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Limo Leads – Using Internet Marketing to Generate New Business for Your Limo Service

Written by: Jeff Werner

Article Overview: Lead generation is the lifeblood of small business – especially for service-oriented businesses like limousine services. In today’s online marketplace, how does the small business owner go about generating limo leads? This article outlines effective online advertising strategies to create a strong Internet presence designed to generate qualified leads and tips for converting visitors into clients.

Limo Leads – Using Internet Marketing to Generate New Business for Your Limo Service

A Washington DC area limo company generated 45 calls in 30 days. In Tampa, it was 46 limo calls in 30 days. In NYC, 249 limo leads in 60 days. How did they generate all these exclusive, inbound calls? What would an additional 45 new customer calls next month mean to your business?

These limousine companies attracted all this new business with online advertising on popular search engines. Their small text ads attracting business on the search results pages are called sponsored links.

Here’s how it works. When people are looking for a limousine company, they typically go to Google, Yahoo!, MSN or Ask. According to comScore, Internet search engines are now the #1 place where people find local products and services. When prospects get to the search engine, they type in queries like, “limo companies in Dallas” or “corporate limousine services” or “wedding limos.”

The engine returns “organic” search results in the middle of the page and “sponsored” results along the top and down the right hand side. Prospects then click on the link most relevant to their needs and are transferred to the linked Web page. At this point, savvy marketers will ensure their contact information is easily visible so prospects can call to make a purchase. The entire process from search to action (such as calling or making an online purchase) can take place in minutes or even seconds.

So, how do you get your share of the limo leads out there? Here’s the process. First, set up accounts with Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Ask, and other engines that might refer clients. This is where we typically hear, “Google is the biggest, why not go with them exclusively?” Well, there are many reasons, but my top two are: competition and conversions. Google is very popular, so it’s very competitive. Key words can be more expensive because of Google’s popularity. Secondly, search engines attract audiences with different demographics. WebVisible has many clients that get the majority of their sales from search engines other than Google. So Yahoo! or MSN may yield more conversions, and you won’t know unless you try them.

After creating and funding an account, choose your keywords. These are the terms you believe your prospects will type into the search box when looking for limo services. After choosing your keywords, you must decide how much to bid for each keyword. The wonderful thing about sponsored links is that it’s an auction environment. You decide how much to bid on keywords and only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Accounts offering the highest bid typically get top positioning and more conversions, provided their advertisement has a high “quality score.” Your quality score is a reflection of how relevant your ad and Web site landing page are to the prospect’s query.

Next, write your ad. Good ad copy is the first call-to-action a searcher sees and offers the best likelihood that a purchase-ready consumer will visit your site. Search engine ads are short, only three lines, with 4-5 words per line, so you must clearly state your benefits. The components of a successful ad are title, business description, and display URL link (your Web site). If possible, include a call-to-action offer.

Next, you can choose geographic targeting. This pinpoints your target sales area. If you’re looking for limo leads in Chicago, you may limit targeting to a 50 mile radius around Chicago, depending on where the majority of your customers reside.

Link your online advertisement to a landing page on your site that has information about your offer. Your landing page should provide easily visible contact information and an attractive offer (i.e. “10% off!” or “1 hour free!”) to increase response.

Finally, rinse and repeat until all your accounts are up and running on the different engines. One more thing, please answer those phone calls! It doesn’t make sense to do all this work and not pick up the phone.

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Article Tags: conversions, corporate limousine services, google, inbound calls, internet search engines, key words, limo companies, limo company, limousine companies, limousine company, local products, msn, new business, place where people, popular search engines, prospects, savvy marketers, text ads, washington dc area, wedding limos



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