Hi Michael ... I cannot give you a definitive answer to your question. I own a small weekly publication take focuses on our county and the cities within it. However, I can tell you that advertising is very important to growing your business ... otherwise, no one knows what you have to offer and/or the importance of your goods and/or services.
I would recommend setting an advertising budget and giving paid search ads a shot. The important thing is getting out there to your consumer base!
Good luck and please let me know how it works out ... I am learning also.
Absolutely yes, but you need to be very strategic and setup appropriate measurement tracking (i.e. of folks who clicked on your ad, how many of them called you, bought from you, contacted you, etc.). If you setup measurement, you're set - as you can optimize towards the keywords that are driving business impact.
If you want to have a chat, message me as I specialize in small businesses - DIYDigitalStrategy.com.
Probably, key is to get started and try. learning is by trial and error on these things.
Would suggest anyone start with a Facebook page, encourage customers to LIKE your Page, and run a $1 per day "Drip" campaign to promote to the town or zipcode you are located in.
Just sat thru a presentation by Google small business team member this week, they emphasized studying resources on their site and getting started by presenting answers to questions most often asked by customers and prospects. Consider doing videos off your smartphone.
Describe how you have recently helped customers, we have promoted thru FB:
-a baker as a client,we post picture of his holiday specialty items.
- a chiropractor, tips on preparing for a sports season.
- a travel agent, ideas on vacation destinations.
- a banker description of charitable programs they sponsor.
Paid search ads can be a crapshoot. It depends on your product and the platform you are using. Google Adwords can be a black hole for money if you are wanting particular types of business. Facebook can get you exposure but you better rely on a presence beyond Facebook you can drive customers to. I walked into a local sporting goods store and was told they don't need to advertise since they have 4500 Facebook followers. No reason to discuss anything at that point since logic isn't going to work with a mind like that. Just remember that you need to control who sees your products or services and what ad serving platforms can you use to drive people to your online content that engages someone to buy what you have.
It's not wise to compete head-on with those that sell what you have at a lower price than you can buy the item for and that's what most do with Facebook. Many don't understand that having a website that is seen as a place for great content gets ranked higher and more traffic from those that are truly interested in what you have to offer. Buying hits doesn't guarantee much other than your money flows from your pocket to the ad/link provider.
small businesses need to make the most impact as possible with their advertising dollars, with that being said, small businesses need advertising that go to the customers, not the customer go to the advertising. Print advertising places your advertising in front of that percent of the consumer that may be thinking about or on the fence of buying or participating in what the small business is offering. With search ads or web ads the customer has to go to it instead of the other way around. How many times have you heard someone say, "Hey, I've thinking about buying one of those." those are the customers you wanting to reach and get your advertising in front of.
Absolutely. If set up right, paid search can be a very profitable lead generation machine.
If you're interested, I've written several posts on running paid search as a small business that walk you through budgeting, platform selection, keywords, and everything else you need to get up and running: https://www.spatially.com/blog/topic/google-adw...
It depends on your definition of "boost". Without knowing what it is that you are trying to accomplish it is challenging to determine if paid search is the right vehicle to deliver your message. What does result mean to you, what does success look like, and what KPI's do you intend to use to measure performance and accountability with. In my experience search works for most and when it fails it is usually due to either poor account management or poor communication between the business and the account manager.
Of course, but choosing the key words and monitoring the success can be daunting. It's always best to start organically with a good/not expensive website then following with monthly SEO(Search Engine Optimization) updates. The more news the better google sees you as an expert in your field. Google now looks at videos too. Easily done from your smartphone and a tripod. A good media mix is best. It still comes down to reach & frequency. Targeting has made it much easier to reach the right people.
Yes, but paid search can get pricey depending upon the key words used. Having the assistance by a RTB (Real Time Bidding) agency to assist with optimizing the campaign can be very helpful. Results can come quickly, but I recommend that a minimum of a 90-day commitment be made for measurable success.
Join Your Local
Business Network
Connect & get quality referrals
from Small Business Owners
Answers (1-10)
I have not found paid search ads working in a local market - I think they are designed to develop brand awareness in a more regional way.
Hi Michael ... I cannot give you a definitive answer to your question. I own a small weekly publication take focuses on our county and the cities within it. However, I can tell you that advertising is very important to growing your business ... otherwise, no one knows what you have to offer and/or the importance of your goods and/or services.
I would recommend setting an advertising budget and giving paid search ads a shot. The important thing is getting out there to your consumer base!
Good luck and please let me know how it works out ... I am learning also.
Shaun Wink
Absolutely yes, but you need to be very strategic and setup appropriate measurement tracking (i.e. of folks who clicked on your ad, how many of them called you, bought from you, contacted you, etc.). If you setup measurement, you're set - as you can optimize towards the keywords that are driving business impact.
If you want to have a chat, message me as I specialize in small businesses - DIYDigitalStrategy.com.
Probably, key is to get started and try. learning is by trial and error on these things.
Would suggest anyone start with a Facebook page, encourage customers to LIKE your Page, and run a $1 per day "Drip" campaign to promote to the town or zipcode you are located in.
Just sat thru a presentation by Google small business team member this week, they emphasized studying resources on their site and getting started by presenting answers to questions most often asked by customers and prospects. Consider doing videos off your smartphone.
Describe how you have recently helped customers, we have promoted thru FB:
-a baker as a client,we post picture of his holiday specialty items.
- a chiropractor, tips on preparing for a sports season.
- a travel agent, ideas on vacation destinations.
- a banker description of charitable programs they sponsor.
Paid search ads can be a crapshoot. It depends on your product and the platform you are using. Google Adwords can be a black hole for money if you are wanting particular types of business. Facebook can get you exposure but you better rely on a presence beyond Facebook you can drive customers to. I walked into a local sporting goods store and was told they don't need to advertise since they have 4500 Facebook followers. No reason to discuss anything at that point since logic isn't going to work with a mind like that. Just remember that you need to control who sees your products or services and what ad serving platforms can you use to drive people to your online content that engages someone to buy what you have.
It's not wise to compete head-on with those that sell what you have at a lower price than you can buy the item for and that's what most do with Facebook. Many don't understand that having a website that is seen as a place for great content gets ranked higher and more traffic from those that are truly interested in what you have to offer. Buying hits doesn't guarantee much other than your money flows from your pocket to the ad/link provider.
Absolutely. If set up right, paid search can be a very profitable lead generation machine.
If you're interested, I've written several posts on running paid search as a small business that walk you through budgeting, platform selection, keywords, and everything else you need to get up and running: https://www.spatially.com/blog/topic/google-adw...
It depends on your definition of "boost". Without knowing what it is that you are trying to accomplish it is challenging to determine if paid search is the right vehicle to deliver your message. What does result mean to you, what does success look like, and what KPI's do you intend to use to measure performance and accountability with. In my experience search works for most and when it fails it is usually due to either poor account management or poor communication between the business and the account manager.
Of course, but choosing the key words and monitoring the success can be daunting. It's always best to start organically with a good/not expensive website then following with monthly SEO(Search Engine Optimization) updates. The more news the better google sees you as an expert in your field. Google now looks at videos too. Easily done from your smartphone and a tripod. A good media mix is best. It still comes down to reach & frequency. Targeting has made it much easier to reach the right people.
Yes, but paid search can get pricey depending upon the key words used. Having the assistance by a RTB (Real Time Bidding) agency to assist with optimizing the campaign can be very helpful. Results can come quickly, but I recommend that a minimum of a 90-day commitment be made for measurable success.