5 Reasons your Online Advertising is NOT Working

Optimizing your Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

You have invested in a pretty website. You have invested in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) …. yet you are not getting the results you are looking for. Your website is still not showing at the top of page 1 on the Google results for the key searches in your market. What do you do? You spend some money on online advertising trying to buy your way to the top. Yet after a month or so you have come to the conclusion “Online advertising is not where it is at” or “my marketing service is ripping me off, they are not delivering on their promises”. Why is online advertising so difficult? Why is it not working? Here are 5 reasons that your online advertising may not be working for you today.

1. You are targeting the wrong words in your Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns.

This may seem obvious … but it is a bit more subtle than it first seems. You have to be creative to get the search traffic. The automated keywords that Google and many of the other keyword tools provide are not perfect. These automated systems really do not know YOUR customer the way you do. For example, if your Martial Arts studio provides kids classes, why not target “Edmonton children’s activities”. How many parents are actively looking for ways to get their kids away from their gaming consoles? Is your competitor really the other Martial Arts studios? Or is the competitor an Xbox? Or the local zoo? You know your business, about who your true competitors are.

2. Your advertisement copy is not providing value to the prospect.

If your ads are getting the impressions but not getting the clickthroughs, there may be a problem with the actual ad copy. Remember, you are fighting with other click competition. Google has the majority of the search traffic because they provide great results. Your add needs to have a compelling reason to move the visitor away from the listed results and get the click.

3. You are not providing value after the ad has been clicked.

You have just paid to get the visitor to your site. You want the gulf of execution to be very small … i.e. your visitor reads your ad, clicks your link, and when your site loads what they find  is very close to their expectation. It was easy to click your ad, it is just as easy for the visitor to hit the back button. Deliver value quickly on your website.

4. There is too much friction in the conversion process.

Remember, if your ads are getting clicked, you are paying for every visitor. If you are paying for the visitor ensure your site is set up for the conversion. How difficult is it for your visitor to convert? Are you asking too much of your visitor to actually contact you? What is the conversion step? How many clicks does it take for the visitor to get to the conversion? Is the conversion a complex form or a phone call? Which works better? Reduce the friction and you will get better conversion stats.

5. You are not spending the time monitoring and optimizing the process.

Online advertising is not a fire and forget activity. Your competitors are monitoring their ad copy, doing conversion optimization studies, split testing pages and ads. If the competitive landscape is constantly shifting … know this: if you are not spending the time monitoring and optimizing the ads, you may be winning today, but in the long run, you are going to lose out to those who are constantly putting the effort in.

Bonus Tip:

Get Help! You are an expert at what your business is designed to do. Most businesses are not experts at online marketing. If you are paying for online advertising and are looking to get return on your investment, it makes sense to work with the experts. JumpDEMAND are experts at DEMAND generation through online marketing. Click here for a free online marketing assessment.