lot more to be said about leveraging PPC for brand awareness. For now, you understand that it can be done. If you own a business that utilizes PPC advertising to drive sales, consider leveraging it to increase brand awareness as well. The combined efforts should pay off.