How to use geo targeting to make your ad campaigns relevant

Did you know you can choose the geographical location where your Google AdWords pay-per-click (PPC) ads are displayed?  In AdWords, when you set up a campaign, you can select the location you want your ads to be displayed.

If you are a business that just serves a local area, it’s pretty obvious why you would want to drill down to the metro or city level.  But what if your business serves the entire U.S. or even global markets?  Why would you want to use this feature?  If you have limited advertising dollars, like most of us, you don’t want to waste money.

In most of the companies I have been involved in, the majority of business comes from specific areas.  For example, in one company I worked for 80% of customers were from only six different states.  This was a company that served the entire U.S., advertised nationally and had over $100M in revenue.  This means that over $80M in annual revenue was coming from customers in a handful of states.

In another company that I headed up marketing for, 4 states represented over 80% of the customer base.  Interestingly enough, this was a global company that served all English speaking countries.

How you can apply geo targeting to your SEM strategy

One reason you might want to geo target your AdWords marketing is to serve up customized ads and landing pages.  For example, if you get a lot of business from Boston, you could create a campaign just for people who live in this area.  You could mention Boston in the ad copy and on the landing page to make it relevant.  This kind of customization would really increase your click-thru and conversion rates.

This strategy would also apply if you offer products or services that appeal to a specific geographical area.  For example, if you sell surf boards online you would most likely want to target areas where there are beaches, warm weather, and decent surfing.

Successful marketing campaigns require diligence.  Be creative and focused; don’t take a shotgun marketing approach.   Find out who your customers are, target them, and make your advertising relevant to them.

High Volume Search Phrases vs. Low Hanging Fruit.

If you are actively involved in search engine marketing or if you are planning to be, you will be spending time developing your keyword strategy.

Are you going to target the high volume keywords that are very competitive or are you going to go after lower volume phrases that you can rank highly for more quickly and easily?

It’s tempting, when you are doing keyword research (see keyword research links below), to go for the keywords that have the highest search volume.  However, if you are in a competitive industry, this can prove to be time consuming and even costly.  Contrary to popular belief, organic search rankings are not free.  There is a significant investment in time required.  Sometimes actual hard costs are involved; if you want to engage in a good link building campaign, hire SEO experts, etc.

When it comes to SEM, keyword buys on Google AdWords or other ad networks can get expensive.  For example, to bid on a highly competitive keyword, it can cost 10x – 25x per click more than a low volume search term.

Here’s a real-life example of what I have been describing.  My company currently ranks #1 (Google organic search) for a search term that isn’t extremely competitive in our industry.  However, it delivers the most traffic out of all the search terms we rank for and it converts at a high rate.  Contrast this with a highly coveted search term in our industry that we show up for on the 2nd page of Google for (it was the 3rd page).  Even though this keyword phrase gets 10x to 15x more search volume, it delivers a fraction of the traffic to our site because we aren’t in the top ten Google rankings.

Let’s take a look at these same keywords for our paid search campaign on Google AdWords.  The lower volume term costs us 1/2 the per click price of the higher volume term.  Did I mention that the lower volume phrase converts better?

If you are a smaller player in your industry, you may not need the high volume web traffic that the larger companies do.  They are probably ignoring less searched keywords that could really give your business a boost!

If you take the time to do the research, you will most likely find some decent keywords that cost 10 – 50 cents per click – a real bargain.  Do the research, be creative and reap the benefits.

Free Keyword Research Tools

• SEOBook.com Keyword Suggestion Tool – free to use if you opt-in to the email list.
• Google AdWords Keyword Tool
• Google Search-based Keyword Tool
• Wordtracker – paid service but they offer a limited free version
• KeywordSpy – paid service but they have a Free Trial and offer some free keyword searches
• SpyFu – paid service but they offer some free searches with limited information

Online marketing terms used in this post defined

• SEO - Search Engine Optimization. Organic/natural search rankings (non-paid).
• SEM – Search Engine Marketing. Paid search marketing, such as Google AdWords.
• Link building – The process of getting external links (backlinks) to your site.

Do you know the answers to these 2 simple questions?  The answers could be the path to doubling your profits.

If I were to ask you two basic questions about your website I would wager, that like most web proprietors, you couldn’t answer them off the top of your head.  Here are the questions:

1. What is your conversion rate?
2. What is the amount of your average sale?

Most people don’t know or pay attention to their web analytics.  This is because they either don’t understand the importance of analyzing their metrics or they don’t know how to use the data they have.  Why should you care about a bunch of stats anyway?  Isn’t it just enough to know how many people visit your website?  If you send enough traffic to your site won’t those visitors magically turn into buyers?  What if I were to tell you that paying attention to your web stats was the beginning of the path to doubling your profits and it wouldn’t cost you a dime to do it.  Would it be worth your time to learn about analytics and to start paying attention to them?

My guess is you answered “yes”.  But you are now probably asking yourself “how”.  First of all, if you aren’t currently using a web analytics program you should get one right away.  Google Analytics (www.google.com/analytics) is a free web analytics program that is easy to implement and easy to use.  There are other analytics programs you can use, but this is the best free solution available.

Secondly, you need to develop a baseline.  By baseline I mean you need to know what your current stats are.  This will give you something to measure and improve against in the future.  You can start by developing some Key Performance Indicators or KPI’s.  Here some examples of KPI’s to measure:

• Unique Visitors
• Conversion Rate (typically this is calculated by dividing the number of sales by the number of unique visitors)
• Average Sale

You should check your stats everyday and monitor the performance of your all your marketing campaigns.  You should also drill down into the data.  Analyze how well each campaign converts.  For example, if you are using Google Adwords, analyze which of your keyword ads is performing the best, etc.

Now you are probably saying, “well now I know what my stats are, but how does that help me double my profits?”  Here’s just a small example, let’s say you change the offer or headline on your homepage or landing page.  Now that you know what your conversion rate and average sale is, you can test to see if a different offer or headline will improve your conversion rate and/or average sale.  Here’s an example of a typical scenario in an e-commerce website:

Let’s say site XYZ gets 100,000 visitors, has an average sale of $75 and has a conversion rate of less than 1%.  What would happen if the conversion rate were to double?

Wow, with no additional marketing spend or traffic, $56,250 was added to the bottom line! Paying attention to your web stats and using them to improve your site can make a significant difference.

Do the calculations for your website and see what would happen to your profits if you were to double the conversion rate.

There are many other ways your web statistics can help you improve your bottom line.  Look for my future blog posts, where I’ll go over these issues.

Google is clearly continuing to dominate the search engine market.  Nielsen Online reported this month that Google has a 64.2% share of the search market, with Yahoo trailing in second with a 15.8% share of U.S. searches.

Top Search Providers for March 2009

Top Search Providers for March 2009 from Nielsen Online

I’m not saying to ignore the smaller search engines as they may be less competitive and easier to rank higher on.  However, focusing your search engine optimization and search engine marketing time and efforts on Google will definitely give you the best exposure.

Source:  Nielsen Online – http://www.nielsen-online.com/pr/pr_090410.pdf

Do your Google Adwords ads, banner ads, e-mail marketing campaigns, etc. point your visitor to your homepage?  If so, you need to read this blog post.

It’s important to have continuity between your ads and the page visitors first enter your site.  We’ve all clicked on ads that promoted a specific product or a special offer only to be driven to the company’s homepage that has no mention of that offer or product.  It’s frustrating and most people won’t take the time to search the site for what the advertisement was promoting.  Why spend money marketing your product and service only to frustrate and turn away potential customers?  Building continuity between your ad campaigns and your landing pages will increase your online sales conversion.

Here’s a good example of lack of continuity, which will usually result in a lower sales conversion rate.  I did a search on Google for “Angels baseball t-shirt”, and a number of paid keyword ads showed up with some reference to Angels t-shirts in the ad copy.  However, a few of the ads I clicked simply brought me to the t-shirt company’s homepage.  In order to find any Angels t-shirts, I would have had to navigate my way through their site.  It was easier to go back to Google and find a link that brought me directly to what I was looking for, which is what I ended up doing.  These sites lost a major opportunity to make a sale.  Not to mention it was a waste of their marketing dollars.

To optimize your chance of converting a visitor into a customer, create a landing page for the related keywords you are buying.  In the above example, a great landing page would have been one that specifically listed the Angels t-shirts that were in stock and perhaps highlighted the newest and best selling Angels shirts.  Better yet, if the landing page had a special offer such as free shipping for purchases made today, it would have been more compelling and increased the chance of converting me from a visitor to a customer.

To increase your website conversion rate even further, institute direct marketing tactics to write compelling sales copy for your landing pages.  A powerful headline and compelling copy, can make huge differences in your online sales.  I’ll write in more detail about this in future blog posts.  In the meantime, check out my friend Robert Stover’s copywriting blog – Copy Ideas (http://www.copyideas.com/archives/).  He is an expert copywriter and has some great resources on his site to help you improve your website copy.

If you currently use Google Analytics or another web analytics program, you may be overwhelmed by the amount of different website data available for you to analyze.  If you are looking at too much data on a regular basis, it may cause what is called paralysis by analysis.  Looking at and attempting to analyze too many stats may overwhelm you and keep you from taking any action.  Don’t get lost in the data.  Don’t worry about all the stats that you may not even understand or what they are for.

Instead, look at the important stats that show you how your site is performing at-a-glance. You can do this by creating Key Performance Indicators, also known as KPI’s, for your website.  To go along with your KPI’s, you should establish a baseline and goals to measure future performance against.  A baseline is where you now.  For example, if your existing Conversion Rate is 4%, that’s your baseline.  If want increase your Conversion rate to 8% by a specific date, that’s your goal.

Let’s take a look at a few examples and what I recommend for KPI’s.

Recommend KPI’s for an e-Commerce Site

• Unique Visitors (Google Analytics calls them Absolute Unique Visitors)
• Bounce Rate
• Conversion Rate
• Number of Sales
• Average Sale Price
• Acquisition Cost

If you have a site where the main goal is to provide information, such as a blog, your KPI’s might look something like this:

• Unique Visitors
• Average Time on Site
• Pages per Visit
• Conversion Rate (If you have an opt-in email list or an option for people to subscribe to your blog)

You should look at these KPI’s on a daily basis as well as a monthly basis.  Depending on what type of site you have some the KPI’s may vary.

Google Analytics Tip:

You can add your KPI’s to the Google Analytics Dashboard. To do this, navigate to the item you want to use as KPI, then click on the “Add to Dashboard” button.

Google Analytics Add to Dashboard Button

For example, if you want to add Absolute Unique Visitors to the Dashboard:

1. Click on “Visitors” in the left navigation menu
2. Click on “Absolute Unique Visitors” in the main window
3. Click on the “Add to Dashboard” button on the top of the page

Resources:
Google Analytics Glossary – definitions of “Bounce Rate”, “Unique Visitor”, etc.
http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/topic.py?topic=11285

As a fellow entrepreneur, I understand taking risk.  That’s our life, isn’t it.  Putting everything on the line for that one chance of being successful, of making it on our own.  It’s sort of like going to Vegas and putting it all on black.  However, merely having a good concept and taking the risk to start your own internet business doesn’t mean you are going to be successful.  As you know, it takes hard work, sacrifice and dedication.  Unfortunately that’s still not enough.

You may have the best product or service in the world but if you can’t successfully market and sell it, you’ll never achieve the success you dreamed of.  Sadly, this is a common story among entrepreneurs, great ideas don’t always bring about success.

A lot goes into marketing and selling a product or service online.  Despite what others may say, there is no secret formula or magic bullet for online marketing.  Every situation is different.  What works in one situation may not work in another.  However, basic sales and marketing principles remain the same, even in internet marketing.  What varies, is how they are applied to each situation.

Even with sound sales and marketing principles, the chances of hitting the mark immediately are slim.  To be truly successful, it requires a lot of testing and refining of your marketing to see what resonates with your customers.

Here is the approach I take in marketing a product or service online:

1. I start by taking the time to fully understand the product or service.
2. I find out who the target customer really is- the demographics of the target market and even deeper what motivates them (the psychographics).
   1. I do this through:

• Surveys to existing customers and website visitors.
• Interviews with existing customers.
• Online focus groups (if time and budget allow).
• Analyzing the web stats.

1. I check the process.  Does the process work properly or is it broken?
   1. I do this by taking a step back and looking at the website and the sales process from a visitor’s point-of-view.  I look at simple things like:

• Do all the links work?
• On the homepage or landing page, is it clear what the company is and what it sells or offers?
• Is there a compelling reason to read more or click through?
• Is the site easy to navigate?
• Do the product pages have a good description of the product?
• Is it easy to buy from the site?
• Is the visitor asked to take action, is there a call-to-action?
• Does the check-out process work and if so, is it intuitive?

1. I then test small changes to see if there are improvements in the site’s goals such as conversion rate and average sale.  For example, I might run an A/B split test on the headline on the landing page to see if one converts better than the other.
2. I refine.  Based on the results of testing I make refinements and continue the process.

Being an entrepreneur can be difficult but it’s also very exciting.  I hope I can help you make your web business a huge success!