If it’s true that businesses are really that blind to how advertising dollars are spent, using AdWords is approaching a zero-risk proposition.
The trouble with AdWords, if we’re being honest, is that fledgling campaigns aren’t immediately profitable. The keywords and keyword phrases you like are hit-or-miss, and you’re in for some surprises. If the bar is set at ‘half the money is wasted,’ AdWords can probably deliver quickly. A well-planned campaign, in its fledgling stages, can create revenue equal to half of its ad spend.
It’s still a great investment. You may not be profitable yet, but you are creating data, and that data creates insight. Insight allows you to optimize your AdWords strategy. In the case of direct response campaigns, optimizing leads to improved margins, profitability and, ultimately, stable ROI. In the case of branding campaigns, optimizing leads to higher quality impressions and lower amounts of wasted impressions.
There is a set of techniques and tools for optimizing AdWords. For example, A/B testing, managed placements, exclusions and negative keywords play important roles in optimization.
The work of optimizing is powerfully enhanced by a content strategy that is closely aligned with the AdWords keyword strategy. Optimally, the structure of the website is reflected in the content and AdWords strategies, which creates true functional alignment.
Advertising has often been thought of as a cost center for companies. But with careful collection of data and analysis of metrics, advertising can become a profit center. This is one of the virtues of AdWords: Google can deliver that data, and in so doing, provide tangible proof of value.
If you care about the bottom line – you need a team that can understand the data that Google provides and interpret in way that allows for good financial decision making. We are your advertising partner.