Google Adwords offers the online marketeer one of the quickest routes to market that has ever existed. You jump onboard with a new account, enter your billing details, set your budgets, buy a few appropriate keywords and off you go!
It’s this almost instantaneous opportunity that leaves many business owners, directors and marketeer scratching there heads when they receive the first invoice from Google… ‘where did all our money go?!?!?‘
Google Adwords accounts which aren’t carefully managed, and by this I mean daily, if not hourly, management of your ad spend and keywords can syphon marketing budget like there’s no tomorrow. Setting up your business’ first Adwords account is a very exciting prospect! For those of you that have spent years allocated marketing budget to traditional sales routes such as business publications, trade events or direct mailshots, the likelihood of launching a campaign which can have your business products and services in eyeshot of your prospects within minutes is a truly groundbreaking opportunity.
Adwords has been around in the UK since 2002. I speak with business owners each and every day about Adwords and the response’s range from those that embrace Google to those that abhor Google.
Which statement matches your own sentiment towards Google?
- Yes, Adwords, if you think I’m giving money to Google you can think again! Paying money to them when I can get traffic to my site for free?!?!
- Adwords…. hmmm…. yes…. Google isn’t it? Hmm…. yes…. we’re still thinking about what to do about that….
- Don’t mention Adwords to me!!!! We blew £5,000 last year on Adwords and have NOTHING to show for it…. bloody Google… having a laugh.
- Ahhh… Adwords, yes, we setup an account, looked at buying a few keywords, but I’m not paying £1.50 for a click through. I’ll stick to cheaper ads in my local press
- Adwords? I think John in our Sales department set one of those up, yes, John it was…. not heard a thing since.
- Yes, my son set us up with an Adwords account, we’re spending £50 a month and it’s looking quite good. He knows all about this internet thing.
- We love Adwords, we set up an account last year and we’re now spending £1000 a month and it’s really performing for us from what we can see.
- Our business would be dead if it wasn’t for Adwords, it’s proven to be an absolute goldmine, it keeps my acquisition costs down, gives me access to new prospects across the world and has been an absolute saviour for our business during the recession.
- We jumped on board with Adwords a long time ago…back in the days before our competition started bidding on our key phrases. 80% of our marketing budget now goes into Adwords and we’re constantly expanding our offering as we now have a dedicated Paid Search Manager and team inhouse.
- Adwords… yes of course we use Adwords, we spend millions each year with Google as part of our overall marketing mix. We have banks of Google Adwords Management and Analytics staff constantly running reports and optimising millions of our keywords…
That sentiment is often difficult to shake if your first foray into the world of Paid Search Advertising is one of abject financial failure. If you’ve spent £5000 of your marketing budget during one month and have nothing to show for it, there’s a long path back to regaining confidence in this potential business goldmine. Will you blame yourself, or Google? Human nature is to cast doubt on the viability of Google for your business. Google Adwords is as much a learning experience, often through trial and error, for the business owner as the Ad Campaign’s begin gaining momentum.
So, before setting out to either explore Google Adwords for the very first occasion, or if you’re ready to jump back in having previously being underwhelmed by the response of Adwords clickthrus, make sure you have a distinct plan in mind.
Your Business’ Framework for a Successful Adwords Campaign should include;
1.) An understanding of just who you are targeting.
Is your primary prospect based in your locality (town, city or county) or nationwide, or even international? Make sure your Adwords campaigns are setup with this in mind.
2.) Knowing who your target market is
Understand their business language and the keywords or phrases they would use to source your business’ products and/or services. Keyword Research is imperative and often times complex. Google allows you the ability to determine which keyphrases your ads show for and which they don’t (through the use of negative keywords). You need to spend just a much time analysing terms you DO NOT wish to drive traffic to your site as you DO. This, again, is a huge reason as to why the manager of an Adwords Campaign needs to spend time understanding Keyword Reports – to spot potential high volume traffic terms that are irrelevant for your business needs… they can slip through the net and cost a large % of your overall Adwords budget.
3.) Setting your budget.
Do not jump in the deep end with your Adwords campaign. Confidence in Adwords, throughout the business, is earned through a displayable ROI (Return on Investment) and takes time to nuture to, what will be deemed, impressive levels. Google provide you with a vast array of Bidding Tools which help you to better budget and plan your Adwords Campaign. My advice is to use them, but not treat them as the gospel truth. CPC (Cost Per Click) can vary tremendously between those advertisers vying for #1 spot and those simply dipping their toes in the market.
4.) Develop and RETAIN Your Focus.
This is easier to say than do, but starting, or relaunching an Adwords Campaign with such a vast host of opportunities can often mis-direct the most savvy of online marketeers. Before expanding into new areas of opportunity, make sure you have a firm set of goals which align with your overall business objectives before launching your campaign. Focusing on key products or services within your existing business framework will ensure that your confidence within the Google Interface is gained quickly – i.e. you’re focusing on the areas of your business where you have the best understanding of your products and your customers.
These FOUR KEY AREAS need to be researched and defined before you even start thinking about developing your Google Ads and the messaging.
Next week, we’ll look at the next aspect of launching your campaign – the Ads and the Landing Pages and how they can either blow away your competition or leave you in their wake.
