One of the challenges of content marketing is that it’s tricky to define the ROI.

With content, we establish our brand tone and values; we differentiate from the competition; we do brand storytelling.

These things are hard to measure.

Content marketing is also a long game. You have to be committed and consistent over time to see results.

From my vantage point, content is the best, most efficient use of marketing resources and energy. But, see how tracking the ROI is tricky?

Enter paid search advertising, also known as pay per click (PPC).

PPC advertising is the data-loving cousin of content marketing. They’re related and work well together, but they approach things from different angles.

Content is the right-brained creative of the family, while PPC is the left-brained data nerd.

When used together, content and PPC can create a powerful marketing duo.

Here are five reasons to add PPC to your content strategy.

Protip: Learn more about using PPC to marketing a shared workspace at the upcoming Coworking Content Training on March 13.

1. Reach New Customers in Your Target Audience

PPC puts you in front of people who are searching for what you offer. Whether that’s “coworking in Austin,” “Palo Alto meeting room,” “Seattle event space” or whatever other keywords you target, you can position your space as a top search engine result.

2. Convert Customers Through Calls to Action

It’s one thing to drive traffic to your website—it’s another thing to convert casual visitors into leads, then leads into community members of your coworking space. PPC includes Calls to Action that ask people to take the next step with you, whether that’s booking a meeting room, scheduling a tour, calling you for more information, or whatever else you’d like them to do.

3. Get Started Immediately

PPC let’s you establish a strong digital marketing presence quickly. Set up a campaign and you’ll be up and running. This is a nice addition to content marketing, which takes time to establish, both with readers and with Google.

4. Grow your Business Using Keywords

In a small market, you may spend marketing resources educating people about what coworking is, or the fact that you offer meeting rooms and offices. In a large market, however, you’re likely spending your marketing resources differentiating from the competition, strengthening your brand voice, and storytelling about your space and community. Whatever your marketing focus is, you can create PPC campaigns to fit your needs.

5. Control Your Budget

With PPC ads, you set your own budget. Whether that’s $200 or $2000 per month, you can set your spend and adjust accordingly. You bid on keywords in an auction, so, if you select a manual bid strategy, you also control your max bid price.

6. Measure Ad Performance

With the strength of the Google machine, you can track everything you could possibly want to in your PPC campaign—and then some. If marketing metrics are your thing, PPC may be your new favorite tool.

Getting Started with PPC

If you’re ready to start, or improve, your PPC advertising, join us on March 13, as I cohost a Coworking Content Training with my friend Karina Patel, director of marketing at CloudVO and Pacific Workplaces. Karina is a wealth of knowledge and insights about using PPC and marketing a coworking space. Register here: Intro to Pay Per Click Marketing for Shared Workspaces