Google Adwords vs. Direct MailWritten by http://www.earthquakestudios.com
We recently ran a test to see whether Google Adwords could outpower traditional direct mail advertising. Here is how we did it. We created a new Adwords campaign choosing a few of our favorite targeted keywords, mainly keywords such as “small business web design”, “custom web design” and “promotional print services”. We set a budget of $500 for whole campaign with a ceiling of $20 per day per keyword. Also, we set campaign to target two regions, California and Florida in this instance. At end of week we ran out of money and only had 1 valid customer contact. That’s right, 1! We assume that rest of clicks were either trigger-happy Web surfers, potential clients that moved on elsewhere or perhaps our competition clicking on our ads to help us kill our budget faster. That’s right, we said it! Anyone that has worked with Google Adwords program knows about obvious problems with competitors clicking on your ads. It has become a part of “waste” formula for many companies. For our company however, we try to minimize as much budget waste as possible, especially when many keywords cost over $5.00 a click for a top sponsored position in Google. We turned to our now favorite method of reaching our target audience, good old-fashioned DIRECT MAIL! In our opinion, there is simply no better targeted way to spend your marketing budget and have results to prove your efforts. We set up a new postcard campaign with our logo, marketing message and a call to action. Then we sent it out to our target list of 1,000 companies. Total cost was $500 for postcard production & postage, and a day or two of building list. Guess what? We had over 75 calls that we could track based on postcard message. Out of those 75 calls, we have already begun work on 4 projects. Not bad if you compare those numbers with what Google Adwords did for us. Just give it a try and let us know how it works out for your company. It may just sway you towards cutting back on your Adwords budget and allocating those dollars towards more productive marketing means. Here are 5 rules to follow if you want to create a successful direct mail campaign: 1. Make sure that you build right list. Instead of going out and spending thousands of dollars on a bulk list from a mailing list company, we suggest that you take time to build your own hand-picked winners. Take a couple of hours a day and visit Chamber of Commerce websites that are in your target region. Most of these sites will have all of their business members listed by category with company name, address and phone number. That’s right… FREE LEADS. A little time & sweat on your part could save you a bundle.
| | 9 Highly Effective Marketing TipsWritten by Bob Leduc
9 Highly Effective Marketing Tips Copyright 2005 Bob Leduc http://BobLeduc.com Here are 9 low-cost but highly effective marketing tips to help you boost your sales and profits fast. Tip #1: Look for some low-cost ways you can enhance perceived value of your product or service. Then test raising your price. Don't be surprised if both your sales and your profit margin go up. Tip #2: Try to limit your customer's decision making to either "Yes. I'll buy." or "No. I won't buy". Don't risk losing them by including "which one" decisions. The more options you offer, more likely some customers will procrastinate and never make decision ...causing you to lose a sale needlessly. Tip #3: You can demonstrate a low cost for your product or service by breaking down price to its lowest time increment. For example, "Enjoy all of this for less than 90 cents a day" (for something priced at $325 a year). Tip #4: Add an unexpected bonus to every sales transaction just before completing sale. It prevents customers from developing any last minute hesitation ...and changing their minds about buying. Tip #5: Print your best small ad on a postcard and mail it to prospects in your targeted market. Postcards are inexpensive and easy to use. Most recipients who ignore other types of advertising will read a brief ad when it's delivered to them on a postcard. Tip #6: Prospects who ask questions are usually close to buying. Take advantage of this. Don't just answer their question. Include a reason for them to buy as part of your answer. Then ask for sale ...or tell them exactly what to do to place their order. Tip #7: Collect testimonials from your customers and use them in all your advertising. Testimonials provide evidence that your product or service delivers results you promise. For maximum impact, use only testimonials that describe specific results customer enjoyed.
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