Archive for the ‘Pay-per-click marketing’ Category

Why you should simply make your planned giving messages simple.

Sunday, February 17th, 2013

Recently a client asked me to review and critique a fundraising letter.  It was written by one of her committee members.  Can you say, “awkward position!”

To say that the author and the target audience is highly educated would be an understatement.

Well, as you might have guessed, I did it anyway.  And here’s what I told her:

  1. The sentences are too long
  2. The sentence structure is too complex
  3. The words are too sophisticated (lots of 3 to 4 syllable words)
  4. There’s no emotional story
  5. There’s no call all to action
  6. And, there’s no urgency

“Bottom line,” I told her, “the letter is just too difficult to understand.”

“But the audience is very highly educated,” she replied.  “They have graduate degrees and doctorates.”

“So what?” I told her.

Here’s the thing folks… You should write your appeals at about a 4th – 6th grade level.  Simple sentences.  Simple sentence structure.  Simple words.  Add a story.  Add a call to action.  And add some urgency… and you have a solid letter.

Why?  Simply stated… it’s a matter of courtesy.  Supporters of you mission can get sophistication from a bottle of wine or a good book.  But when it comes to your letters, they just want to know what the problem is and how they can help.

You won’t impress anyone by complicating your appeal.  And you won’t insult them if you make it simple.  In fact, simplicity will actually help you deliver your message more effectively.  Then, your donors will respond because you made it easy to understand.

Take a look at Google— arguably the most successful advertising business in the world.  And how many characters are you allowed when you advertise there?

  • Ad headline- 25 characters
  • Description lines (you get 2 lines and that’s it!)- 35 characters per line

The Red Cross uses Google AdWords all yearlong (see a sample below on the right).

Planned giving ad on Google Adwords

How about Twitter?- 140 characters to get your message across

You can’t argue with success.  These new media are successful because they keep it simple so people will respond.  You should do the same.  Even when you are marketing planned gifts.

Save all the legalese and confusing babble about the benefits of a sophisticated, tax-saving gift instrument.  Focus on bequests.  Speak in plain English.

Your donors will thank you by responding and leaving gifts.

 

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Advertising, Fundraising, marketing, Pay-per-click marketing, Planned Giving, Planned giving, Planned Giving Marketing, ppc, strategy | No Comments »

Could advertising to your Facebook fans be a stroke of planned giving marketing brilliance?

Monday, May 7th, 2012

Think about this.

Planned giving marketing begins with a good list, right?

I’ve seen it time and time again.  When we look at the folks who said they already left a planned gift or are considering doing so, they are always loyal, high-affinity donors or volunteers.  And, often they are average folks.  Not rich.

Combine this with research we found online and put into our report titled 26 really interesting planned giving marketing charts, stats, and graphs.  Among other things, we found the following:

  • 43% of planned givers are under 55
  • Average age a person makes their first will is 44 while the average age of a person’s first bequest is 49
  • 31% of people never revise their wills while 75% never revise their charitable bequests
  • Top reasons people make planned gifts include (at the top of the list) a desire to support the charity and the ultimate use of the gift by that charity
  • 70% of donors who made planned gifts did so because they were asked

Now… let’s look at the people who “like” your Facebook page.  I don’t have any research to support what I’m about to write.  But here goes.  People “like” your Facebook page because:

  • They want to be closer to your organization and hear more from you because you touched them in some way that evoked a special emotion
  • They want their friends to know that they like your organization (probably because they want their friends to have the same experience and “like” your organization too)

So what am I getting at?

I’m thinking that you might want to consider planned giving advertising that is targeted solely to your Facebook fans.  It’s hyper-targeted and inexpensive.

Sure… you may not get the gift for about 30 years.  But you’ll get it.

And, if you do your planned giving marketing right… they’ll tell you about their gift soon so you can steward them properly, prevent them from taking your organization out of their will, and, hopefully, get a chance to inspire them to increase the size of their gift.

Just cut out one planned giving newsletter and you’ll have enough of a budget to target your Facebook fans for the next few years.

Am I nuts?  Or did I just find the missing link?

The arguments against this kind of advertising are my own.

  1. For starters.  Show me the money!  I think they need to make a gift of some sort in order to become planned giving prospects (although volunteers leave planned gifts even though they don’t necessarily make donations).
  2. And, what about loyalty?  Have these “likers” already exhibited (or will they someday exhibit) long-term loyalty.
  3. Plus, you may not see that gift for quite a while (although seniors make up the fastest growing segment of Facebook these days).

Facebook fans are exhibiting a high degree of affinity for your organization… publicly!  But is that enough?

I don’t know but I can tell you this:  Advertising on Facebook to your fans is pretty darn cheap.  And, if you don’t ask… you don’t get.  So I think it’s certainly worth a test.  I’ll try to get one of my clients to agree and I’ll let you know what happens.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Facebook, marketing, Pay-per-click marketing, Planned Giving, Planned giving, Planned Giving Marketing, Social media, strategy, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

The basics of pay-per-click advertising.

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Since SEO requires so much work in order to get high rankings with search engines, you may want to find a better way to get to the first page immediately.  The good news is… you can do that!  The bad news is… you have to pay for it!

Google (and other search engines) make a fortune selling premium advertising space on the top and right-hand side of their search listings.
Business owners need to be careful. It’s tricky. You can go broke quick “paying for clicks” if you don’t know what you’re doing.  Pay per click marketing requires a very well designed web page that is built to convert clicks to telephone calls and emails (better known as leads).  And pay per click marketing should be monitored closely in order to optimize its conversion rate so you increase the number of quality leads you acquire while reducing your advertising costs over time.

It’s a good idea to employ an approach that closely reviews the results of every single lead you get.  Look at whether the lead was a good one or a bad one.  Examine how much revenue resulted from each sale – then back-track to see what keywords were originally used in the search bar by the consumer.

Test dozens or hundreds of keywords and keyword strings to see which get the most clicks with the greatest ROI.  Plus test tons of ads to see which of those get the most clicks with the greatest ROI as well.

Finally, take a look at the placement of the ads. Why pay a premium to be at the top spot (the “vanity spot”) if the ROI is the same when their ad is found on the bottom of the right side of the page?

Once you have a whole bunch of this kind of data, bid more on the keywords, ads and placements that deliver the most revenue.

Sound like too much work for you? If so, hire a reputable online advertising firm (we recommend MarketSmart of course) to help you. That way you can run your business while we run your marketing campaigns.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Advertising, lead generation, marketing, Pay-per-click marketing, ppc | No Comments »

The White Pages telephone books are dead.

Monday, November 29th, 2010

Well…  almost dead.  Let’s say they are dying.  And the Yellow Pages will be right behind them.Inbound lead generation takes over yellow pages advertising

Verizon has stopped distributing the White Pages in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Florida.  And the company has asked state regulators in Maryland and Virginia for permission to stop distributing them.

According to Newsfactor.com, “Verizon cited a 2008 Gallup poll saying only 11 percent of households look up a residential phone number in the printed book.”

But that was 2008.  Almost 3 years later, I bet that number has only dropped more.

So what’s next?  The Yellow Pages are already on the chopping block.  Now, when people want to search for a product or service, they ask a friend using social media or search online.  If you are advertising in the Yellow Pages, stop!  And don’t let yourself get hoodwinked into another year-long contract.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Inbound Internet Lead Generation, Pay-per-click marketing, SEO - Search Engine Optimization, Uncategorized | No Comments »

3 simple ways to get prospects to CALL YOU.

Monday, November 8th, 2010

MarketSmart's Phone Number

Here's our number. CALL US to get a free website assessment- Over 34 ways to turn your website into a marketing machine.

These days there’s a lot of talk about how you should use your website as a marketing machine.  …A lot of talk about search engine optimization (SEO) and pay per click advertising (PPC) to drive traffic to your web site or landing page.  …A lot of talk about Facebook fan pages and social media.

But what you really want is to have an interested prospect call you… not just click around here and there online.  Right?

In order to increase the likelihood of that happening, here are three things you should do:

1- Make sure your phone number is on every page of your website or advertising landing pages.

I can’t tell you how many times I have looked at a website and wanted to contact the company but could not easily find the phone number.  So then I’m forced to look for a “Contact Us” page.  If that’s not too hard to find, I go there.  But very often even I can’t find that because their designer got cute with it and called it something else.  Or, after I finally find it, the phone number is buried somewhere on that page.  Sometimes I’ve found myself scrolling way down below the fold to find it.  Huh?  Why on earth would you put your phone number so far out of reach?  Or worse yet, I’ve seen some companies’ websites that are absent a phone number so it’s impossible to call them unless you leave the site and search a phone directory.  Crazy, isn’t it?

2- We recommend the top of your web pages.

That’s where people expect it to be.  So just put it there.  Don’t get tricky.  And don’t let your designer try to get creative by putting it sideways or by doing something cooky that only a designer would understand.  Getting calls is not about style.  It’s about money.

3- To improve your chances of getting a call, try an offer.

This works especially well on advertising landing pages but it’s worth trying on your main website if your business is well-suited for it.  Say, “Save 25%!  Call Now.” or “FREE Gift! Call Now.”  If they are looking at the phone number, they are in the consideration phase of the decision making process.  That’s the point at which people often need a little push to go just one step further.  An offer may be just the push they need.

Also, if you are doing a lot of advertising (online and/or offline), we recommend you use several 800 numbers to track your calls.  Each ad and corresponding landing page should have a unique 800#.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Inbound Internet Lead Generation, Lead Generation/Nurturing, marketing, Pay-per-click marketing, SEO - Search Engine Optimization, strategy, Uncategorized | No Comments »

So how effective is inbound internet lead generation?… Really!

Monday, October 11th, 2010

I love Marketing Sherpa.  They have great charts and free information.

Of course, they’re trying to sell you their three-hundred dollar benchmark reports.  But I don’t care.  Their free information is fantastic.  And I’ve actually bought two of their reports.  So I guess their strategy works.

And recently, they released a free chart that shows what marketers think about the effectiveness of PPC marketing.  The results are in!  And PPC is a clear winner.

PPC effectiveness for lead generation and ROI

The effectiveness of PPC objectives

Over 87% of marketers feel that PPC is either somewhat effective or very effective increasing lead generation.  And 94% feel the strategy is either somewhat effective or very effective for increasing website traffic.

Good stuff!

http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31708

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Inbound Internet Lead Generation, ppc, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

How pay-per-click marketing is perceived at budget time.

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

Pretty darn well.

Chart about PPC marketing

Source: Marketing Sherpa

According to Marketing Sherpa (http://www.marketingsherpa.com/1news/chartofweek-09-21-10-lp.htm) “the majority of organizations say PPC is an effective tool for producing ROI, with 77% of organizations indicating that PPC is either producing measurable ROI, or that PPC is a promising tactic that will eventually produce ROI.”

That’s pretty big.

And only 8% say they won’t consider using it.

{Warning… softball sales pitch here)

Here at MarketSmart we optimize your PPC campaigns because we monitor the inbound phone calls you receive and track-back which keywords turned into sales (along with a host of other analysis tools).  Then we bid more on the keyword strings the produce the best ROI.  Let me know if you are interested in seeing how we do that.  It’s pretty neat!

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Inbound Internet Lead Generation, Pay-per-click marketing, Uncategorized | No Comments »

What’s happening to newspapers and the Yellow Pages?

Friday, August 27th, 2010

Newspapers in decline.

In the first half of 2009, 105 newspapers collapsed, shut down their presses and closed their doors.  U.S. newspaper circulation has been dropping by 10%-20% per year. In fact the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) now estimates that less than 30 million Americans buy a daily newspaper.  The Washington Post, once a powerhouse media vehicle with well over 1 million daily subscribers, now modestly sells less than 580,000 papers from Monday through Saturday.  That publication has fared better than most.  Yet they continue to see declines of at least 5% each year.

If people are not reading newspapers, then they are not reading advertisements.  And, without question, that severely diminishes your potential to garner a return for your advertising investment.

Chart comparing daily newspaper circulation

What about the Yellow Pages?

The first problem with the printed Yellow Pages is that no one uses them anymore.  They are perceived as “anti-green”, clumsy, difficult to read, and the ads do not give you nearly enough information to make a value-based decision.  It’s no wonder in 2009 alone Yellow Pages revenue declined by 7.5% in the U.S.

In response to these declines, Yellow Pages businesses have attempted to create online marketing “packages”.

Comparing monthly online traffic for Google, Yahoo, the Yellow Pages, City Search, yellowpages.com, and superpages.com

Following are the reasons these efforts are failing:

  • While monthly traffic is on the rise for Google, Yahoo, Bing and other legitimate search engines, it is declining rapidly for Yellowpages.com and SuperPages.com
  • You cannot “own” your campaign, see your analytics reports, nor test multiple landing pages
  • Although you will be tied into a year-long commitment, your “campaign manager” could change almost daily
  • Your contract will be carefully written with fine print and disclaimers that cover the Yellow Pages, not your business


So what’s a business owner to do?

A comprehensive internet marketing strategy is a necessity in order to survive and thrive in today’s tough business environment.  Every day people will search online in your product or service category.  And, if they don’t find your business, they will find your competitors.

Search engine optimization (SEO) and a “content” strategy.

While SEO and content strategies are all the rage in message boards and blogs, they take time and effort that many business owners simply don’t have to spare.   Every business should, indeed, update their website with the proper metatags, keywords and title tags.  And you should create content that is valuable to your target audience.  But keep in mind that this type of strategy is like planting seeds in your farm.  It will surely deliver a crop but only after several months (or perhaps) years of hard work and lots of patience.

An easier first step.

An internet advertising strategy will generate interest in your business quickly.  But to generate leads, sales and a return on your investment, you must do the following:

  • Create a landing page or micro-website that provides information and converts an interested internet surfer to a lead
  • Test hundreds of keywords
  • Test dozens of ads varying copy, offers and incentives
  • Place the ads on up to 150 advertising networks (including Google, Yahoo, Bing and others)
  • Keep an eye on where and when you get clicks
  • Determine which clicks turn into leads
  • Pay attention to the leads that turn into sales

Backtrack to tie it all together and maximize your budget.

It is important to backtrack through the entire process.  In other words, once a sale has been achieved, you must determine which keywords, which ads, and which offers generated the initial click; and from what geographical location did the lead originate.  Also you will want to take note of the day of the week and the time of day the click occurred that ultimately delivered a sale.

By doing all of the above, you will be able to determine where to spend your marketing budget in the coming months.  Eliminate keywords and offers that do not turn into sales.  Increase your bids on keywords and offers that do.  Reduce your spend in geographic regions that do not convert and increase your spend in regions that do.  And finally, you will want to increase your bids only during the days and day parts when conversions that turn into sales are most likely to occur.

<<Alert:  We’re selling here>>

Sound too time-consuming and difficult?  We can help.

  • We will make sure your business is seen online
  • We will test keywords, ads, landing pages, geographies, days, and day parts to continually refine and maximize your marketing efforts- and deliver a return on your investment
  • We offer sales coaching to ensure that every lead is handled right
  • We provide detailed reporting
  • Your phone will ring and leads will show up in your email inbox while you run your business

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Inbound Internet Lead Generation, marketing, Pay-per-click marketing, Uncategorized | No Comments »