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28
Jan, 2021
An Apple laptop placed in a local park displays the Google search engine

By OppGen

Generate Local Leads with Google’s Local Services Ads

Thanks to the advent of digital marketing, small and local businesses can advertise on an even playing field along with large companies, franchises, and corporations, helping them generate more leads at reasonable costs.

Google Ads has made targeting local leads seeking specific services easier than ever. But as Google Ads becomes more competitive and the cost per click rises in certain industries, it may be wise to look to other advertising options for generating local leads.

That’s where local services ads come into play.

Thanks to our specialties in certain markets such as law and real estate, OppGen got into local service ads early. As a result, we have a team that’s comfortable and experienced with creating and managing local services ads campaigns. Contact us for more information.

 

What are Local Services Ads?

Local services ads are a relatively new advertising options Google offers to certain kinds of businesses. Local services ads can help prospective customers in your area — local leads — find you and easily contact you for your business’s services.

 

What Kinds of Local Businesses Can Use Google Local Services Ads?

Google has an expanding list of local business types that can utilize their local services ads. As of January 2021, the following kinds of local businesses that can use Google local services ads include:

  • Appliance repair
  • Architects
  • Carpenters
  • Cleaners
  • Lawyers in the following practice areas: bankruptcy, business, contract, criminal, disability, DUI, estate, family, immigration IP, labor, litigation, malpractice, personal injury, real estate, traffic
  • Countertop services
  • Electricians
  • Event planners
  • Fencing services
  • Financial planners
  • Flooring services
  • Foundation services
  • Garage door services
  • Heating or air conditioning/HVAC
  • Interior designers
  • Junk removers
  • Landscapers
  • Lawn care
  • Locksmiths
  • Movers
  • Pest control
  • Photographers
  • Plumbers
  • Real estate agents
  • Roofers
  • Siding services
  • Tax services
  • Tree services
  • Videographers
  • Water damage services
  • Window cleaners
  • Window repair services

Note that the list is likely to update periodically, so keep an eye on Google’s local services ads support page for the most up-to-date information.

 

Benefits of Google Local Services Ads

Google local services ads have many benefits that other digital advertising options do not, such as:

 

You Only Pay for Results

This is the biggest advantage Google local services ads offers compared to other digital advertising channels. Most ad channels rely on a pay-per-click (PPC) model, which requires you to pay whenever a lead clicks an ad, regardless of whether or not they convert (i.e., fill out a form, make a purchase, schedule an appointment, etc.). It’s entirely possible for a lead to click on an ad and do nothing else from there.

Google local services ads use a pay-per-lead model, which means you only pay for leads related to your business. Here, leads are defined as prospects who call the phone number listed on your local services ad. In the event in which you end up with an unrelated or bad lead, you can dispute that lead with Google and get the money you lost on that lead back.

 

More Options for Your Business’s Budget

Local services ads offer 2 budgeting options, allowing you to select the option that works best for your local business and its budget.

 

  1. Maximize leads: You can set a weekly budget with the goal of getting the highest volume of leads possible.
  2. Pay per lead: You can set the highest amount you’re willing to pay per lead. Google will then provide an estimate based on the market of how much you can expect to spend in a week and how many leads your business may receive.

 

Higher Visibility

To create local services ads, you’ll need to set up a Google My Business page. When you create this page, make sure that your phone number is correct because the ads will use the phone number listed on your Google My Business page.

Local services ads are located at the top of Google search results pages (SERPs), which makes them easy for prospects to find. They’re placed in a higher position than Google search ads, which is a huge advantage.

These ads are set in a slideshow-like format, displaying the top 3 relevant services in your area. To view more ads, you click the “more” button.

Ideally, you’ll want to rank in the top 3 ads. Your ranking is determined by these factors:

  • How close you are to prospects’ physical locations
  • Your reviews and the number of reviews you have
  • Responsiveness to customers through the Local Services Ads app
  • Business hours
  • Whether or not Google has received serious or several of the same complaints about your business
  • The context of a prospect’s search (search history and terms, when they searched, and other signals)

To land a spot within the first 3 ads, make sure your local business is listed under the relevant type of business, encourage your clients to write reviews, give excellent service, and respond quickly and efficiently to customers.

Some of these factors are out of your control to some extent, such as the prospect’s location or when they searched for relevant services (you can’t control when a prospect searches for a service outside of your business hours). 

Still, focus on what you can control (relevant listing, reviews, excellent service, and quick responses), and you’ll likely end up in a good position!

 

Compete on a Local Level

With paid search on Google, you may not be able to rank as high easily depending on your specific industry. For example, the cost per click for personal injury law ads on Google’s SERPs are among some of the most expensive. Just one single click on one of these search ads can deplete a monthly budget! Not to mention you may be facing more difficult competition with companies competing for the same or similar keywords, and some of these businesses may have larger marketing budgets, so the cost per click isn’t a huge concern for them. If there’s a lead that falls through and doesn’t get back to them, it’s not nearly as much of a loss as it would be for smaller businesses at the local level.

With local services ads, you don’t have to worry about competing with bigger national businesses — you’ll be competing within a smaller, more balanced level with nearby businesses. If you happen to be the only business within a certain area offering a certain service, that means you’ll likely find yourself generating more leads. And even if there are more businesses like yours, not all of them are aware of this new ad type that can put you on top!

 

Verified Badge

All businesses that want to start using Google local services ads are required to undergo a background check. The required information for background checks varies depending on the type of business you have. For example, if you’re a lawyer, you’ll have to prove that you and your fellow lawyers have passed the bar. 

Having a checkmark next to your business’s name adds credibility to your business, which will help people seeking your services trust you and be more likely to reach out.

 

No Landing Page or Website Required

Although we can’t stress the importance of having a website for your business enough, not all small or local businesses have one. If you’re interested in a website for your business, please contact us to request more information.

If you’re website-averse but still want to get into digital advertising, local services ads are the perfect option.

Landing pages or websites aren’t necessary with Google local services ads. Rather than submit their information for an appointment through a landing page, leads can book an appointment or schedule services through Google local services ads. 

 

Contact OppGen to Generate More Local Leads

OppGen is a digital marketing agency located in Columbus, Ohio, that has helped several businesses at both local and national levels generate more leads. We’ve helped our clients by setting up Google My Business accounts and assisting them with the Google local services ads background check process, among other digital marketing services. 

We would be more than happy to help you get started. Contact us today for more information.

19
Nov, 2020
google search console view

By OppGen

SEO vs. PPC

A fairly common question those who are learning about digital marketing strategies ask is, “Which one is better: SEO or PPC?”

That’s not a simple question to answer. It’s one that’s actually complex and fairly nuanced, and at the end of the day, it really depends on several factors. We can help you determine if SEO or PPC or a combination of both is the best solution for your lead generation goals. Contact us to learn more.

First, let’s review some of the basics of SEO and PPC before pitting them against one another. 

 

What are SEO and PPC?

Both SEO and PPC are digital marketing strategies that rely on using search engines like Google and Bing.

 

What is SEO?

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of optimizing a website and its content to rank higher on relevant search results for certain keywords. The end goal of SEO is to have pages on your website rank high on search engine results pages (SERPs), ideally on the first or second page.

To do this, you need:

  • a fast website that works well on mobile devices
  • your business’s name, address, and phone number listed in local directories and Google My Business
  • relevant content that is valuable to your target audience and includes keywords phrases they may search for
  • positive reviews, social media accounts for your business, and a link-building strategy

When all of these things are combined, search engines take notice and will push a website higher in the SERPs, making it more likely to be found and viewed when prospects search for relevant keywords.

This means you’ll have to research keywords and phrases and how difficult they are to rank for using a website like ahrefs or SEMrush, both of which allow you to track current SERP rankings as well as where your website and its pages are located on SERPs. Staying up to date on new industry findings and creating content around that information can also be a way to rank well.

Also, SEO is heavily dictated by search engine algorithms, and these algorithms change and update every so often. Search engines, with Google in particular, will not disclose the changes, leaving SEO experts to have to experiment and guess why the SERPs rankings change.

OppGen’s team of SEO experts can take some of the guesswork out thanks to their years of experience in the industry. Learn more about our SEO services by contacting us today.

 

What is PPC?

PPC is an acronym for “pay per click,” which is a type of digital advertisement that incurs a cost whenever a prospect clicks on the ad.

PPC has two main forms: search ads, which appear on search engine results pages (SERPS); and display ads, which are visual banner ads that are shown on certain websites that either have relevant content or take a user’s search history into account.

PPC involves a keyword bidding process that will determine where your ad is placed on the SERPs (i.e., the top or bottom of Page 1 of a Google search with a search ad) and the cost per click (CPC). Bidding too low on keywords can result in a less visible ad placement, but too high can drain your budget. PPC allows you to set a budget and won’t go over that budget. But when that allotted budget is emptied, the search engine will stop displaying your ads.

PPC ads can be displayed only to people in specific locations during set times of the day. You’ll also select how specific the keywords you bid on have to be in order to match a search. This is called a match type.

There are three match types:

  1. Broad match: Displays ad when keyword is used and includes variations
  2. Phrase match: Displays ads when someone searches for your exact keyword phrase or close variations of that exact phrase
  3. Exact match: Displays ads only when searchers enter the exact same keyword(s) into the search engine, in the exact order if it’s a phrase

Google also has an option that prevents your ad from being displayed when the connected keywords include certain words. This feature conveniently prevents prospects who aren’t seeking your services from being able to click on your ad and essentially wasting the cost of that click.

With PPC, you want to make sure you’re helping the right prospects find your business at a CPC you can afford while also being competitive enough for those prospects to find your ad. 

OppGen’s team of PPC analysts can help you do just that. Reach out today for more information.

 

SEO vs. PPC: What’s the Difference?

Before getting into what the differences between SEO and PPC are, let’s talk about the similarities first.

  • Both SEO and PPC are digital marketing strategies that rely on search engines like Google and Bing
  • Both of them can increase website traffic for your business, which has the potential to turn into actual foot traffic into your business’s physical location
  • SEO and PPC have the ability to create brand awareness
  • They also both rely on keywords, but in pretty different ways

Now, regarding the differences between the two:

 

SEO is Organic; PPC is Not

When we say that SEO is an “organic” strategy, we’re not talking about it being untouched by chemicals or anything considered “unnatural.” In this context, organic simply means it is unpaid. SEO does not require you to pay a search engine for a better placement.

PPC, on the other hand, requires a financial investment. After all, PPC stands for pay per click, which explains how the payment system of these ads work.

 

PPC is a Form of Paid Advertisement; SEO is Not

At the most basic explanation, PPC requires paying a search engine to place your business’s advertisement in an ideal position. PPC is a bit more complicated than that, because a keyword bidding system determines where the ad’s placement.

SEO is not a form of advertising you pay a search engine for. SEO is entirely on you to ensure your website is the best quality it can be in just about every regard: speed, accessibility on mobile and desktop devices, and the quality of the content you create and upload to your site, as well as the keywords you want to rank for. It doesn’t require a single cent, though we recommended that you invest in a keyword research website like ahrefs or SEMrush, both of which can give you an idea of how difficult it can be to rank for certain keywords.

 

PPC is Better for a Short-Term Strategy

SEO takes more time and effort to optimize and get the results you want.

Although it isn’t instant, PPC does get quicker results, and once you get a grasp on how it works and how to better optimize it, you’ll see even more results, potentially at a lower cost per click.

 

SEO Builds Credibility and Trust

Nearly 40% of people are more likely to click on an organic search result link than a search ad because, well, that top link on Google isn’t paid for. That means it is a trusted resource that earned its place on the first page, and that’s why they’ll click on it. They trust Google to pull up the best results, and those best results are on Page 1 for a reason, and those are the sites that get more traffic.

Building up credibility and trust through your content and business reviews is a must with SEO, and though it is a lot of work, it will reward you with more leads as you boost your way up the ranks.

 

Which is Better: SEO or PPC?

Neither PPC nor SEO is necessarily better than the other. It really depends on your business’s goals and needs, as well as the industry you’re in. OppGen Marketing can help you figure out which option is right for your business. Contact us for more information.

The following breakdown of pros and cons of both SEO and PPC can help you better determine which one is best for your business:

 

SEO Pros

  • Helps local prospects find you
  • Builds credibility and trust
  • Increases organic traffic
  • Sustainable
  • Higher clickthrough rate (CTR) than PPC and more clicks than PPC (at no cost!)

 

SEO Cons

  • Long-term strategy that takes time and effort
  • Results not instant (may take up to 6 months or more to start seeing results)
  • Never-ending effort to create the best content and user experience
  • Requires keyword research, staying up to date with search engine algorithm updates

 

PPC Pros

  • Intended to generate leads from local prospects
  • Fast results
  • Targets more specific audiences
  • Gathers prospect and lead data
  • Easy to test ads to maximize CTR
  • Not affected by algorithm updates

 

PPC Cons

  • Costs more in certain industries
  • Not the most sustainable strategy
  • When budget is empty or you decide to stop doing PPC, ads stop displaying and the number of leads will drop

 

We believe that SEO and PPC complement one another, and when combined as part of a digital marketing strategy, they can achieve the best results.

While PPC can give you a good starting place for getting leads, it is not a good sustainable long-term option. If you decide to stop using PPC, then there’s a very good chance that you may stop getting leads.

If you utilize SEO while you’re getting leads through PPC, you can slowly begin to build a more steady influx of traffic that will also pull in leads, and at no cost to you.

 

Not Sure if You Need PPC or SEO or Both? Contact Us for Guidance on the Best Options

Depending on your industry, advertising budget, and business goals, SEO or PPC may be better for you than the other; or it could be that both digital marketing strategies are worth the investment.

At OppGen, a digital marketing agency, we work with many different and highly specialized businesses in a number of industries to help them generate more leads. We offer both SEO and PPC services, and we can help you determine which strategies are most effective for your business.

Start today by filling out our free digital audit, or contact us for more information.

28
Sep, 2020

By OppGen

Google Local Service Ads for Personal Injury Lawyers

What Are Local Service Ads?

When you search for something like “personal injury lawyer near me,” Google will use your location to pull up the nearest results. The search engine results page (SERP or SERPs) will then display those results. The first thing you’ll see on that SERP is a series of three boxes with local personal injury law firm names, information, and phone numbers. Below that, you’ll see text-based search ads. And last but not least, you’ll see a map displaying the locations of nearby personal injury lawyers.

 

 

Those three boxes are a relatively new feature: local service ads. Google made local service ads with the intention of helping local businesses that don’t have robust websites or don’t have a website at all have a digital presence to generate leads from. All it takes is having a Google My Business page and going through a screening process.

But this doesn’t mean businesses that do have a robust website aren’t allowed to use local service ads. In fact, all businesses that can use this feature should be using it.

 

What Does This Have to Do With Personal Injury Law?

Because local service ads are a relatively new feature, they aren’t available for all business types to use. They’ve been used for more “emergency” type services, like plumbers or electricians. Lawyers are a relatively recent addition, but not all legal practice areas are available to use it yet.

But the good news is if you have a personal injury law firm, Google just opened up the doors for PI law firms like yours to utilize its local service ads feature.

OppGen Marketing can set up and run a local services ad campaign for your personal injury law firm. Contact us for more information.

 

Google Local Service Ads Management Platform

While all of Google Ads’ advertisement types (YouTube, search ads, display ads, etc.) are managed using the same platform, their local service ads are done elsewhere.

It’s much simpler than Google Ads, which makes it more appealing and more comfortable for those who aren’t as familiar with Google Ads and similar ad management platforms. Plus, the Google Local Service Ads platform allows business owners and marketers to pay only when a lead is generated versus other advertising products that do not guarantee a business conversion.

 

Requirements for Google Local Service Ads

In order to have a Google Local Service Ads profile, you need to have the following items set up:

 

Business Photo

You can upload photos related to your personal injury law firm. You can select a business photo to be used as a cover photo for your account’s profile. The image content must be related to your personal injury law firm.

Business photos are required to meet the following standards:

  • JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, ICO, or WEBP file types
  • High quality resolution of at least 640 x 640px
  • Max file size of 10 MB
  • Cover photo aspect ratio of 16:9 with a minimum size of 1440 x 810px
  • You must own the copyright to all images
  • Cannot include trademarked items, watermarks of other businesses, text, personal information, transparent backgrounds, clients or customers, or frames, borders, or collages

 

Headshot Image

You’ll need a headshot image for your law firm. The headshot must be an image of a person who works at your personal injury law firm. Keep in mind you can also add headshots of individual lawyers that will show up on the profile page.

All headshot images must meet the following requirements:

  • JPEG or PNG file type
  • High quality resolution of at least 500 x 500px
  • Max file size of 10 MB
  • Square aspect ratio
  • You must own the copyright for all images
  • Must be an image of someone who works at your personal injury law firm
  • Must show only head and shoulders
  • Face must be centered and looking at camera
  • Has a neutral background
  • Does not have text
  • Does is not in black and white or have excessive color filters

 

Background Check

For background checks, Google has partnered with local background checkers. These background checks are free to your personal injury law firm and the results are confidential.

The level and depth of background checks varies from service to service. For personal injury lawyers, Google’s local background check partners look at the following areas:

  • Owner check
  • Business check
  • Malpractice insurance
  • State bar license checks for each lawyer employed at your personal injury law firm

Owner background checks focus mainly on identity and criminal history (i.e., sex offender, terrorist and sanction registries). If there are multiple owners, all owners will have to undergo these background checks.

At the business level, these checks will look at things like civil litigation involving your personal injury law firm at the federal, state, and local levels.

For personal injury lawyers, malpractice insurance may also be required, though this varies from state to state.

Though this may seem like a lot to go through just to get your personal injury law firm to be listed as a local business ad, it’s going to be worth it.

 

Business License

As part of being on Google Local Service Ads, you’ll have to give Google your business license information.

Google’s background check partners will look into business licenses and business insurance, so make sure all of these items are up to date and correct — if you fail the background check the first time, you’ll have to wait 30 days before applying again. If you fail a second time, you’ll have to wait 1 year before reapplying.

Double- and triple-check all of your information to make sure it’s 100% correct before sending it over to Google.

 

Customer Reviews

Google will take your Google My Business page’s customer reviews into account when reviewing your status. It really pays off to have a lot of positive reviews, so be sure you’re encouraging clients to review your personal injury law firm if you aren’t already doing that.

 

Bidding and Budget

The bidding and budget system for local service ads are a little different. You’ll give Google your budget — how much you’re willing to spend — and Google will come up with a number for how many leads they can find for a certain price. Unlike PPC, these ads charge on a per-lead basis. Google allows services that are using this platform to dispute junk or spam leads, so you can get your money back if that happens, which is a very nifty feature.

 

Billing Information

You’ll have to make sure you have up-to-date billing information so Google can charge you whenever you get a lead. This can be done through a pre-existing Google Ads account or you can add a new credit card.

 

Lawyers

This requirement is specific to law firms (this feature has been open to some law firms and has just added personal injury law firms). You will give Google information for each of your practice’s lawyers: their names, state bar license checks and bar exams, and specialty areas.

Specialty areas are going to be one of the most important spots for personal injury law firms. Personal injury law has a lot of subcategories, and the more specific you can be about what areas your lawyers excel in, the better it will be for those seeking legal help in those areas.

 

Local Service Ads Step by Step

Step 1: Log in to Local Service Ads

Use Gmail account credentials here: https://ads.google.com/local-services-ads/

 

Step 2: Create Local Service Account

If you are a new advertiser, then select the option shown in the screenshot below. If your law firm already has a Google Ads account, then please select the second option. Google may use billing information associated with your existing Google Ads account for Local Service Ads.

Step 3: Create Your Profile

 

Business Details

In this section, Google will request business details as shown in the screenshot below.

Setting Up Your Service Area

If your law firm’s footprint is local and you would like to focus your investment in a specific area, this section becomes very important in setting that up.

You can select a zip code, city, or state as the service area for your law firm. We recommend starting with zip codes and city since that allows for a more targeted approach.

Setting Up Your Service Types

For personal injury attorneys, it is common to break down their service types into categories such as car accident, medical malpractice, slip and fall, etc. In this section Google would like to know more about your service types so ads can show on more relevant keywords.

Please select the service types that apply to your business.

This section also requests a professional license verification acknowledgment.

Business Hours

Since Local Service Ads operate on your law firm’s ability to actively take a phone call, it is important to have your business hours set up. This allows a prospect to connect with a representative immediately after they have called.

 

Ad Preview

It’s important to see what your ad is going to look like to people searching on Google for your law firm’s services. Here is an example of how it will be shown:

 

Step 4: Business Verification

As mentioned earlier in the article, you are going to need various details and assets to complete the Google screened process. This will include:

  • Headshot for your ad
  • Lawyer license
  • Background check
  • Customer reviews from Google My Business
  • Bidding and budget
  • Billing information
  • Lawyer profiles

Headshot for Your Ad: Please reference this link for photo guidelines on your headshot. Once you have found a compliant photo, upload it through the “choose file” button.

Lawyer License: Please have your license number and expiration date ready to complete this section. This takes up to 2 days to verify.

Background Check: Google is using Evident as their partner to conduct background checks. Sign in using your Google account through this link.

Customer Reviews: Reviews for your law firm can be pulled in from your Google My Business listing. You will need at least 1 review to get started with LSAs.

Bidding and Budget: Based on how much you would like to invest, you can set up a weekly budget for your ads through this section. This section also allows you to pick between a maximize leads bidding strategy versus a maximum per lead strategy. Both strategies are effective in driving phone calls. However, Google recommends the maximize leads strategy for any new account.

Billing Information: In this section, you will be asked to add billing details where advertising spend will be charged. This is typically done by adding a valid credit card.

Lawyer Profiles: Based on the number of attorneys practicing law in your firm, you can create their profiles in this last section. Details such as their license number, expiration date, and headshots are required to complete the process.

By following this step by step process, receiving verification, and passing the background check, your law firm should be able to advertise on Google through Local Service Ads.

 

Contact Us for More Information

For more information on Google Local Service Ads and how they can help your personal injury law firm, contact OppGen today. We will be more than happy to help walk you through the screening process step by step, and show you how this new advertising option can do your law firm a lot of good in finding new cases and clients.

25
Jun, 2020

By OppGen

Google Ads Policy Update for Home Builders

On June 11, 2020, Google Ads announced a policy update that would remove advertisers’ abilities to target or exclude specific audience criteria for housing, employment, and credit industries. 

According to Google, the policy will go into effect in the United States and Canada with a roll-out plan starting from now until the end of 2020. At its core, this update is geared toward protecting sensitive consumers from exploitation, as these industries can be deemed as “need-based.” This isn’t groundbreaking. In 2019, Facebook instituted a similar policy for the same industries. 

Let’s uncover how this may impact advertisers in the home building and housing segments along with strategies that can help overcome our ability to maintain or improve prospect qualification. 

 

What Does the Google Ads Policy Update Entail?

Google Ads has already prohibited targeting users based on race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, and other demographics related to identity, beliefs, sexuality, or personal hardship.

For advertisers offering employment, housing, and credit opportunities, Google will implement further ad targeting restrictions using the following information:

 

Zip Code

Zip code will no longer be an option for targeting ads in these industries. This may be the biggest change that will affect home builders since location is a key component for finding prospects who wish to move into their communities.

 

Gender

While targeting ads based on users’ sexual orientation was already prohibited, gender was not. For most advertisers, this will still be an ad targeting option; however, for home builders, it will not be anymore.

 

Age

Age won’t be an area for these industry advertisers to use for ad targeting or exclusions. This  means that advertisers will be unable to segment out age groups based on a product that is being offered. 

 

Parental and Marital Statuses

Married couples with children are more likely to buy a newly built home than unmarried adults, with or without children. This can be viewed as a vulnerability that advertisers can exploit, thus their ability to do so is being sunsetted. 

 

When Does This Policy Go Into Effect?

Google intends to roll this policy out as soon as possible. If not, the updated Google Ads policy should go into effect at the end of the year.

 

How Will This New Google Ads Policy Affect Home Builders?

Savvy marketers in the home building industry typically utilize all available targeting options to ensure that the most qualified prospects — based on their financial status, location and needs — are able to shortlist the homes that they are most interested in. 

Furthermore, the housing industry has an array of products that satisfy consumers in different age ranges. From single-family homes that younger couples can grow into to active lifestyle communities for empty nesters, age is a major criteria in targeting the most relevant audiences. 

Google’s new policy update will disable these targeting options and will force marketers to become creative in their pursuit of honing in on the best prospects by prioritizing end-to-end user experience.

We believe that an overhaul of digital assets used for advertising such as marketing copy, imagery, videos, and website experience will become more contextual now than ever before to offset this change. 

 

What is OppGen Doing to Prepare for This Update?

We are more than prepared for this update and the changes it entails for our paid search ad clients, especially those in the home builder industry.

For starters, we run paid social ads on Facebook, which already implemented a similar update in March 2019, and we continue to see a great deal of success from our Facebook ads for new home builders. 

We’ve also found that Google Ads’ targeting options from a demographic standpoint simply aren’t as detailed as they are on Facebook, especially on search. Facebook’s user base is limited to its registered users who give their data upon registration and continue to use the platform. 

Google, on the other hand, is used by more than just people logged into Gmail accounts. Almost anyone with access to the internet can use Google to find what exactly it is they’re looking for. That’s why the keywords you’re using for when creating Google Ads are far more important than the audience you’re targeting. You want to think about what phrases and keywords your prospects are using when searching for your services, and create ad copy that is compelling to them as well.

Based on our data, 30% to 40% of users that are searching for products and/or services on Google fall into an unknown category. This category consists of people who are not logged into their Gmail accounts or are browsing in incognito mode. In these cases, Google is unable to attribute their basic demographic information. According to the nature of Google search, it is safe to assume that even before the update, marketers did not have 100% visibility into their target audience’s demographics on Google. Moving forward, this will be the new normal.

While a zip code can be very effective for specific locations, you will still be able to advertise within a specific radius, which can include the zip code you want to focus your marketing efforts on.

As user privacy continues to be a priority in the advertising landscape, we are devoting our time toward creating more contextual experiences that are personalized to each category of users. Although this requires a greater degree of effort through the customization of ads, landing pages, and websites, it is done to make the user experience more efficient. 

These changes will also encourage businesses to streamline their sales processes after a prospect has reached out to their business. In the long run, focusing on providing a seamless web experience from start to finish will win out versus the targeting capabilities of advertising channels.

11
May, 2020

By OppGen

12 Reasons Why Small Businesses Need Digital Marketing

If your small business doesn’t already have a digital marketing strategy in place, then it’s time to start making one.

Understandably, you may be reluctant to put some of your small business’s budget into digital marketing. Rather than thinking about it as a cost, think of it as an investment in your small business — an investment that, when carried out properly, is worth more than the initial investment. If you’re not investing in digital marketing, you actually could be losing more in the long run.

And that’s just one reason why your small business needs digital marketing, and there are several more reasons than that.

 

1. Digital Marketing Evens the Playing Field

Small businesses typically lack the resources to create commercials of Super Bowl quality. Depending on the size of a small business and its available resources, a billboard or radio ad may be out of the question.

But digital marketing is an area where small businesses can be on the same level as their larger commercial competitors. The barrier to entry is low, and provided small businesses are able to run a successful campaign, they are likely to reap the benefits of digital marketing.

 

2. There’s a Wide Variety of Digital Marketing Options

Newspaper ads, posters, billboards, and local radio spots and TV commercials are traditional marketing avenues that don’t offer a lot of variety and fail to garner as much attention as they once did.

Thankfully, digital marketing has a plethora of options and fewer limitations on creative freedom, and the OppGen Marketing team excels in this field. Contact us for more information.

 

Search Ads

Paid search ads, are text ads shown on search engines like Google or Bing that are tied to keywords consumers search. What makes search ads so effective is that consumers using search engines are further down the marketing funnel. They’re not at the stage of awareness. They’re interested and are considering taking action for whatever it is they’re searching for.

Businesses are typically charged each time a consumer clicks on a search ad. The cost per click (CPC) varies and is based on a bidding system. Businesses bid on how much they feel a certain keyword is worth, and the amount businesses spend per click determines their position on search engine pages.

Search ads are geotargeted, which means these ads are sensitive to a consumer’s location. As a result, it will only display ads to consumers in locations selected by the business itself. For example, if your small business has one location in Columbus, Ohio, then you would want to ensure the people clicking on your search ads are in the Columbus area.

 

Display Ads

Display ads are another form of search ads, though unlike their text-only counterparts, they are much more visual. They use images and video and come in a wide variety of sizes.

Display ads are typically run through search engines and are also linked to keywords like search ads are. Rather than appear on search engines, display ads appear on websites that are related to the topic a consumer searches.

Payment-wise, display ads are run on a cost per thousand impressions (CPM) model, which means your business will be charged for every 1,000 views an ad has.

 

Social Media Ads

Paid social media ads are found on social media sites, like Facebook and Instagram. They use a combination of text and visuals and have even more variety than display ads do. Facebook, for example, allows carousel ads, video ads, collection ads, and more. 

Like PPC ads, Facebook allows you to set a budget and bid on keywords to determine how much you’ll pay for its ads.

Paid social ads use both CPC and CPM payment models, depending on the kind of ad you decide to run for your small business.

 

SEO

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is an organic form of digital marketing, which means it doesn’t require paying a search engine or social media site. SEO is the practice of creating a website that ranks high on search engine results pages (SERP). Ideally, you want your website to be on the first or second pages of Google; it’s pretty rare for consumers to go beyond the second page.

At the very least, SEO requires your small business to have a quick, mobile-friendly website and someone with the ability to create thorough original content about topics related to your business’s offerings. It helps to have tools like Ahrefs to track keywords consumers use to find businesses like yours. Ahrefs tracks page rankings, how difficult it will be to rank for a certain keyword, keyword search volume, and more.

 

3. Digital Marketing Expands Small Businesses’ Reach

Due to all of the digital marketing channel options, it’s easier than ever to reach different consumers in multiple places at the same time. Some consumers may be at different parts of the marketing funnel, but there are several digital marketing approaches that can be used to reach them.

For consumers at the top of the funnel (awareness and interest) who may have visited your small business’s website but did not take any action beyond the home page, you can create display ads for these consumers. This is referred to as remarketing or retargeting, and it’s a highly effective way to keep your small business’s brand at the forefront of people’s minds.

 

4. Digital Marketing is Cost-Effective 

Google conservatively estimates that for every $1 a business spends on Google Ads, that business makes $8 in profit through Google Ads and Search — an impressive increase from Google’s earlier research that reported $2 in revenue for every $1 spent.

A Wordstream study found that the average cost for Google’s search and display ads across all industries were $2.69 per click and $0.58 per thousand impressions, respectively; Wordstream also found that Facebook ads average $1.72 per click across all industries.

Digital marketing costs less than traditional ad channels and allows you to place a cap on how much to spend. It’s clearly the superior route to take when it comes to how much you’re investing to advertise your small business.

Contact OppGen Marketing to learn more about just how cost-effective digital marketing can be.

 

5. Digital Marketing Targets Multiple Audiences at Once

A print advertisement in the local newspaper typically targets one audience. The problem with this and other traditional forms of marketing is that they miss out on reaching your other audiences.

You can multiple digital marketing campaigns at once for different audiences via different channels, and this can become very specific and granular depending on which marketing channel you’re using.

During our complimentary strategy session, we’ll discuss what options are available and may work best based on your target audiences. Request a complimentary strategy session here.

 

6. Digital Marketing Keeps Consumers Engaged

In some cases, quantity isn’t everything. The quality of customers matters, too. In times of economic downturn, you might not be able to rely on occasional customers; you may have to rely on a loyal base of customers instead.

Keeping customers engaged with content, whether it be on your blog or your small business’s social media accounts, can keep them coming back to support your business.

 

7. Digital Marketing Boosts Conversion Rates

In digital marketing lingo, a conversion is another term for a goal. Conversions can be several different things: leads, purchases, newsletter subscriptions, engaging with content, visiting specific web pages, and so on.

Whatever your small business’s goal is, digital marketing makes it easy to track conversions and make optimizations to your digital marketing campaign that can boost overall conversion rates.

 

8. Digital Marketing has Quantifiable Results

Unlike traditional marketing methods, the results of digital marketing can be quantified. You can see the exact numbers, data, and statistics showing the state of your campaign. You can see how many people have “bounced” from your website, the number of people who have converted, and calculate an accurate return on investment. There’s no guessing how many people bought products or signed up for a newsletter — the data is there.

 

9. Data Can Be Used to Improve Marketing Campaigns

Having quantifiable data can give you some idea of where your digital marketing campaign needs improvement. Sometimes it’ll require a bit of guessing and checking, but if you take a scientific approach to it by running the same ad with one slight difference, you can get an idea of how your small business’s digital marketing campaign can be improved.

 

10. Data Can Also Be Used to Customize Campaigns for Highly Specific Audiences

Digital marketing data can help small businesses learn about their target audiences’ digital habits. There are tools out there that make it much easier to find your target audiences’ interests and discover the best approach to convert them to regular customers.

For example, Facebook offers a lookalike audience targeting option, which uses the information about your current target audiences and runs your advertisements to audiences that share similar features.

You may even find out that your small business has an audience that you never knew about until you started to review customer data. Then you can start making digital marketing campaigns specific to this audience segment, too.

We send our clients monthly reports with key data points so we can optimize, improve, and customize your marketing campaign based on our findings. Contact us today to learn more about our process.

 

11. Successful Marketing Campaigns Can Lead to New Services and New Business Locations

Depending on the level of success your digital marketing campaign brings you, you may want to consider expanding your small business.

This could mean adding new services on top of the ones you already offer or even opening up another location. These additions and expansions can bring in even more revenue and customers.

Once you’ve got a strong digital marketing campaign for your main location or current services, you’re more than capable of creating more campaigns for your newer services. More services bring in more customers, more customers bring in more revenue, and more revenue means you can continue to grow your small business. It’s a cycle that continues to grow your business at each turn.

 

12. Resources for Digital Marketing are Everywhere

There are tons of tools and resources for your small business’s digital marketing campaign: Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner, Google Analytics, and so much more.

Our free digital audit is one great place to get started. For more information and even more digital marketing resources, contact us today.

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12 Reasons Why Small Businesses Need Digital Marketing