Here’s a really good article from Search Engine Land blogger, Josh Dreller: 9 Problems With Paid Search, 9 Real Tactics To Solve Them which addresses some of the complicated, difficult or “late to the game” aspects of PPC ads. Definitely worth the read for the smaller company facing some big competition.
In the article, Josh address concerns over budget and cost of entering a PPC market against big competition and how to deal with some this effectively. From experience, I can tell you that even with a big budget, there are companies out there spending an insane amount of money to generic words. In my case, I’m referring to pharmaceutical companies and companies marketing to them. Even after doing some great SEO work, you better be prepared to bleed cash if you plan to bid on campaign keywords that these guys are using. It’s just one more reason why drugs are expensive.
Another key point Josh makes is the importance of “standing out in a crowd”. This is really important in any type of marketing. Is your product or service cheaper than mainstream? Does your product have a benefit that the competition doesn’t have? What sets you apart from the noise on the web? Find that to help make you and your product stand out.
Josh also goes on to mention the importance of SEO, frankly stating that if the “pieces aren’t in place… [PPC] is pretty much a waste of money”. Yes, PPC can be great source of additional traffic and revenue. However, if your site is lacking some of the basic elements, an aggressive PPC program is just another way to spend a lot of money to make little.