The Work Media Internet Marketing Blog

You probably don't realize it, but you have the ultimate tool for business success right in front of you. Assuming you sell a reasonably high quality product or service, all you have to do to be successful is get people to your web site and then use the words on your site to convince your visitors to do business with you. Fortunately, there is a marketing technique that can accomplish both of these objectives:

Pay per Click!

Or, as we usually refer to it, paid search marketing. With paid search, you can find the marketing copy that turns visitors into customers. You can run multiple ads for sets of keywords (ad groups), with each ad linking to a different landing page. You can then use the landing pages to test different copy. Make sure you set your ad groups to display the ads an even number of times (turn optimization off). After a few days or weeks (however long it takes to generate a few hundred clicks), you will have some very solid data showing which landing pages (and which copy) generate the most sales or leads.

Once you have figured out what copy converts visitors into customers or clients, it is time to get more aggressive with your campaign. Direct all your traffic to the best landing page. Increase your budget. Increase your bids (although keep an eye on your return on ad spend - you don't want to bid too high).

One critical component of making this technique work is to make sure you have conversion tracking in place. This is very easy. All you have to do is place a snippet of code supplied by the search engine on your conversion confirmation page. This will allow you to make the connection between specific keywords, ads, landing pages, and conversions.

Many times in life, the things that work seem too simple to believe. Success is not about carrying out some complicated plan - it's about doing the simple things very well. Create a plan for your business based on the technique discussed in this article, and you are guaranteed to succeed. Just don't rush the process. Be patient, and make sure you have enough data to analyze before making any big decisions.

If you could use some help implementing a data-based pay per click management plan, contact Work Media at 888-299-4837 or Info@WorkMedia.net.

Labels: ad writing, advertising, copywriting, internet marketing, paid search, pay per click, ppc, search engine marketing, sem, web site marketing

If you are driving traffic to your web site through paid search, but that traffic is not profitable, then you may need to re-examine how you are targeting your ads. Chances are your targeting is too broad. Remember, you don't just target with your keywords - you target with your ads and you target with your landing page copy.

For your keywords, you should use a wide package of keywords that includes broad, high volume keywords as well as more specific, low volume keywords. Make sure you have tracking in place so you will know exactly which keywords generate sales or leads. After a few weeks, you should have a very good idea which keywords you should be spending your money on.

If your keywords are driving traffic but no sales, then you need to look deeply at your ad copy. Are you attracting the right prospects? If you attract a lot of traffic that is not converting, then you need to tighten up your ad copy to attract the right prospects. You will generate less traffic, but it will be much more profitable traffic. Ask yourself this: who is your ideal prospect? What industry does he work in? Does he drive a truck? Does she have good credit? Whatever characteristics make up your perfect prospect, you can use that information in your ad copy. For example, if your ideal prospect is a deer hunter, maybe your ad copy should mention deer hunting. If your ideal prospect is disabled, maybe you should try an ad header like "Disabled? We can help". These are just hypothetical examples, but you get the idea.

The same thing applies to your landing page copy. You need to make it clear who you are looking for and write your copy with that person in mind. Think of this whole process like a big funnel, and you are doing everything you can to apply filters so that the prospects who arrive at the end of your funnel are very eager to do business with you. By fine-tuning ads and ad copy for specific groups of people, you should greatly improve the performance of your paid search campaign.

If you need some help better targeting your paid search campaign, contact Work Media at 888-299-4837 or email Info@WorkMedia.net.

Labels: ad writing, conversion strategy, copywriting, internet marketing, paid search, pay per click, ppc, search engine marketing, search marketing, sem, sponsored search

The human mind is a wondrous and complicated thing. It is also completely unpredictable. When it comes to writing ads for paid search marketing, you might think you know what copy will cause people to click your ad...but you really don't. We've preached this before but it bears worth repeating - the only way to know what works is by testing. Here are some different things you can test that could have a profound and unexpected impact on the success of your ads.

Capitalization. Most marketers capitalize the first letter of every major word in the title. You should try that as well as not capitalizing any letters. Do the same with your display URL.

The order of content. Let's say you have an ad with both an offer as well as a deadline. Try running ads with the offer first and with the deadline first.

Dynamic versus static content. Most search engines now allow you to dynamically have the keyword that triggers the ad placed in the headline or copy. Usually, this will result in higher click-throughs, but not always. Experiment to see what works for you.

The display URL. Try using "www" versus leaving it out. Try just the root domain name versus a domain that includes a sub-folder with keywords. For example, "www.yourdomain.com" versus "yourdomain.com/keyword".

Adjectives. For example, "easy" versus "fast". One of the two will probably trigger many more clicks. The only way to know the right psychological trigger is to test both.

Call to action. Visit now...Buy now...Learn more. These are all different ways of specifically requesting that the reader of the ad click the ad to visit your web site. Try different calls to action as well as not having a call to action to see what works best.

If you experiment with the above elements of your ads, you will have a much better chance at discovering the ad copy that generates the highest click-through rates as well as conversion rates. Another important part of this analysis will be only changing a single ad element at any one time. For example, if you change both the display URL and the call to action at the same time, you won't know which change causes a chance in the performance of the ad. This kind of analysis will not only drive the most traffic to your site, it will save you some money because ads with higher click-through rates can be displayed above ads with lower click-through rates even if the placement bid is lower.

If you need professional advice for managing your paid search campaign, contact Work Media at 888-299-4837 or email Info@WorkMedia.net.

Labels: ad writing, advertising, copywriting, Google Adwords, internet marketing, marketing, paid search, pay per click, ppc, search engine marketing, web site marketing, Yahoo Search Marketing

We are perplexed by how mysterious Google tends to make things. Certainly, the company does everything it can to hide the intricacies of its search algorithms so as to disallow anyone taking advantage of it for artificial gains in search rankings. Fair enough. But Google goes far beyond that in hiding its secrets.

We recently ranted a bit about Google's sparse documentation related to its AdWords API and about the lack of logic behind ad Quality Scores. We're just as perplexed about Google's failure to give full disclosure about all of the features of AdWords. We are Google certified, having studied all of Google's exam material, but we had never read anything about dynamic keyword insertion until we stumbled upon it by accident.

That's right. Just like Yahoo! and MSN, Google allows you to dynamically insert keywords into an ad. The reason for doing this is that the closer the ad matches the intentions of the viewer, the greater the likelihood of generating a click to your site. By inserting the exact keyword that triggered the ad into the title or ad copy, you more closely match that user's intentions.

To dynamically insert a keyword, place the following code where you want the keyword to appear: {keyword: default keyword}. Replace "default keyword" with the keyword that should appear if the trigger keyword is too long in characters for the ad. For example, if the dynamic variable is used in the title, but the keyword triggering the ad is more than 25 characters, then the default keyword will be used.

Don't overuse dynamic keyword insertion or your ads will all become very generic and boring. But it is a powerful tool to use in moderation.

For help managing your paid search campaigns, contact Work Media at 888-299-4837 or email Info@WorkMedia.net.

Labels: ad writing, google, Google Adwords, internet marketing, paid search, pay per click, ppc, search engine marketing, search marketing, sem, sponsored search, web marketing, web site marketing

An email I got this morning reminded me of a couple of good Internet marketing principles, so I thought I would talk about it.

Not too long ago, I owned an old Dodge Ram truck. I bought a part for it that I had not been able to find from a web site called AutoPartsWarehouse.com. Since then, I have received emails from them fairly regularly. Most of the emails are general in nature.

Today I got one with the following headline:

Get 5% OFF on all DODGE RAMCHARGER parts for 5 Days only + FREE Shipping

This email and headline illustrate a couple of important points about successful marketing:

1. They are using segmentation to send me emails based specifically on my past purchases. They know I have bought parts for a Dodge Ram, so they are sending me messages about Dodge Ram parts.
2. The offer is specific and contains a deadline. Deadlines are important because without them your prospects will delay on making a decision. I only have 5 days to save 5% and get free shipping.
   
3. It contains the word "FREE", which is one of the most powerful words you can use in your marketing.

How could you apply these principles to your own marketing? Do you segment your customers and send them specific messages based on their past purchases? You should.

Do you carefully craft your marketing messages to get your prospects' attention? And do you place time limits on your special offer?

Do you email past customers on a regular basis?

These are all very basic principles of modern marketing, but if you just master the basics, you will be VERY successful.

If you need some help crafting a thorough Internet marketing plan, contact Work Media at 888-299-4837 or email Info@WorkMedia.net.

Labels: ad writing, advertising, copywriting, email marketing, internet marketing, marketing

When writing copy for your web site (or any other marketing piece), don't assume that the reader will understand why he should do business with you. Don't overestimate the intelligence of the reader. Write in such a way that a person who doesn't know anything about your industry will understand what you are saying. Don't worry about insulting anyone's intelligence.

In addition to producing more sales, a detailed letter written for a wide audience will be easier to read. It will flow. The reason is that reading on a computer screen is more difficult than reading on paper. It's hard on the eyes. So short sentences and short paragraphs, along with bullet points and other visual effects, are easier to follow.

Use stories, anecdotes, facts and figures to make it crystal clear to the reader why she must do business with you. You probably won't accomplish this by listing the details of what you do or sell. You must convert those features (of the product or service) into benefits (to the customer). Provide an inventory of all the benefits that will accrue to the customer. One after another. This is no time to be modest.

Give proof that what you say is true. If you have specific training, education, or certifications in your industry that are evidences of your status, then tell about it. If you have specific experience and have accomplished certain results, then tell about it. You will do this after discussing the benefits. In essence, you are trying to entice the reader into purchasing from you, and then using concrete evidence to reduce skepticism.

The final dot that needs to be connected is what action the reader needs to take. Again, don't assume that it will be obvious to the reader what he should do. Tell him what phone number to call, when to call, what email to use, when to email, what web site to go to, etc. etc. etc. Using the ideas of scarcity ("supplies are limited") or time constraints ("Offer ends this Friday") are ways to prod the reader into action. People naturally procrastinate, so you have to do something to force action.

If you would like some help writing sales copy for your web site, contact Work Media at 888-299-4837 or email Info@WorkMedia.net.

Labels: ad writing, advertising, content, content creation, conversion strategy, copywriting, internet marketing, marketing

Yesterday's post got us into that direct marketing kind of mode. The weather in Nashville was beautiful so I (Jerry) spent some time in the afternoon sitting outside reading a Dan Kennedy book, No B.S. Wealth Creation for Entrepreneurs. Highly recommended, as are all of Kennedy's books. Anyway, in keeping with the theme of applying direct marketing concepts to your online marketing, I thought I would spend a little more time talking about headlines.

Following is a short list of classic, proven headlines that you can modify to your own situation:

How a New Kind of Clay Improved my Complexion in 30 Days

How I Improved my Memory in One Evening

6 Types of Investors - Which Group Are You In?

A Little Mistake that Cost a Farmer $3,000 a Year

Advice to Wives Whose Husbands Don't Save Money

Are You Ever Tongue-Tied at a Party?

Discover the Fortune that Lies Hidden in Your Salary

Who Much is a Little Leak Costing Your Company?


One thing these ads all have in common is that they pique the curiosity of the reader without giving away too much detail. Each one is a little bit of a mystery. The point is to make the reader want to read more to find out the detail. Each play on a concern or problem that the prospect has, and implies that reading more will reveal the solution to the problem.

The headlines should also be tied to your "USP" - your Unique Selling Proposition. This is the thing that separates you from others in your industry, and the reason someone should do business with you. Jay Abraham has a technique for creating a USP that is very simple but does a great job in helping you discover the USP for your business. Here is what you do:

1. Get a couple of sheets of paper and a pen.
2. At the top of one sheet, write "You know how..."
3. At the top of the other, write "Well, what we do is..."
4. Then just fill in the blanks.

For example, if you are a stock broker, you might say:

"You know how some stock brokers don't ever call you to let you know how your portfolio is doing?"

and then respond with:

"Well, what we do is call all of our clients every Friday afternoon with a report about how their portfolio did that week."

You could then build your USP around the idea that you provide superior customer service by calling all of your clients weekly to discuss their portfolio. This could then be tied into a headline such as "Does Your Stock Broker Ever Leave You Wondering What's Going on With Your Account?" Your headline then feeds into your marketing content where you explain about the extra effort your firm puts into maintaining communication with your clients.

So start with your USP, and then use it to create a powerful, provocative headline which leads into benefit-packed advertising copy. Do this on your web site, your emails, and all other forms on online marketing.

If you would like help implementing an effective online marketing campaign for your business, contact Work Media at 888-299-4837 or Info@WorkMedia.net.

Labels: ad writing, advertising, content, content creation, conversion strategy, copywriting, internet marketing, web marketing, web site marketing

A.I.D.

Attention, interest, desire.

This is a classic direct marketing formula that, if you apply it to your online marketing, will make you much more successful. Today's blog is a lesson in applying this formula to your Internet marketing.

The "Attention" in A.I.D. means that you use some kind of immediate, attention-grabbing start to your marketing. Typically, this is accomplished with a headline. Just like traditional advertising, your Internet marketing - a web page, an email, a press release, or whatever - needs to have a headline that sparks the curiosity of the reader.

Here are a couple of examples of classic headline formulas that have worked for years:

They laughed when I [did something] but not when I [did something else unexpected]

How to [do something] 236% better.

The first formula plays off of the human desire to do something, or to do it better. The original use of the headline was for instructional material about playing the piano. It implied that the product would teach anyone how to play the piano. The second example demonstrates the use of some kind of very specific, proven result. It may seem odd to use a percentage like 236% rather than some rounded number, but that kind of specificity lends credibility to the headline. The point is to try and craft some kind of headline that compels the reader to read more. The headline is the ad for the ad.

Once you've got the reader past the headline, it's time to tell him all the reasons he should do business with you. This is the "Interest" part of the formula. The copy should focus on the reader and what she gains. This is where you tell all the benefits of your product or service. Benefits are not features. Features are the technical details of what you do or sell. It is things like size, color, and services that will be performed. You should not assume that the reader understands why the features are desirable. You should specifically tell him why the features are good. Translate every feature into a benefit to the prospect and focus your copy on that. Discuss features AFTER discussing benefits. The interest section is also where you can discuss your credentials and other things that set you apart from your competition.

The "Desire" part of the formula is where you convince the reader that he will benefit greatly if he does business with you right now, but will lose out if he delays. You create a feeling of desire by offering free bonuses if the prospect acts immediately, or a discount price. Or by placing a time limit on the offer, so that if action is not taken by some date, then the product or service will no longer be available.

The copy should close with a call to action - tell the reader exactly what to do. Make it EASY to do business with you.

It is possible that strict adherence to the A.I.D. formula isn't quite appropriate for your business. But you need to keep it in the back of your mind when writing copy for your web site or other purposes. Provide the reader with valuable information, but don't forget - ultimately, your goal is to turn a prospect into a customer.

For help writing convincing copy for your web site, contact Work Media at Info@WorkMedia.net or 888-299-4837.

Labels: ad writing, content creation, copywriting, internet marketing, marketing, online branding, web marketing, web site marketing

Here is some advice on writing successful pay-per-click ads.

You're probably going to have to write a lot of ads. Even if you only have 100 keywords in your campaign, those ads need to be targeted to the keywords. You can somewhat reduce the workload by using lots of tightly bound categories and writing your ads at the category level. By tightly bound, we mean that the category refers to only a few very similar or complimentary keywords. For instance, you might have a category with the keywords "candle wax", "candle wax for sale", "buy candle wax", and "hobby candle wax", in which case you could get away with just writing one ad for all of the keywords.

A strategy that is often recommended is for your ad titles to match exactly the search phrase. For example. if the ad is for the search phrase "Nevada hunting trip", the title of the ad would be "Nevada hunting trip". This might be a good way to write headlines quickly, but in general we are not in favor of this approach. The title is the most important part of your ad. You only have 40 characters. You should use the keywords, but put some effort into writing a title that will compel the reader to click. In the above example, how about something like "Find freedom hunting in Nevada" or "Nevada hunting trips for your family".

This is a good time to point out that you really have no way of knowing what headline or description will be the most effective without testing. But when changing your ad, only change a single element at a time. For instance, only change the title, or only make a change to the copy, or maybe only change a single word.

As far as the ad copy goes, here are some writing tips:

• Write in a casual, conversational style. Don't over estimate the intelligence of the reader of the ad.
• Use a call to action: "Find it here", "Click here", "Click now", "Save now", etc.
• Mention a strong guarantee, a special offer, a discount, etc.
• The most powerful word you can use is "you".
  

Think from your prospective customers' perspective. If it were you, what would make you click the link? Your ad is nothing more than salesmanship in print - just like any form of direct marketing. You are using words to pursuade the reader to click the link and come to your web site for more information. Keep that in mind and craft your ads carefully.

For help managing your search engine marketing campaigns, contact Work Media at workmedia.net or 888-299-4837.

Labels: ad writing, copywriting, internet marketing, pay-per-click, ppc, search engine marketing, Yahoo, Yahoo Search, Yahoo Search Marketing