Pay-Per-Click: Work or Waste?

So I just came from a sales call and the prospect is a very successful business man who runs a very successful business. He’s tried his hand at online marketing, namely Google Adwords pay-per-click (PPC) and was “soured.” He claimed the leads coming from these two campaigns weren’t converting and the ROI just wasn’t there. I truly believed him. But I was there to change his mind. Don’t get my wrong. I don’t want to sell anyone anything that isn’t right for them but I am a PPC evangelist and to answer my own question, IT DOES WORK!!!! It works well……………if it’s done right!

Everyone from Verizon/Idearc to Yellow Book to ATT are getting into the Google Adwords space (because their products are dying and they have no choice) but I’ve found none of them do it “right.” I’ve also found that very few (okay, I haven’t found one yet) business owners who try their hand at it or have their nephew run it for them do it “right” either. Thus, their budget is quickly exhausted by unqualified clicks. Don’t mistake “clicks” for leads! They’re not the same.

So what does “done right” mean? Here are a few key measurements that I use to deliver a positive ROI to my PPC clients. 1) Track conversions. Conversions are not leads they are actual people who clicked through and took some sort of action (filled out a form, called, requested a quote). 2) Set positions. Your ad shouldn’t appear in a position below #3 on the first search page. 3) Quality score. Drive your traffic to pages on your site that are highly relative to your keywords. 4) Dayparts. With limited PPC budgets, use phone numbers in ads to reduce clicks (this is the only form of marketing where impressions are FREE). Also, turn campaigns on and off to fit the times/days/week/months of your sales cycle as well as when most of your audience is online. 5) Geotarget. I constantly see ads for companies that are in California that clearly don’t service my area. WASTE OF MONEY! 6) Trim the fat. Your keyword list will shrink over time. Eliminate keywords that are not converting and have limited overall traffic. Focus your budget on keywords that convert. This will increase the frequency of your ads and fuel what’s working. In the end, all of these steps will optimize your budget, increase qualified leads and return a positive ROI.

Yes! PPC does work - when done “right!”

Have you run a campaign that was a bust? Let me hear about it. How about those of you out there seeing positive return? What’s the highest return rate you’re seeing?

Frequency is Key but do you have the resources?

I’m back. And I’m sorry! I did not disappear. I did what I swore I wouldn’t. I neglected to post anything for a few weeks which brings me to the meat of this posting - frequency and resources!

I was working on the launch of a client’s new website and there was talk of launching a blog as well. I, of course, loved the idea but I’m very much a realist.  I also probably talk myself out of a lot of money but I had to play devil’s advocate. I asked the two questions that are usually never thought of when considering a blog (or any social media campaign for that matter). First, "do you have the resources (mostly manpower and time) needed to maintain this blog?" Secondly, "do you understand that behind valuable content frequency is the most important thing to a blog’s success?" Blank stares. Silence. Papers shuffling.

After my dose of reality, I strongly encouraged the blog - but with a plan. A plan that included things like who would be the voice of the blog? How often it would be updated (preferably 2-3 times per week)? What would the topics of content include? Where would the content come from? With the answers to these questions, a blog has a great chance at success.

So, while it seems so simple, don’t forget to ask yourself these questions. Answer them and stick to the plan!

I am found guilty and accept my punishment for not posting in about three weeks. I’m open to your suggestions for punishment. Keep it clean!

Until next time, this is Meg Ferguson from Vision House Marketing saying have an efficient and effective day!

Marketers, your audience has a big head start…

I attended the Philadelphia American Marketing Association meeting and award ceremony last night in Center City and met some of the most talented marketers in the area. The Keynote speaker was John Owens of ING Bank who concentrated on the importance of social media and marketing. He stressed that it is not going away and you need to be a part of it. He’s absolutely right! ING has a team dedicated to social networking and is brand that “gets it.” As marketing consultants, we have the ultimate responsibility of strategizing, managing and measuring our client’s campaigns in the most effective and efficient way possible. We also tend to gravitate towards media that we’re comfortable with. Time to step out of your comfort zone!

At one point in the presentation Owens kindly asked everyone to stand and cluck like a chicken - which most did (including me, I hate to admit). The point he was trying to make, an extremely valid one and one my father always reinforced (as a Naval Officer), was “never follow.” It’s the easiest way to run your ship aground! Of course, that’s a great life lesson as well but with regards to social media, what works for one brand might not work for yours or your audience. Your efforts must be customized. I know you’re saying “yeah, yeah, yeah, Meg…we know that…nothing new here.” Here’s the kicker, you’re not in control anymore! Your audience is. The sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be. They are the driving force now and your efforts must be customized to how they want to receive information.

My best advice is to listen. If you didn’t hear that…I said LISTEN! So what the hell does that mean, Meg? It means that your customers/clients/supporters/haters are out there talking about you/your products/your industry/your brand right now. They’re praising you. Hating you. Referring you. Comparing you. You need to know what they’re saying. So listen! There are many free applications out there to do just that. Try Addictomatic.com where you can plug in keywords and see where conversations are happening relative to that word(s). Or buy a “listening” application that is more robust like Radian6 that can measure sentiment, tell you if most people are mentioning you in blogs or on Facebook or Twitter. As marketers, I don’t have to tell you how valuable this knowledge is!

In the end, it all comes down to ROI. With social networking, it’s not as easy as tracking a lead from a website to a sale and generating a cost-per-lead/cost-per-sale. With social networking, you have to determine what a “win” is for your company. Is it exposure that your company otherwise could have never afforded? Is it market research - identifying trends in your target markets? Is it driving traffic? Engaging your consumers? The ultimate “win” is a sale - no doubt - but folks, again, you need to be doing this so don’t use ROI as an excuse. Pick a win and go with it. You don’t have a choice anymore! If you build it, they will not come! You need to go to them and they have quite a head start on you!

Would love your comments and feedback! Also, congrats to all the winners last night! Check out pics from last night’s event here:

Click Here to View Photos of the Event

Until next time, this is Meg Ferguson from Vision House Marketing saying have an efficient and effective day!