Dynamic Delivery Marketing
Power Up Your Advertising & Generate More Revenue Are you still advertising your business using old, static methods? You might not be...
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Marketing Your Business... a Better Way
Getting Customers and Making a Profit Has Always Been Hard
I will bet every person reading this has asked themselves this question...
Where to advertise my small business?
But, I've got good news for you! It's never been easier to track your advertising spend. If you create highly targeted campaigns, you will be able to easily track your ROI, allowing you to focus your ad spend directly towards profitable campaigns.
Stop, I can see you rolling your eyes!
Listen, it works! I've been using the micro campaign structure for close to two decades with fantastic results in my business.
I've had to change and modify things over the years, but it still works, and I am going to show you exactly how you can start increasing sales and saving money with Micro Marketing Campaigns.
Before I dive into the setup, let me explain what a micro-marketing campaign is; it's a highly targeted focus, specific function. Allowing you to know both its objective and performance confidently
Small Business Marketing Idea
The simplest way to look at the targeting is geographic and product/service.
For example, let's use a law firm that serves four towns. This law practice specializes in business incorporations and bankruptcies. They could set up campaigns as follows:
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Business/Location 1
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Business/location 2
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Business/Location 3
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Business/Location 4
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Bankruptcy/Location 1
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Bankruptcy/location 2
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Bankruptcy/Location 3
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Bankruptcy/Location 4
The Power of Micro Marketing - Messaging
When you micro-market, you target your message specifically for the product. This law firm would have eight campaigns; four of the ads would talk about business incorporation while the other four would talk about bankruptcy… and yes, I understand the irony of a law firm specializing in these two categories!
Let's look at one potential ad. We know that all ad copy and messaging for Business/Location 1 hyper focuses on business incorporation and location. A message could be:
Did you know we've incorporated more businesses on Main Street than any other firm? It's because we set companies up for success!
Think about this; this 22-word ad offers a lot:
Establishes you as the expert and the industry leader (the choice of most businesses)
Has an implied endorsement (most companies choose us)
Satisfies their greatest desire (business success)
I bet you anyone who's starting a business on Main Street is going to reach out to this law firm, and that's the purpose of spending money on advertising!
The ad addresses and satisfies many needs, and it would attract a lot of interest.
Small Business Advertising on Google
Now, let's talk about how you might launch a Micro Marketing Campaign.
First of all, I think Google Search Network is the best place to test this concept and where you're most likely to succeed with these types of campaigns. So, let me take you through a step-by-step walkthrough of setting up your first Micro Marketing Campaign.
Remember, these campaigns can be tested and tweaked using a budget of $5.00 per day, sometimes less!
You're going to create a Campaign based on a geographic area while also being product-specific. Your geographic target should make sense to your location. For example, campaigns can be separated by the town for one business. Yet, for another company, campaigns might be divided neighborhood by neighborhood, depending on the population density of the area you service.
Very important, when you spend money on advertising, you want to measure your results, so you should have Google's analytics set up, either directly or through Google Tag Manager.
If this is beyond your tech skills, don't fret!
You can get a quality person to do this at an incredibly low price on FIVRR - click my link to save 10% on your first order!
Campaign Objective
Set up your campaign on Google's Search Network, and set your campaign up without a goal. You're not going to want Google to start trying to optimize your campaign; in the beginning, it's about getting people to click your ads, and then there will be time to let Google's AI help you find traffic and maximize your ROI.
Create a Search Campaign
Google offers you a multitude of options; select the search Campaign option. Later, you can test Display ads, specifically for retargeting ads. In another post, I will explore Video advertising.
Set Up Conversions
Here's where your Google Analytics/Tag Manager comes into play. You will select what makes the most sense for your business objectives. With Tag Manager, you can track lots of different visitor interactions, including:
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Phone Calls
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Sales
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Product Clicks
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Form Submissions
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E-Commerce Tracking
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Downloads
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Scrolling behavior
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Link clicks
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video activity
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Plus, more!
That's why it probably makes sense to talk with an expert, spend a small amount of money, and maximize the type of data you receive, ensuring you're going to be able to optimize your campaigns for profit! Wanamaker would be proud of you!
You'll have the option of naming the campaign now; I usually use the location/target - sometimes I may test something and call them location/target 1, etc. But, the critical thing is you want to know precisely what the campaign's purpose is by looking at the name.
Campaign Settings - Geographic
Here's where you tell Google, 'where I want my ads to be seen.' Your specific location will be based on your area. If you target a town, type the town's name next to the eyeglass with 'enter a location…'.
Campaign Setting Tip #1
To ensure your ads show only to the people you want to target, be sure to target people in or regularly in your targeted locations. This avoids coming up in searches by people outside your targeted area but who have expressed interest in the area. For example, a plumber in Paris doesn't want their ad showing to someone in Chicago who's been searching Google ahead of their Parisian vacation.
Campaign Setting Tip #2
Exclude the areas around your targeted area. This helps to further explain to Google where you want your ads to show, and equally important, where you don't!
If you want to target tiny areas, sometimes a great idea goes into advanced search and gets real granular. You can put in an address and target a 1 km radius around a specific address. A kilometer is about .6 of a mile.
Now that you've set up the geographic part of the campaign let's focus on finding the people most likely to use your products or services.
Bidding Strategy
Set a bid amount; I usually start with $1.00. Note that doesn't mean you will pay a dollar per click; the final amount you will pay for an ad has to do with its quality score and the number of clicks it generates.
Also, select your bid strategy directly to begin. Then, choose the option: manual CPC. The reason is you don't want Google's AI to start drawing assumptions on the small amount of data you will first be generating from a small geographic area.
The last option at the bottom, it's OK to let Google optimize your ad rotation for best performance.
Best Practices and Campaign set up tips.
Always set up separate search and display campaigns; Google will suggest merging these two. I would stay away from the Google search partners, at least initially. These are non-google properties that are part of Google Adsense.
Be sure to select the appropriate language, and if you're going to market in multiple languages, each language needs a separate campaign. For example, Campaign #1 Location/product/English, Campaign #2 uses the same location and product in Spanish.
I usually start the campaign immediately and don't worry about end dates because I observe my new campaigns every day!
Also, unless you're sure there's a reason, don't bother adjusting the ad schedule day parts until the data gives you a reason to do so.
Keywords
Here you're going to put your target keywords. I again want to keep the keywords limited in any one campaign. And, whenever possible, I try and target keywords that exhibit buyer intent. I want people ready to buy now.
Think about it; sometimes, you're just Googling around, curious. Other times, you're searching for something you want to buy… right now. So, I always want my ad budget to go towards the people looking to but at this moment!
What indicates buyer intent
There are terms you often want to include. If you're a Ski Shop, rather than using the keyword 'Ski,' you want Buy Skis. And if you're Micro Marketing, your keyword would be 'Buy Atomic Bent 100 Skis.' If I sell Atomic Bent 100 Skis, I want every person who searches that keyword on Google to see my ad, and we'll get deeper into the ad. Still, it will address that specific type of ski, and the link to my site will bring them not to my home page but sends them to my Atomic Bent 100 page on my website.
Another shopping intent keyword has the word 'best' in it. For example, if someone's searching, 'the best skis for beginners,' they are actively looking to buy, so my campaign for beginners would bring them to a page that helped them find the best beginner skis.
Examples of less appealing keywords
If someone's not yet at the point of purchasing, they will still be using Google, and paying to get them to your site might make sense, or it might not. I bet you can see how tracking comes into effect here. I initially will only target buyer intent keywords for my first campaigns, and once those campaigns are optimized, I will go and explore the less appealing keywords to see if some of them can be profitable.
Staying with the Ski Shop example, a non-buyer intent search could be, 'types of skis,' or any time the word free is added to the search, 'free skis near me.'
For your first campaign, start simply and work going forward with the data you can generate. In this case, Buy Skis. If you sell skis, this is a buyer keyword, no?
Now, in this campaign, you will have three ad groups:
Ad Group #1 [Buy Skis]
Ad Group #2 "Buy Skis"
Ad Group #3 +Buy +Skis
Using three ad groups for each keyword in this manner will help you target and reduce your costs as you optimize your campaigns.
First, [Buy Skis] is called an exact match keyword. Your ad will only show if someone searches Buy Skis and nothing else. This ad group will be your most expensive cost per click, but you also know they are buyers!
The following ad group, "Buy Skis," is called phrase match, and it allows for more search options and more traffic. Buy skis will be a part of the search, so searches like, Buy Skis Near Me, Buy Skis for Less, Buy Skis for Kids, etc. You will pay less per click and get more clicks than the exact match. The downside, some of those clicks will not be as Buy Skis.
The third ad group is +Buy +Skis, a broad match modifier. This ad group helps you cast a wide net, and the cost per click should be the lowest of the three. Examples of possible searches your ad will show up for could be, buy skis, boots, and snow gear, buy ski poles, what are the best skis to buy for teenagers.
Very important, in the non-exact match ad groups, you must add [Buy Skis] as a negative keyword; you only want that keyword showing in the exact match.
Create Your Ads
I recommend having three or four ads per campaign, and the key to each ad is how it relates to the keyword, in case, Buy Skis, and why someone's searching this term.
Your Final URL should be to the page on your website that will provide the most value to the person searching Buy Skis. So, you might have a page that shows a bunch of skis representing all of the different manufacturers you sell. If the keyword was brand specific, the link should be to a page specifically for that brand.
Display Path - here's a great trick put the keyword to add Buy and Skis; this way, the person searching has greater confidence clicking your ad will provide them with their search needs.
Headlines, start with three or four. If you start with too many, you will probably need to spend more to get quality data; I just saved you some money there, you're welcome!
Make sure you have at least one headline with the keyword, for example, Buy Skis with Confidence (this headline is 25 characters with spaces - you have up to 30). Here's where your expertise on your products and your market is critical. The headline should grab the attention of someone searching, Buy Skis.
Description - two descriptions are enough, and you want to provide supporting content to the headlines that will entice someone to click your ad. Add the keyword in the description, and it's a great idea to add the geographic location to the description. For example, Offering the East Side's largest collection of skis at the lowest prices, why pay more? (this is 87 characters with spaces, you have up to 90).
In the descriptions, I like to have at least one ad containing a modifier; in this example, why pay more? The reader answers that question in their head with the thought, yea, I don't want to overpay. Another good modifier is to buy with confidence. That could go along with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Extensions
Extensions are additional elements Google could add to your ad. Note, they could, you're not guaranteed to get these in an ad, and you should consider them as ways to get more ad real estate for free. Add as many as you can; they make your ad bigger and offer you the ability to provide more information to the person searching.
Site Link Extensions are ways to share general information; in this case, I would have site links for boots, poles, goggles, etc.
Callout Extensions allow you to share additional information that will catch the shoppers' attention; in our example, you might have: free ski fittings, Ski Rentals, Adults Skis, Children's Skis.
Call Extensions - if you have a phone number and it gets answered, ad it.
Image - ad pictures of Skis, and if it makes sense other equipment.
If your business has an App, let me people know.
Structured snippets let you create additional content based on specific categories:
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Amenities
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Brands
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Courses
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Degree Programs
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Destinations
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Featured Hotels
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Insurance Coverage
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Models
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Neighborhoods
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Service Catalog
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Shows
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Styles
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Types
So, for this Ski Shop, you would have a structured snippet for the different brands you sell. Using this option gives you have more ad real estate for free. You either reinforce to the person searching that this is a good click or let them know you're not a viable option.
Let me use a car dealership as an easy way to explain this concept. Main Street Motors could have a structured snippet: Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche. Now, if someone's seeing their ad and have their heart set on buying a new Ford, Main Street Motors is not the right place, so they won't click the ad and cost you money. On the other hand, if they're shopping for an Audi A8, they are the exact person you are targeting, and they click with confidence knowing Main Street Motors is an Audi dealer.
Use as many structured snippets as possible; I have over 20 for my business and select only those that best compliment my campaign.
Lead form extension can be a powerful option. For example, if you create a form that Google shows that captures their name, town, email, phone number, work information. This extension can pre-qualify people and allow you to better manage their customer experience for many businesses.
Price Extensions - a chance to add a price to the ad.
Promotion Extensions - allow you to offer discounts, think a coupon, right in your ad! An excellent way to increase clicks. Most businesses never consider this!
OK, now that you've got your ads going, you're going to watch your conversions see which ads get more clicks and or conversions, the same with keywords. Here's something essential, coming out of the gates, you might find yourself spending more than you're making, and that's OK!
It's OK because you're going to stop spending money on the keywords that are losing you money. You're going to focus your money on ads that generate the most conversions, and by doing this, you can turn losing campaigns into winners!
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