Be Flexible and Get Creative to Increase Conversions

Gerard Tollefsen - November 12, 2008

As we all know, the economy isn’t as strong as we would like. The challenges are stiff, but companies who take advantage of the flexibility of online adverting can still reap big rewards.  Most people start their search for goods and services online, and companies advertising budgets are still rising in the main search engines.  Google reported a 28% increase in online ad revenue in the third quarter, while Microsoft announced an increase of 15%, and Yahoo came in with a modest 1.2% boost.

Given these figures, its obvious advertisers recognize that search is a strong channel to attract and retain customers given a troubled economy.  But spending money online is not enough.  People are shopping more aggressively and will take the extra time to do their competitive analysis before they make a buying decision.  Because of this customer behavior, it is very important to increase your conversion rates.  More consumers shopping multiple offers can mean more traffic to your site, but also more clicks on your ads. If these clicks do not turn into conversions, then your return on ad spend (ROAS) is weakened.

Take advantage of the flexibility that online advertising allows and get creative with your message.  It would be very expensive to create 5 different TV commercials or 5 separate radio spots to communicate your message to potential customers.  However, the cost to accomplish this with a search marketing campaign is minimal compared to traditional marketing channels.  You have the ability to change ad copy every day, or every hour.  You have the flexibility to rotate different messages in your Pay-per-Click (PPC) campaigns to test which works best.  You can get creative with special offers on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 15% off for example, then turn around and create a new offer on Sunday (free shipping on all orders over $50).  Online ad spending is up but that doesn’t ensure customer acquisition or retention.  You must convert that traffic for the campaign to be a success.  Be flexible, get creative and increase the chances that your message is the one that convinces a searcher that they should buy from you!