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Online marketing expert Ferdie Bester of ClickMaven provides users with some advice on how to get your campaign off the ground.
"The beauty about Google's system is the targeted ad delivery," says Bester.
He points to the example of one ClickMaven's clients who are a supplier of heat transfer media to the promotional market - a niche market business. The business was only able to service clients in Gauteng so the advertising campaign had to be correctly targeted.
Bester said: "Having worked with us to develop a Google AdWords campaign they now generate about 50 enquiries every month for an investment of R80, all in their target market."
Google AdWords is the targeted delivery of your text or image adverts to websites where users may be looking for the services you offer. These are the adverts you will often see on the sidebars of websites you will visit. The advertisers are charged each time a visitor clicks on your company advert.
Another characteristic of AdWords that Bester believes is important, is that you can choose when and where to run the ads. If you find that the most profitable customers only use the internet on Thursdays between 15:00 and 16:00 you can target them.
Getting started
"It is quick and easy to get started with Google AdWords - you don't even need a website as Google can provide one for you," said Bester.
The steps to get your campaign going are pretty straightforward:
- Go to http://adwords.google.com/
- Click on 'Start advertising' and select the 'Starter edition'
- This wizard will guide you through the selection of keywords, setup of ads and your budget requirements.
Bester says that the initial cost to start advertising your campaign is R50 per month but he recommends about R500 to give yourself a chance to learn the tools and identify what works.
You will need to provide Google with your credit card details. They will bill you on a monthly basis.
Research
While getting started with AdWords is relatively quick and painless, the real trick to extracting value is to make sure that the right people are actually clicking on your adverts.
Click fraud - the practice of clicking on Google Ads on your website to increase your revenue - is rife and in many instances you may find yourself paying for these clicks or for poorly targeted keywords.
'There is a lot of material on the internet about setting up AdWords campaigns," said Bester.
Alternatively advertisers may look to a specialist consultant to provide advice on how to get the most exposure for their advertising buck.
What now?
Once you have attracted the potential customer to your site via the AdWords platform, you need to turn their interest into a lead.
"You only have three seconds to give a visitor what he or she is looking for then they're gone," said Bester.
He has compiled the following tips for SMEs for their website:
- Have a clear headline - once the visitor hits your page it must clear be what you can help with. "Save on generators" should be big and bold in the centre of the page.
- Easy navigation - Have a clear horizontal or vertical navigation bar. Again, bigger is better.
- Obvious contact details - On the "contact" page, have a contact number, an e-mail address and a web form for visitors to fill in.
- Clear copy - The copy on the site must in a minimum font size of 12 and in black.
If any of the My Business community readers have had success with using Google AdWords to market their business - tell us a bit about your success and what has worked for you.
- Fin24.com
