Internet Marketing Digital_marketing_for_dummies | Page 104

As the name suggests, paid traffic takes the form of ads that promote your content and
helps your content gain reach, or exposure. You can display ads on many different
platforms, including search engines and social media. Paid traffic can be highly effective
at generating leads because it helps you to segment your visitors and make use of
retargeting.
When a prospect visits a piece of content, she places herself into a particular
segment of your potential buyers. She’s indicating an interest in the offer, topic,
problem, or solution found on that page, and you can take advantage of ad retargeting
networks such as Google and Facebook to show ads to this prospect based on the
content she has visited.
Although many marketers may be reluctant to pay to send traffic to content, such as blog
posts and podcasts, paid traffic has a major advantage: It’s predictable. When you cut a
check to Facebook, for example, to promote a piece of content, you will get traffic. This is
why, at all times but especially when buying ads for your content, you must ensure the
exceptional quality of your content. The last thing you want to do is spend money to send
traffic to poor-quality content.
Use paid traffic to promote quality content that gives value to the consumer and aligns with
your business goals. This will help you move people from one part of the funnel to the
next, progressing from ice-cold prospect to a lead to customer to repeat customer and,
ideally, to raving fan.