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The Truth About Pay-Per-Click Marketing
By admin | July 4, 2009
The key to an effective Pay-Per-Click program is driving the right traffic to your website. Since you pay every time someone clicks through to your site you want to attract only visitors who are interested in your product or service.
The key to an effective Pay-Per-Click program is driving the “right” traffic to your website. Since you pay every time someone clicks through to your site you want to attract only visitors who are interested in your product or service. And you want to be sure that, when they arrive at your site, they can find what theyre looking for quickly.
CHOOSE THE BEST SEARCH TERMS (KEYWORDS)
Broad keywords (”shoes”) will generate many clicks with little or no benefit. Use specific keywords and phrases that accurately reflect your site. If you offer a product in a particular geographic area include the location (”men’s shoes Seattle”). And consider the many possible variations (”Italian leather shoes,” “men’s leather shoes,” etc).
For help refining your keywords, try Overtures Term Suggestion Tool [http://www.content.overture.com/d/USm/adcenter/tools/index.jhtml].
WRITE ACCURATE AND RELEVANT AD COPY
The most effective ads communicate a clear message to a specific target audience. Your ad should emphasize the unique benefits of your product or service. Use simple, direct language: avoid gimmicks and jargon.
Its a good idea to include the search term in your title and/or description. Users will be able to immediately see its relevance to their search. Overture reports that listings which include the search term in both the title and description have a higher click-through rate (more than 50 percent higher on average).
In Google, ad titles are limited to 25 characters. The two description lines and display URL are limited to 35 characters each– so you have to be concise.
CONTROL YOUR COST
Most PPC Search Engines let you set your own limits for the cost of each click-thru, as well as a monthly maximum. Start with a small list of targeted keywords and a few different ads. Then build on those that work best. Of course you cant control what your competitors are willing to bid so choosing the right keywords for your specific audience is essential.
Just because you can bid high enough for a top position doesn’t mean you should. A number 1 spot may be less cost-effective than lower positions due to “compulsive clickers” who start at the top of the links and click their way down.
Some PPC engines share the top 3 listings with their partners so youll gain more exposure by bidding high enough for 3rd position or better. But dont get in a bidding war for your keywords. If theyre too competitive, do some research and modify them so you dont pay more than necessary.
EXPERIMENT– AND MONITOR YOUR RESULTS
Try different messages and keywords to see what works best. One advantage of PPC programs is that they track the click through rate for each ad so you can identify and remove ads that arent working.
You can also use unique tracking URLs for each ad to identify how many of your customers clicked through to your site from your ad. Then you can calculate which ads and keywords converted the most clicks to sales.
CONCLUSION
Pay-per-Click marketing is an effective method of driving traffic to your site, but thats really just the first step. Once visitors arrive, you need persuasive copy, clear navigation and good design to lead them to take the action you want.
About the Author
Barry Harrison and Jim Grady are the co-authors of REDiTIPS. REDiTIPS is a free monthly newsletter that offers simple techniques to market your Web site and grow your business. We provide practical, low-cost ideas to help you promote your small business and reach new potential customers.
“Ezine Readers Refuse to Buy? 3 Final Secrets to More Sales”Jessica Albon
Three final tips to maximizing your company ezine’s sales power.
In part III of our series on maximizing your newsletter’s power as a salesperson, we’ll show you how to optimize three key areas in your newsletter once for sales indefinitely.
Today’s elements increase sales by increasing your company’s credibility. Your nameplate, masthead, and tagline each play a crucial role in building reader trust.
Only when your readers trust you will they be ready to do business.
Your company newsletter nameplate Whether your newsletter is print or HTML (or even plain text) your nameplate should be instantly recognizable and meaningful to your target audience.
If you’ve established (or want to establish) a strong brand, make the nameplate look like your logo using similar typefaces and colors.
If you offer several publications and want readers to be able to easily differentiate between each, make one element constant (typeface, colors, or a selected word in the name), and the rest contrasting.
Regardless of your goals, make sure your nameplate:
Stands out: make it big, make it bold, make it clear it’s the nameplate, not just a headline. Is consistent: using the same nameplate in each issue helps readers recognize the publication. Consistency is a key way to build reader trust. Is understandable: don’t make your readers guess what your newsletter’s about. If they find your newsletter name confusing, they expect to find your product/service confusing as well and may just refuse to buy. Your company newsletter masthead Your masthead is where you describe your company and your newsletter. The precise details you include will depend on your goals. If you want your company to look friendly, for instance, include the names of people involved with the newsletter’s production.
Your masthead must offer contact information. This is typically the reader’s first stop when they want to know more. If you don’t make it easy, you’ll lose sales.
Your masthead is also a great place for publication information–like whether or not you accept articles for publication. The more your newsletter looks like a paid subscription newsletter, the more valuable it’ll be to readers.
Including all the nitty-gritty details in your masthead is also a super way to build credibility with your readers.
Your company newsletter tagline Your tagline carries a heavy burden–it must be short, it must be persuasive (but not salesy) and it must be comprehendible.
Somehow, in 15 words or less, you must give your readers all the information they need about your publication.
Fortunately, that’s not as hard as it sounds. All you’ll need to do is come up with the number 1 benefit for subscribers.
Okay, so it’s still hard.
But, it’s not only do-able, it’s crucial.
You also might want to include the following information in your tagline (if you have a few extra words):
frequency audience size format. Here are a few examples of taglines clients have used with much success:
Your guide to a well-trained dog A humorous look at life as a single dad Bi-monthly tips on decorating your fingernails for parties You’ll notice that, though each of these newsletters is published by a company, not one mentions the company’s name or interests. Rather they focus on the reader’s goals. That’s the key to a tagline that gets people to subscribe and stay subscribed to your newsletter.
The right tagline doesn’t just add value for the reader, rather you’ll find a great tag will help you focus your newsletter content as well. Take some time to come up with the right tagline. Once you find one that works, you’ll be able to use it for many issues to come.
When you carefully develop your nameplate, masthead, and tagline, you’ll build a powerful foundation for reader trust. In each issue, the other elements of your newsletter (content, etc) will build upon that foundation to unleash a powerful sales ally.
What’s the secret to more profits, happier customers, and expert status? A pink and purple polka-dotted ping-pong paddle, of course. Rocky explains: http://www.designdoodles.com/ping-pong.htm
About the Author
At The Write Exposure, Jessica Albon helps companies attract and retain customers with powerful newsletters. At http://www.designdoodles.com they reveal the secrets behind newsletter success.
“Ezine Readers Refuse to Buy? 3 More Secrets to More Sales”Jessica Albon
Three more tips to maximizing your company ezine’s sales power.
Every day we get dozens of letters from frustrated company newsletter publishers who want to know why their newsletters not selling like they think it should.
While every newsletter and each audience is different, weve found 9 areas that often need improvement. This month, well discuss focus, format and measurement.
4. Focus: Whats your newsletters goal? Is it to increase sales 15%? Is it to increase name recognition for your brand. To cut down on calls to your help desk? Whatever your goal, youll want to make sure everyone who works on your newsletter understands that goal and how they can help reach it.
A manufacturing company recently contacted us when they discovered only about 25% of their readers remembered receiving their newsletter. We took a look at their layout to suggest changes. First, we discovered they printed their company name just once in the entire (very lengthy) newsletter! Plus, though they used HTML, the newsletter looked nothing like their other company materials, and it didn’t even include the company’s logo!
Because the manufacturing company wanted to build name recognition, they needed to start by helping readers associate the newsletter with their company. For all newsletters, this means using your company name throughout the newsletter. For HTML newsletters, this means keeping the look of the newsletter in line with your company image as much as possible.
5. Format: The formatting of your newsletter absolutely matters, and it relates strongly to your goals. A newsletter thats designed to increase sales should make it easy for readers to buy (lots of clear links, pictures if appropriate, etc).
Before you make any other decisions, though, you have to decide whether to publish only in plain text or to also offer a HTML version. Our clients have found HTML to be anywhere from 50-75% more effective than plain text.
With HTML, you can include pictures of your products, use colors to emphasize special offers, and repeat elements of your image to strengthen your brand both on and offline. Plain text, however, is easier to send (since with HTML you need to send both), so if you only have time for one version, make it plain text.
Whichever you choose, to best take advantage of a newsletters major strength (permission-based follow-up), youll want to keep the format consistent. Many publishers rearrange their newsletters each month, taking out and putting in new sections, re-ordering the articles, etc. No matter what your main newsletter goal, consistency is a powerful ally. By getting your readers accustomed to always finding a tip after the editors letter, theyll become accustomed to your company.
6. Measurement: Without measurement, you cant be sure how your newsletters doing. Certainly, some things cant be measured easily (like brand recognition), but by keeping an eye on statistics and running surveys, you can get a pretty good idea whats going on with your readers.
One stat to measure if youre publishing in HTML is your open rate. While its not foolproof (or even especially interesting), keeping an eye on your open rate will alert you to potential problems. By watching for declines or surges in your open rate, you can learn which subject lines are most popular; you can also learn which newsletters trigger more filters than usual, and which newsletters might have bugs in the HTML code.
Another stat to keep an eye on is sales made as a result of your newsletter. An easy way to do this is to offer special discounts to readers of your newsletter. Using trackable links also helps, but it doesnt alert you if your newsletter readers prefer to use the phone to order.
Keep an eye on your rate of subscription and unsubscription. Do readers unsubscribe more after youve covered certain topics? Do you see surges in subscribers when you offer bonuses for referrals? Watching what happens to your list from week to week can be very revealing.
A final stat all newsletter publishers should keep an eye on is bounces. Depending on how you maintain your list, you may lose 30% or more of your subscribers each year to full and abandoned email boxes. Keeping an eye on this stat each month helps you gauge which newsletter promotion plans are working and which are bringing lots of temporary subscribers.
What’s the secret to more profits, happier customers, and expert status? A pink and purple polka-dotted ping-pong paddle, of course. Rocky explains: http://www.designdoodles.com/ping-pong.htm
About the Author
At The Write Exposure, Jessica Albon helps companies attract and retain customers with powerful newsletters. At http://www.designdoodles.com they reveal the secrets behind newsletter success.
“Ezine Readers Refuse to Buy? 3 Secrets to More Sales”Jessica Albon
Increase the sales your company ezine makes with these three tips.
A newsletter can be a fantastic way to lure new customers, but without the right bait, you can send out line after line (or issue after issue) and not get a single bite.
What should you be baiting your newsletter with? Let’s take a look:
1. The right list. How are you getting your subscribers? Some people run contests or give away e-books. Both are great, but you need to choose them carefully.
If you sell candles to retailers, you wouldn’t hold a monthly drawing for a 12-month supply of candles. Rather, you might offer an e-book on increasing sales 50% with small display changes. The monthly drawing will result in more subscribers, but few of them will be in your target market.
2. The right content. Again, generic is bad. Let’s say you sell mechanical steps for short people buying tall vehicles. Your audience will likely be middle class, educated commuters, and you’ll probably have more female readers than male. Thus, an article on how investing in your car is a good idea (the Wall Street Journal reports older SUVs are skyrocketing in value) would be more appealing to readers than an article describing the proper way to tie down a load of wood.
Not only will the article on investing in automobile upgrades appeal more to the audience, it’ll also result in more sales because it’s more highly targeted.
3. Ask for the sale. We get a lot of newsletters that don’t explain what they’re selling. If you don’t tell your readers that you sell marketing services, how are they going to know they should hire you?
Why not use your top sponsor spot for your own advertisement every so often? Or mention in your editor’s letter that you’re having a special.
If you use testimonials, why not introduce them with a brief description of the product or service the customer purchased.
Whatever else you do, commit to making it clear in each issue that you are a company that does x. Then allow yourself some open promotion every few issues.
What’s the secret to more profits, happier customers, and expert status? A pink and purple polka-dotted ping-pong paddle, of course. Rocky explains: http://www.designdoodles.com/ping-pong.htm
About the Author
At The Write Exposure, Jessica Albon helps companies attract and retain customers with powerful newsletters. At http://www.designdoodles.com they reveal the secrets behind newsletter success.
Topics: Pay Per Click |
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