We’re almost at the end of another unique year of digital marketing. The ongoing pandemic continues to impact the way both people and businesses make purchasing decisions.
At Credo, we believe that pay-per-click (PPC) ads – sometimes called paid advertising – are one of the best avenues available to broaden your marketing reach. With PPC ads, you have an array of platforms and strategies at your disposal.
To help you prepare for next year, we’ve compiled 22 of the most important PPC ad statistics for 2022. And so you can understand why each one is significant, we’ll provide a bit of context below each stat.
Table of Contents
Google ads brought $2 in revenue for every $1 spent (Source)
Google ads are an extremely popular form of PPC. As illustrated in this statistic and others throughout this post, one reason for the popularity is how effective Google ads are.
72% of companies haven’t looked at ad campaigns in a month (Source)
When almost three out of four advertisers aren’t even checking their campaigns once every 30 days, it means you probably have a great opportunity to win business via paid ads – simply by paying attention to your campaigns.
Search advertising is projected to grow 30% between 2019 and 2022 (Source)
If you’re dubious as to whether or not paid advertising will be around for the long haul, this stat should indicate that it’s not going anywhere. However, as we’ll see later, you shouldn’t ignore other marketing methods to bring in leads.
Over 40% of ad spend in 2020 was spent on search advertising (Source)
While social media platforms make for a popular place to advertise, much of the activity in the world of paid ads is still focused on capturing search engine users. Search users include a wide range of individual and business buyers.
Google’s average cost per click (CPC) is $1.16 (Source)
It’s still a reasonable CPC for ecommerce, but if you can get more specific, you might be able to lower your ad costs even more. Certain competitive keywords will cost more.
Amazon’s average cost per click (CPC) is $0.77 (Source)
While Amazon ads may limit your target audience compared to Google, they can be more cost-effective as illustrated by the lower CPC on Amazon. Amazon shoppers can also be better primed to make a purchase.
73% of total U.S. search ad spending goes to Google (Source)
There are plenty of places to spend your PPC budget online, but if you’re looking to maximize ROI for search ads, Google is still the top dog. Bing and other competitors don’t have the same reach.
37% of users say social networks are most influential for finding a purchase (Source)
Social networks represent a digital form of word of mouth – if you have a good product or service, people will talk about it on social media.
24% of Instagram users 16 and up prefer video ads (Source)
The rise of Instagram is proof that people respond to the visual medium. If you’re using this network for ads – or any other social media platform, for that matter – you may want to invest in video marketing.
70% of search impressions are on mobile devices (Source)
Mobile is another one of those digital marketing trends that’s impossible to avoid. If you haven’t been incorporating mobile browsing into your PPC strategy, you should.
64% of the U.S. population conducted a search on a smartphone (Source)
Speaking of mobile devices, smartphones are the dominant form for most of North America. It’s important to consider smartphone operating systems and apps as you create your marketing campaigns.
50% of web users can’t tell the difference between paid and organic search results (Source)
Some believe paid ads are obvious or overly salesy and often skipped by prospects. However, according to this stat, a significant portion of users can’t tell if a search result is paid or organic.
75% of people believe paid ads help them find things easier (Source)
Another pro-PPC marketing stat here that might surprise you. It turns out that some people actually believe paid ads are helpful to their shopping experience.
50% of people are more likely to buy from PPC ads (Source)
Not only do some people feel ads are helpful, but there is also a certain segment of the population that believes they are more trustworthy to buy from.
85% of clicks on search engines occur in organic search results (Source)
While paid search ads can be valuable, don’t forget about organic results. Many consumers – especially in the B2B realm – prefer organic search results compared to paid ones.
Ad blocker use increased from 15% in 2014 to 26% in 2019 (Source)
Double-digit ad blocker growth indicates that many people still don’t like receiving certain kinds of ads. Organic marketing may be a better choice to reach these groups.
“near me” mobile searches related to buying have increased 500% in two years (Source)
Local marketing is another frontier closely related to mobile search. People conducting localized searches are often much more likely to make an immediate purchase.
48% of marketers invest in YouTube ads (Source)
Search engines are good for capturing a general audience, but YouTube can be an excellent platform depending on your ideal buyer persona.
81% of Internet users between the ages of 15 and 25 use YouTube (Source)
If your business is looking to target a younger demographic, it’s important to be present on those platforms. YouTube is just one good example among a few social networks filled with younger folks, such as TikTok.
94% of people skip search engine ads (Source)
As powerful as search engine ads can be, some studies show that many people don’t pay any attention to them. It’s important to broaden your strategy so you can attract leads in multiple ways.
Online ads are viewed as the least diverse media type in the U.S. (Source)
54% of people say they aren’t culturally represented in online ads. This lack of diversity could be a good opportunity for your brand to make its mark with paid ads, by offering a face and voice to less-represented groups among your customer base.
Facebook makes over $80 billion per year in ad revenue (Source)
In the third quarter of 2021, Facebook (now known as Meta) earned over $28 billion in ad dollars. With such a massive market, it’s unlikely that paid ads on social media are going anywhere – despite the company’s intentions to focus on the metaverse.
Putting it all together
One of the best ways to predict the future is to examine what’s happened in the past. We believe all of these statistics illustrate, in one way or another, the future of the PPC market.
Paid advertising may look different as time goes by, but the continued growth of this massive market means it will likely be around as a valuable form of marketing for a long time in the future.
Credo can connect you with our network of vetted digital marketing providers who have deep experience across the most common PPC advertising methods.
Whether you’re looking to improve your existing ad strategy or develop a comprehensive new approach to ads, we can help you meet your requirements.
Schedule a free consultation to get started today.
