Google AdWords marketer Perry Marshall just sent through this handy list of alternative marketing methods you can use when AdWords doesn’t provide the result you want (the article was sent to his email list which you can join here). The list is by no means exhaustive but it is random enough that it should stimulate some ideas for your business marketing initiatives.
The list was provided after demonstrating a few case studies where AdWords marketing failed to bring in a result. One of the best examples was where a company sold products in bulk as a wholesaler but not matter how much Perry tweaked the AdWords campaigns the traffic that came through was never targeted. The people that searched online where not looking to buy the product in quantities of 500, they just wanted to purchase one. Even after attempting to disqualify the traffic buy using phrases like “minimum lots of 500″ they still had everyday consumers click through and of course, not make a purchase.
Perry Marshall: Keyword based advertising only works when people know they have a problem and can describe it to themselves and believe that somebody on the Internet has a solution. But many people have severe problems they don’t even realize they have. If that’s the case, search engine marketing isn’t a very good way to reach them. You need to interrupt them instead. So again, direct mail, ads in magazines they read, TV, radio – all of those media might be better. Search engine marketing only gets you people who are proactively looking to solve their problem right now.
This is exactly the problem I faced with BetterEdit.com. Most students do not search for editing and proofreading online. In fact they don’t think beyond asking a friend or family member to “read over” their document for typos. In the last year business coming from search results has started to pick up for BetterEdit and I expect it will only continue to increase, which is great and I look forward to marketing a lot more online in the future. In the past though just as Perry states, I’ve had to “interrupt” my potential clients and slap them in the face with what BetterEdit offers to get their attention. Customers then realise that a professional essay and thesis editing service is available and they actually might have a need for it. Because of this issue it has often been a very frustrating road acquiring new customers for BetterEdit and I’ve often looked offline to promote my online business, including some of the methods mentioned below in Perry’s list of marketing ideas.
Marketing Ideas
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I thought Perry’s article was the biggest ‘also ran’ article I have read this month…
The article struck a cord with me because I’ve been really frustrated in the past with BetterEdit and online marketing for the exact reasons he stated in his article. Also lists like that always stimulate new ideas for marketing I find.
Anyone who uses a single tool to market their business is setting themselves up for failure. I also agree that a lot of marketing is designed to hit people who can perfectly articulate their need and/or the solution. Jay Conrad Levinson of Guerrilla Marketing fame publishes a list of 100 “marketing Weapons”.
I thought this was a great article. I also got Perry’s email but this is a great reminder. We must always be looking to improve our marketing. I have some marketing ideas under my webmaster tools on the bottom of my main page.
Hi Yaro, thanks for this. I scanned Perry’s email as well and I think he raises a very good point. While Adwords is very versatile we have tested a few B2B situations like Perry describes that, well, bombed.
Not to say that B2B doesn’t work with Adwords, but you need to have the right type of product or service. Where wholesale buyers are mixed with a large volume of consumers, you have a potential loser.
We provide ppc services for a specific niche market and Perry is spot on. Often we find that direct mail is a far better solution even IF there is a market for ppc for that company.
For example. People searching for automotive pricing are not necessarily a prospect for every product (duh). So broad ppc advertising into a well defined market area does not necessarily work even when there are plenty of prospects. And niche ppc marketing doesn’t drive effective volumu in any but a few major markets for auto dealers.
Larry
p.s. just founf the site but adding it to myyahoo. my two college kids might be buyers