Why Google Ads might not be right for your business
Posted on 21st March 2024 at 07:36
Google Ads can be a great tool as part of your marketing strategy, but it doesn’t mean that it is the right one for your business. We regularly hear from clients that they would like to do Google Ads. Before we start setting up lots of campaigns, there are a number of things we need to consider. The last thing we want for them is to spend lots of money and not seeing a Return on Investment (ROI).
These are four keys areas that a small business needs to consider before starting any campaigns, if you click on the link below it will take you to that section.
1. Limited Budget & High-Cost Keywords
Problem: Some industries have high competition. So, what does this mean in terms of Google Ads campaigns.
The higher the competition, the higher the cost will be per click and per conversion. If you have a limited budget, you could end up using your daily budget in just a few clicks.
Example: A local plumber might think that “plumber near me” would be a good keyword to use. It has a high search volume per month 65,000 searches. The cost per click for this search term is likely to be at least £2. The other thing to consider is that not all clicks will convert to enquiries. Not all enquiries will be relevant. Not all enquiries will convert to sales. For a Google Ads Search Campaign, the conversion rate is on average between 3% and 6% (this is across all sectors). Which means if you have a limited budget, even if you have the best adverts and the best landing page, the likelihood is your competition will show their adverts above yours.
You can try and get clever with what keywords you are using for the campaigns and whether they are Broad, Phrase or Exact matches. But the chances of you receiving a good return on investment with a low budget is not that great. You must also consistently advertise with Google, pausing a campaign for a few weeks or months, is pretty much like starting again.
With your ROI, you also must consider the average cost of your sale or service. Again, if our plumber only does small plumbing jobs, then achieving a reasonable ROI will be hard as they need more conversions. Although if the plumber also installs new bathrooms, then the average value of the conversion to them will be higher. So, achieving a good ROI may be achievable, but only if the budget is sufficient.
Alternatives: There are a couple of options that we would suggest, if Google Ads is not going to provide you with a good ROI.
Social Media Advertising
If you still want to do paid advertising, then Social Media advertising is a cheaper option. So, if we stay with the plumber example, let’s assume that they only want small jobs and they are self-employed, so are only looking for leads for themselves. With Facebook advertising you don’t want to run an advert for longer than two weeks at a time, as performance drops off after that. So even if they decided to spend the same daily budget as they were planning on Google Ads, they only need to spend half the money each month. One campaign for 2 weeks. The advert reach can also be cheaper.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Having a website that organically ranks well on page 1 of Google, will give you free leads. Improving the SEO of your website takes time and isn’t an easy task. It takes a lot of work with the content, reviewing technical issues and building authority. There are also so many other factors to consider, but local SEO might help jump start that.
So, let’s meet our friendly plumber again. He has his own small business premises, just somewhere he can store his supplies and do his paperwork. He has a bricks and mortar business, he has a business address and he only wants to work within his local area.
This is where Local SEO can work well. If they optimise and use the Google Business Profile for their business, they may appear in Google Local Map Pack results. This is the 3 businesses listed below the map under the Google Ads. The great thing about the Local Map Pack is that it appears above the organic website listings. It also shows lots of information about the business, such as review information, whether the business is open, link to website or button to call, depending on whether it is a mobile or computer search.
2. Long Sales Cycle & Niche Audience
Problem: If your product or service has a long sales cycle, for instance a big music venue.
Most of the tickets sold for concerts at large venues are sold through reputable ticket selling websites. So even if the concert sells out quickly, the venue won’t be paid until after the concert.
Example: Let’s consider a lesser-known local musician. They will be booked by local pubs and venues, but they won’t be paid for the gig until after they have performed. They will also have a very small audience of potential customers, even if they are prepared to travel for gigs.
For our local musician, the ROI would take too long, and they can only take a certain amount of bookings, so Google Ads wouldn’t be worth the required investment.
Alternatives: There are a couple of options that we would suggest. If Google Ads is not going to provide you with a good ROI.
Email Marketing
This can be a great way to stay visible for both your existing customers and potential customers. How can our local musician do this effectively. They can build a contact list of all venues that they have played at, they can also add any venues that they would like to play at. This will help keep them at the forefront of the venues thoughts when they are considering booking artists for events.
Social Media Marketing
There are so many different social platforms that would work well for increasing the visibility and audience for a musician. Facebook, Instagram and TikTok can help build their following. They have a plethora of content that they can use, and video content is great on social media platforms. Also including short video clips from gigs that they have played at, short video clips of practicing and announcing open events that they are playing at. Then there is also YouTube, and the musician can utilise both the shorts option (under 60 seconds) and longer videos.
Neither Email Marketing nor Social Media Marketing need to entail any costs, other than the musician’s time. Even Email Marketing and CRM platforms that offer email marketing can have free options.
3. Building Brand Awareness
Problem: Google Ads is predominately focused on driving leads and sales.
If you want to improve your Brand Awareness, you would basically be throwing your money down the drain.
Example: A new local independent coffee shop is opening. They are opening in a business premises that used to be a restaurant. They want to do a lot of renovations, so won’t be opening for a few months, but want to create a buzz prior to opening.
Alternatives: For this type of business, they need think more local, so here are a couple of different marketing approaches that they could use.
Social Media Advertising
As a new business, the coffee shop won’t have any new followers on social media platforms, so it would be a good idea to do some social media advertising. Advertising will help to increase brand awareness and create a buzz. The campaigns should focus on coming soon and what makes them stand out from their competition. Are they using other local suppliers for their cakes or baking them in house every day. How amazing is their selection of coffees and teas, perhaps they are using a small independent local tea supplier.
Print Advertising
No, Print Marketing isn’t dead! They could erect their signage as soon as the renovations start. They could also block the windows with vinyl signage, announcing coming soon, along with more information about the coffee shop. A QR code to the social media pages or website could be incorporated into the window signage design. This will allow potential customers to follow the progress. The vinyl signage will also hide any of the renovation works, making the storefront more appealing that whitewashing the windows.
Also closer to the opening date, they could hand out flyers within the local area, with a discount code or giveaway for opening day/week. This will incentivise customers to visit them.
4. Don’t have time to manage Google Ads themselves
In this instance, if you would like to start advertising on Google then they should speak to a local marketing agency. They can set up and manage the campaigns for them.
If you would like to speak to us about whether Google Ads are right for your business or to discuss alternative solutions, please contact us.
Call us on 01604 698 948 or email hello@tj-marketing.co.uk
Tagged as: Google Ads, Marketing Strategy
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