Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
While watching the Super Bowl ads the other day, 2 ideas came to mind:
1. Note to Self -- don't steal Doritos from Tim's locker. Ever. (And, actually, avoid eating Doritos in the gym altogether because it's kind of counterproductive.)
2. These companies could have saved a lot of money if they had set up pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns instead of paying a ton of money for Super Bowl ads. And they probably would have done a better job of reaching their target audiences.
Superbowl commercials are about entertaining a huge audience and creating a bit of a buzz about your company. And for companies with a lot of advertising dollars to spend, it can work out. But if you're looking to get a lot of bang for your buck on less than $67,000 per second, a PPC campaign is an awesome way to go.
And what's a PPC campaign? I actually wrote a little article about it a few months ago and just had a chance to post it, so check it out for the details on what PPC ads are and how they can work for you.
If Super Bowl commercials (or TV commercials in general) are out of your price range, PPC may be perfect for your business.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
What Everyone Should Know About PPC
Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
Have you ever been channel surfing at 4 AM, landed on a commercial, and wondered to yourself, Am I the only one in the world watching this ad? You may have even felt a little sorry for the poor guy who paid to have that ad run. After all, you might have been the only one to see it, and sorry, but you just weren't interested in purchasing one of those plant watering glass balls.
Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising is a form of marketing on the internet that eliminates the plight of those late-night commercials that no one sees. With PPC, you have the opportunity to advertise in a way that reaches only interested parties. And the best part is that if the advertisement never generates traffic to your website, you never have to pay for it! Holla!
Whenever you perform a Google search on a product, you are likely to see a little list of "Sponsored Links" over on the side of your screen. (Go ahead, try it! Google anything -- "plant watering glass ball" even works nicely!) See those short blurbs on the right with links? Those are PPC ads.
The companies that designed those ads paid nothing to set them up. They even told Google what keywords an internet user should type in to make them appear. And then, when someone types in those magic words - boom! The ad shows up right on the side of his page. And so far, not a dollar has changed hands.
The only time these ads actually cost money is when the ad appeals to a web surfer enough to make him actually click on it. But at that point, you've got him on your website. And since he was googling something you've decided is relevant, chances are he's interested in buying or at least heavy browsing. Nifty, right?
You can even set up temporary PPC ads that focus on a specific promotion or sale that you may be running. Do you have a home improvement business that's running a special this month on vent cleaning services? Add that as a keyword and make a special little ad promoting that particular service. Then, when the sale is over, you can stop it and make a new ad focusing on something else.
So as you can see, PPC is an awesome tool that allows you to advertise to real, interested people. And when you know your advertising money is being well spent, you can rest easy. And turn off the late-night TV.
Have you ever been channel surfing at 4 AM, landed on a commercial, and wondered to yourself, Am I the only one in the world watching this ad? You may have even felt a little sorry for the poor guy who paid to have that ad run. After all, you might have been the only one to see it, and sorry, but you just weren't interested in purchasing one of those plant watering glass balls.
Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising is a form of marketing on the internet that eliminates the plight of those late-night commercials that no one sees. With PPC, you have the opportunity to advertise in a way that reaches only interested parties. And the best part is that if the advertisement never generates traffic to your website, you never have to pay for it! Holla!
How It Works
Whenever you perform a Google search on a product, you are likely to see a little list of "Sponsored Links" over on the side of your screen. (Go ahead, try it! Google anything -- "plant watering glass ball" even works nicely!) See those short blurbs on the right with links? Those are PPC ads.
The companies that designed those ads paid nothing to set them up. They even told Google what keywords an internet user should type in to make them appear. And then, when someone types in those magic words - boom! The ad shows up right on the side of his page. And so far, not a dollar has changed hands.
The only time these ads actually cost money is when the ad appeals to a web surfer enough to make him actually click on it. But at that point, you've got him on your website. And since he was googling something you've decided is relevant, chances are he's interested in buying or at least heavy browsing. Nifty, right?
You can even set up temporary PPC ads that focus on a specific promotion or sale that you may be running. Do you have a home improvement business that's running a special this month on vent cleaning services? Add that as a keyword and make a special little ad promoting that particular service. Then, when the sale is over, you can stop it and make a new ad focusing on something else.
So as you can see, PPC is an awesome tool that allows you to advertise to real, interested people. And when you know your advertising money is being well spent, you can rest easy. And turn off the late-night TV.
Monday, February 8, 2010
What Does Your Website Do in Five Seconds?
Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
Remember when JT and Madonna sang that peculiar little song about how they only had four minutes to save the world? That really doesn't seem like enough time to save the world, or, do much of anything, actually.
Well you, my friend, have only five seconds.
Okay you don't have to save the world, but it takes only five seconds for a visitor to your site to gather enough information to determine whether to go back out to the web or to stick around. So you've got that much time to hook them.
And how is that accomplished?
You have to do one of three things to intrigue the average web surfer enough to hang around.
1. Deliver a Call to Action. In other words, set up some kind of enticing button on your home page that pushes the visitor farther into the site right away. We're talking about a "Click Here for a Free Quote" or "Hundreds of Items On Sale - Today Only! Click Here to Shop!" Those types of appeals get the casual browser involved right away, enticing him to stay around for awhile.
2. Communicate Your Unique Selling Position. You need to sell your uniqueness right off the bat. Your home page has to be YOU, and make people see that YOU are different from your competitors. In the first five seconds, visitors won't get the full picture of you, but if you have the right layout, design and content, they'll get your vibe. Are you the eco-friendly choice? The professional choice with years of experience? The new funky alternative choice? Your page should be designed to reflect attributes like that in a way that a visitor can pick up in five seconds or less.
3. Give Them Something Valuable. If a visitor perceives value right away on your home page, he'll stick around to find out what else you're giving out. It may be as simple as some good content that answers his questions. If it looks like you know your stuff, and you deliver the right message right away, visitors will likely poke around to find out what other information you have to share. In addition to appealing content, an actual giveaway could also do the trick. This idea links back to our first suggestion - a call to action. You could use that call to action to do a giveaway (e.g. "Click here for your FREE coupon!").
So, if you want your casual browsers to delve deep into that website of yours, you need to have something significant going on as soon as they enter the site. Whether it's your unique charm, some free information or a giveaway, or a flashy clicky button, make sure that you have something that will keep your visitors interested past those first five seconds.
Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock.
Remember when JT and Madonna sang that peculiar little song about how they only had four minutes to save the world? That really doesn't seem like enough time to save the world, or, do much of anything, actually.
Well you, my friend, have only five seconds.
Okay you don't have to save the world, but it takes only five seconds for a visitor to your site to gather enough information to determine whether to go back out to the web or to stick around. So you've got that much time to hook them.
And how is that accomplished?
You have to do one of three things to intrigue the average web surfer enough to hang around.
1. Deliver a Call to Action. In other words, set up some kind of enticing button on your home page that pushes the visitor farther into the site right away. We're talking about a "Click Here for a Free Quote" or "Hundreds of Items On Sale - Today Only! Click Here to Shop!" Those types of appeals get the casual browser involved right away, enticing him to stay around for awhile.
2. Communicate Your Unique Selling Position. You need to sell your uniqueness right off the bat. Your home page has to be YOU, and make people see that YOU are different from your competitors. In the first five seconds, visitors won't get the full picture of you, but if you have the right layout, design and content, they'll get your vibe. Are you the eco-friendly choice? The professional choice with years of experience? The new funky alternative choice? Your page should be designed to reflect attributes like that in a way that a visitor can pick up in five seconds or less.
3. Give Them Something Valuable. If a visitor perceives value right away on your home page, he'll stick around to find out what else you're giving out. It may be as simple as some good content that answers his questions. If it looks like you know your stuff, and you deliver the right message right away, visitors will likely poke around to find out what other information you have to share. In addition to appealing content, an actual giveaway could also do the trick. This idea links back to our first suggestion - a call to action. You could use that call to action to do a giveaway (e.g. "Click here for your FREE coupon!").
So, if you want your casual browsers to delve deep into that website of yours, you need to have something significant going on as soon as they enter the site. Whether it's your unique charm, some free information or a giveaway, or a flashy clicky button, make sure that you have something that will keep your visitors interested past those first five seconds.
Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock.
Monday, February 1, 2010
E-Marketing Campaigns That Get Results, Part 2
Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
Okay, we did example #1, so now it's time for Sample Problem #2.
This week, we'll be taking a look at a pretend non-profit organization as it attempts to use e-marketing to collect some paper for its noble cause. We'll call the nonprofit something a little corny and obvious like Holy Shirts and Pants. Whoops, that's already taken. Okay, we'll go with Kollecting for Kids, and we'll say their role in the community is to collect money to buy toys for underprivileged children. We'll say the NPO has a pretty good following on social networking sites - including 3000 Facebook fans and 500 followers on Twitter.
So, with our background set, let's look at the sitch that Kollecting for Kids was in when their campaign began.
They needed to market their annual campaign to raise money to buy holiday gifts for kids. Our recommendation to them was to put together a campaign that leverages their social media connections to generate donations.
We encouraged them to start by coming up with five blog entries that each focused on convincing people to donate money to their charity. The idea was to really pull on the readers' heartstrings and move them to donate. These blog entries incorporated specific anecdotes about real children who would be helped by this campaign, and every entry included a section specifically asking for donations and linking to a donation site.
With the blog entries prewritten, KFK published one entry every Monday for the five weeks leading up to Christmas. They connected their blog to facebook and twitter too, so every week the Facebook fans and Twitter followers had another opportunity to hear a compelling reason to donate.
So without spending any money, KFK was able to generate 17,500 impressions. And if even 1% of the fans and followers were moved to donate, there would be a lot of happy kids on Christmas.
That's right, boys and girls. You too can use the magic of Twitter and Facebook for free advertising! And whether you run a non-profit or a for-profit business, you'll be shocked at how effective it can really be.
Okay, we did example #1, so now it's time for Sample Problem #2.
This week, we'll be taking a look at a pretend non-profit organization as it attempts to use e-marketing to collect some paper for its noble cause. We'll call the nonprofit something a little corny and obvious like Holy Shirts and Pants. Whoops, that's already taken. Okay, we'll go with Kollecting for Kids, and we'll say their role in the community is to collect money to buy toys for underprivileged children. We'll say the NPO has a pretty good following on social networking sites - including 3000 Facebook fans and 500 followers on Twitter.
So, with our background set, let's look at the sitch that Kollecting for Kids was in when their campaign began.
They needed to market their annual campaign to raise money to buy holiday gifts for kids. Our recommendation to them was to put together a campaign that leverages their social media connections to generate donations.
We encouraged them to start by coming up with five blog entries that each focused on convincing people to donate money to their charity. The idea was to really pull on the readers' heartstrings and move them to donate. These blog entries incorporated specific anecdotes about real children who would be helped by this campaign, and every entry included a section specifically asking for donations and linking to a donation site.
With the blog entries prewritten, KFK published one entry every Monday for the five weeks leading up to Christmas. They connected their blog to facebook and twitter too, so every week the Facebook fans and Twitter followers had another opportunity to hear a compelling reason to donate.
So without spending any money, KFK was able to generate 17,500 impressions. And if even 1% of the fans and followers were moved to donate, there would be a lot of happy kids on Christmas.
That's right, boys and girls. You too can use the magic of Twitter and Facebook for free advertising! And whether you run a non-profit or a for-profit business, you'll be shocked at how effective it can really be.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)