Scott Michie posted on October 19, 2009 08:58
Have you ever found yourself wondering...
"How can I be more effective with the money I'm spending on my advertising?"
You're not alone. A lot of business owners are still throwing their money at the phone book because it has worked for them for so long, but without the return they once received. Business has dropped off, and the owners think it’s just the bad economy. What many haven’t considered is that their yellow page demographic has turned to the Internet to find what they’re looking for.
Then and Now
Back in 1989 I would have said the phone book yellow pages was the most vital advertising you could do for your business, because businesses technically didn't exist to consumers if it wasn't listed in "the book".
Today, your business doesn't exist to consumers if you don't have a Website appearing in the first page of search engine results for the products and services your business offers.
Making an Impression
In the world of advertising - an
impression is simply the event when your business is presented to a potential buyer.
Following is a list of example impressions:
- The billboard signs you see as you drive down the road
- Checking your mail and sorting postcards from real mail
- Reading your magazine and glancing at the advertisements
- Commercials you get between songs on the radio or your favorite show on the television
- The top ten websites listed as a result of doing a search on Google or Bing!
Keep in mind that an impression does not always mean the prospect is impressed, nor are they always remotely interested in making a purchase at that point in time.
Pay for Performance!
If you're unhappy with the performance of your current advertising efforts, perhaps you could have had a better chance at landing some business by investing $150 into a Google AdWords Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign. This is because impressions through Google AdWords are FREE! You only pay when someone clicks your campaign Ad.
How Much Does it Cost?
The cost per click depends on how much competition there is for the search term. Let's say the average cost per click was $2.50 for a good search term. Going on our assumption you could attract sixty (60) prospective customers to your website for a mere $150 investment.
The key difference between sending out direct mail postcards or running a radio ad is CONSUMER NEED! Those searching on Google were actively seeking my services, rather than those on the radio station’s website whose primary goal was to get information such as the headline news topics.
What should you do?
Stop throwing money at non-producing advertising. There are more effective methods to attracting warm leads to your sales funnel. You’ll spend less time with cold prospects you have to persuade, and more time with hot prospects that earnestly want and need your products and services. Just because your contract is up for renewal doesn’t mean you have to renew it! Rather, thank God your contract is up! Invest in new advertising/marketing methods such as
Search Engine Optimization,
Pay-Per-Click, Social Marketing, perhaps even do a little
networking, and by all means keep calling your existing clients and ask for referrals!
If you’re worried about totally stopping your existing method of marketing, because you’re not really sure where your business is coming from, then start tracking your lead sources so you can cancel that contract with confidence. You can do this easily with call tracking solutions – it’s surprisingly inexpensive and not that hard to set up!