Article by Adam Strange
Advertising Consultant of AdRevamp.com |
As more and more of our long time Yellow
Page advertising clients transition from campaigns solely
focused on local Yellow Pages directories, to campaigns
centered around online advertising, Ad
Revamp is taking advantage of the wealth of results
oriented advertising
tools offered by Google. Here is a recent study we
implemented for one of our San Francisco clients around
the keywords: BMW
Repair.
I read an article a few days ago put out by AAP about
a study
conducted by the Australian Yellow Pages with some
startling facts. A survey of 1,800 small to medium-sized
company owners found that 69% don't measure the results
of their online advertising. As if this number isn't staggering
enough, a full 86.8% admit they don't base future advertising
decisions on any return on investment (ROI) or previous
advertising results.
These unfathomable results continue, but I think you get
the point. Basically online advertisers in Australia are
flying blind. And I really doubt their American counterparts
are doing much better.
In a world where real-time data is rapidly becoming the
norm, there is a motto your company should learn to embrace:
Don't predict. Measure and respond.
While you may love your company website, or think you
know exactly what new customers want to hear, consider
the almost certain fact, you could be wrong. And while
you are watching business dwindle, a competitor is snapping
up all the calls. Where do you go? What do you do? How
do you fix the situation? Start simple. Start with 5 little
words—Don't predict. Measure and respond.
Here is an example...
One of our clients has a repair shop in San Francisco.
Much of their new business comes from online advertising
and their company website. The traffic flow to the website
is good. They are listed on the first page of Google for
many relevant keywords and all of their Analytics reports
show a steady stream of new visitors.
The website has decent conversion but it could be better.
People seem to be clicking on the site from a search engine
and then leaving without clicking on another page. Some
visitors stay for less than one second. What could be happening
here? Why not stick around? What is wrong? What needs to
change?
To dig for answers we targeted traffic for the keywords:
BMW Repair.
We created several unique landing pages with different
headlines, offers, and design combinations, each formulated
to lead people to specific pages where potential customers
can dial a tracking number. A call on this unique number
is registered as a success. So all search engine traffic
for BMW repair related keywords is funneled to the URL
where BMW landing pages can be delivered at random and
then measured for effectiveness. Calls to the tracking
number are counted and cataloged as a vote for the landing
pages that produced them. As the study continues we are
able to assess the most prominent factors in our sales
conversions and make intelligent advertising changes to
our future online advertising strategy.
Once generated, a study of this kind can generate all
kinds of unique data that can be used to make smart business
decisions on how to allocate advertising dollars. It can
help you intelligently tailor a potential customer's website
experience to particular search queries. And the advantages
don't end in the online realm. This important information
can find it's way into all your advertising decisions.
So if you are still making important business decisions
like 30% of the respondents in the afore mentioned study
are, by asking customers how they found you, maybe it's
time to dive a little deeper into that question and pull
out some very enlightening, very reliable, hard facts.
UPDATE:
June 20 2011
After just a few months of study, we were able to determine
which website was more effective at converting new website
visits into actual phone calls. Here are the dramatic results...
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