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Archive for November, 2009

How To Cut Advertising Costs

How to cut advertising costs

1. Get a website
2. Spread the word

The value of having a quality website is priceless. The keyword in the previous statement is “quality”. There’s no good reason for a business not to have a website. You can start a website for as little as 5.99 a month. Some web hosts will provide you with free templates free content and free graphics. They make it so easy; all you need to do is change the contact information and company name in the template. Of course this is solution will not be as effective as having a custom website designed but it’s enough to get you online. Remember I said the keyword is “quality”. So you should at least modify some of the content. Check with friends and let them help you tweak the content.

If you already have a website you should be tracking the effectiveness of your website. The first thing you need to know is how many visitors you get on your website. Knowing how many visitors your website has is an essential first step in measuring the effectiveness. The second thing you need to know is how many of those visitors actually buy something use your service or request more information.

Most web hosts offer free statistics that you can use to monitor how many people visit your website. Google Analytics is another free tool that can be added to any website. It gives you statistics let’s you create custom reports and much more. To begin you just need to become aware of how much traffic you’re getting. Once you know how much you’re getting then you can decide what you need to do to get more.

How many visitors your site gets will directly reflect your advertising efforts. If your site is not generating any traffic then we can assume two things. People don’t know about it and people can’t find it. If I want to buy a computer I know a few computer manufacturers’ websites that I can check for further information. If I need to find a plumber I’ll search the internet for local plumbers. So even if I don’t “know” of a plumber I can find one. You want to make sure people “know” you. If they don’t “know” you you want to make it easy for them to “find” you.

Let’s face it you could be the best basketball player in the world but you’ll never make it to the NBA unless the right people know about your talent. Just because you launch a website does not mean people will automatically know it’s there. You could have a professional website with quality content impressive graphics etc but you must advertise so people will know about it. The good thing is that advertising on the internet is relatively inexpensive.

Google MSN and Yahoo all have advertising programs that are easy to setup. There are many other ways to advertise but those are the Big 3 of search engines. One of the easiest methods is “cost per click” or CPC advertising. That will allow you to post an ad and only pay a fee if someone actually clicks on your ad and visits your website. The idea is people will only click your ad if they’re interested in what the ad says. Once they click the ad your website will have to deliver the quality content.

There was a time when the World Wide Web literally would give any one in the world access to you. Well it still does but it also allows you to focus your advertising on certain cities states regions countries etc. You don’t want to advertise to everyone in the world. You want to advertise to the “right” people. The “right” people are the people who are most likely to buy your product or use your service. It’s a waste of time and money advertising to people in Colorado if you only provide services in Virginia.

A quality website and an efficient online marketing campaign will help dramatically cut advertising costs. First tweak the content of your website so it’s informative and interesting. Then focus on the attracting the “right” visitors who will buy your products or use your services.

About the writer:  My name is James Harris and I’m the President of JDH Web Design. With packages to fit all budgets our goal is to provide quality web design at an affordable price. We can create a custom design for you or you can sign up and create your own website. We’ll work with you to find the solution that works best for your company. www.jdhwebdesign.com

Living In The Echo Chamber

Over the past few weeks quite a number of ad people and press people have turned their attention to the new Volkswagen campaigns being put out by Crispin Porter Bogusky. Since expectations are so high its quite a hot spotlight for any agency or campaign to be in.

The funny thing is I didnt see any part of the campaign on TV or in print first or anything that be considered my normal daily media diet. Just on blogs. Ad blogs. PR blogs business and automotiverelated blogs etc. I consider reading them just keeping up with my job and my industry. Being a contributor to an ad industry blog myself I have to admit Ive lost some perspective with exactly what many consumers actually do see or hear. I mean I see the Ditech.com guy more often on my TV than anyone else but no ad industry blog would give that dude 5 seconds of attention.

Its now becoming quite common to seed ad campaigns or websites through word of mouthsay on marketing industry blogs related websites. And the latest TV spots and print ads get leaked. This often happens before consumers see the work. If this is the new face of viral advertising I suppose Im developing immunity to it.

But a bigger problem looms. The ad industry echo chamber is growing louder and louder. New campaigns get judgedand given praise or scornin just a few days and before any media dollars have been spent. No campaign gets a chance to build momentum. It either comes fully launched or it gets soundly trashed by online pundits. Which gives campaigns bad early wordofmouth that’s hard to overcome.

In addition todays campaigns are more integratedand convoluted. Is that what consumers want? Im inundated with ads designed to lead me to seek out more information or play an advergame or direct me to a site that entices me to give out my email address or other information in exchange for the privilege of being entertained. But are the messages were trying to sendthe advertising messagesreally that complicated or worth that much trouble?

How many people truly want to seek out more advertising? How many people yearn to visit ad campaignrelated websites? All of them attempt to provide a modicum of entertainment value but it seems like there are a few sites that are hits with a lot of hits but a whole bunch of misses. After a while keeping up with all the microsites and viral efforts is mentally exhausting even though its an occupational hazard. What then is it for people who dont care much about these sites in the first place?

Since the Volkswagen work has been hyped quite a bit far less attention is paid to the hundreds of other similar efforts that are cropping up every month. All marketers are exploring them now whether theyre German car makers or Texas salsa makers. Were seeing efforts that are truly integratedbut often very convoluted costing a lot of time and money to create. Are marketers getting their moneys worth from all these sites?

I may indeed make friends with my Fast but Im taking it slow. I generally dont like to express an opinion about an entire ad campaign based on what I read on a blog or a small QuickTime video. For the benefit of Volkswagen and any other marketers campaign I prefer to give it some time to build momentum or fade away if there truly is no momentum. Thats what consumers will do after all. They simply dont care as much about advertising as we wish they would.

Dont get me wrong. Im all for finding new solutions to marketing challenges. But maybe its time I spent more time out of the echo chamber. Because now more than ever the noise is deafening.

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Branding. Religion. Censorship. Office politics. Global politics. Sexual politics. And getting drunk during a job interview.
Since 2002 Danny G. a.k.a. Dan Goldgeier has been writing the most provocative advertising columns ever published. They’re all witty thoughtful and probing and a must read for those who want a perspective rarely seen in traditional industry publications.
An Atlantabased copywriter and ad school graduate Dan has worked at shops big and small. He reads incessantly about advertising and is a whiz at rock roll trivia. Learn more about him by visiting his copywriting website or AdColumnist.com the View From The Cheap Seats Archive website. You may also find articles by Danny G at TalentZoo.com.

Realtors Use Googles New Click To Call To Get Your Next Listing.

Hello this is Google calling I have a call for you please hold. Sound funny? Well it might just be the next online advertising wave for professional Realtors.

Google has done it again. Google has come out with some very innovative advertising programs lately and this one is right up your ally if you’re a professional Realtor. Along with your Google AdWords pay per click campaign for your real estate website you can now have “click to call”. Instead of your real estate customers clicking through to your real estate website they can now call you directly from your pay per click ad. If you’re a Realtor It’s a new and unique way for you to connect with potential real estate customers in your area.

Here’s how it works. Next to your Google AdWords ad your customers will see a phone icon. When your new real estate customer clicks the phone icon they enter your phone number next they click “Connect For Free”. Google calls the number they provided. When you pick up you hear ringing on the other end as Google connects you to your new customer. Next thing you know your phone is ringing and there is a brand new real estate lead on the other end.

This service will make it easier for potential real estate clients to contact you without searching through your website for contact information. Realtors without a strong web presence or first page ranking have found that Goggles pay per click advertising is a great way to compete with other real estate websites in their market. Goggles “click to call” is going to turn up the volume on real estate AdWords ads.

To make your potential clients feel more comfortable Google won’t share the customers telephone number with you the advertiser. In addition Google will delete the customers phone number from their servers after a short period of time. Also Google foots the bill for all calls local and long distance. However if the customer calls your mobile phone they may incur airtime fees depending on the mobile phone plan. Check your mobile phone provider for details.

This advertising product is geared towards smaller businesses and is perfect for the professional Realtor. Imagine new real estate customers calling you when they come across your Google pay per click ad. You’re real estate customers can now have a direct pipe line to you the real estate professional. You might be asking yourself why is pay per click advertising important for my real estate website? If you’re a Realtor having a professional real estate web presence should be an important part of your real estate business. However just having a website will not guarantee success. You need to market your website. If your clients don’t know you’re there you may as well have a lemonade stand in the middle of the desert. You might have the best lemonade in the world but if no one can find you you’re not going to sell much lemonade. Pay per click advertising is the fastest most cost effective way for you to start marketing your website.

In real estate one good listing or buyer can turn into thousands in commissions. Now with Goggles “click to call” your potential customers will have the luxury of speaking directly to you. Realtors are always looking for a way to track visitors to their website. Advertising has always been the life blood of the real estate industry but it has always been difficult to judge what advertising was working. When someone uses the “click to call” program to inquire about real estate you will be getting live and immediate feedback on your Google advertising.

Real estate is a competitive business. You should be competing for those leads. That’s why Pay per click advertising is important for your real estate website and “click to call” will be a great addition to your pay per click advertising campaigns. Remember Realtors won’t be replaced be technology they will be replaced by the Realtors who use technology to their advantage.

About the writer:  Paul Wilson is a freelance writer for www.1888FreeOnlineGames.com the premier website to play thousands of free online games including arcade games action games card games flash games strategy games puzzle games and more. He also freelances for www.1888SoftwareDownloads.com