On the surface, the PPC (or Pay-Per-Click) advertising model seems to be perfect. You get to show your ad to a targeted audience an unlimited number of times, and you’re only charged when someone takes action by clicking on your ad to visit your web site. You can even start with a budget as low as fifty dollars. Once you dig a bit deeper into the real-world mechanics of a PPC campaign, you quickly realize just how ineffective it can be.

Many people don’t even pay attention to the sponsored (PPC) ads, whether they are displayed on the search results or on the millions of MFA web sites because they know that they paid to be there. Another thing to consider is that your competitors are usually more than happy to click away on your ads, whittling your budget away. This practice is known as click fraud, and according to industry estimates, ranges between 12-20%.

A more effective approach is to combine an organic SEO campaign with an online advertising campaign (utilizing video advertising). This lets you reach your prospects on the web sites that they know and trust, such as forums, blogs or portals that they frequent, as well as through the major search engines. When you tie this to an effective offline advertising campaign, you can quickly become a dominate force in your industry.

If you want to effectively motivate your prospects to make a buying decision, you’ll need to market your company across multiple mediums. It’s no longer enough to simply run a Yellow Pages ad, or even to advertise in your local newspaper or on cable television, because people are busier than ever before and constantly bombarded by marketing messages. If you want your message to stick, you’ll have to stand out, not by being bigger, louder or more obnoxious, but by being everywhere. If you already have a web site and blog, you’ve got a good foundation to start building your marketing campaign from. Your next step should be to add some form of printed marketing materials that you can mail or hand out to our prospects, such as postcards. You can then build on this by utilizing magnetic signs, or even have your company vehicles wrapped to act as a mobile billboard. The idea is to develop multiple channels to reach your prospects, which allows you to present a more powerful impression. As you generate revenue from this increased exposure, you should leverage it into even more exposure by seeking out additional channels to reach your prospects.

When it comes to closing a sale, business owners often offer to give their prospects a discount. While this will motivate some people to make a buying decision right now, it will usually have a negative effect when dealing with a serious prospect. Especially the ones who are looking for value rather than simply the lowest price they can find. This is because by arbitrarily offering a discount, you are detracting from the perceived value of your product or service. In the eyes of your prospect, if it was really worth the price you originally stated, you wouldn’t offer to give it to them at a lower price. In which case, how do they know that the new, lower price is even appropriate? If they balk, will you lower it again? Guess what? Nine times out of ten, they’ll wait and find out.

By sticking to your price, you solidify the value of your product or service, and ultimately attract a higher quality of client who appreciates that value. By discounting your price without a valid reason, you will attract the type of client that is only interested in the lowest price, has little loyalty and will probably never be satisfied. Which type of client are you interested in earning?

We’ve recently redeveloped the shopping cart on our web site, and as of this afternoon, it’s live again. If you have any feedback please let us know.