Why Small Businesses Should Do Paid Search
Small businesses often face limitations when marketing against big-time competitors. Possessing a smaller budget is one reason why.
As a small business owner, you’re probably nodding your head at this moment. Your paid search marketing strategies may be less of a priority to you. But you can turn things around for the better.
Your small business can succeed with paid search marketing by honing in on a few things. Focus on crafting authentic ad messages, being proactive about updated Google or Bing features, and maximizing financial efficiency.
These things can help you increase the unique value of owning a small business. Stand tall in the face of your competitors!
Create Convincing Ad Copy
It’s tempting to copy the ad designs and messages of big-time competitors. On the other hand, going through with this temptation doesn’t reflect the innovative foundation of a small business.
Create ad copy with an authentic perspective of your small business. Seeking out insight from your employees and target audience is an essential way to do this.
For example, persuade your employees from different departments to complete questionnaires, such as customer service representatives and sales teams. Being on the frontlines of your business daily makes them good candidates, with down-to-earth insight.
As for your target audience, figure out their pain points and how you can solve them regularly. What’s most important to them when buying a certain retail product of yours? How often do they need this kind of product? When are your slow or peak selling times? What paid search marketing examples do they respond to the most?
Get this information from product reviews, surveys, and social media promotions, etc. Use this information to create ad copy that taps into the more intimate connection your small business offers.
Track Search Network Updates
Analysts often scramble to report the impact of search network updates, such as with Google and Bing. Conveying how marketers should apply this knowledge to paid search strategies is a bigger challenge.
But it’s often not the loud announcements that have the biggest impact on paid search marketing. It’s usually the silent, unannounced updates that have the largest impact.
The explosion of PLA search partner traffic share over the past few quarters is a prominent example. It accounts for 14 percent of all desktop PLA traffic.
Google showing PLAs in Google image search during December 2015 is one reason why. This update wasn’t announced until six months later. On the other hand, advertisers can achieve slight performance enhancement through the widely announced Google ETAs. Therefore, be careful about tracking these kinds of updates.
Efficiently Allocate Your Budget
How often do you track your search impression share? PPC managers often ignore this primary metric of paid search marketing. It’s the number of impressions your ads truly receive, compared to the potential number they could receive.
But how does this tie into your budget? Not keeping track of this impression share could harm the earning potential of your paid search marketing. This could cost you valuable conversions.
For example, if there were 100 searches for the keyword “fall fashion,” and you received 75 impressions, this would net you only 75 percent search impression share. Therefore, it’s crucial you understand how many possible clicks, conversions, and impressions you’re losing to limited budgets or poor ad rank.
Do this by calculating estimates through Google Keyword Planner. Use this information to realize how differently you could have performed with a better-allocated budget.
To learn more about paid search marketing, read our case study: Gilt City Increases PPC Clicks by 16% While Reducing CPA by 20%.
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