To GoogleAds or not to GoogleAds? That is the Question

For many small businesses, GoogleAds seems to be a convenient, inexpensive way to market the business to customers, and the pay per click feature is one way of controlling your marketing spend. It can work brilliantly, although, unless you understand how to use the systems provided by Google - and they are not as clear cut as they seem - you can end up paying far more than you expect or intend to.

The secret to successful GoogleAds marketing is to be very targeted in your approach, something we have often found is not always fully understood by small businesses, or larger businesses for that matter. Pay per click, remember, does not always lead to the satisfactory ringing of cash in the till.

Using GoogleAds to market your services or products has to be approached in the same way as you would approach any marketing campaign: with a clear goal in mind, a sales target, a well-defined target customer and a budget. You would then add to that your analysis system: how are you going to measure the success of the campaign?

We sometimes find it interesting that the appeal of online marketing systems (made appealing, of course, by the experts marketing the services of those marketing sites!) can sometimes over-ride the usual hard-nosed business sense of most small business owners who might think much more deeply about sending out flyers or running an ad in the local press. So we have put together our top five tips for making the most of your GoogleAds.

1. Is GoogleAds right for you right now?

This is a critical question. Ask yourself: what exactly do you want to achieve; what is the nature of your business, your unique selling point, your essence and identity, and can this be perfectly conveyed through GoogleAds? What is your timeline for success, and is this campaign going to serve your business right now?

Once you are clear on these issues, let’s move on.

2. What are your ‘keywords’?

Spend a bit of time researching online. What are your business keywords and what are the keywords specific to the service or event or cluster of services you are trying to market? Batch your keywords carefully so that these lead your potential customers to the right parts of your business, otherwise you could be paying per click for lots of responses, but no service take up. This means what you are paying out for adverts is not translating into sales and that is money down the drain.

There is a lot of information out there on keywords. Don’t get too hung up on them: if you sell wicker baskets, there’s your keyword right there; don’t go off-piste trying to catch customers who are searching for ‘alternative product carriers’ because the chances are this latter group are seeking out a way to ship nuts and bolts cheaply to Mars who will be disappointed when they find your site and you’ll be paying for that click!

Once you’ve got your keywords, batch them appropriately for each ad or ad group you are running. Then match them up to the keywords of your landing page. Create a smooth running track between the words in your ad copy, your keywords and your landing page – the confluence will help bring the right customers to your site. They will benefit from the ease of finding you and you will hopefully earn from that click.

3. Get your website landing pages just right

There is no point paying for those clicks – which if your ads are appealing and are reaching the right people, could me many -if the landing page is not giving out the right information and not reeling the customer right into that Call to Action button and the Buy Now feature. You might need a different landing page for your different batches of ads, depending on what you are offering.

Make your landing pages informative enough without overwhelming your potential customer and make sure they convey your business identity, personality, ethos and everything that makes you unique and perfect for that customer.

4. Find your Target Audience and get to know them!

This one is more important than people realise. Who is your ideal client? What do they like to do in the spare time, what places do they visit, do they eat out or go on trips around the globe? Perhaps they have a young family and are looking for fun activities to do at the weekend?

Dedicate some time to really think about who your ideal client is so that you can target the correct audience and convert those clicks into sales!

5. Keep a focus on the map

GoogleAds allows for geo-targeting and that is a brilliant way of tightening the targeting of your ads. If you small business relies on local customers, then use this feature so that the ads target that area. No point trying to interest someone in the far east in your homemade chutney at your farm shop if what you want is footfall in the farm shop to buy these pretty much as they are produced.

Focus your ad on a specific demographic of customer within a specific region and your budget will be much better controlled and more effective for it. GoogleAds is more complex than perhaps it seems, but with a bit of work – or the help of experts such as Athena Services Ltd. – it can enhance your overall marketing strategy and lead to a good conversion rate between those clicks and the cash till.