Kate Arms's Blog: Cracks in the World

Here are some quick and valuable resources to fix your Facebook Business Manager issues;

How to get your Facebook Business Manager verified (especially important for IOS14 changes) – LinkHow to request a review of your restricted ad account – linkHow to fix disabled payments and ad manager – moreHow to safe guard your Business Manager and Personal Profile Turn on 2 factor authenticationVerify your identityMake sure phone number is up todateAdd backup people to your profileVerify your business managerAdd 2FA for each person

I belong to some private ad buyers groups and occasionally run into some great insights from other ad buyers. This one is from Theo who has a great and easy to replicate method on how to do Cold Targeting with Facebook Ads. This is reposted in its entirety and edited for clarification.

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If you are looking for interests to target OR are running out of ideas/audiences you think you can target – steal this! Whether you are looking to find more audiences in a niche market… Or are looking to scale after finding winning interests���

Your next priority should be this strategy I am about to show you what I do to find winning interests and my first customers, this strategy will have you testing as much as possible with a very likely success rate

In the video below you can ���borrow” my strategy and try it for yourself

It will be broken down into 3 parts:

Scoping your audienceMarket-focused targetingExecution and maintenance

Part 1 – Scoping your audience (Pre-Game):

Begin by searching for TV shows, movies, bands and magazines that fit your niche.

Here���s some examples: Christian bands, Religious magazines, Religious movies, Gardening magazines, Gardening TV shows, Gardening influencers/personalities, Parenting books, Parenting magazines, Pet magazines, Feline blogs.

You get the point, this works for just about EVERY niche.

Search these in your favourite internet browser, have a couple of tabs open and have a look at what comes up Simple enough right?

Part 2 – Market-focused targeting (Hunting Season):

Here is where you type what you found on your search, to see if it is a valid interest within Facebook.

You will find a majority of them here, some you won���t. So go ahead, type it in to the detailed targeting part of the ad set level and see how big your audience is

Part 3 – Execution and maintenance (Money Makin���):

Once you have your interests found in Facebook, create 2-3 CBO���s at $50 a day with 5 ad sets in each CBO.

Make sure that detailed targeting expansion is OFF – you are now ready to launch your campaigns

At the ad level you should be testing 2-4 creatives per ad set.I recommend waiting 2-3 days to see data roll in.

If you don���t get sales this is likely because of your creative, you need a video or picture that resonates with your audience

After a few days, you should definitely have some sales, turn off the losing ad sets and ads. Then put your 5 best ad sets into a brand new $50/ day CBO with the creatives that got the sales.

You can also increase the budgets on your other campaigns if you are seeing immediate profits

You now likely have between 1 and 4 campaigns, as well as a brand new CBO that has an army of killer ad sets

Go out and find your next customers!

Hope you guys learned something interesting and new here today!

About:

Our client is a multi-location outpatient clinic that specializes in vascular surgery. Their goal was to generate new patients with a focus on artery and vein disorders of the leg. This included varicose veins, wound care, and slow healing wounds of the leg.

The Details:

Like all campaigns, we started out by focusing on best practices:

Develop unique landing pages for each practice area. This, as opposed to directing all ad traffic to an existing page on the website such as the dreaded homepage. This practice is typically associated with most medical practices and results in a higher cost per lead due as most existing websites are not properly designed for a Google Ads campaign.Develop thematic keywords and group them accordingly into the relevant keyword buckets. As an example, diabetic ulcers related keywords go into one adgroup and leg pain related keywords go into another, etc…

Before

First month results of one our campaign

After?

Results after the 3rd month and continued optimization

How to grow a campaign after exhausting traditional tactics

As is the case with most Google Ad campaigns, we exhausted all opportunities with the usual high intent keywords. We were looking for new frontiers to help expand our search volume in order to generate new patient inquiries.

Knowing that outpatient clinics are an alternative to hospitals, we created a new campaign to start bidding on the names all of the local hospitals in an effort to increase our market share. We’ll refer to this new bucket of keywords as Brand Competitors.

When bidding on other brands, there is one primary challenge:

Your cost per click rises because the bidded keywords are not typically mentioned in the ad copy nor the landing page.

Therefore, it���s important to dial in on the ad copy and ensure that it really speaks to the searcher���s need. We did this by specifically focusing on the largest complaint of hospitals: the red tape bureaucracy and horrific wait times involved.

Ideal patients of our client are generally in distress and want to come in much sooner rather than later. This is why outpatient centers exist. Unlike hospitals, outpatient facilities offer laser focused attentive care, comfortable amenities, and are able to cut through the red tape due to fewer layers of management. Sometimes, smaller is better.

So how do we communicate this value-add through ad copy?

An example of our ad copy

The location has been altered to protect client identity

We have various ads that are tailored to each adgroup. For Branded Competitors, we re-wrote the description by tapping into the frustrations many patients face when dealing with hospitals; the long wait and red tape. We also have a sitelink extension, ���Us vs Hospitals���. This directs the visitor to a section on the landing page that overviews how our client���s outpatient facilities differ from the usual hospital experience. Along with the description, this helps to reinforce the message that we���re a better alternative for certain medical treatments.

We also tweaked the content on the landing page to help reinforce the message of the ad copy. Whereas the goal of the ad is to introduce the message, the landing page content should expand and reinforce the message.

Key Highlights

As a result of introducing these new group of Brand Competitor keywords along with new ad copy, we achieved the following:

Cost Per Lead of just $16. Our previously top performing adgroup which targeted bottom of the funnel keyword was $36 so we achieved a 50% reduction in cost for our nicheThis new adgroup is a major contributor to the overall campaign, making up roughly 25% of total patient inquiriesOur click-through rates for bidding against other brands were between 8-10%. This, compared to our non-branded adgroups which yielded a CTR of 4-5%. By positioning ourselves against other hospitals, we were able to double our CTR

Lesson Learned

Don���t be afraid to bid on competitor terms even if it results in a higher cost per clickUnderstand how the client is uniquely different from the competition and position them as such through the ad copyTap into consumer frustration and inject this throughout the copywriting and messaging

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About:

Our client is a multi-location outpatient clinic that specializes in vascular surgery. Their goal was to generate new patients with a focus on artery and vein disorders of the leg. This included varicose veins, wound care, and slow healing wounds of the leg.

The Details:

Like all campaigns, we started out by focusing on best practices:

Develop unique landing pages for each practice area. This, as opposed to directing all ad traffic to an existing page on the website such as the dreaded homepage. This practice is typically associated with most medical practices and results in a higher cost per lead due as most existing websites are not properly designed for a Google Ads campaign.Develop thematic keywords and group them accordingly into the relevant keyword buckets. As an example, diabetic ulcers related keywords go into one adgroup and leg pain related keywords go into another, etc…

Before

First month results of one our campaign

After?

Results after the 3rd month and continued optimization

How to grow a campaign after exhausting traditional tactics

As is the case with most Google Ad campaigns, we exhausted all opportunities with the usual high intent keywords. We were looking for new frontiers to help expand our search volume in order to generate new patient inquiries.

Knowing that outpatient clinics are an alternative to hospitals, we created a new campaign to start bidding on the names all of the local hospitals in an effort to increase our market share. We’ll refer to this new bucket of keywords as Brand Competitors.

When bidding on other brands, there is one primary challenge:

Your cost per click rises because the bidded keywords are not typically mentioned in the ad copy nor the landing page.

Therefore, it���s important to dial in on the ad copy and ensure that it really speaks to the searcher���s need. We did this by specifically focusing on the largest complaint of hospitals: the red tape bureaucracy and horrific wait times involved.

Ideal patients of our client are generally in distress and want to come in much sooner rather than later. This is why outpatient centers exist. Unlike hospitals, outpatient facilities offer laser focused attentive care, comfortable amenities, and are able to cut through the red tape due to fewer layers of management. Sometimes, smaller is better.

So how do we communicate this value-add through ad copy?

An example of our ad copy

The location has been altered to protect client identity

We have various ads that are tailored to each adgroup. For Branded Competitors, we re-wrote the description by tapping into the frustrations many patients face when dealing with hospitals; the long wait and red tape. We also have a sitelink extension, ���Us vs Hospitals���. This directs the visitor to a section on the landing page that overviews how our client���s outpatient facilities differ from the usual hospital experience. Along with the description, this helps to reinforce the message that we���re a better alternative for certain medical treatments.

We also tweaked the content on the landing page to help reinforce the message of the ad copy. Whereas the goal of the ad is to introduce the message, the landing page content should expand and reinforce the message.

Key Highlights

As a result of introducing these new group of Brand Competitor keywords along with new ad copy, we achieved the following:

Cost Per Lead of just $16. Our previously top performing adgroup which targeted bottom of the funnel keyword was $36 so we achieved a 50% reduction in cost for our nicheThis new adgroup is a major contributor to the overall campaign, making up roughly 25% of total patient inquiriesOur click-through rates for bidding against other brands were between 8-10%. This, compared to our non-branded adgroups which yielded a CTR of 4-5%. By positioning ourselves against other hospitals, we were able to double our CTR

Lesson Learned

Don���t be afraid to bid on competitor terms even if it results in a higher cost per clickUnderstand how the client is uniquely different from the competition and position them as such through the ad copyTap into consumer frustration and inject this throughout the copywriting and messaging

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My client is a legal firm specializing in employment law, with a specific focus on workplace gender discrimination and sexual harassment. By focusing on Conversion Rate Optimization tactics, I converted anywhere from 25 to 40% of all paid Google traffic. The average conversion rate for the legal industry is only 7%?.

Context:

This isn���t a case study about how I used proper geographic and keyword segmentation to achieve high conversion rates. Nor is this a case study about how using the SKAGs approach (Single Keyword AdGroup) would improve conversion rates. And this also isn���t about how using proper ad copy to match each adgroup would improve quality score of each keyword and ultimately the conversion rates. Why? Because none of these tactics are enough to compete with legal firms with big advertising budgets.

Instead, this is a case study about how to do that one thing that most PPC agencies aren���t doing when managing the Google ad campaigns of law firms. And that���s using empathy as a way of connecting with a prospective client.

Go skim through hundreds of webcopy of landing pages belonging to legal firms. You���ll see certain copywriting elements that unite them all. They���re written in a very academic, cold, and matter of fact kinda way. They speak of facts, use big words, and make references to laws or statutes. Basically they sound like something a lawyer would write. In fact, some of the web copy probably WERE written by lawyers! And others were written by marketers who were trying to speak lawyer-ish.

Details:

You need to go one step above the competition and focus on conversion rate optimization. Otherwise known as the art of improving the landing page. For education purposes, I’ve stripped out all design elements so you can just focus on the actual words. I’ve also stripped or blurred out design elements or words to ensure client privacy. Below is the webcopy;

 

 

Breakdown and Explanation

Descriptive Page Header – The header is the first thing everyone sees when the page loads. There���s no fancy hyperbole or slogans here. We quickly show who we are (gender discrimination lawyers) and where we serve (Los Angeles). Title headers that match the keywords you’re bidding on also helps contribute to a higher quality score with Google.Pre Qualify with scenario triggers – The first couple of paragraphs is where most law firms screw up and inevitably lose the visitor. They talk too much about themselves. Instead, I quickly list what I refer to as common ���scenario triggers��� that can help the visitor quickly assess if the firm is relevant to the visitor���s need. Gender discrimination in the workplace can present itself in many ways so it���s difficult to list all of the common situations. But I felt the ones listed were a good enough to cover common scenarios.List relevant practice areas. Gender discrimination can sometimes crossover into other areas of workplace discrimination so we list other practice areas that may be relevant to the visitor. These are other keywords that we were competing for as well. Including them may help improve the Quality Score for the bidded keywords. Improved quality score means that we pay a lower cost per click for the keyword.Offer a Call To Action (CTA). All data shows that using a call to action will always improve conversions. Alot of people that just leaving a phone number or contact form will suffice. But you really need to direct the visitor and be explicit in what you���re offering. In our case, we want them to schedule a free consultation. We offer them the opportunity to either call us or fill out a form.Bold and Underline Where Necessary: It���s often said that people don���t read webcopy. They scan it. Bolding and underlining is key to keeping the attention of the reader while you guide them down the page.Social proof. While we stripped out those elements in the screenshot, it���s important to convey credibility. Showing previous cases that we won, final amount won for the client, and positive testimonials all go a long way. We also include logos of AVVO and Super Lawyers. Because all the cool lawyers are doing it.

Above and beyond all of these tried and true copywriting elements, I focused on one element more than any other. And that���s empathy.

Lawyers are seen as cold and calculated professionals. No offense to the lawyers reading this. Please don’t sue me! Warm fuzzies isn���t the first thing that most of us think of when it comes to lawyers. Regardless if you���re hiring a lawyer that specializes in DUI, divorce, or workplace discrimination, chances are, you���re probably experiencing stress and other negative feelings. It���s really important that lawyers put aside the ���matter of factness��� webcopy and empathize with the visitor���s current mental state. Show that you care. Speak to their needs. Not to your credentials.

Results

Avg 24% conversion and as high as 40%Cost per lead is $66

Note that workplace cases are often long and drawn out over many months. So I don���t have data on ROAS. But many cases, if won, can net a very high ROI.

 

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So, you���ve decided to invest some money into your online marketing, but with all the conflicting advice out there, how do you know if you should spend your hard earned dollars in a Google Adwords campaign, or on Facebook Ads?

Both offer you opportunities to reach more potential customers, improve your web traffic, and boost your sales. But, each work in very different ways, with different benefits and drawbacks. In this article, I���m going to break down both platforms, and help you decide which path is best for your business.

How Google Ads Could Benefit Your Business

With Google Adwords, you can promote your business to potential customers who are already searching for whatever it is that you���re selling. When they type your selected keywords into the Google search engine, your ad could appear right at the top of the results. It’s “intent-based” advertising.

a perfect example of Adwords and “intent-based” targeting

With Adwords, it���s super easy to target your content at bottom of the funnel (BOFU) customers. It���s going to be seen by people who are actively interested in you and your product. If someone is already searching a term related to your product, they are probably ready to spend some dollar and buy, buy, buy. There is less friction when marketing to people who are ready to buy now.

There���s also a confidence that comes with Adwords thanks to its market leadership position. The platform has been around for close to two decades already, and has no signs of disappearing. The brand familiarity of its name helps users feel confident both promoting their product, and being sold to.

The support system that���s in place to help users is also a huge advantage. The people over at Adwords have a live phone support system, so you can speak to a real person when you have any issues. No matter how Adwords savvy you are, sometimes a phone call is the only way to get to the root of the problem.

The backend dashboard is also super easy to navigate and allows you to dive into some advanced level optimization tactics to boot. You can use their tools to make sure that the right people are seeing your ad when they type in that little Google search box. You can optimize and target customers by any of the data points:

Device (mobile vs desktop vs tablet)DemographicsGeographyGenderIncomeAge groupInterests

Google has improved its backend dashboard greatly over the years

And, you get to tie all this together with the rest of the Google suite – Analytics, Search Console, and Google Data Studio. Having all of these tools connected so easily means you���re able to track customer journeys with more ease, tailor your tactics, and optimize the entire process seamlessly.

Why Google Adwords Isn���t Perfect

Nobody���s perfect though, right? And that goes for Google too. While it���s popularity may be great for bringing in an audience and instilling you with confidence, it also means alot of other businesses are using it too. More users = more competition. You’re not just competing against other businesses who choose to do it themselves. You’re competing against agencies and PPC professionals like myself who have years of knowledge and more experience than you would as a novice. So if you choose the DIY route, you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage.

Second, if you want to get your ads seen by the right people, your budget is going to need to be healthy enough to compete with others. Now mind you, I’ve dealt with small budgets and produced alot of bang for the buck. And there are plenty of DIYers who have done the same. But having a healthy budget gives you wiggle room to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. Whereas having a very small budget doesn’t give you alot of room for mistakes. And trust me, you will make mistakes as a novice.

Finally, Google Ads is the more expensive of our two options in terms of the CPC, or cost per click to those not in the know. The average cost per click on the platform is between $1-2, with some of the most expensive keyword categories costing up to $50. Unless you���re Adwords Yoda, and feel confident that you can convert these expensive clicks, you should be steering well clear of those keywords

From Wordstream, these are the most expensive keyword categories in terms of CPC. Note that these aren’t the CPC associated with a keyword but with keyword categories. Actual keywords will vary;

Insurance – $54.91Loans – $44.28Mortgage – $47.12Attorney – $47.07Credit – $36.06Lawyer – $42.51Donate – $42.02Degree – $40.61Hosting – $31.91Claim – $45.51Conference call – $42.05Trading – $33.19Software – $35.29Recovery – $42.03Transfer – $29.86Gas/Electricity – $54.62Classes – $35.04Rehab – $33.59Treatment – $37.18Cord blood – $27.80

In conclusion, Adwords is challenging due to several factors:

There’s alot of competitionIt’s not friendly towards businesses with small budgetsKeyword bidding can be expensive (due to the competitive nature mentioned in #1)Why Facebook Ads Could Help Your Business

The largest social network in the world, everyone and their grandmother is on Facebook now. You���re able to target people in a very precise way, which can help generate new customers who otherwise would never have considered you.

When I talk about Facebook Ads, I���m not just talking about a one-dimensional service revolving around text ads. The platform is filled with advanced search and social advertising tools such as Facebook Messenger, video ads, and even live video – giving you numerous opportunities to reach your target audience

Your ads will appear in the middle of people���s news feeds, giving you an opportunity to capture their attention. And, thanks to their excellent retargeting features, you���re able to expertly target your ads at both middle and top of the funnel consumers. This means that you can generate awareness of your product or service by targeting people who are in the top of the funnel. It���s also ideal for targeting middle of the funnel customers who are in the consideration phase of the sales cycle. If executed properly, your Facebook ads can move prospects who are in the MOFU stage to the BOFU stage quickly.

Facebook Remarketing

Someone browses your site but doesn���t buy? Do they fill their cart but abandon it? Facebook ads to the rescue! This is the perfect time to utilize the platform to keep reminding that almost customer and help them find their way back to you. We know that customers don���t always buy on the first visit and it can take a couple of visits before they purchase. Would you be willing to pay a few extra cents or dollars via Facebook remarketing ads to convert that prospect? Of course!

The usability factor is also a big plus for this platform. The interface is easy to navigate, and people usually find it much easier to set up a campaign on here compared to Adwords thanks to the whole ���do it yourself��� mentality associated with it.

Lurn is showing me this ad because I visited their website. Behold the power of remarketing!

 

Customization Through Hundreds of Data Points

The best thing though? The customization options. There are over a hundred data points that you can choose from when creating your target market. You can build a persona that includes statistics such as age, location, interests, professions, and likes. This amount of data means you���re able to get very precise with who you want to target while improving the success of your marketing campaign.

Cheap Cost Per Click

The average cost per click here is just $0.27 as well – much lower than with Adwords, which averaged $2.32. This makes Facebook cpc more than 80% cheaper than Adwords. This matters alot if you���re a beginner and just want to get your feet wet with paid advertising.

Why Facebook Advertising Isn’t Perfect

Despite some of the enticing elements to the platform, Facebook does have its drawbacks. While it has managed to survive the recent data privacy issues that have been floating around since the Cambridge Analytica scandal, there are some that have fled the platform because of it. It���s also cast a shadow of uncertainty over the social media giant as it continues to struggle with issues over privacy.

Time Intensive Creatives

There���s also a lot more work that needs to go into the actual content you���re using for your ad. On Google, it���s just a couple of lines of text which, while they are still super important, take much less time to produce. On Facebook, you need a properly developed marketing funnel along with a well-crafted lead magnet. People aren���t searching for your product, so you need to work a little harder to grab their attention and pull them in with effective creatives. Headline, main content, and the landing page all play an important role in creatives. This is far harder than what you would need to do on Google Ads.

You���ll also need to keep testing at every stage of your campaign. This, of course, takes time, money, and manpower to successfully run. This is in large part due to the abundance of targeting options available for Facebook ads. There are dozens of elements you can A/B test on before you finally find winning ad creatives. Sometimes too much choice can be a bad thing.

Business Manager is Cumbersome

While corporate has made significant strides to the Business Manager dashboard, there are still alot of complaints about the UI experience. Many advertisers report of glitches, bugs, and poor design issues that drives them crazy. As a Pay Per Click marketer myself, I can attest to the buggy nature of Facebook Business Manager. I almost want to smash my keyboard at times. I���ve found the Google Ads backend dashboard to be much friendlier and intuitive.

Poor Customer Support

If you run into any problems, your only option is to try and get the support through email. The back and forth can take some time to complete, and your problem can escalate quickly if a solution isn���t found soon enough. Without the speed and personal approach of a phone line, it can really cause your campaign to fall before it takes off.

What Skillsets Are Needed to Succeed with Google or Facebook Ads?

I just wrote alot about each platform along with their strengths and weaknesses. However, the one thing that hasn’t been discussed is your skillsets. It doesn’t matter which platform is best or worst unless you have the right skillsets to master them. There is a learning curve associated with both platforms. If you want to succeed at paid advertising, you will need the following skills in order to become successful:

Copywriting – A mediocre copywriter will write mediocre ads that never get clickthroughs to your website. A great copywriter will know how to get people to click on the ads. Those same copywriting skills will also need to be applied to the landing page copy. Mediocre copy will not know how to convert visitors into actual leads or sales. And this ultimately drives up cost. Great copywriting will convert those visitors into actual customers which ultimately will lower your cost per lead or cost per acquisition.Web design skills – You need to design landing pages that looks good in both mobile and desktop. You also have to make sure the webpage loads quickly so as not to deter visitors from leaving. Not to mention it’s your responsibility to ensure the landing pages flow in a natural order that encourages a visitor to take action.Marketer – This is more of a big picture skillset. It’s the ability to understand what motivates your customer and developing tactics that help influence purchasing decisions. It’s learning to look at the analyze the marketing canvas such as webcopy, landing page design, and multiple data points to help make logical marketing decisions.Learn the Interface – Google and Facebook makes their platform interface look deceptively easy. But there are alot of hidden features and layers to that only reveals itself if you are willing to do a deep dive into either platforms. Some have the patience to endure and learn the ins and outs. Some don’tAnalytics – Some people enjoy pouring over data and learning to make the proper analysis that will help drive their marketing tactics. Others can’t bear the thought of staring at data and trying to make sense of various metrics and acronyms like CPC, CPA, and ROAS. Which are you?Facebook Ads vs Google Ads. Which Is Better To Use?

I know conventional wisdom says that because Adwords cpc is higher than Facebook, one should choose Facebook over Adwords. But cost per click shouldn���t be the only factor in choosing a platform especially when there are other factors involved with successful paid advertising. No one is better than attracting potential customers who are ready to buy now than Google Ads. As an advertiser, there is something to be said about knowing what is going on in the head of a customer especially if I know they are ready to buy now. It takes less effort to market to these customers.

On the other hand, Facebook has powerful capabilities when you want to target potential customers across the entire marketing funnel from awareness to interest and then desire. Not even a search giant like Google can match Facebook���s ability to allow advertisers to target across more than 100 data points including psychographic, demographic, and interests.

Facebook has also shown to be a powerful tool when you want to retarget. All studies show that a potential customer will not initially buy upon landing on your website. It can take multiple visits or exposure to your business before they finally become a customer. Facebook���s powerful remarketing features can play a role in staying top of mind to potential customers until they are ready to buy. You can remarket with educational articles, creative videos, and discounts to help push customers further along the marketing funnel.

5 Questions To Ask To Help Decide if Facebook or Google Ads Is Best For You

What Is Your Business Goal?

If it���s to just generate brand awareness, then Facebook advertising is the way to go. If it���s to generate immediate leads or sales, then both can work.

What is Your Experience With Pay Per Click Advertising?

If it���s a little or none, then Facebook Ads is slightly friendlier than Google Ads. I emphasize slightly because to be really good at Facebook Ads, you have to really do a deep dive. I don���t want to misrepresent Facebook ads as a walk in the park and that anyone can succeed. Because they can���t.

What Is Your Budget?

If it���s small, then Facebook advertising is the preferred route. You can dip your toes in the shallow water and see how you fare. If you have a healthy budget, then it���s a toss up between both platforms and you may want to consider hiring a professional to manage the advertising for you.

How Many Touchpoints Do You Need To Acquire A Customer?

As mentioned, Google Ads is great for targeting customers with high intent to buy. However, if it���s going to take multiple visits to acquire a customer (and it usually does), you���ll need to consider to consider adding remarketing to your marketing funnel process. You can remarket through the Google Display Network (GDN). The primary challenge with GDN is that CTR rates is about 0.35% as of first quarter 2018. That���s abysmally low. The other remarketing opportunity is through Facebook Ads. I think this is the better route to go especially when you consider all of the advertising tools that Facebook gives you for remarketing. Lookalike audiences, messenger bots, and video ads are just several ways to stay top of mind to a prospect until they are ready to buy.

How Much Time Can You Dedicate To Learning About Paid Advertising?

This is a trick question because regardless of which platform you choose, you should expect to spend time learning about the platform and doing a deep dive. You can���t expect to just start spending money and succeed right off the bat. Both advertising platforms are very deep in functionality and opportunities. You should expect to spend time honing your tradecraft regardless of the ad platform you choose to go with.

 

 

 

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The following is a case study by Facebook marketer, Diego Campas. He?recently applied a lead generation and conversion strategy for a high-end restaurant in Peru and generated 113 reservations in 14 days of working with them!

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Here are my 4 key takeaways:

1) Always have a clear lead generation strategy:

An excellent way is to run a giveaway, but you could also do viral quizzes or other lead capturing methods.

If you are going to run a giveaway, keep in mind the following tips:

Make sure the prize is a good one, or at least that there is a clear high perceived value from it.In order to make the giveaway viral, make sure you ask the people to tag their friends, share it publicly in their walls and also add a registration link in order to capture the participants emails.Make sure your giveaway post shows the value of your giveaway. This will increase CTR and the number of participants.

Once the participants have tagged their friends and shared the post in their walls, they will go to the link to register their emails. The link will take the participants to a funnel.

FUNNEL: In order to increase your conversion rates, make sure it looks great and the instructions are clear.

Also if possible include pictures of the prize you will be giving away, as well as testimonies and information from your local business. After the participant opts in his email, the next stage is a “Thank you page”. In here you will ask people for the following:

Ask them to check their emails for a final verification step.Invite everyone to RSVP to a Facebook event (previously created) “SUPER GIVEAWAY”, which will take place in your local business the day of the giveaway. Mentiont that there will be additional surprises that day for the people that attend.

2) Lead nurturing strategy is the key to sales/reservations/conversions

For those you who believe in the power of email marketing, this is a great opportunity to use it. Depending on the budget you have assigned to your giveaway, you may be getting from 50 to 150 leads per day.

So what you have to do now is email your leads every single day. Make sure your emails:

Connect with your clients, touch their needs and desires for which they would go eat at your restaurant.Mixes value emails and offer emails (Try to include more value emails than offer emails because this is what will make customers trust you more)Always have a CTA in EVERY EMAIL. You never know when the lead will decide to make a reservation.

So for example, this is how your email sequence can look like if your client is a BBQ restaurant like mine was:

Email sequence 1- “Verification email”. In here I asked people to reply to the email asking for their birthday information and also whether they have eaten at the restaurant before. I got hundreds of replies from the participants.Email sequence 2- “Why does Gordom Ramsey mix red wine and meat?” (Value email)Email sequence 3- “This one trick will make your meat more delicious” (Value email)Email sequence 4- “If you had the chance to get a free wine for just eating at our restaurant, would you take it?” (Here is your chance to offer a bait) (Offer email)Email sequence 5- Value emails continue and from now on the bait is offered always mentioning the deadline. (Value email)

3) Take advantage of the high traffic in your facebook page;

If you are getting about 100 leads daily, you are also probably getting about 500 likes in your page by now, and LOTS of page views.

Whatever you post in your Fb page by now will get from 20 to 50 likes. This is a great opportunity to post about your business, services, products, etc. In the case of the restaurant, pictures of the delicious meals.

Make sure you always include a CTA. “Find us in xxx”.

4) Build up high expectations for the giveaway deadline date/offer:

Four days before the giveaway is over, start emailing and also posting in the Fb page about the soon to be expired offer. Also post this in the Facebook event, which by now probably has about 1000 RSVPs.

Lots of people will see the reservation link and will want to make their reservation. Additionally, create a Custom Audience of the people that has engaged with the page in the last 14 days, and create a Reach campaign targetting this audience into one of your best posts with a reservation link.

In the case of the restaurant, I added a Google form link to collect all the reservations. Boom! The last 4 days I got about 90 reservations out of the 113 collected.

Thanks to this strategy, now restaurant has reservations for almost everyday of the next months

Hope this helps you!

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In the world of online marketing, I segment lead generation activities into two departments:

Low hanging fruit – These are activities that you, a business owner, can do on your own without having to shell out a lot moneyHigh hanging fruit – These tend to take alot of time or money to execute on and it may be best to hire a specialist assuming you don’t have time

When it comes to claiming and optimizing your Google My Business listing to get more leads, consider this a low hanging fruit.

If you’re willing to spend several hours setting up your listing, then your work can pay dividends in the form of free leads. This guide will show you how.

Table of ContentsWhat is Google My BusinessHow To Claim a GMB ListingBusiness DescriptionInsights/AnalyticsMessagingQuestions and AnswersVideoPhotosGet More ReviewsSetting Up Your Service MenuLeverage Booking FunctionalityTips To Use Google PostsWhat is Google My Business?

Google My Business (or GMB for short) is a service business owners like you can use to create a listing for your business so that it is displayed on Google Search and Google Maps.

A GMB listing displays all kinds of useful information about itself to potential customers and searchers. You can see a business��� address, get their phone number, see reviews, get directions and more.

As an example, if you���ve searched for a restaurant on Google Maps or Search, you might have stumbled on a Google result like this:

This is a list Google shows when you search for restaurants. You���ll get similar looking results if you search for other kinds of businesses like barber shops, bookstores, malls etc.

Once you click on an option in the list or search for a business or restaurant by its name, you���ll get this kind of result:

This is what we call a business listing on Google, created using a service called ���Google My Business��� (GMB).

Because millions of people search for local businesses on Google every day, it���s a FREE way of doing advertisement.

Creating your own listing on GMB is easy. But there are many customizations you can make, which can make the process overwhelming.

I’m going to show how to take full advantage of GMB and use its many features to create an optimized listing for your business so you can get the phones ringing.

How To Claim Google My Business Listing

Before we get into the GMB optimization, let’s quickly overview how you can create your Google My Business profile.

Go to http://www.google.com/businessOn the upper right corner where it says, Start Now, click on that and log in with your existing Google account. The credentials is the same as your Gmail account. Note that the Google account you’re logging into is the one that will be associated with your GMB profile. So if you have multiple Google Accounts, choose carefully.Enter your company name along with the address.Quick Tip: Ensure NAP Consistency. NAP is an acronym for Name, Address, and Phone number. You want to make sure the NAP for your GMB listing is consistent across the profiles you have across the internet such as your Facebook page, website, Yelp, and others. Lack of NAP consistency can hurt your SEO because the search engines become confused when they find themselves indexing inconsistent NAPs across the internet.Choose the proper category for your businessQuick Tip: Put your business into multiple relevant categories. If you’re a landscaping and lawn care company, you add the following categories: landscaper, lawn care services, landscape designer, tree service. Leveraging multiple categories increases the chances of your listing being shown more as the category can trigger a user’s search results.Verify your business. Google gives you multiple verification methods including postcard, phone, email, and instant verification. If you’re not ready to verify yet, you can skip this step and come back to it later.1. Business Description

Business Descriptions is a GMB feature that allows you to tell people what your business is all about.

Here, you get 750 words to introduce your business, tell what services or products it offers, what makes it unique, its history and similar information.

This section isn���t meant for advertising or promotion (that���s what Google Posts are for which we���ll discuss below). It���s merely a place for you to tell people why they should visit your business.

Quick Tip: Even though your business description can be up to 750 words, make sure you offer compelling reasons why people should visit your business within the first 250 words. Because after the first 250 words, the rest of the description gets cut off – and lazy people (the majority) won���t read the rest!

2. Insights / Analytics

Insights has to be the most interesting feature on Google My Business (GMB).

Why?

Because it gives you a wealth of data regarding how your listing is performing. And who doesn���t love data?

Some data points shown in the Insights section of GMB are:

How People Are Finding You: You can see how many people found you by directly typing your business name or by searching for a service, product or category related to your business. In addition, you can also see how many people are searching for you on Google Maps vs Google Search.

What Actions They Take: After they find your listing, Insights can show how many people called you, went to your website, looked through your photos, etc.

Where They Are Coming From: This is a useful data point which will show you from which areas of the city your customers are coming from. By understanding the geographic makeup of your visitors, you can optimize your website for specific cities or subdivisions to improve your SEO. The data from Insights is based on from where people request directions to your business.

And that���s just the start. GMB Insights has a ton of smart data about your SMB listing you can use to further optimize your photos, description, posts and more.

For example, Google���s rolling out a new data point which shows you what keywords people are typing to find your business. This will be a goldmine of information, especially useful if you���re thinking of creating an SEO optimized website.

3. Enable Messaging

In addition to phone calls, customers can message you directly as using your GMB listing thanks to the new messaging feature.

Here���s how to turn it on:

Enable ���messaging��� from your GMB dashboard.Verify your phone numberSet up a welcome message

That���s it.

Many people don���t like talking on the phone and prefer the convenience of messaging which is why this feature is a welcome addition. But like some other features in here, it���s only available in certain countries only.

4. Questions and Answers

There���s a Q&A section on GMB listings that you shouldn���t ignore. Using Google Search and Maps, anyone can ask a question about your business, and similarly, anyone can answer that question.

That���s why it���s important you regularly check your GMB listing for any new questions and answer them before someone else does to avoid the possibility of incorrect information showing up on your GMB listing.

Unfortunately, there���s only one way to get notified of any new questions on your listing, and that���s by installing the Google Maps app on your Android Phone and turning on notifications (sorry, iOS users).

If you don���t have an Android, then it���s your job to manually check your listing and answer any new questions that might appear.

5. Video Optimization Tips For GMB

You can now upload videos related to your business in addition to pictures on your GMB listing. Videos are more accurate in showing what your business looks like to potential customers.

The requirements of uploading a video are simple:

It can���t be longer than 30 secThe video resolution should be 720p or higherThe file size should be less than 100 mbIt must be about your business or the people who work thereYou can���t use ready made stock videos, or they���ll get taken down (thank god, because they suck)

It���s worth noting that your customers will be able to upload videos of your business as well. But don���t worry, you can flag videos that are inappropriate and get them removed.

The reason why you should add videos to your GMB listing is because it���s the easiest way to stand out.

A small percentage of businesses are aware of this feature, which means if someone scrolls through your photos and sees a video, you���ll leave a lasting impression. Other than that, videos will influence your customers to know more about your business as well – and increase chances they will visit it.

Here are some ideas regarding what kind of videos to make:

Testimonials from customersA walkthrough of your business interiorShowing off your products or services in action6. Photos

The photo gallery is probably the most visited section of your GMB listing. People will view pictures of your business to help decide if they want to shop or do business with you.

There are three kinds of photos on a GMB listing:

Profile Picture: This is the most important picture of your business. Your profile picture will be shown as the first picture on Google Search, Google Maps, in the suggestions bar next to your competitors and more. Cover Photo: This picture will be shown as the cover on your Google+ profile and also alongside your business��� profile picture. Additional Photos: These can be any pictures related to your business such as interior, exterior, products, atmosphere and more. Google has a handy chart you can use as a guideline as to what kind of images to take related to your business.

According to Google, businesses that add new photos on their GMB listing get 35% more clicks to their websites and 42% more requests for directions to their location. And this leads to more customers!

7. Get More Reviews for Google My Business

It���s imperative you get good reviews for your business. Not only are reviews the first thing people see when they search for your business, but they also influence your ranking on Google Search and Google Maps.

To get reviews, you just have to ask your customers. But do it ethically. Don���t bribe customers for 5-star reviews in exchange for money, discounts or free products and services.

And any time someone leaves a review, be sure to respond. This leaves a good impression to potential customers and it encourages more to review you.

It���s important to realize that the review section isn���t something you can directly control. Just provide your customers will stellar services and this section will take care of itself.

8. Setting Up Your Service Menus

This feature was previously only limited to restaurants. But thankfully, the Google gods realized other businesses provide services as well.

Now businesses like barber shops, florists, and even digital agencies can use the service menu feature to list their own services along with the relevant price tag.

You can also divide your service menu into sections if you offer an extensive range of services. These sections can then house their own services so customers can more easily find what they���re looking for.

9. Booking Functionality

If your business focuses primarily on providing services – and require people to book appointments with you, you���ll love this feature.

Bookings in GMB allow you to add a ���booking��� button to your GMB listing. Using this, people can directly book your services online and pay for them. It���s a huge convenience feature which can drive customers to your company.

All you have to do is go to your GMB dashboard and click on ���Accept Bookings on Google��� option. Then you sign up for one of Google���s partner booking services.

And that���s it. After doing this, you���ll see a blue button on your listing.

Anyone who comes across your business will be able to directly book your services online. And you���ll get a dashboard through which you can track your revenue.

It���s a must-have feature for any service-based business, especially those in the beauty and fitness industry. This feature is available in the US and will be expanding to other countries. Only Google knows when.

10. Google Posts Tips

Google Posts are mini advertisements for your business. You can create posts to show off new products and services, promote special offers or to announce new events.

It���s important to keep creating new posts as they expire 7 days after they are created. And the end of each post, you can add a CTA with the following 5 buttons:

Learn MoreReserveSign UpBuyGet Offer

Here are some tips to keep in mind when creating a Google Post:

Google Posts can be up to 300 words long. Depending on the device, 80 to 100 words are shown, so make them countAdd pictures and videos to your posts, and use them to show off a special product, offer or announcementCreate new posts frequently as Google Posts expire after 7 days.Posts are not tied to Google Analytics so I recommend using the Google UTM builderImage dimensions is 750 x 750. The image should be centered so as to avoid being cropped too much on the left or right

Frequently posting on your GMB listing is totally worth the effort. That���s because they improve your ranking on Google Search and Maps.

New posts send a signal to Google that you���re an active business because of the fresh content. And when search engines crawl through your new content regularly, it improves your rankings on Google Search and Google Maps.

Here are some ideas regarding what kind of content you can write on your Google Posts:

Link to a fresh blog post or case study you wroteFeature a new sale or special offerPost a job openingAnnounce an upcoming eventPromote a new service or product you wish to highlight to get more exposureFinal Thoughts

But before you get started, if you haven���t already, follow the instructions in this support article and claim your GMB listing for your business if you haven���t already.

Then use the information in this article to optimize your Google My Business listing.

It���s important you do that because in today���s age, people increasingly use Google to search for local brands. According to research, 70% of people who search for a local business go visit a store within the same day.

That���s why maintaining your online presence matters. And besides, services like GMB is a free way for you to get new customers and insights about your business.