The world moves round in a circular motion…..right?

RIGHT! Motion stays in motion.

So you’re looking to dip your toe into social media? Or maybe you need a pay-per-click lead generation campaign? Or maybe you care about your natural page rankings? So you look for a company that specializes in exactly what you’re looking for. Instead of looking at these as ala carte, it’s not only more economical but a better strategic move to integrate a full circle online program that is all encompassing.

Think about this. You want to implement a search engine optimization campaign to increase your website’s page rank. In order to truly do this, you want to consider article and press release directory submissions. Well, if you’re going to create articles and press releases, might as well spread those messages through you social media campaigns - a one-two punch. And while your social media and SEO campaigns are gaining traction, let’s drive traffic immediately to your site(s).

Everything we do, every ounce of effort has impact on your entire marketing strategy - or at least it should. You should be thinking like this when looking for a marketing firm and when executing a marketing strategy. Even if you truly are looking for a piece of the pie, ask how that marketing firm intends to integrate their efforts into your existing marketing initiatives.

Full circle marketing is the new black! Continuity is key to your message, efficiency and ROI! Motion stays in motion.

Let’s here from you out there! What have your experiences been? I know there are some SUPER smart subscribers to this blog. Share your knowledge!

SEO vs PPC

Ahhh, the old search engine optimization (SEO) vs. pay-per-click (PPC) debate! Love this one. Let’s put it this way, if you’re a marketer and you’re telling people that pay-per-click (PPC) you have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s clear you have no idea how PPC works or the benefits of it and if you claim that it’s "expensive" that just solidifies my point.

PPC, if done right (and that’s the key) can be one of the most effective forms of direct response marketing out there. Think about it. Someone is thinking about buying your product. He/She sits down at the computer and searches relative keywords. Your ad appears (among your competitors). Because your ad has been positioned within the top three spots, its visible to the. They read it and because it is a keyword rich ad with a strong call to action, they click through to your site. Now, that person who sought you out is on your site! Now, your site has to do its job and convert that person into a lead/sale. With conversion code tracking, you track that person from the keyword they searched to find you to the ad they clicked on (because you should be rotating and testing ads with different calls-to-action) to the final lead or sale. Now, if you narrow your keyword list over time based on the words that are coverting into sales and leads and eliminate those just costing you money, how could you not produce a positive ROI?! So, again, if you’re running a PPC campaign the RIGHT WAY, it WILL work!

SEO’ers….while I believe in SEO as a form of marketing as well (when done right), you cannot argue that your form is less expensive and more effective. It’s not! It can be as effective as PPC but we both know the time and money investment it takes so stop kidding yourselves and small businesses and give them the right solution. Not the one that is most comfortable to you! If you don’t offer PPC. Call me. If you do, make sure you’re doing it the RIGHT WAY!

Would love to hear from you SEO’ers! Love a great, professional debate. Everyone wins from it. Let me hear from you!

Pay-per-click ROI

So I’m still on my rant about the correct way to run/manage a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign and I’m finding that the majority of businesses that have a campaign running (either run internally or through a firm) not only don’t understand how the campaign should work but they don’t know what good looks like.

If you view a PPC campaign as a way to just driving traffic (aka: clicks) to your website, you’re probably spending money you don’t need to! If you’re happy with "just driving traffic to your website," then you’ll be satisfied with the big media moguls (Verizon, Idearc, Yellow Book, ATT, etc) out there offering this service and claiming to run an effective campaign for you.

I will say, that the big media moguls running these campaign do charge less in management fees but don’t get too excited. Even though you’ve set a monthly click budget with them, and they’re staying within it, I guarantee they’re not optimizing your campaign to maximize your budget.

What I mean by that is that they’re not tracking "conversions" - which are actual leads and go beyond just tracking clicks. They’re also not analyzing your data in such as way to determine which keywords are not only driving clicks but are actually converting into legitimate leads versus which ones are just costing you money in clicks.

I am classifying most PPC campaigns as DEFCON Alpha because these campaign basics are not being employed and PPC is getting a bad rap as a result. There are the nay-sayers out there - that PPC just costs you money for something that should be free. But let me tell you emphatically. I have over 15 years in strategic marketing experience and this could be the most effective and efficient form of marketing a company runs IF IT’S RUN RIGHT!  (I welcome comments from SEO’ers though)

Review your campaigns. Challenge the agency running it or revisit how you’re running it and remember I’m always available for questions. You can reach me at meg@vhmarketing.com

This is Meg Ferguson from Vision House Marketing, LLC saying "Have an efficient and effective day!"