Google AdWords is one of the most straight forward marketing tools around. By bidding on keywords, you can place your ads in front of prospective buyers with a targeted message and measurable results. So why do so many companies struggle with their AdWords accounts or not find success? There is no golden rule as to why some companies have great results and others don’t, but most failed accounts we see fall into two categories. One is the “penny wise, dollar foolish” group, and the other is the “missed market” group. Do you fall into one of these segments?
Penny Wise, Dollar Foolish
The first group we will discuss is “penny wise, dollar foolish,” those who cut corners on small costs, but end up paying dearly in terms of lost potential revenue. These clients tend to deeply scrutinize their AdWords budget, trying to spend as little as possible, and cutting pennies left and right. If they see a keyword with 2 clicks per month that costs $100 for the year, they will cut it out to save some money, thinking it’s not generating enough traffic. Yet, what they fail to process is that those $100 could have generated a sale of $20,000.
We love when our clients are involved in the AdWords process, but there is also a need to allow your marketing company the room to do what they do best. When companies become too money cautious, they can restrict their budgets so far that any progress is halted. In the end, most of these budget-restrained AdWords accounts will end up with 5-10 keywords that pull in 90% of the traffic and have decent to low click through rates (CTRs). What these campaigns are missing is the healthy diversification of keywords that increases the likelihood of converting clicks into sales.
If you hire a marketing company, remember that they are professionals and know how to maximize your return on investment. If you haven’t hired a marketing company, it is important to realize that sometimes the smallest traffic can have the biggest impact. Remember the 80/20 rule. 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers. If we apply that to your web traffic, eliminating those keywords with less traffic can really hurt your campaign.
Missed Market
The other group of users we call the “missed market,” those who haven’t quite reached their target buyers. This group doesn’t struggle with budget as much, but rather with keywords used. In business, and especially in industrial manufacturing, the same item can go by different names. You may call your product one name and your customers may know it by another. Unfortunately, these discrepancies can kill an AdWords account, and it happens too often.
We run into this a lot when we take over client accounts. They don’t see the value in AdWords because they think no one is searching for their product based on their experience running the account. The reality though, is that people aren’t searching with the keywords that they have decided to use. A little bit of market research can clear that up and get your campaign back on track.
Takeaways
To recap, if you are running or have run your own AdWords campaign, these are a few reasons you may not have found success. Sometimes the keywords with the smallest traffic bring in the largest sales, so be cautious when scaling back your budget. It’s also important to invest more than just money into your campaign. Tools like market research, a/b testing, and bid position adjustment are key to bringing in quality traffic. So, if you aren’t seeing results, keep in mind that trimming too much of the fat, or missing your target market could be the reason you aren’t seeing the value. Google AdWords has helped our clients grow tremendously and it can help you too! If you would like us to take a look at your campaign, let us know.