What is location targeting (or local PPC) and why should I use it?

The ability to implement location targeting is one of the best features of pay-per-click advertising. From cost savings to increased brand awareness and sales, discover the many ways in which location specific geo-targeted advertisements benefit your business.

What is local PPC? 

PPC (or pay per click) ads are a popular form of digital advertising. In this model, advertisers pay a fee each time one of their digital ads is clicked. It’s a way of buying visits to your site, rather than attempting to “earn” those visits organically. 

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Search engine advertising is one of the most commonly used forms of PPC. It allows advertisers to bid for ad placement in the sponsored links that appear when someone searches using a keyword that is related to their business offering.  Every time your ad is clicked, sending a visitor to your website, you pay the search engine a small fee. PPC ads can also be placed on social media platforms and mobile apps.

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By enabling location targeting for a digital campaign, marketers can ensure that their PPC ads appear to specific audiences in specific locations. To see a geo-targeted ad campaign in action, try searching for a specific type of business. Chances are you will automatically see the ones closest to you first. You may also notice that many of the ads you see in your social media feeds are for nearby businesses or for services likely to appeal to consumers in your area.

Why use location targeting?

Using geo-targeted PPC diminishes wasted ad spend significantly.  After all, using location and audience specific advertisements helps ensure that the digital impressions you’re paying for reach precisely the people you’re pursuing. Whether your ideal audience is based in major metropolitan areas or rural areas, located on both coasts, centered on college campuses, or found in only a single city or state, you can choose location targeting that’s right for you. 

Businesses targeting local audiences face significantly less competition than those who advertise nationally. And applying location targeting to PPC is an important part of increasing brand awareness in target markets and improving overall conversion numbers.

“The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” 

– BRUCE LEE

In addition, PPC is easy to set up, easy to track (digital reporting provides detailed information on impressions, clicks, and conversions), and flexible. You can set your budget, target locations, and keywords however you’d like and adjust them as necessary.

How should I use local PPC?

Here are a few examples of ways organizations can use location-based marketing to their advantage:

• A retailer could advertise an upcoming sale to social media users located within a specific radius around their store. 
• A rideshare company could advertise to social media users located in specific major metropolitan areas. 
• A university could use geo-targeted display advertising to reach young people within major metropolitan areas surrounding campus. 
• A student housing property could use geo-targeted display advertising to capture the attention of prospects searching for rental options in their area.
• A military agency could use geo-targeted display advertising to reach qualified recruitment prospects located within a certain number of miles from their base.

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Looking for help setting up a geo-targeted ad campaign?

Here at MSS Media, Inc., we’ve been providing Education, Government, Real Estate & Lifestyle clients with succinct, optimized, and successful marketing solutions for more than 15 years. Consider MSS Media, Inc. a full-service, one-stop shop for all your Media and Public Relations needs. Your goals are our motivation. And our mission is to propel your message, further and faster, to achieve the outcomes you’re looking for. If you found this blog post helpful, please share!