Google Ads still does an incredible job of putting brands in front of people at the exact moment they are searching, but the price of that moment keeps increasing. In the UK, many industries now see typical click costs ranging anywhere from well under £1 to well over £10, with competitive sectors paying at the higher end just to attract a single visit. CPC inflation is becoming a defining theme of 2025, forcing brands to either raise budgets or accept fewer opportunities from the same spend.
The model isn’t broken – it is just crowded. As more advertisers pile into the same auctions, they end up bidding against each other for the same small pool of high-intent searches. The result: you can pay a lot of money for attention that may only last a few seconds before someone clicks away.
What cost per feeling really means
Cost per feeling flips the question from “How many people did we reach?” to “How did we make people feel when we reached them?”
A click is a data point; a feeling is an experience that can linger for days, weeks or even years. Research on corporate gifting and customer relationships shows that thoughtful, well-timed gifts increase loyalty, satisfaction and willingness to keep doing business with a brand.
When someone receives a personalised biscuit with their name and a message that sounds like it was written by a human, they are receiving recognition. That emotional response becomes part of how they remember your brand – far more vividly than a sponsored link they saw once and never thought about again.
Why physical gifting still cuts through digital noise
In a world dominated by feeds and notifications, anything physical already stands out. The corporate gifting market has grown sharply in recent years because organisations have discovered that a considered gift can open doors, strengthen relationships and spark conversations in a way that another email or ad impression often cannot. Gifts that are sharable – like biscuits in an office environment – have a multiplier effect as they naturally travel between desks and departments.
Importantly, the perceived value is not only about price. A modest, on-brand, story-led gift often lands better than an expensive but generic item because it feels intentional and personal. That is the essence of cost per feeling: spending with the goal of being remembered fondly, not just noticed briefly.
Where “Pay Per Cookie” belongs in your funnel
Clicks and cookies do different jobs, and they work best together. PPC is excellent at demand capture: responding to intent, driving traffic, filling pipelines and calendars. Branded biscuits shine in the moments where you want to deepen trust: welcoming new customers, thanking people after a project, re-engaging a quiet account or standing out when you pitch for a big opportunity.
Think of it as a relay, not a tug of war. Paid search might bring in the lead, but a physical gift can be the moment that transforms a transactional interaction into an emotional connection. One channel fills the top of the funnel; the other fortifies the middle and bottom.
Rethinking budget: from impressions to impressions that linger
The question for modern marketers is not “PPC or gifting?” but “What blend of cost per click and cost per feeling will give us the strongest relationships over time?” When clicks in your space already cost several pounds each, carving out even 5–10% of that budget for high-impact gifting can be surprisingly efficient, especially when focused on high-value prospects and existing customers.
Because biscuits are sent to specific people at specific moments, the spend is tightly targeted by design. Instead of paying for thousands of anonymous impressions, you are investing in a smaller number of interactions that have a much higher chance of being remembered, talked about and shared. In a landscape where attention is rented, feelings are owned – and that is where real loyalty lives.
We would love to tell you more about how branded biscuits can support your marketing, PR, Sales campaigns.
