Thalasar Ventures

Generally speaking, Google has held the biggest market share of online users for quite some time. So, it wasn’t always worth your money to go somewhere other than Google Adwords for a Sponsored Search Marketing campaign. But now, with the merger of Yahoo and Bing, it’s more worthwhile to explore an alternative to Google AdWords.

Microsoft’s adCenter is helping people reach those online users who are searching with Bing and Yahoo. They claim that their users can reach as many as 57 million unique searchers with their PPC ads.  While Microsoft’s adCenter has a lot of very similar features to Google AdWords, the main difference seems to be the level of customization that adCenter provides. Their targeting capabilities allow you to decide if you want to apply each level to the entire campaign, or just a specific ad group. However, they are currently only offering text and mobile formats, where AdWords has text, image, video and mobile formats for their ads.

Another alternative to Google AdWords that shouldn’t be ignored is Facebook. Facebook anticipates having over 1 billion users by the summer of 2011. That’s a huge number of potential clients for your business that simply shouldn’t be ignored. Facebook’s sponsored ad campaigns allow you to customize your links by user’s locations, interests and age providing you with the best possible probability of getting clicks. For example, perhaps you have a new restaurant opening in Miami that is very modern and targets a younger audience. You wouldn’t want to advertise on users pages in Michigan who are over 40. Facebook allows you to have specific targeting capabilities to narrow their huge base of users to ones your business will most appeal to. This provides you with a huge amount of bang for your buck.

Deciding to embark on a PPC campaign is defiantly a big step for your business, one that needs to be monitored and maintained if you want it to be successful. Many business owners don’t have time for the amount of work a PPC campaign can be. It seems like you should just be able to set it and forget it right? Wrong. A PPC campaign must be constantly watched and tweaked to reach the ever changing online market. Who has time for that when they’re trying to keep a business going? That’s why sometimes it’s best to hire someone to manage your PPC campaign. That way, if you choose Google AdWords, Microsoft’s latest Yahoo/Bing hybrid adCenter, Facebook or a combination of these three giants, you can be assured your PPC campaign will be a success.

Hiring a professional who’s familiar with PPC campaigns and what they entail and has a good success rate with other company’s PPC campaigns is always a good step. While it may cost you more in the short term, it’s an investment in yourself and something like that always pays dividends down the line.

The professionals at Optimum7 understand the intricacies of Google AdWord and its alternatives. They can help you decide what route is best for your company, and will maintain your PPC campaign once it’s off the ground. Contact Optimum7 today to get started!