We are arguably stepping closer and closer to a purely digital age. Many realtors conduct the majority of their advertising online, making use of social media, Search Engine Optimization, and well-crafted blog posts to attract and retain clients.

I believe in the immense value of digital marketing; if you haven’t yet done so, be sure to stop by and read my post about the digital marketing necessities for realtors.

The good news about the vast majority of digital marketing is that it is relatively cost-effective. The bulk of the associated costs is largely related to outsourcing fees, as most agents and realtors simply don’t have time to tackle SEO or social media campaigns on their own. Yet even so, these fees may be rather nominal when compared to outbound marketing endeavours, like cold calling and paper mailing.

If realtors have wads of marketing cash to spare, they may wish to take further steps to boost their online visibility by implement PPC advertising. Pay-Per-Click does charge marketers per user click on a specific ad, but these ads have the potential for a high ROI.

In this post, I’ll discuss what PPC advertising means to the real estate industry and whether or not it’s right for you.

What is Realtor PPC Advertising?

PPC advertising is a paid form of digital marketing available to any business owner looking for a visibility boost on a variety of online platforms. “Pay-Per-Click” means that realtors don’t have to front the cost of advertising up front; they simply pay per individual click each ad receives from organic traffic.

The cost of PPC advertising will vary depending on the channel used and the nature of the ad.

Most realtors implement PPC advertising through social media or search engines. Social ads are far more likely to be image-based, while search engine PPC ads will be text-only.

If you want to visualize what social PPC ads look like, take a scroll through your Facebook news feed next time you’re feeling inclined. The ads you see within the feed and to the right of its content are social ads—many of these will likely incorporate video, image slides, or media of some sort.

PPC’s principles align quite closely to those underlying SEO, particularly if using Google AdWords—PPC ads that appear on Google. Google ads will have a tiny “Ad” descriptor in the lefthand corner of every ad and will appear according to user searches (i.e., keywords).

Once again, if you want to get a sense of what these look like, enter a generic search into Google, such as “spray on bed liner” or “credit check for mortgage applications” and note the Google ads that surface as a result. The ads that appear will likely best match the keyword searched (just like SEO).

Crafting a PPC campaign is relatively easy. Google AdWords is, for the most part, rather intuitive, walking realtors through the process of keyword selection, ad content building, and bidding. (A bid is how much you are willing to pay per click on an ad for a given keyword via Google AdWords).

And, PPC is extremely popular with a variety of advertisers. After all, social media and Google both make most of their money through advertising alone.

Yet PPC is not for everyone. Before launching a Pay-Per-Click Campaign, it’s important to determine whether or not it suits your needs as an agent and a competitor in the real estate industry.

Do I Need PPC Advertising?

Your choice to launch a PPC campaign—either through social media or a search engine—will hinge on budget, marketing aims, and the other digital advertising techniques you already have in place.

In general, a PPC campaign may be wise if you fit any of the following scenarios:

You have an extensive, flexible marketing budget at hand.

PPC is paid advertising, and, at the end of the day, it can seriously tap into your wallet. That being said, it does have the potential for an enormous return. A $4 click, for example, may become a lead, which may become a client, who may end up purchasing one of your luxury homes. (That’s a fairly impressive ROI!)

It is possible to try out PPC for a few weeks, to choose low bids (if using Google AdWords) or thumbnail Facebook ads, and assess these baby PPC efforts’ influence on your organic traffic and reach. However, PPC is frequently an all-in-or-all-out strategy. Shoving occasional dollars at Google may not actually give you a significant return.

For that reason, PPC can benefit realtors who have the capacity to make the investment. This may mean, additionally, hiring a PPC expert to launch and monitor campaigns.

Otherwise, if funds are limited, you may be better off simply honing your SEO campaign and giving your website a refresh.

Your marketing aim is primarily reach-related. 

PPC has the potential for high ROI, yet it should not be your only crutch if your marketing aim is sales-related. In general, real estate industry revenue hinges on a variety of factors: word of mouth, length of time spent in the business, regions served, clientele served. PPC can influence sales in the long run, but it’s best suited for marketing goals looking for greater reach.

If you are trying to work with a clientele of a specific demographic in your community or if your company is expanding districts, PPC is a good digital marketing solution. The same goes for companies looking for national or even international reach.

PPC’s primary function is to boost organic traffic to your website (or relevant content). It supplements other visibility-related marketing efforts like SEO and social media campaigns. For that reason, if you’re keen to amp up your reach as a realtor, consider PPC.

You have an SEO campaign in place.

All that being said, if you’ve already invested time and effort (as well as other resources) into an SEO campaign—both local and generic—then PPC may be a solid supplement to your optimization campaign. This is particularly the case if you launch an AdWords campaign.

Social ads can similarly supplement social activity you’ve been building on Facebook or Instagram (or other platforms). If your keywords haven’t been performing as highly as you’d like, a PPC campaign can give them the juice they need to drive traffic to your site.

PPC is certainly not for everyone. Realtors without financial means to pursue a significant paid advertising campaign may not benefit from PPC; on the other hand, PPC can be a valuable investment for realtors looking to expand their online visibility.

I’ll be writing a post about launching an effective PPC campaign soon. Stay tuned!