Being a Xoogler (Ex-Google employee), I am often asked these questions by small business owners : How does one find customers on Google? What are these “sponsored links” on the search results page on Google? or Do I have to spend money to get presence on Google? So for the interest of many such people who may be looking to start advertising on Google, here is a small layman’s insight into Google Adwords:
Marketing is one of the key factors in business; it is the way of creating awareness for your product or service by employing various strategies and media to achieve business goals. It could be in the form of print, audio or video. However, the cost of marketing must be taken seriously because while it helps in driving sales, it also adds to the cost of the product.
With the coming of the Internet and the rise of its usage, marketers are moving towards the virtual world. This has actually brought smiles on the faces of marketers as this medium, for now, is cheaper than usual marketing techniques and some smart marketing can deliver the same results as traditional forms, if not better.
Many businesses have discovered and adopted the wonderful system that Google developed to market products electronically. This is what we refer as Google Adwords. Some of the small companies adopted this system and benefitted in getting leads which converted in to real business. Google Adwords is a system that is based on bidding of keywords by businesses. When someone searches for anything on Google Search Engine, a separate listing is displayed on the side, which is called Sponsored Listing. Typically these are advertisements, which have been bid for display when specific keywords are searched by users, assuming that there is synergy between what the person may be looking for and what the business offers. The advertiser with the highest bid for the keyword / phrase is listed in the sponsored listings. This technique has proven to be a cost effective way reaching to the target audience via Internet.
Lets explore some different features and advantages of Google Adwords that seem to attract more businesses engaging into this advertising program:
1) Traffic generation
Google is a major player when it comes to search engines. Expanding user base on the mobile has furthered its relevancy and reach. In most part of the world, Google is the largest search engine. The word “GOOGLING” has become synonymous with search and has also been put up by Webster Dictionary, which defines it as searching through Google. These facts reflect the power of Google and this implies the effects of using Google Adwords to market one’s product or service.
2) Target Audience
By providing a separate section on the different sponsored links to a keyword search, Google Adwords makes connections between the buyer and the seller. This is what some people refer to as “laser targeted audience” connection. It clearly segments the market by analysing the keywords that are entered by the person searching and the keywords that the businesses bid on.
3) Control on Budget
This is one of the most liked features of the Google Adwords advertising program. Google allows for capping of a daily budget, which the advertisers can change whenever they want to. Google charges the advertisers for the clicks that are generated by the system. Google does not care about whatever happens to the transactions after the “click” has been done. A business can actually set a budget so as to effectively analyse the strategies that it employs in the Adwords system. If the daily budget is already exhausted, the participant is taken out of the bidding for the day and this prevents further spend of money through advertising.
4) Reports
The Google Adwords system is designed to be able to give the date in figures, which can be used by businesses in assessing their progress in marketing their products through Adwords. Financial indicators such as return on investment and the price-per-click ratio of the advertisements can be computed from the system itself.
5) Flexibility
Adwords give complete flexibility to the businesses in terms of utilising the most effective way of getting their products advertised. Advertisers control the copy of their advertisements, the landing page that the user is led to after clicking on the advertisement, its design and the combination of keywords that they would like to bid on. This has to obviously be in line with the guidelines it has framed over the past few years to protect the user interest and cyber laws. The Google Adwords’ advertisements are brief and concise. They are composed of a title line and a short body that contains the marketing message. It is a very efficient format, which can be developed easily and can be altered anytime by the businesses themselves.
There are other ways of marketing products and services through the Internet and Google Adwords is just one of them. However, the Google Adwords system has advantages that are unique to it. The results from using Google Adwords will vary depending on the strategy that the businesses employ in advertising their products. Businesses are encouraged to join the Adwords bandwagon but they are advised to do so with cautiousness and careful planning.
Adwords is a very favourable marketing tool in the hands of small businesses that look at high return on investment and have small budgets. It beautifully encompasses the concept of long tail with people searching for various different things on Google.
If you have a feedback or a query, feel free to write to me on mail@harbindernarula.com .
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