Google AdWords gives your business a powerful tool for generating leads and converting them into sales. If you are advertising in the B2B sector, AdWords can help your profits grow exponentially when used correctly, but getting AdWords to run profitably can take some careful effort.
A lot of what makes an AdWords campaign successful happens outside of the Google universe, and is just as important as how you market your company. AdWords gives you a lot of flexibility in how you use it, and you need to take full advantage of this. Done well, a managed AdWords campaign can blast your profits into the stratosphere and make potential leads jump onto your landing pages.
Have a look at some of the following techniques that can make your advertising outlay go a lot further, and make sure that you get the most from your AdWords campaign.
When you set up a campaign on Google, you need to be laser sharp with your target keywords. If you have even a moderately popular keyword, your campaign could quickly get expensive. It is important to decide what point in the buying cycle you want to attract a prospect, and make sure that you take them to the right landing page for that stage.
When people buy something they go through a process. Common marketing logic tells us that we want to draw them in as close to being purchase-ready as possible, so as not to waste money. This position isn't wrong as much as it's incomplete.
AdWords gives you the ability to split your marketing up, and buy lower value keywords that will still net you a lot of leads in the long run. If you go after the keywords that generate a lot of fast turnaround sales, you are going to pay for it with an increased CPC due to the popularity of the keywords. You will get leads that convert, sure, but you are going to pay a lot for those that do.
Another strategy to pursue is to bid on keywords that are relativity cheap, but pull prospects to your site far earlier in the sales cycle. This will take more work on your end, but it can generate a lot of sales and a greater ROI long term. You want to pull a prospect to your site, and give them something. An eBook, a webinar, or some sort of valuable industry information. It has to be valuable, not salesy.
What you are doing is using a low cost keyword to convert a potential client to your brand. Many smart purchasing managers aren't just going to click and buy £10,000 of anything on a whim. Some will, but if you want to land high value conversions you need to have content that builds up trust in your brand.
Once you have a prospect's attention and click, you need to take maximum advantage of it. This can be done in two ways; by having very specific keywords, or using extensions.
Your prospect should be taken to a page that shows them exactly what you want them to see. If you are targeting a potential early in the process, take them directly to useful content. If you are targeting them using a quick sell device, make sure that they can convert easily. They should be no wasted clicks between the first click and the conversion in the latter case.
Extensions in AdWords are really useful, and they can give you some options that will benefit you. Firstly, they take up a lot more space on the screen. Any competition below you is going to get pushed down the page, and people will look over your advert with more interest.
Secondly, because you can use multiple links under your main ad, there is an opportunity to promote multiple landing pages. This technique isn't as cost effective for smaller B2B promotions, but for medium size operations this is a good way to mix up your marketing content and measure the success of different channels.
It is especially handy if you offer a depth of services, or have a wide distribution area that is logistically sensitive regardless of your business's sector.
If you aren't using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, you need to be. One of the best parts of online advertising is being able to track what approach landed you the most leads and conversions. Being able to identify what keywords work to reach a target demographic can save you a lot of money, and make sure you aren't paying for clicks that go nowhere.
Many times within a group of keywords there are one or two that generate the lion's share of your revenue. If you aren't using CRM software to isolate your best keywords and strategy, you are probably paying way too much for your conversions.
Google will help you to implement a CRM strategy, but you will have to do some work on your end up-front. Once you have your AdWords campaign set up, making sure that your budget is well spent is a snap. This lets you cut your losers, and redeploy that wasted money into keywords that may perform better.
When working on a limited budget, it is best to start off using text-only AdWords marketing tools. Once you have a fair idea of who might be interested, it might be time to step up the funding, and try some broad spectrum remarketing.
Using remarketing in concert with Google's Display Network can be a good way to hit the prospects that may be fence sitting, and keep your business relevant to them. Once you see that they have been on your blog or downloaded some of your content, it's not a bad idea to try to push your company via the more expensive Display Network.
You will pay a bit more for this service, but it also will give you coverage that is wider than Google AdWords can offer you. This can bring in interested prospects who have a higher chance of converting.
The last thing you want to do is take a quarterly wait-and-see approach with AdWords. One of the biggest advantages that Google offers you is fast, relevant feedback. You need to be able to take advantage of every asset you have online, because if you aren't, then your competition is. Keep your eyes open and make a weekly review of what is working and what isn't. This is one of the biggest things you can do to make sure you are getting the most out of your budget, and maximising the potential of each click you pay for.
When using Google AdWords as part of a marketing strategy it is really helpful to work with an agency such as JDR. We can help you minimise your spend and get the most value from your campaign. How do you tell if there are savings to be made or if you could be getting more from AdWords? Download our Google AdWords Checklist to find out. It’s free and sets out clear criteria by which you can assess your AdWords performance so far, and where improvements can be made.