I seem to be in a mood to talk marketing. Maybe that’s because in a time of cut-backs, marketing budgets are a tempting candidate for the chopping block. For better or worse (often worse), marketing is seen as somehow less-essential than other elements of day-to-day business.

This could be due to past experiences where careful consideration, planning, execution, and measurement were implemented and evaluated over an appropriate amount of time and determined to lack value to the company based on clear, predefined goals, input dollars, and timelines…

…or….

….it could be because even the best and smartest (and potentially most successful) marketing campaign can lack the instant gratification so desired by stake holders looking for swift and decisive outcomes to their investment.

Pay-Per-Click marketing (such as Google AdWords) campaigns are particularly vulnerable to this latter scenario. Some of this comes from our misconception of the immediacy of PPC ads. Yes, it’s true that PPC marketing offers the advertiser an opportunity to have a presence “on-demand,” and that some of the resulting data can be seen nearly instantaneously. But, it’s important to also understand that people don’t always make the purchase the first time they search.

In fact, more often then not, consumers do some form of preliminary research. And, depending upon the business and the customer in question, the purchase could be months after the customer first clicked on the business’s ad.

Much of the early disappointment (and abandonment) around PPC campaigns stems from this lack of understanding of this very concept, or what’s known as the customer buying cycle.

Observing and measuring this cycle leads us to the conclusion that PPC campaigns should not always be measured solely based on whether the user made a purchase (also know as “conversion”) within the very same session that the ad was clicked.

Let’s take a look at some information on this…

For consumers, an Enquiro study found that, of the people using a search engines during the various stages of the buying cycle,

* 9% use them for Awareness.
* 68% use them for Consideration or Research.
* 43% use them for Decision.
* 28% use them for Purchase.

Many people use search engines for 2 or more functions which is why the total equals more than 100%. What is clear is that a much greater proportion of searchers use search engines for some form of preliminary action, prior to purchase. Some may never purchase via PPC, but through a different channel entirely, but still as a result of a PPC ad. SearchEngineGuide also mentions a study done which found that only 15% of people made their purchase in the same session as their initial click!

Much of this is also true for business to business. In fact, the buying cycle is often extended due to additional factors:

The person doing the initial research is not the ultimate decision-maker
There are multiple stake-holders involved to weigh in
The larger the budget, the longer the time period between search and purchase

In fact, almost 90% of items costing over $50,000 took place between 1 and 12 months after the initial search date.

If your business fits into this category, it is evident that you should be in front of your customer throughout their entire buying cycle, maybe even 12 months after their initial search. Remember, you could also be getting sales that from a PPC ad click that occurred months ago, that your software will never record. Add to that, the value of overall brand awareness and the fact that consumers may be learning from your brand, and it becomes clear that you definitely need to have a long term perspective on any PPC campaign you begin.