It’s a pattern we see a lot here at EnquiryLab – a business has a good product and has worked hard to ensure their digital marketing has been set up well, but they’re just not getting very many leads. They have solid branding, an SEO-optimised website, active social media channels, a blog and an email marketing list. They have decided that the next step is to push out the message that they are there, to tell the world about what they do, and digital advertising seems like the obvious next step. Yes, they think, ‘ we will capture people when they google relevant keywords, show them our stuff, and lo, they will buy it! ’.
The businesses we work with come to us because they simply can’t understand why, after spending thousands on digital advertising, they have seen no tangible uptick in sales. What happens next might surprise you - we advise them to spend less on PPC. In this blog we’re going to share our reasons why we do this, and hopefully enlighten you to a different, better way to share your product with the world.
- Digital advertising alone isn’t a marketing strategy
Focusing your budget on digital advertising alone and getting in the habit of checking the stats all the time means you are at risk of neglecting the organic channels such as content, email marketing and social media. We’ll look at why focusing budget and energy on content is so important in more detail in just a moment. Putting digital advertising at the core of your strategy will get you caught in an expensive cycle. - Clicks, clicks and more clicks… but no conversions
If you’re getting people clicking on your adverts but your conversion rate is dire, you’re paying for nothing at all. For Google Ads your cost per click will remain staunchly high if your engagement rates are low, and you’ll get trapped in a cycle of paying lots of money for clicks you feel like you need to have, but with no ROI. In addition to that, ¼ of the spend on display advertising ever actually reaches a person – another potential waste of your budget. - The audience doesn’t know you
Just because someone is searching for keywords related to your product doesn’t mean they will be full of delight when you pop up in the results. They’ve never heard of your brand and they probably won’t trust you straight away – but they might well click on the result and therefore cost you money. - Buyer behaviour has changed
The internet has clearly revolutionised the way we sell, that’s why you’re reading this blog about how to more effectively sell your products online. But buyer behaviour has changed as well, with people in B2C and B2B markets realising they have a problem and taking it upon themselves to find the answer. Your job as a marketer in 2019 is to ensure your website, social media and content is helpful and engaging so that it helps to guide buyers towards a solution to their problem and builds that trust and reputation at the same time. - We’re heading for saturation point for PPC and display advertising
So many businesses have had the same idea as you, to use digital advertising to spread the word. Some will do it badly and some well, others might employ an agency with a full-time PPC and display advertising expert focused on optimising the adverts for them. Either way, there are a lot of companies competing for the most popular key words. In addition, there’s software available that can block adverts from the screen and people automatically scroll past Google paid results in search of the first ‘real’ information. Why would you focus lots of budget there?
If you think we’re on to something here, and you’d like more information about how inbound marketing works and what tools are available to supercharge your marketing efforts, why not take a look at our Introduction to Inbound webinar? It’s less than ten minutes and it’s packed with stats that you can use to persuade the team that a new approach is needed… Just thank us when you see that lead conversion rate rocket!
