Among digital marketing channels, paid search is one of the fastest methods for gaining traffic. It greatly increases the speed of reaching new audiences, significantly amplifies messages, and allows for rapid iterations of campaigns. The biggest challenges are finding the speific platforms and campaigns that are efective at an acceptable cost.

Paid search is dominiated by big tech platforms. Google and Facebook account for over 70% of online ad revenue and Amazon is quickly increasing their share as well. These are the most well-known and have the largest reach, which makes them a natural starting point for any organization getting into paid search.

The platforms should be approached with different goals and strategies in mind. In general, Google and Amazon paid search campaigns are dictated by keywords and user intent, whereas Facebook campaigns target specific groups of people via demographics or interest. Each takes a different strategy and shoudl be considered with how well it fits the organizations goals.

Regardless of the platform, it's imperative to methodically test and improve campaigns consistently over time. This starts with with proper tracking, data setup, and analytics configuration. Approach campaigns as ongoing experiments by testing by hypotheses, then revise from what's been learned.

Paid search amplifies communication. Cut out the worst, focus on the best. Serve your audience in a consistent, helpful manner.