Getting the most out of Adwords leads…

 

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how business owners often believe that paying for traffic is the be-all-and-end-all of digital marketing. As a result they usually make the mistake of throwing all of their marketing eggs in the Adwords basket. Yes, Adwords is an extremely powerful marketing tool but its effectiveness actually hinges on the business’ ability to convert traffic, not necessarily on exposure to great volumes of consumers.

Word of advice 1: Adwords is quite simply one part of your marketing armoury and should not be relied upon as your sole source of new customers. Think of it as the very starting point of a business relationship or buying process.

 

Adwords is not just about sending consumers who are ready to buy from you. You need to make sure YOUR BUSINESS IS ALSO READY to sell to them.

 

As a business owner and consultant, I would tend to look at my business model as a whole and then consider how to align my offering with a particular segment of consumers. If my business is not aligned with consumers or is not ready to provide them with a satisfactory experience online and offline then I would NOT use Adwords until it does.

In fact, I would work backwards from the business systems, get those right, and then drive traffic from Adwords.

This is the most common problem I see from clients who feel their digital marketing is not performing well. Their business is simply not set up to convert visitors into customers.

Word of advice 2: If you’re business is not aligned with consumers or is not ready to provide them with the right product or service at the right price then DO NOT send traffic from Adwords.

Customer service

Getting your ducks lined up in a row

 

One of the services I provide to my clients is trying to help them gain an understanding of where their customers have come from in the past and where they are likely to come from in the future. We can look at what the triggers were that made new customers buy from the business, what made them leave and what other things are likely to work as they move ahead.

It’s sounds obvious to say it but perfecting your business systems first is of paramount importance. Ask yourself:

  • How many modes of payment does our business accept and does it make the process of payment easy for the customer?
  • How efficiently do we process customer enquiries offline?
  • Do we have a functioning and informative website? Is it easy to navigate with a logical structure that follows a sales process?
  • Is our social media purposeful, interactive and engaging for a customer with questions or problems?
  • Do we have the freight and logistics in place to quickly ship goods and handle returns?
  • How about price points and new product offerings?
  • Do our guarantees put the customer’s mind at ease?
  • The list is endless!

Word of advice 3: Get your business systems right and then, and only then, start paying for traffic to arrive at your site.

So to sum up, make sure it’s not just your website that’s optimised – think about optimising your business in a way that makes it ready to capitalise on each and every Adwords lead. You’ll not only save money with a higher conversion rate and Google Ads score, you’ll also make money too!

Thanks for reading

Lee McCarthy

Xflow Marketing & Consulting – Perth