Pay Per Click
Forrester is Advising Clients to Advertise on Social Networks
E-consultancy had an interesting post about Forrester Research who are advising clients that a recession is the time to be advertising on social networks. As Forrester put it:
Check out Interchanges Myspace Social applications in particular, such as communities and social networking sites, are cost-effective and have a measurable impact on prospects’ decisions in the consideration stage, which will be important to companies under recessionary pressures.
This is an interesting position for Forrester to take as social networks have not exactly been a boon for most advertisers. In their paper Forrester makes two points why this is a good time to switch your advertising dollars to social networks. The first point is:
“Well-designed social applications are effective. Social programs leverage the voice of the customer to get messages carried further than ad impressions. If your message resonates with consumers, their word-of-mouth is a more effective medium than any of the traditional media.”
Yes a successful viral campaign can be much more effective than a traditional campaign (see the Barack video for an example of this). But isn’t viral marketing simply successful word-of-mouth marketing? You can plan on having a campaign go viral, but unless the message resonates with the consumer (and that is a big if), your message will go nowhere. Social networks can be a conduit to helping your message go viral, but it needs a good message and product in order to be successful.
The second point is:
“They’re cheap. Advertising campaigns often run into millions of dollars. But Facebook pages and blogs are two examples of social programs that you can start for next to nothing. Even more sophisticated programs like a full-blown customer community typically don’t cost more than $50,000 to $300,000 to get going.”
Just because it is inexpensive to advertise on social networks does not mean that the traffic you are buying is good. There is a reason why Stumble Upon lets you buy traffic at $.05 a click in even the most competitive markets. Social networks are notorious for providing advertisers with lots of ad impressions, very few clicks and even less conversions. One of the reasons for this is that users of social networks are not on social with a commercial intent. When I talk to my nieces who are heavy Facebook users, they all mention that they are never looking to buy something when they are on Facebook. They are there to socialize. They are blind to the ads.
It is akin to when you use Gmail. How many of you actually read the ads that go along with the email you are reading? You ignore the ads, because you are not looking to buy something. The same applies to broad based social advertising campaigns.
The only difference between a poorly executed cheap social marketing campaign and a poorly executed expensive marketing campaign is the amount of money that you spend.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Top 5 Reasons why Pay Per Click Ads are Good for You
For many, Pay Per Click advertisements are nothing more than a short-term marketing measure to be used just until the effects of search engine optimization are felt. Internet marketing experts, however, state that the customized ads in fact, provide more benefits than most people give them credit for. Here are some of them:
1. With PPC ads, you’re always at the top of the heap
In a perfect world, you would always have top ranking in search engine results page after your web site is optimized; unfortunately, we’re not even close. Getting on top of the list can take a lot of time and effort, and doubly more so if you’re targeting very popular keywords and phrases. PPC ads greatly increase the chance of your web site being seen by searchers even if thousands of other companies are competing for the same keywords. Advertising on programs like Google Adwords can actually save you time and resources by allowing you to focus your SEO efforts (which are definitely more laborious) on campaigns that will have more fruitful results.
2. You’re the boss (at least when it comes to your PPC ads)
With PPC ads, you get to choose how much you are willing to pay per click, how you would want your ads to be worded and how long you would want your ads to be displayed. One good thing about PPC ads is that you’re in total control of your ads. If you want to edit existing ads so you can announce a new promo for example, then nothing will stop you from doing so.
3. PPC ads can be used to ensure greater SEO success
PPC ads is a relatively inexpensive means of testing if the keywords and phrases you chose to use to optimize your site will work or not. PPC ads can help prevent the costly mistake of using ineffective keywords to optimize your site.
4. PPC ads allow you to pretend like you’re Big Brother
One PPC feature that makes the tool particularly attractive is the fact that it allows advertisers to extensively track their ads and how they are performing. With PPC ads, you’ll be informed of how many times the ads are clicked, the number of impressions, their average position, costs-per-click and other stats you’ll need to assess if the ads are worth the money you pay for them (remember, being micromanagers never hurt Bill Gates or Steve Jobs).
5. PPC ads help you help yourself
While many think that PPC ads bear only immediate results, the customized advertorials can actually benefit you in the long-term by helping you establish your brand. If people, through your ads, regularly see the name of your company and web site, you can expect to leave an imprint on their minds and create an impact.
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maraya_Mullen
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Combining Email Marketing with Web Marketing
by Ron Evans
Email marketing is incredibly effective at maintaining customer loyalty, as well as converting interested prospects into customers. However, for the acquisition of a new prospect, email marketing may not be the most ideal method due to the proliferation of unwanted offers. So how do you get these “hand-raisers” to give you the permission to market to them in the first place? Here are some online marketing techniques that combine well with email marketing.
Search Engine Listings
Search engines and directories such as Yahoo and MSN are still one of the first sources that people go to when looking for information online. The searcher is trying to find a solution to a problem, and their psychology is such that they can be highly receptive to your message if it is relevant to solving that problem. Once they have clicked thru to your web site, your goal is to get them to volunteer their email address to allow you to continue the dialog with them. You can only achieve this by giving them a valid reason for doing so. For well-known brand names, simply asking for the information may be enough. For newer or niche-focused companies, techniques such as providing information of value like a report, or actual giveaways are needed to convince most visitors to participate.
Pay Per Click Search Listings
Pay Per Click (PPC) listing services such as Overture and Google’s AdWords have all of the same benefits as non-paid search engine listings. There may be somewhat less credibility, as searchers are more skeptical of paid listings. However, this is more than countered by the predictability of the results. PPC listings are far superior to traditional search engines from the perspective of an advertiser because of both the immediacy with which you can obtain a listing, as well as the ability to achieve a specific desired ranking. Promotion becomes simpler because you get the positioning you are willing to pay for. And once you have paid for a visitor to click-thru to your site, your next objective is getting them to tell you their email address, so you can maximize your Return On Investment (ROI).
Content-Based Marketing
Creating original content is one of the best ways to demonstrate expertise and establish credibility for a company as an authority in a particular field. Allowing other web sites and online newsletters to republish this content along with a link back to your site is an excellent way to acquire new prospects. Many people would like to receive further information from an expert that they respect, and are quite willing to not just receive, but also anticipate receiving email from a said expert.
Newsletter Sponsorship
Although not quite as good at establishing credibility as is creating content, ads that are located in someone else’s email newsletter do tend to get noticed in a good light. By carefully selecting the correct target audience, along with proper timing, these ads can deliver qualified prospects to your site. And once they get there, your brilliant call to action and your well-crafted content will convince them to start a “conversation” by giving you their email address.
Site Sponsorship
Like newsletter sponsorship, site sponsorship ads do tend to get noticed in a better light than banner advertising. Combining sponsorship with content (the so-called “Advertorial”) can get more attention than advertising alone. Again, proper targeting and a compelling call to action are critical for achieving a response.
Conclusion
Give people a reason to ‘talk’ to your company and you can concentrate on talking to the people that already want to hear from you. Anything else wastes your time and annoys non-prospects unnecessarily. You can generate new leads by using other forms of online marketing, and then stay in touch with these prospects over the courtship process of getting them to become customers by using email marketing, and you will have adopted a powerful online marketing strategy.
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