The word on the street is that PPC advertising will fall out of favor with advertisers as the economy worsens. Further, I’m hearing that companies will steer more towards natural optimization so they can avoid PPC click charges.
This is absolutely insane.
Think about it … the PPC environment is a classic case of the capitalistic world where market supply and demand determine prices or bids. So if the worry warts are correct in their prediction that companies will leave PPC, those companies that stick it out will see the benefit of lower click costs and potentially higher positioning as the competition bails.
Worst case – even with inventory (searchers) dropping, lower click costs will relax the pressure on ROI and make PPC a more profitable marketing initiative.
Now the other prediction of more companies focusing on SEO is equally flawed. If true, as more companies increase their dollar investments in SEO, the competition for the top organic placements will increase, forcing those companies to spend even more resources.
As they spend more resources, the increased potential of PPC will draw those companies back into paid search, and return their SEO spending plans back to pre-recession levels.
So, forget the predictions. If the economy tanks, PPC will not go away. Google will not disappear. Savvy marketers will invest their tightened budgets where the ROI is the highest, and if their competition begins reducing their PPC exposure, PPC will be the land of greatest opportunity.
