Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

There is no golden rule for these things. Before I collapse bedwards, your most important metric is what your best clients need of you. Because irrespective of your budget, getting bangs for buck means targeting.

That means targeting those people who need what you do. Branding targets everybody and wastes huge sums. Cut out 75% of them and your advertising is 400% more effective. So hone down your target audience.

Direct marketing in all its forms depend on one thing: client response. It allows you to hone your message to your best client (= best response). This is an iterative process, you better your sales letter (= landing page) you better the response. Each time it gets better. Each time your advertising spend brings more back to you (return on investment). With the coming of the internet, direct marketing became 100x faster and 100x cheaper. In short, start with Adwords (PPC) and work your way out from there. You could also consider PPV after that, but it is a bit spammy.

Once you have honed this message, you can use it everywhere and KNOW it is effective.

Oh, and don't waste those visitors, get yourself an email autoresponder sorted to keep your customers in the loop.

M

Who is your target audience? Where? If you select a sufficiently narrow target, your budget could be plenty -- at least to start. You're always better off doing a GREAT job reaching a small audience than a mediocre or lousy job reaching a huge one.

Chances are you'll be best served by putting the bulk of your budget in search advertising, but it will depend on who your target audience is, what you're offering them, and your own experience with the various advertising/promotion options.

Also, I'd suggest earmarking a chunk of your budget to learn what message and what media work best for you. That way the rest of the budget can work really hard for you. Otherwise you'll end up wasting a larger portion of the budget on stuff that doesn't work nearly so well.

And getting outside expertise will pay off nicely for you. There are folks who have already made all the common mistakes and essentially "paid for the education." There's no sense repeating what they've done. Just pay them to take you right to the best approach. It will save you more than it will cost.

What are you selling? To who? Where? With what unique service/features? At what price point?

In general, focus on what works. If you're not sure, do a small (split test) sample and measure the results of your efforts.

We are selling a new product that has been tested and proven to do fairly well. Its a product for the concrete construction industry. We will target all the US/Canada.....Our product will be is the $300 price range and is by far the least expensive alternative to othe very expensive models that wont offer any more value....as a matter a fact we can offer more for less. In the past we launched a successful product and did well using trade publications and a tradeshow....this was 15 years ago and the internet seems to have really dominated that arena...trade pubs have fallen off or went all web based...tradeshows are still good but ROI doesnt seem to be as good as it once was. I guess I was trying to ask without influence was...Is Trade Pubs any better or worse than PPC...I dont know my way around the PPC area and am a bit worried I can fail at it...I was comfortable with Trade Pubs but not so much now....I find myself with two uncomfortable options. I still think Trade Pubs will do well...But does PPC out perform?

My bias is that PPC will out perform the trade ads ... but it is a bias and it depends on your specific situation. You can't fail at PPC because by it's very nature it is self-guiding to produce good results, when done right.

I would advise you to work with a PPC expert. Get it going in the best direction from the start, and you can adjust your budget and keyword phrases for the right balance.

Steve...When I read about PPC i see the SEO guys knock it....the PPC guys knock SEO...I know they compete but both get pretty convincing. I dont mind working my SEO slow over time and as I can afford but being new I need a faster return...PPC and Trade Pubs offer that....How does one locate a reputable PPC expert? Wish I could afford to split like mentioned above and try a little of all of them to know for sure....but I dont think I can. Im convinced PPC and or trade pubs will be the one(s) I was sold on PPC until I started reading and seen where it has a learning curve that cost....not sure I have the time to learn a curve. Do you start with basic terms to measure results on conversions? How can I figure out my possible traffic potential with PPC....I know it with TP's

I was focused on the SEO/PPC solutions business for several years. With very few exceptions, I would advise clients to do both at the same time. A key to any success is the actual selection of keyword phrases, and there is synergy in doing both at the same time.

There are several experts in both areas on this site. I suggest check out the MP profiles or you can contact me via my profile information for a recommendation.

Direct mail. Website. E-mail. Social media. Video proof via YouTube and Vimeo. Product samples. Face to face demonstrations. Social proof (written testimonials and video interviews with satisfied clients). Direct to consumer messaging that extolls your product's benefits to the end user in time saved, costs saved, reduced waste on the job site, and so on.

Whoever is delivering your message needs to speak the same language as the the people buying your product. Buyers must relate to the messenger; he/she must be seen by your ideal recipient as one of them, as someone who understands the buyer's issues, state of mind, problems, and concerns.

You asked, "How does one locate a reputable PPC expert?"

Response:

It's not as easy as it should be because there is no sanctioned directory of qualified and reputable experts you can turn to. There is one thing you can look at though, and that's the Google Engage Agency certification. Google provides training and oversight to those who participate in the program, and they even certify the expertise of those who pass a fairly rigorous exam.

If you will contact me offline (using the email address in my profile) I will point you to a person with whom I've been working who is certified and who can either help you or point you to someone who can. (And she is highly reputable; I can vouch for that.)

You're wise to use an outside expert for your first foray into PPC. The learning curve is steep, and it can cost a lot of money to learn the drill if you're starting from scratch. The fees for outside expertise are typically a small fraction of what you'll end up saving as a result. For a simple concept like PPC advertising, the execution details can really bury you if you let them.