O N E
What Is the Most Difficult Thing for Most Companies to Learn About AdWords?
● The Importance of Knowing the Value of a Customer. Not some hypothetical, metaphysical, "Oh my customers are all wonderful" value. The real value. What you would pay for a customer―in dollars and cents. You don't pay for your clients, you say? You entice your clients with such splendid products and services that they have no choice but to buy from you? Try this on for size:
● Advertising is the process by which we buy customers. That might not satisfy the need of many people on Madison Avenue to think that it's all about creating art, but as bottom lines go, it's a pretty good definition.
● So what's the surefire way to know the value of a customer? -The Value of Your Customer? Just ask yourself, What would I pay not to lose a customer? Simple question, and one that most businesses either do not factor into their advertising and marketing plans.
● Nothing, absolutely nothing at all, is more important to know when mounting an AdWords campaign, than the value of a customer. While we're at it, you'll also be ahead of the game if you know what a lead is worth, what a contact is worth, what a response is worth. Best practice: Figure out what a lead is worth at different stages of qualification and then plan your ad program accordingly.
● What happens if you don't utilize those best
practices from the gitgo? AdWords might just eat you alive, and if AdWords doesn't, your competition
will. As they say, where there's adversity, there's opportunity and the
opportunity here is for tremendous competitive advantage. How? Why? That's too much detail to go in to here, but worth an hour in your office. When you've got the time, give us a call, 704-258-7156.
» Or, if you're interested in our almost free consultation, click here.
T W O
10 Landing Page Success Factors
● What matters most when constructing your landing page? Absolutes are impossible, but this should help put you in the right direction.
1-Banner or No Banner Inconclusive but don't assume that a banner increases conversion no matter what your 'branding' guidelines. Who you are is not as important as what you are, what you have to say, and how you say it.
2-Testimonials Generally, not a factor but it depends on who is giving the testimonial. Who are they? That's the key.
3-Urgency Nope, and it can work against you. Poorly done, the greater the urgency, the more you look like a used web salesman. Properly seduced, prospects will come, sooner than later. And if they're not real prospects, why pay just to get to know them?
4-Credibility Logos Inconclusive, but generally, Yes. This might be the determining factor: Make sure they are in the background. Like testimonials, shouting might actually reduce your credibility.
5-Audio Message Inconclusive, generally No. Like video, popular with high pressure, get rich quick sites, which might have given them a negative aura. Try it and see. If in doubt, don't.
6-Order Form Security Assurance Yes, but like all credibility issues, keep it subtle, too much security can have the opposite effect, raising doubt.
7-Submit Button or Descriptive Text Button Inconclusive but, generally speaking, the more descriptive, the better. "Order now" tells people exactly what you want them to do. It's a self-qualifier. Is that good or bad?
The Big Three
8-The Headline Yes. In combination with the price, (the right price, not necessarily the lowest price) the headline tends to have the greatest effect on the conversion rate of a landing page. And nothing is easier to test.
9-Price Yes, and a higher price can sometimes increase response. Depends on your competitive environment. Is anything worth knowing more than price sensitivity?
10-Short Copy, Long Copy Depends on what you have to say, and how well you say it, but then good marketing is about having something good to say, and saying it well, isn't it? Not too long, not too short, just right.
So what does this tell us? That the basics still matter and they still matter most of all.
T H R E E
What is the Most Important Factor Influencing the Conversion Rate of Your Landing Page?
● An Engaging Headline. Why shouldn't it be? All the technology ever invented hasn't changed the simple fact that people want to hear something interesting. If anything, technology tends to make things less real, less interesting. Think about it. Which is more real, more interesting, playing a video game, where you get to rob banks, crash cars and kill innocent people? Or actually robbing banks, crashing cars and killing innocent people? The same is true for advertising. Strive for engagement.
● You can't bore people into buying what you have to sell. Simple enough. So why can't your tech support company write your headlines? Maybe they can. But techs tend not to be great writers. Why can't your ad agency write your headlines? They can. But do the creatives at your ad agency really embrace and support your tech people? » Click here for 'Ad Leaders See Web's Threat'.
● What's the takeaway? That many of the old rules still apply. That you can't let tech get in the way of delivering a viable sales message. That if you don't embrace tech, you won't be able to deliver the message. That the two camps, traditional ad agencies and tech companies are often at philosophical odds. And that you need to put a new control process in the middle. And that new control process is performance-based AdWords supported by rigorous analytics.
F O U R
What Is the Biggest Misconception about an AdWords Ad?
● An AdWords ad is not an ad.
● How can that be? Let's run some 'AdWords Advertising'. We need someone to do some 'AdWords Ads'. Isn't that what they say? Sure, but knowing what it is helps to know how it works.
● If an AdWords ad is not an ad, then what is it? An AdWords ad is a method by which one rents Internet traffic. Isn't that splitting hairs? No, it isn't, and applying traditional advertising think to an AdWords campaign might very well result in sub-optimal performance.
F I V E
What Is Advertising, Really?
Advertising is the method by which we buy customers. Why is that so hard for so many ad and marketing people to say out loud?
And why is acknowledging that simple fact so very important with an AdWords Campaign? Because with AdWords, you can't hide behind creative. Performance is everything. Period. Full stop. End of discussion.
C O M I N G S O O N
Knowing your competitor's AdWords campaign is as important as knowing your own.
AdWords Bidding Strategy #1
AdWords Bidding Strategy #2
AdWords Bidding Strategy #3
The Money Shot
5 Myths of Web Analytics
Creative, as most people think of it, is becoming irrelevant.
Creative, as most people don't think of it, is becoming critical
Is your HiPPO becoming too big for her britches?
Why are the Fortune 500 Rushing to AdWords? In a Word - Accountability.
Is advertising is becoming a commodity?
