Hey, we all know things are tough out there and everyone is looking for work to make ends meet. However, the once crazy idea (of course back in the day) where people were paid with Livestock instead of cold-hard cash is not so crazy these days. Now, let's be clear. I have not been asked nor received a "Fainting Goat" or a "Martha Stewart Type Chicken" as payment for a PPC Strategy. However, I have seen more and more prospects and clients feeling more comfortable paying for Search Marketing services with their own products or services instead of a check because it's easier for them to started.
In this article, I will discuss some of the reasons why this payment option can make sense for some clients as well as the PPC Guru. I am not saying all clients should be bartered, however choosing one or two them is not a bad idea. Let's discuss.....
Not all Clients are the same:
As on obvious statement to make, many clients and prospects have had a bad experience with Search Marketing. Depending on the client's industry and their different profit margins levels, PPC can be a very sensitive advertising vehicle to meet and exceed their goals/objectives. With that said, here are some possibilities of why they are nervous to commit:
- Already been burned by someone or some agency who promised them #1 position and inflated CPC Costs with no Quality Score elements.
- They tried to do it themselves and just pissed about their money
- Trusted Google to optimize the campaign for them and it literally cleaned them out (Ouch! Sorry Google, but have seen this happen to frequently)
- Have poor "Usability" issues on their website and cannot convert properly no matter what they do to drive qualified traffic.
- I can think of many more, but you get the picture
What Services Could Be Bartered?
Well first of all, many of the smaller clients probably do not have a marketing plan that consists of both online and offline, and especially not one which has them both working together. A good strategy would be to provide a free analysis of the client's website, review their products/service offerings, and have a simple discussion about past failures and/or successes.
Moreover, one of the most important questions you could ask a client is "What makes you different than all of your competitors? Is there anything that you provide that no one else does?" Asking these questions enable the PPC Marketer to identify the QUICK WINS first, because you will want to establish credibility and a sense of comfort with the client. A client may just need some on-going advice to help them do-it-themselves, or full implementation and monitoring. It's really up to the client and the PPC Guru to negotiate what is best.
Is It Bad Business To Barter?
In my opinion, absolutely not. If you are starting your own company or consulting firm, you need clients to be happy and provide testimonials, so you can build credibility and create "word of mouth" which is much better than any PPC Campaign and/or fancy, dynamic website. A good Search Marketer needs to fully understand the client's products or services to effectively market them to the masses. Of course, not every client you would want to barter with. For me, I'd rather barter with an Wine Dealer or Aviation Art Dealer, than say a Toilet Manufacturer. But in the end, the client is happy, you have another great reference and you were able to get that very rare bottle of wine "Dom. Romane Conti 1997" or for the Geek side of SemGeek, a Limited Edition Star Wars Photo autographed by the Star Wars Cast. Either way, it's not a bad option. Plus, depending on what is being bartered, you may actually make out better with a barter than actual cash payment.
In Conclusion:
Bartering for services can sometimes be looked at as poor business decision because it's not affecting the bottomline. However, when you are starting a new business, trying to make a name for yourself, or to put food on the table, there are other ways to achieve success. I tend to look at bartering as more of an investment for continued growth as well as put a little fun into the work that you do.
Here's a little suggestion: Find a company/business where you like their products and/or services. Reach out to them and tell them you are a search marketing professional and would like to help them improve their online sales and all they have to do is barter some of their products/services for your expertise. You never know, it may just get you your first client and lead to many more "paying" clients.
As a fan of Aviation Art since I was about 5 years old, I have always wondered why this unique and very specialized Industry has always seemed to be a few years behind the times in terms of technology and promotion. You can say that many of the Aircraft depicted in painting, photographs and illustrations are from the past, but the tactics of trying to sell them to the consumer should NOT be. Is it because of the traditional "older" demographic? Not in 2009, I do not think so.
It's a little surprising for me, (as SEM Geek) to see such a lack of attention to detail in the overall PPC strategy (ie... Ad Copy, Landing Page and Keyword Selection) especially when the Artist or Retailer for Artist is selling the consumer on the exquisite detail, and "life-like" portrait or scenes of Aircraft around the world. In this blog post, I will focus on the missed opportunities that I have seen, as well as provide some generic PPC Marketing suggestions in the hopes that someone reading this post could implement them. Let's discuss....
PPC Advertisers Missing the "Aircraft Carrier" on Relevancy and Long Tail Searches.
As someone who has his favorite WWII aircraft already picked out, when I do a Google search on say "P40 warhawk art" or "Stealth Fighter Artwork" not ONE (1) Ad shows up with the keyword in the Ad. They are all generic. Furthermore, as there are many ways to spell these aircraft names, there are very few (if any) advertisers bidding on misspellings or other versions of the aircraft name. Now that we identified flaws in the Longtail, lets look at the Head Term. Again, another "illegal fly-by" by Maverick (Top Gun) again, as advertisers are missing opportunities to capture the obvious searched and own the "Google Real Estate" for these terms.
Too many Bullet Holes in the Text Ad Copy:
One of the biggest and most identifiable problems with all PPC Advertisers with regard to Aviation Art is the unattractive Text Ad copy which does not relate to the keyword being searched on. Few, if any, actually carry the keyword term in the ad to help the consumer make an impulse decision to click on the Ad. A simple fix can lead to better opportunities for conversions.
Very "Rough" Landing Pages:
When it comes to Landing Pages, this is where I see the biggest problem. Frankly, in all candor, many (but not all) of these Websites and/or Landing Pages look like thet did in the late 1990's and it's almost as if they haven't changed the website in over 10 years. Many of these advertisers need to understand that they are making it very difficult for a consumer to make a purchase. It's kinda like MS FrontPage from Hell.
Why Ebay could be a reason for the Lackluster PPC Efforts:
Everyone loves Ebay right? It's the #1 place for anyone to buy and sell pretty much anything. I also believe that it has also played a role in why many Aviation Art retailers are not utilizing Paid Search effectively. In fact, Ebay, in essence, has made it an easier and more affordable solution for the Non-PPC Guru to start their own business with advertising built right in. However, an interesting trend is happening with Ebay's traffic as there appears to be a trend of "YOY declining" traffic. According to the article Data Shows eBay's Traffic YOY Continues to Slide by Ina Steiner of AuctionBytes, Ebay had a 5.2 percent drop in Uniques in March 2009. With that said, it just reinforces the important of having PPC as a viable option to promote these products. This is quite evident in what I have seen in Aviation Art and I am sure in other industries.
Some Simple PPC Strategies: (The Obvious Holistic Best Practice)
- Create Individual Adgroups for every Aircraft Make and Model. This also means creating Text Ads with the name of the aircraft in the Ad. There should not be too many Trademark related issues, so take advantage of it.
- Use the Longtail Keyword. Some searchers will search for "P40", others will search for "P40 Oil Panting". The longtail is especially effective here because of the following
- Minimal competition
- More cost effective
- Better ROAS/ROI Potential
- Have a product specific Landing Page be about the "P40 Oil Painting" and other "P40" artwork ONLY. Have a CTA (Call to Action), Add to Cart, Description, Price, Shipping Information, Payment Information etc.... Basically give the user everything they would need to know on that one page.
In Conclusion:
I chose this topic because I enjoy Aviation Art and when I see these amazing artists not taking advantage of what is available to them, it motivates me to put on my PPC Geek Hat and talk about it. It my opinion and experience with attending Airshows leads me to believe that older demographics of this industry are a good reason for the lack on online focus. However, that is quickly changing because the generations are merging. The "Baby Boomer" who lived or parents lived through Vietnam and WWII are now being influenced by their children who are classified as the Echo Boomer and X/Y Generation. This Generation Gap continues to shrink as more and more consumers use the Internet. Aviation Art, as well as ALL ART on the Internet should not make the artist look like a "starving artist".
I would also like to personally thank Aviation Photographer Larry McManus for his permission to letting me use one of his fabulous High Quality Photographic Prints for this blog post. To read more about Larry or to view his entire collection of Aviation Prints, please visit LarryMcManus.com and tell him SemGeek sent you.
Whether you are a PPC Pro, Novice or someone who just wants to learn more about Paid Search Marketing, you are most likely reading the same old blog posts about how to game the Google Adwords machine with NEW tricks of the trade by all the PPC experts. However, in this blog post I am not focusing on tricks, but rather questioning the "real" importance of understanding the bigger picture of the key objective, which would eventually make some of the really "kewl" tactics useless if it's the wrong audience you may be targeting. Let's discuss.....
Most likely you are very familiar with PPC related blog posts which talk about specific tricks and tactics about how to organize keyword groups, which keyword matching types are better than others, how to effectively write a text ad, etc.... Now, that is all great stuff, right! Of course, it makes you a better, well-rounded PPC Geek. However, it is this SemGeek's opinion to shed light on a different area of PPC that requires some "outside the box" thinking that provides a different perspective on the everyday "in the weeds" life of search marketing.
Why the "HOW" is Overrated:
Anyone who talks about PPC probably already knows about quality score and the buzz word "relevance". I am even going out on a limb by saying that anyone can do a decent job in PPC if they read a few blog posts or attended a conference knows about quality score. It's not that hard, right! C'mon, there are only soo many tricks of the trade that can be done to maximize a Campaign, Adgroup and Keyword.
Did you ever once ask yourself the following questions?
- I have done everything possible and just barely returning a profitable ROAS or ROI?
- I cannot waste any more time on this adgroup and should I cut back or just pause the adgroup entirely?
- The client wants to keep this adgroup, but it's poorly performing and hurting my performance contract?
- These Text Ads are just horrible, but the client refuses to change them or even test new ones.
- The client refuses to increase the Ad Spend that is needed to try new things.
These are common questions that every PPC Marketer has or will have to deal with eventually. Now, the point I am trying to make is that no matter how smart you are with Quality Score or how Savvy you are with a client, what matter most is PERFORMANCE. It is this reason, which leads me to why the "WHAT" is more important that "HOW". Let me explain.
Why the "WHAT" is more important:
Ok, we already discussed that pretty much anyone can do the "HOW". How-ever (hee hee), what really matter is a complete understanding the client's business both online and offline. There are many ways to communicate to existing clients and new prospects, and picking the right one's from the start is what truly makes a "PPC Rockstar". It's not the tactics, but what you apply those tactics to. You can have the utter most best quality score campaign ever created, but if it's for a product the client does not sell, It DOESN'T MATTER. If you find a great keyword that drives a ton of cheap traffic, but does not convert, it DOESN'T MATTER
Why A PPC Strategy is About the "WHAT"
The PPC Marketer needs to think about the Strategy on different levels and phases. For example, the best thing you can do is get a good understanding of the client's business before you map out the plan. Also keep in mind that a strategy is about "what" to promote, not "how" you are going to promote it. The more "angles" and audiences you can identify, the better you can understand how they will respond.
- Seasonal calendar
- Historical Top Products/Services
- Competitive advantages (if any)
- Warranty
- Price
- Discounts
- Shipping Rate
- Models (older models)
- Live Tech Help
- Industry Slang/buzz words used by users/clients, etc...
- Participating Manufacturer names
- Past trademarks names that customers are familiar with.
In Conclusion:
PPC is becoming a highly competitive and saturated advertising vehicle that anyone, even a kid in the basement, can participate in. Furthermore, It is this uniqueness which make it a different monster as compared to all the other "offline" advertising outlets. With that said, finding ways to make a reasonable ROI or ROAS% continues to get more and more difficult to achieve and that is why it really comes down to what you are advertising more than how you are doing it. Of course, the 'HOW" of PPC is obviously important. But wasting time "tweaking" something that will never reach an acceptable success is just a waste of time.
“WWW? Nice toy, but what a waste of time.” - Bill Gates
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