There are three types of online marketing that you might be familiar with:

• PPC (Pay Per Click)
• CPC (Cost Per Click)
• CPM (Cost Per Impression)

However, there is more than one kind of online marketing, and it’s important to know the differences between them.

PPC (Pay Per Click)

Pay Per Click or PPC marketing is a digital marketing strategy that is paid for when someone clicks on a link or buys a product that is promoted on a website or social media platform. PPC marketing is one of the most popular types of online marketing, because it is so easy to set up and measure success.

The great thing about PPC is that you don’t necessarily need to build a substantial audience to be able to successfully engage in PPC marketing. You just need to set up a quick campaign on one of the many online marketplaces, and you’ll be able to start seeing results within hours.

The downside to PPC is that the returns are only visible once the campaign ends — unless you set up a Google Analytics profile and track campaigns diligently. In that case, you’ll be able to see daily, weekly, and monthly activity that is directly tied to a specific campaign.

CPC (Cost Per Click)

Cost Per Click or CPC marketing is a digital marketing strategy that is paid for when someone clicks on a specific link or buys a product that is promoted on a website or social media platform. Like PPC, CPC is another popular option among marketers, because it is so easy to set up and measure success.

The great thing about CPC is that you don’t necessarily need to build a substantial audience to be able to successfully engage in CPC marketing. You just need to set up a quick campaign on one of the many online marketplaces, like Google AdWords or Facebook Ads, and you’ll be able to start seeing results within hours.

The downside to CPC is that the returns are only visible once the campaign ends. Like with PPC, you’ll need to set up a Google Analytics profile and track CPC campaigns diligently to be able to see the results of your efforts.

CPM (Cost Per Impression)

Cost Per Impression or CPM marketing, as the name might suggest, is a type of marketing that is based on how much someone is willing to pay per impression (or click, in the case of CPC). Just like the others, CPM is another popular option among marketers, since it is so easy to set up and measure success.

The great thing about CPM is that you don’t necessarily need to build a substantial audience to be able to successfully engage in CPM marketing. You just need to set up a quick campaign on one of the many online marketplaces, like Google AdWords or Facebook Ads, and you’ll be able to start seeing results within hours.

The downside to CPM is that the returns are only visible once the campaign ends. Just like with CPC and PPC, you’ll need to set up a Google Analytics profile and track CPM campaigns diligently to be able to see the results of your efforts.

SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

Search Engine Marketing or SEM is a type of marketing that includes both PPC and CPC, but is dominated by search engine optimization and paid for whenever someone performs a search on a search engine. Think of all the online marketing that happens when you’re browsing a search engine like Google.

Now think about all of the online marketing that happens when you’re browsing social media platforms like Facebook, as well as messaging applications like WhatsApp and Instagram.

When you put all of that together, you have a good perception of what SEM is and how it works. Just like the others, SEM is another popular option among marketers, since it is so easy to set up and measure success.

The great thing about SEM is that you don’t necessarily need to build a substantial audience to be able to successfully engage in SEM marketing. You just need to set up a quick campaign on one of the many online marketplaces, like Google AdWords or Facebook Ads, and you’ll be able to start seeing results within hours.

The downside to SEM is that the returns are only visible once the campaign ends. Like with the others, you’ll need to set up a Google Analytics profile and track SEM campaigns diligently to be able to see the results of your efforts.

Keep in mind: These three types of online marketing – PPC, CPC, and SEM – are just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more types of online marketing that you could be engaging in, such as email marketing and Facebook advertising. Don’t limit yourself to these three.