6 Questions to Ask Before Advertising Your Business Online
Whether you’re interested in spending $50,000 per month on Google Ads, or just trying to boost some posts on Facebook, online advertising for a business needs to be looked at like an investment.
Way too often business owners treat digital marketing like a trip to the casino; spend some money and hope something good happens. Even worse, attempting to advertise on Google Ads or Facebook without really knowing how the software works is like playing craps without knowing the rules.
At Border West, we help businesses or all types with various budgets advertise online. We’ve put together the following questions that you, as a business owner, need to ask yourself before investing in advertising.
This is designed to help you understand what types of marketing might be beneficial, how much you’ll need to spend to be successful, and whether it’s even a good option.
1. How Competitive is Your Industry?
This first item is going to really be the most important thing to consider before getting too involved in any internet marketing. And much of it could depend on location. A small mover trying to match up with corporate moving company advertising is going to have to spend more money in a growing, competitive city.
We had a client some time back who was starting his own home security business. He had several years of experience selling and installing home security for other companies, and knew everything there was to know about security systems. He also offered a no-contract option that ended up costing much less than the larger companies overall.
We eagerly took on the new client, even knowing how competitive advertising for home security was. His budget was around $1000 per month, which we knew from our Competitor Analysis, was on the low end in San Antonio (where his market was).
Only once we really got the campaigns running did we realize the true saturation of the industry. Home security is a very easy business to get into, and is even supported by major companies like ADT. The problem is, they completely dominate the pay per click advertising market in San Antonio. Getting a PPC ad for home security to show up was often over $50 per click.
The point is, you need to make sure you have a grasp on the the upfront investment needed to be successful in your marketplace. If you want Border West to provide this information, we will put compile everything in our PPC Competitor Analysis.
2. Who is Your Target Audience?
This next question is important because it helps you understand who you’re going to market to. Not all industries are going to do well promoting their business everywhere. Many of Border West’s clients are eager to promote on Facebook alone when we first begin discussing options. They have seen other ads pop up on their own Facebook feeds and assume they must work well. We’re not saying they don’t, but usually after careful analyzation, we find that they will get a much better return elsewhere.
Let’s look at an example. Many people dismiss using Bing for online advertising. But one thing they forget is that it is the default search engine on many computers. Seniors tend to be less tech-savvy and are more likely to use the search engine that is installed. They’re also much more likely to hire a moving company or lawn service, as opposed to younger homeowners who may do those things themselves..
Now, would advertising a moving company on Facebook or Instagram provide great results? It’s possible. But when customers are searching for a moving company on the internet, Facebook probably isn’t the first place they look. On the other hand, if your business sold products like clothing or cell phone accessories, ads on Facebook or Instagram could make you very rich.
3. How Does Your Website Look?
A website that is just ok probably isn’t going to be much of a factor, but a really bad website can hurt more than it helps. Is your website going to convert leads into sales? Or is it going to make customers turn and run. We always tell clients to think of their website like a store. Your internet ads are the sign that gets customers to walk inside. But if they don’t like what they see when they get there, you’re just wasting money.
When Border West looks at a new client’s potential costs with an new campaign, the website is the first thing we analyze. Every time someone clicks on an ad, they are going to be directed to a specific page on the company’s website. From that point, the potential customer is going to decide whether to read more, check out the rest of the site, buy/schedule/call/email, or leave as quickly as possible.
Website improvement and landing page costs need to be considered when deciding on a campaign. Don’t be another store that people walk into, then turn around and leave because everything’s a mess.
4. Are You Going to Hire A Digital Marketing Agency?
This question is going to play a huge factor on the budget and strategy of any online ad campaign. Obviously, hiring a digital marketing agency is going to cost money, and be factored into the budget. But the return you get from an experienced professional is likely to be significantly higher as well (with Border West, it definitely will). You may want to invest more into your ad budget if you have a professional managing it versus doing it yourself.
Plus, you have to consider the time involved. Are you going to take the time to learn how to run a successful PPC campaign? Will you be the one to post daily updates on Facebook and communicate with followers? Are you going to write blog articles for SEO?
Many small business owners attempt to do these things themselves in order to save money. This is understandable and respectable, but it can also end up costing them in the long run. Either way, the costs and results of hiring a professional digital marketing company need to be considered.
If you’re on the fence about it, give us a call or fill out our information request form and we’ll email you. We started off as a small business, and we still have our roots. The internet can help a business print money if it’s used correctly. It can also be extremely overwhelming, even if you’re kind of experienced.
Border West will explain everything clearly and simply. We’ll lay out the cards and if you want to work with us, great. If not, we’re here if you need us.
5. What Do You Hope To Accomplish With Online Advertising?
I was speaking to a potential client that was in charge of marketing for a large car dealership. Another PPC management company had been working on their account for several months and he was shopping Border West to see if we could do better. On the initial call, I asked him what he wanted out of his Google Ads campaign. He laughed and said, “to sell more cars, obviously!”
While making more money seems like the obvious answer, your goals are probably more complex than you think. With the car dealership, internet marketing could help sell more cars by doing a number of things; click to call ads for mobile, brand awareness through cheap display ads, search ads for the car brands, or weekly Google ads highlighting current promotions. Also, did he want to focus on specific cars or just the business itself.
There are many different paths with internet marketing that lead to success. Your specific industry will play a huge part in what is considered successful.
Most of our clients in industries like contracting, moving, etc. want their company website to show up when a potential client is looking to solve a problem. This is accomplished through local search ads targeting their industry in their location.
Some clients sell eCommerce products all over the world. Running as many display ads as possible everywhere is the best path to more sales. Those cheap ads get customers to the website, where, hopefully, they buy something.
6. Can Your Business Handle the Potential Growth?
This may seem like another stupid question, but too much traffic can cripple a business if they’re not equipped to handle it.
When we first started Border West, we got the majority of our clients by cold calling. I can’t tell you the number of times that I was answered with, “we can’t handle all the clients we have now,” or “we’re backed up for three months.” Something that most business owners know is that getting as many new clients as possible is awesome, until it’s not.
One of the great things about advertising a business online is being able to adjust your campaign in real time. This can be an amazing benefit when trying to stagger your growth correctly.
Some industries spend more some months than others, like our client who sells professional Santa costumes. Their budget in November is nearly 100 times more than in March. Other clients do the opposite and spend significantly more money on internet ads during the slow season to offset a general lack of business in the industry. We’ve even had some clients that get booked up and pause their ad campaigns for the rest of the month to get caught up.
As a company who does digital marketing for businesses, Border West has always preferred the precision that pay per click ads afford. SEO is absolutely necessary for most businesses, but gives you very little control over the message you want to send to customers. A professional pay per click campaign can run dozens of tailored ads with different messages and different goals to attract specific clients with surgical precision.
And if it’s not working, it can be changed the same day!
