Just having a website for your local business may not be enough to get the attention of the people you want to market your products and services to.
At one time there were very few place to advertise your message. The local paper, local radio, billboards, and of course – the trusted Yellowpages.
Not so much anymore.
Those other points of advertising do still have their use, but getting your message out onto the digital search engine platforms is now a necessity for any local business.
Where is your target market finding you?
Are people still sitting at the coffee shop and flipping through the Bargain Hunter? Of course!
Are people still listening to the local radio in their cars? Yes!
Are they flipping through the Yellow Pages? (Do you know where your Yellowpages are?)
When was the last time you saw a billboard? The laws regarding billboard advertising has changed and they have been restricted in use.
Local Business Marketing Online
Before you go about setting up and paying to advertise online there are some very important steps to take. The first is take the time a do your research. What are your competitors doing to get their message out and what exactly is it that your ideal customer is looking for?
You can use the free tools provided by Google to do your research
By doing proper keyword research you can get a good idea of what terms are highly competitive, their cost, and number of people looking for those terms.
It’s a good idea to divide your campaigns into different groups and have several ad copies for each so you can test your conversions accurately. You do this by making sure you have tracking code installed on your website, and carefully monitor the performance each ad is getting.
Make sure that the link in your ad sends people to the proper landing page. Also be sure that your page is compelling and guides your visitor to take the action you want them to.
Once you get a good campaign going and you are seeing a good ROI, you can tweak the finer points. But only change one thing at a time. Headlines, call-to-action, landing page etc.
Using a pay-per-click form of advertising you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.
Unlike the newspaper – you can change the styles, message, and action of the ad within minutes. You can also decide what ad will appear, at what time of the day, and where exactly to locate them.
Paid online advertising is the most versatile, powerful, and quickest way to reach your audience.
Of course; there are several technical aspects to PPC that are important to learn about.
To keep your cost per click lower it is good to have a high quality score. This loosely means your ad and the landing page need to be a good match.
Then you need to play around with the cost per click bidding tool. Do you really want to be at the top of the page or will your ROI be better if you are 2nd or 3rd? Does being above the fold really matter?
What happens when you outbid everyone else? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
How does keyword relevancy play into things and how to properly use negative keywords so you gain the advantage.
Taking your advertising online will increase your buyers traffic if done right – but doing it right can take lots of research as well as some trial and error.
