Google AdWords
You've heard of Google AdWords, but have you tried it? It may at first seem daunting, but once you get the hang of it, it can fast become an asset.
In AdWords (www.google.com/ads) you can create text, print, radio or even TV ads. Start with a text ad, the kind you find on nearly every website and the ads that you see to the right of Google searches. They include a bold heading, two lines of text and a website address.
Write an ad that will draw people’s attention and encourage them to click on it which will take them to your website. Make sure your website is up to date prior to getting started!
Before creating your ad, do a Google search on the terms you think people will use to find your company and see what comes up, your competition? Local/national companies? Many ads, a few or none. What do the ads say? Which one would you click on? If many ads appear, there is greater competition and your cost per click will need to be higher.
Cost per click refers to how Google charges you; however, you have control over this. You can set your cost per click at any amount, it depends on your overall budget, how much your product costs, and how high up on the list you want your ad to appear. If your product or service is inexpensive, you probably don’t want to spend a lot for a potential lead, but if you are selling a more expensive item, you might want to spend more per click. This amount is flexible even by keyword; so if you were in the landscaping business you might spend 25 cents on the keyword ‘lawn’, and $5.00 per click on ‘landscape design.’ You will also set a daily and monthly budget, so if you want to spend $150 per month on Google ads, you will choose $5.00 per day then divide that by the amount per click to arrive at the number of clicks to expect per day.
You can also select specific sites that you want your ad to appear on. A financial consultant may want his ad to appear on the Wall Street Journal site in which case he would choose the tab that says “placements” instead of keywords when setting up the ad and plug in www.wsj.com or have Google suggest sites by indicating the word ‘financial.’
You can change the way you advertise with Google at any time, you can pause, change or stop your ads, adjust your keywords, placement sites, etc., any time. You also have a choice of where you want your ad to appear geographically, i.e., you can plug in a zip code and only have your ad appear within a 50 mile radius.
Visit the AdWords site often and see where you are getting the most clicks from and adjust accordingly. There are many layers to the Google advertising experience including utilizing free Google analytics so you can track exactly where people are coming from, how long they stay, etc. It is an extraordinary business tool.
If Google ads seem a little overwhelming and you prefer a more old fashioned approach to increasing sales and enhancing your marketing efforts, why not send a greeting card – with a twist.
Send Out Cards
I recently discovered this service and it has not only reduced my stress over sending personal birthday cards and thank you notes, it has also enhanced the way I am able to keep in touch with my business network; I’m saving time and money and getting a great response. With this service you can choose from over 10,000 cards as well as gifts right from your computer, the twist is, it’s an actual high quality greeting card that gets addressed, stuffed and mailed with a real stamp for you.
You can even customize the system to use your own handwriting and your company logo or photos. You can send a thank you note to someone in less than a minute right from your computer in your home or office and you can upload your existing contact list. Sending hundreds of holiday cards can be done in a few minutes and cost about one third less.
YOu can try this ‘old fashioned’ service for free, to do so visit www.sendoutcards.com/risa and send a few cards on me. In today’s e-mail obsessed world, a beautiful greeting card with a hand-written note, delivered by the postman really gets attention.
Whichever one you choose, both of these tools are low cost, flexible marketing options.
TWO LOW COST WAYS TO JUMP START YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS - To learn more about this author, visit Risa B. Hoag's Website.
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Risa B. Hoag
(Visit Risa's Website)
Prior to founding GMG PR Risa was Director
of Public Relations with Ernst & Young.
Today her firm provides marketing support,
plan development, feature story placement,
and writing services including press
releases, articles, speeches, brochures,
newsletters and websites.
She is a past president of the Westchester
Association of Women Business Owners and
twice received that organization’s
President’s Award. She has served on the
boards of WAWBO Education Fund,
Partnership for a Better Westchester, Ad
Club of Westchester, Nanuet Chamber of
Commerce, and Tappan Zee International
Trade Association.
Risa has presented marketing seminars to
business organizations and universities
and has appeared on numerous radio and
television programs.
Try Risa's favorite marketing tool for
free at www.send
outcards.com/risa
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