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Lisa Orrell, The Promote U Guru 
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Archive for the ‘sales’ Category10 Social Media Tips for Effective Book MarketingAugust 31st, 2014Hi All! With the boom of self-publishing, most authors don’t have the backing of a traditional Publishing House to handle the marketing of their books. And, nowadays, even if you do land a book publishing contract, many Publishers don’t provide the marketing support they used to. So, regardless of whether you self-publish your book OR sign a book deal, you’ll find yourself having to be your own Publicist and Marketing Expert. Unless, of course, you can hire someone to do it for you. However most authors who contact me are on a tight budget and can’t afford a costly Publicist. That’s why authors hire me to provide them with customized strategies and plans that they can execute themselves and/or with the help of a cost-effective Virtual Assistant. Please keep in mind that Social Media is just ONE strategy in your overall book marketing mix. You need to also include PR, media outreach, and other marketing strategies for effective book marketing. And I’ve written plenty of blogs and articles on those, too. But in this article, I’d like to focus on 10 tips that you can use to promote your book, increase your book sales, and build your brand, using Social Media: 1. Embed a Retweet Button Who doesn’t love a free sample? Give one chapter away for free to your audience and embed a retweet button in strategic locations, motivating readers to easily share it with their followers on Twitter. Side Note: Avoid just sending tweets that are all about “Buy my book!” with a link to it on Amazon. 2. Promote Your Personal Brand Promoting your Personal Brand as the author is as important as promoting your book! So in your Social Media posts, make your prospects want to connect with you. Share stuff about your hobbies, interests, your writing process, and expertise. Let the audience (who could be prospective buyers of your book) get to know you as a person by not JUST focusing your content all about your book. 3. Ask Readers to Spread the Word Ask readers of your book to tell their networks about it. This is something MANY authors don’t think of doing. Don’t think that just because someone loved your book they’re going to remember to share the news with others. People get busy and forget! Remind them about your book and give them a little nudge to tell their networks about it. 4. Network with Other Writers in Your Genre Find authors who target the same audience that you do for your book. Don’t look at them as competitors even if those authors have written books on the same topic as yours. Promoting other writers can help attract readers to your book, and those authors may reciprocate. Get involved in their social networks: “Like” their Facebook Pages, follow them on Twitter and retweet their posts, and ask them to write a Guest Blog for your blog, and ask if they would accept a blog post from you for theirs. Building relationships with other authors in your genre is a great strategy for cross-promotion that benefits you both! 5. Create a Video Contest Run a contest asking readers of your book to share a video about why they liked your book so much, and award the person who provides the best one with a $25 or $50 Gift Card (i.e. for Starbucks or a VISA gift card). You can then post the Top 10 videos (or all of them) on your YouTube Channel, your Facebook Page, on your website, tweet the links to the vids, share them in your e-newsletter, etc. Those videos all become marketing tools to promote your book in a wide variety of ways. 6. Use Hashtags Use hashtags of your industry to promote your book on Twitter (and elsewhere) to reach a larger audience who are interested in your topic. Confused by hashtags? Read this great article for an overview and tips! 7. Participate in the Conversation Monitor the conversation about your book online, and post responses to comments. Engaging with your audience will grow your audience base and encourage others to join the conversation. Again, it’s another strategy for people to get to know you as a person, and that can forge bonds with them. 8. Go Niche Search Google to find social networks in the same niche as your book. Become a fan of these networks or pages. Participate in the conversations and when appropriate, mention your book. But be sure to avoid only posting comments promoting your book because that will annoy people. 9. Mention Your Book in Your Social Network Bios I’m always shocked by how many authors who contact me DON’T have their books mentioned in their bios on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc. Your book, and a link to it, should be added to every online bio you have. 10. Add the Book Title to Your Email Signature Again, this is another very simple thing to do that many authors don’t think of. Add your book title and a link to it in your email signature block so that EVERY person who receives an email from you sees it.  Three Ways to Engage and Attract Millennial CustomersAugust 05th, 2014Hi All! For Sellers to more successfully engage, attract, and develop new customer relationships, it’s important to be aware of this interesting fact shared by J. Walker Smith, Ph.D. and Ann Clurman, Co-Authors of the book, Rocking the Ages: “Generationally determined lifestyles & social values exercise as much influence on buying and purchasing as more commonly understood demographic factors like income, education, and gender do – maybe even more.” How Millennials (aka: Gen Y), Generation X, and Baby Boomers each prefer to be engaged with is different. And it’s critical that Sellers educate themselves on these preferences as it can greatly improve the results of their sales and marketing efforts. However, for this article, the focus is on Millennials. Not only are they the newest generation of young, adult consumers, they are the most unique. Thus, they’re worth learning about. Why? For starters, they are the largest generation the U.S. history. Plus, by 2025, 75% of the U.S. workforce is going to be comprised of Millennials. As a result, not only will Sellers and Employers be working with them more as colleagues, but they’re going to be heavily competing for them as customers. There are many ways to attract, engage and build brand-loyalty with this unique generation. Here’s an example of three to be aware of:
Smart companies are investing a lot of time, effort, and money into learning everything they can about the Millennial mindset; both as employees AND consumers. Furthermore, Sales Teams all over the globe are learning how to better engage with them as our next generation of key decision-makers in the workforce. With $1.5 billion in annual spending power, and being a generation 85 million strong, it’s easy to see why companies ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations care about them. The eldest Millennials are now around 30 years-old…so they’re not just “clueless kids” anymore. Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa Three Ways Authors Can Get Media Coverage for FreeJune 18th, 2014Hi All! On a regular basis, I have Authors contact me who are extremely frustrated because they’ve spent tons of time and effort (and oftentimes, a lot of money) writing their books only to see the sales of it minimal. But typically this isn’t because their books aren’t good! Rather, the lack-of-interest and low book sales are the result of most people not knowing their books exists.  You can get media coverage without a big budget or Publicist! That’s where PR and Publicity can help. Yet most Authors who I speak with never even issued a Press Release announcing their book was published; let alone put effort into an on-going media outreach strategy. PR and Publicity is a critical component to building awareness for your Personal Brand and attracting more interest in your book, so it shouldn’t be overlooked. If you’re experiencing frustration and low book sales, keep reading. It’s time to be your own “Publicist” to achieve that “all important” awareness you’re lacking after you publish. Here are three PR strategies that don’t require a financial investment. They simply require an investment of your time: Don’t Make Your News General: The media wants key tips, interesting lessons, and compelling angles that come from your book, and they normally want you to provide them with that info. Don’t make them have to dig for it in your Press Release (or book) because they rarely will. Basically, GIVE THEM article or segment ideas. Don’t give them a “general” Press Release just about your new book and hope they’ll think of a reason to interview you. But AFTER the release of your new book has become “old news”, the strategy above is one you can use on an on-going basis to continue getting media coverage…and your book will always be mentioned in any interviews you do. It’s like getting an Oscar! Once an actor is nominated or wins one, they are never introduced again without that being mentioned along with their name. Be Sure to Pitch the Right Media: Make sure the media you pitch actually reaches the target audience YOU want to reach! This may sound like common sense, but it’s not common practice. You have to create a targeted list of print media (i.e. magazines/newspapers), online media, blogs, podcasts, and Radio and TV shows that cover topics like yours. Here’s an example: Let’s say you’re a Leadership Coach who has written a book on effective management skills, don’t waste your time pitching ideas to a Top 40 radio “morning zoo-type” of show that primarily reaches young people between 14-21 years old. The Producers won’t be interested in your topic so they won’t book you as a guest on the show. Follow Up is Key: After you have emailed the media contacts your pitch and/or Press Release, FOLLOW UP! This is where most non-professional PR people drop the ball. It normally takes more effort than just sending them one email. The media gets pitched a lot so it’s important to send several follow up emails and even leave 1-2 voicemail messages. Being the squeaky wheel is sometimes required to get their attention. And once you do, they’ll quickly tell you whether they’re interested or not. But please note that just because they may not be interested in your topic right away, doesn’t mean they never will be. Maybe they just covered a topic like yours so they don’t want to do another segment or article on it again quite yet. The good news to that is twofold: you know they ARE interested in topics like yours, AND you will now be on their radar as a “Topic Expert” for future stories they do. In closing, getting PR and Publicity for your Personal Brand and book is not complicated. It just requires some time and effort. You really can get massive media coverage even without a budget or the help of a professional Publicist! Tips for Using Instragram to Grow Your Small BusinessMarch 04th, 2014Hi All! With social media ruling the roost in business promotion, it’s hard to ignore any social networking platform these days, and Instagram is no exception. What started as an iPhone only app has expanded into one of the fastest growing and most vibrant social media networks; Instagram for business is a great marketing tool, especially those targeting younger audiences. With over 150 million users already, Instagram is the ultimate visual marketing tool to showcase to your prospective customers your social and human side. Instagram is all about pictures and videos, and thus is a great marketing tool for your business. After all, pictures directly appeal to emotions, increase interaction rate, and strike a chord with prospects, thus making your brand visible to a larger audience. Here are a few tips for using Instagram for building your brand, increasing sales, and growing your small business: Introduce your employees You may not know but most of your followers are keen on knowing the people associated with your brand, especially those who keep your company going. By introducing your team through Instagram photos, you humanize your brand, thus building a connection with prospects and customers while enhancing their experience. Cultivate a following It’s easier than ever to increase your following on Instagram for business by linking it with your Facebook account. Connect specific brand images to your Facebook business page with a relevant, popular hashtag that aligns with your brand image or marketing campaign. This is a necessary step to show to your Facebook fans that you’re on Instagram. Use relevant hashtags (#yourbrandhere) to increase your brand exposure and reach out to a wider audience for leads while helping people find your account. Be polite to follow Do not forget to follow your followers on Instagram. It’s a good idea to follow other brands that relate to your specific brand so as to create strategic relationships on the platform. Give your followers a sneak peek into an upcoming event or a news feature often can help keep them hooked to your page. Not only this, make your loyal followers feel special by sending them updates about an upcoming product, the latest launch, or new releases. This is one of the easiest tips for using Instagram for business – helping build anticipation in prospects and keeping them coming back for more. Don’t be content with static As a multimedia platform, Instagram now allows you to upload 15 second video clips. So why remain static when you can use the visual feature to upload behind-the-scenes peeks at different business activities. A few businesses even use this video feature for customer testimonials and product demos, helping prospects see your human side. Further, you may wish to embed Instagram video in your website or blog to reach a larger community and boost your business exposure. Share positive emotion more often When using Instagram for business, carefully curate your photos considering the likes and dislikes of your target audience. Figure out what kind of photos they would be more interested in. It is human nature to like smiling faces more than sad ones. You may use a serious post occasionally to make an impact, but prefer to share positive emotion more often. Let the powerful imagery in the images evoke emotions that words often fail to express. Encourage followers to share their story with you to build a relationship and show them that you care, unlike most other businesses that merely focus on self promotion. Powerful Pinterest Tips to Help Grow Your Small BusinessDecember 11th, 2013Hi All! As the third most popular social media network after Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest has over 48.7 million users, recording more than 25 million monthly visitors. And it has become a powerful social media platform for product-based businesses, bringing in more traffic than Yahoo and Bing. Plus, statistics show that prospects are likely to spend 70% more money with you when they are driven to your website from Pinterest. That alone makes it all the more important to take this newer social media platform seriously! That said, here are a few tips for using Pinterest effectively to grow your small business and increase your sales: 1. Increase Your Brand Awareness Provide useful, educational information to your followers. Your purpose is to become a reliable source of the most accurate, valuable information; not just to promote your products and business. This will ensure that your followers see you as an authority in your industry and look to you as the go-to place for all relevant information about your niche. Done right, you’ll inspire interest and build trust online, and that can lead to increased customer loyalty, greater audience reach, and referrals from others. 2. Expand Your Reach Other social media networks have given small businesses amazing tools to expand reach and grow business, and Pinterest does, too. Using the group board feature on Pinterest and collaborating with popular pinners, you can easily expose your brand to a greater audience and expand your reach. Make each board theme specific, with a catchy title and keyword-focused relevant content. As the audience follows the focused boards, your follower numbers will tend to spike. 3. Make Your Business Site Pinnable The best way to spread the word about your business is to make your Pinterest site visual. You may use Flickr, Shutterstock, Photo Pin, iStockPhoto, or Fotolia to find unique, interesting, exciting, and pinnable photos on a regular basis. However, don’t forget to check the copyright of images. Be sure to give credit where it’s due. The most successful pins are a combination of valuable content and great images. 4. Add Pinterest Logo to Your Website Adding a Pinterest logo to your business website will help increase your fan following and remind site visitors to pin your content. Also, to ensure a positive brand image, send messages that express the real identity (the voice) of your business. So plan out your boards accordingly, keep your content organized across different boards, and clearly outline the information you want to share with your fans. 5. Engage with People Engage with your audience to better understand what they want to generate better boards that they’ll like. Use the Repin option to stay current with what is trending on Pinterest by examining the pins of the most popular Pinterest users and keep your pins sharp, current, and targeted. Also, be sure to keep an eye on your competition to see what they are doing to attract traffic and create engagement. These tips may seem like common sense to some of you, but they’re NOT common practice with many pinners! I constantly hear from people who ask me, “I’m on Pinterest (or Facebook, or YouTube, or LinkedIn, or Twitter)…but what should I be doing there?” That’s more proof that opening an account on a social media platform doesn’t immediately make you a marketing expert. Learn the basics of Pinterest, get comfortable with using it, and then start experimenting with more tools and features they offer. It can work for you as long as you’re persistent and consistent! What is Relationship Marketing and Why Care?October 18th, 2013Hi All! In this “age of the consumer”, smart marketers understand the true value of customers to their business and are increasingly focusing on becoming a Youtility for them; marketing what is wanted by them, instead of marketing what you THINK they want or need. Relationship marketing is the key to competing for attention today by appealing to the senses of the people you are trying to attract. Here are five tips to succeed at relationship marketing: 1. Changing from “What We Do” to “What You Need” While you compete for attention in the marketplace, the key to marketing and sales success lies in discovering precisely what your customer’s need, rather than wasting their time telling what you have to offer. The idea is to understand your customer’s basic needs and coming up with a solution they are looking for. If you can hold their hand at this time, it will be the beginning of a long-term relationship. 2. Communication is Key Constant and frequent communication with clients is the key to enjoying a successful relationship. If you’re not communicating with existing and potential customers, you are missing out on big business opportunities! Establishing a constant communication connection with your prospects and customers will boost your relationship marketing efforts. Lack of constant contact will give your competitors a chance to step in between the two of you, making you vulnerable to losing business. 3. Retain Existing Customers It is even more cost-effective to focus more on selling your services to present customers rather than splurging dollars on marketing to your target audience, as existing clients can help promote your business through word of mouth endorsement, build referrals, and reduce marketing expenses. Your success at retaining existing customers will pay off in the long run, and save you time and money. 4. Position Yourself as an Expert It is important that your audience sees you as an expert in the field, who has answers to their problems. The more knowledgeable you appear to prospects, the more attractive you become to them and the greater the chances of further engagement. Focus on building a Personal or Company Brand, that can be trusted on all levels! 5. Grow to Meet Client Needs One of the keys to improving business-customer relationships is by being flexible and scalable to cater to the ever-changing needs of them. It is crucial that you take time to ensure you grow to meet those requirements. Conduct regular surveys and polls to be aware of the changing client needs and market demands. Valuing your customer’s changing needs and offering solutions accordingly will help expand your relationship marketing campaign and boost your business and branding. Pay close attention to client feedback and use it to improve your offerings. The key to a long-term business-customer relationship lies in presenting yourself as a resource center and positioning you and your business as the obvious choice for consumers…but that won’t happen if you don’t focus on THEM first! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa 7 Ways to Improve the Stickiness Of Your WebsiteApril 21st, 2013Hi All! The following article is a Guest Post written by Michael Fleischner, an Internet marketing expert and the President of MarketingScoop.com. He has more than 12 years of marketing experience and had appeared on The TODAY Show, Bloomberg Radio, and other major media. You can visit MarketingScoop.com for further details and more marketing articles including tips on how to improve search engine rankings for your web site. Check out this great advice from this seasoned pro! 7 Ways to Improve the Stickiness Of Your Website Today more than ever, consumers are overwhelmed with choices, and distractions. The cost of attracting users to your website continues to increase and keeping them engaged is more important than ever. Engagement doesn’t end with an individual browser reading content or clicking on an ad. Rather, engagement is an ongoing process that results in loyal customers who come back again and again, becoming more vested in your web site. How can you make sure you’re engaging and keeping customers? In order to create a loyal following, there are some basic principles you need to consider. From first impressions to life-long membership, put yourself in the shoes of your browsers and make their experience a valuable one.
Your web site can be your greatest asset. Unfortunately, many marketers and website owners are so focused on increasing traffic that they lose site of the audience that’s already visiting their web pages but are simply not converting. Don’t make the same mistake. Improve the quality of you site through relevant content that is up-to-date and easy to find. Once you’ve engaged users, encourage them to share. Doing so will make your site perform better, increase conversions, and deliver value for all involved. Thank you, Michael, for sharing that great info! And I hope all of you found it helpful for increasing awareness and respect for your personal and business brands! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa Simple Strategies to Get More Business on FacebookJanuary 13th, 2013Hi All! Social Media is an area that I not only conduct workshops and seminars on for small business owners, speakers and authors, but one that I provide private consultation on with every single client who hires me. Now, I realize that to some of you Social Media may not be a mystery for building your brand, lead generation and increased sales, however I will tell you it IS a huge mystery to most anyone who contacts me. The common questions I hear are: How can I get more followers on Twitter and attract customers? I have a Facebook Business (Fan) Page but how do I use for marketing to get more clients? I have no idea how to use LinkedIn, Pinterest or YouTube for business, so what should I be doing? How can I use social media for book or product marketing? And on and on and on…I’m not exaggerating when I say those types of questions are posed to me several times a week. Obviously each one of those inquiries could each be the topic of its own book (and many have been!), so I’ll narrow this down to ONE of those topics and tackle the others in future posts I write. Today I’d like to share an excerpt from an informative article written by Angela Stringfellow, a Business Writer who just had this article published on American Express’s awesome website for Small Business Owners and entrepreneurs, OpenForum.com. Her article is entitled: “10 Tips for Using Facebook to Boost Business”. To avoid copyright issues, here are just the first three tips she shares and then you can click on the link to read the final seven: Here are some innovative ways small businesses can use Facebook and capitalize on the power of this social giant. 1. Integrate Facebook connect buttons into your company website. Website visitors can easily connect to Facebook with the click of a button, enabling small business owners to maintain contact with potential customers even if they never return to the website. 2. Be responsive. Josh Grossman of e-Coupon service SavingStar says his company uses Facebook to communicate with customers and makes a point to respond to every question and comment promptly. Small businesses often thrive on personal interaction, and Facebook is a useful tool. 3. Make it easy to share content. Grossman explains, “Every coupon we post on SavingStar has a Facebook like button. Each coupon gets dozens or even hundreds of likes, helping to spread the word with users’ Facebook friends. All of our blog posts also have Facebook like and send buttons, and we use the Facebook comments plugin to make it easy for users to comment and share those comments with their Facebook friends.” The tips that Angela shares in her article are dead on, so I highly recommend CLICKING HERE to read the other seven! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa Valuable Lessons for How (Not) to Market on FacebookOctober 05th, 2012Ever since its initial public offering in May, Facebook’s life as a public company has been scrutinized, analyzed and commented on by the hour. During the lead up to their public debut, everything seemed rosy for the social media bandleader. Even General Motors pulling out of their $10 million ad campaign the week before the campaign didn’t do much to slow the company’s initial roll up to $38 a share. Unfortunately, the gaping problem that GM pointed out hasn’t gone away. Facebook’s sidebar ads suffer from a dismal click-through rate. Although the internet average is just .1 percent, Facebook’s click rate settles around a pathetic 0.051 percent. So is marketing on Facebook worth it? Of course! But not in the manner you might have previously thought. Social media is all about engaging. The point is to start a dialogue with customers. Just like your blog, the posts on your Facebook wall, Twitter feed, or Google+ page should be insightful, thought-provoking, and most of all, useful. Whether you’ve had success or failure in the past with social media (or you’re just getting started), remember these integral lessons whenever you’re launching or updating your campaign: Don’t Be a Broken Record Player Although tools that allow businesses to aggregate all their social media accounts in one place are useful, recycling a post across different platforms, this isn’t always the wisest approach. If a consumer likes your post on Facebook enough to follow your Twitter account as well, they might soon unfollow you if they’re bombarded with the same messages from multiple outlets. Of course, some outreach is best shouted from the rooftops. In general, however, treat each platform as its own. Make Each Post Unique The broken record player analogy works individually within an individual outlet like Facebook, as well. A week-long sale shouldn’t be touted in the same way each day (3 more days! 2 more days!). Try to think of a witty or relevant post to highlight the sale each day. If you’re a shoe store, post a photograph of yourself in a favorite pair and solicit follower feedback. Or, if you own a spa, reward followers with a Facebook-only giveaway for users that ‘Like’ your post that day. Don’t Over-Market Facebook recently launched ‘promoted posts,’ allowing business pages to pay a small fee in order to maximize the number of their existing followers they reach with a status update. Although this tweak can be highly useful when you’re hosting an event or a major sale, it doesn’t change the rules about what you post. If your update is a blatant and boring marketing pitch, it won’t convert the extra views into further sales. Use your website to promote your products directly, and use Facebook to talk about them. This spring, Facebook even launched a paid post beta program for regular users in New Zealand, allowing posters to make their updates ‘stickier’ on their friends’ news feeds for an extra dollar or two. If these become a regular option around the world, it could change the way our news feeds work, increasing the pressure even more for marketing content to be of a high quality that stands on its own, sales pitch aside. Stay Engaged Many businesses make the mistake of devoting themselves to a social media marketing plan and committing to a certain number of posts each day or week. But is it better to post three posts each day that get zero comments, or one post that results in a long stream of back-and-forth between followers? Ask questions in your posts and invite followers to ask questions in return. Be quick to reply when they post, helping to foster a conversation that will promote you as an expert in your field, building trust that translates into sales. Not to mention, the more comments and ‘Likes’ a post receives, the higher it ranks within Facebook’s news feed algorithm. Sometimes You Say it Best When You Say Nothing At All Are you totally unmotivated to post to your Facebook account today? If you simply can’t think of anything good to say, keep your mouth shut. The last thing you want is to lose followers due to boring posts or updates that shamelessly try to sell product. If you’ve got a case of ‘poster’s block,’ just log out and don’t post anything. Something good will come to you later. With Facebok struggling to further monetize and convince investors that it’s worth more than $20 a share (where it’s been hovering for most of August), there’s no telling what changes may be in store. Whatever alterations Facebook does make to its marketing options for businesses, the rules offered here are universal — with social media, start a conversation, establish yourself as an expert, and trust that the sales will follow. Blog Post Courtesy of: Senior executive Anita Brady is the President of 123Print.com. They are a leading resource for high quality customizable items like business cards, letterhead and other materials for small businesses and solo practitioners. Basic Steps to Creating an Effective Google AdWords CampaignAugust 30th, 2012Hi All! The following Guest Blog post is another good one courtesy of Craig Robinson, an online Marketing Expert and the Editor for Qwaya, a Facebook campaign tool that runs through a web interface. In this article, Craig is going to take you through the basic steps and tips to create a winning AdWords campaign. It’s loaded with great info, so let’s jump in! Basic Steps to Create an Effective Google AdWords Campaign by Craig Robinson When you’re ready to take the big step into online marketing, you will undoubtedly be creating an AdWords campaign with Google. Of course, there are many other ad services out there to choose from, and you should always spread your eggs out instead of putting them all in one basket, but Google is the biggest service around and it demands your attention. However, only the best campaigns on Google are going to succeed, or at least have a greater chance of succeeding. But there is an endless amount of competition using AdWords campaigns, so you have to create great material or else your competition is going to bury you. So let’s discuss how you can get ahead of your competition, and improve your branding and sales through an AdWords campaign… Steps & Tips: Target Your Market This is the first step in the process and perhaps one of the most important. You want to ensure that you have the proper market targeted if you’re hoping to use AdWords to generate sales. When you’re creating your AdWords campaign, think about whom to target both from a keyword and geographic perspective. Your keyword portfolio decides when and where your ads will show. You need to balance great reach with high relevance, so think about the market you’re targeting and play to their needs. Best Ways to Write Copy This is something that can seem rather difficult at first. The goal is to command the reader’s attentions with your copy, and there’s a careful mixture of art and science involved here. For instance, you may want to ask questions that appeal to the users. You can also hand out simple instructions, tell a short story, offer up a teaser, etc. You want to create an air of intrigue, but you also want to come across as trustworthy. Although good copy depends a lot on what you’re advertising and to whom, the key is always relevance. How can you make the ad as relevant as possible looking at the keywords you’re buying clicks for? Here are examples of quick-hit messaging you’d want to follow when writing your ad copy:
A Strong Call to Action With a call to action, you’re looking to entice someone to click through on your ad and act on your offer. You’re not trying to order them to do something, however. So save those multiple exclamation points, the huge promises (i.e. lies), and other gimmicks used. If your copy is written well enough and if the ad is relevant for the chosen market, a simple “Purchase online today” or something similar is as “strong” as you need for a call to action. Creating Relevant Search Phrases For Google’s particular system, this is an incredibly important part about effective marketing. You need to make sure that your keyword portfolio matches search phrases that are actually searched by people. There’s no “best guess” feature with AdWords. You’re going to be paying the freight here, so make sure that you do your research. (Note: It helps to have a service delivering these ads that will help out in search term generation.) Lowering your CPC Yes, playing the game with Google AdWords is going to cost money. It’s worth it if you have an effective campaign. You’ll receive a nice ROI. But if you’re interested in lowering your cost-per-click number, you need to focus on three main areas: long tail keywords, uncompetitive themes, and relevancy. Long tail keywords are far more descriptive and thus have less competition. The same goes for the uncompetitive category. You should be able to find some really popular phrases, relevant to your ad’s message, which aren’t “over” competitive. Lastly, make sure that your ads are using keywords that are as relevant as possible. Nothing lowers costs like actually making money! Doing things the right way with Google can make your campaign a huge success and can help your business to grow exponentially. The above guide isn’t as thorough as it could be, but it does give you a general run through in terms of creating effective ads. Expand on each tip as you need it. And if you’d like more tips on search engine marketing, visit keybroker.com. Thanks, Craig, for contributing another helpful article. And I hope all of you learned something here to make YOUR AdWords campaigns more successful…done right, they are a great way for small business owners to not only increase sales but build awareness for their brand, too. So I don’t care if you’re selling books online or want to promote your services, try some AdWords campaigns in your marketing plan. Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa
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