Resources

Connections Vol. 2 Issue 1 January 2007

Gambling with your Advertising Budget

By: Joseph Duron

Most traditional advertising methods leave you in the dark as to what results can be directly attributed to how you've spent your money.

Whenever you're advertising budget is being paid out, do you ever wonder what the return on investment (ROI) is? How functional is it to track the ROI on most traditional advertising methods? Let us help.

With a geographically targeted advertising campaign we will work with you to develop a solution that will track to the penny how affective your online advertising budget really is. This allows you to improve your bottom line month after month after month. "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it" says President Blaine Hilton, "and you want to be able to manage your advertising money."

Do you feel that your advertising budget is being used like noodles thrown against the ceiling - to see what will stick?

Why Would a Company That Deals With a Local Market Want a Presence on the Internet?

Having a web presence is getting increasingly important. This is because more and more people are now setting aside the local telephone book and logging onto the internet to search for businesses and individuals on a regular basis. So when searching for a business, why would you use the internet rather than a telephone book?

It's Easy

The task is simple as long as you have a computer handy. Hands down, it beats looking at all of that small print! In the past ten years, technology has molded us into creatures of habit. For example, many individuals and businesses rely on sending e-mails rather than mailing letters, and even placing a telephone call. Sending e-mails is more convenient, inexpensive, and although sometimes impersonal, it takes just a few seconds to send.

We will soon notice the same thing happening to searching for businesses. Need the number for a local restaurant? Go to www.google.com and type in "restaurant city, state" such as "restaurant Portage, IN" and see what comes up. People search like this every day and for different types of businesses. The same can be done with other businesses, such as a dry cleaner, plumber, or web developer.

With all this technology happening, Geographic Targeting is becoming more and more valuable.

What is Geographic Targeting

But what is Geographic Targeting? When searchers look for a local business, such as the restaurant example, a sponsored advertisement comes up. The searcher can see your ad, but they also have the option to click on it and explore your web site. The only expense you have is when a searcher clicks on the ad. You can also set a daily budget to ensure you are in complete control of the amount of money you're willing to invest every month.

Right now we are in the transition between the telephone book searches and the internet searches. They will both have strengths and weaknesses. When a searcher has the option and you come up in both a telephone book and the internet, it makes you look that much more credible than your competitor. Plus it gives the potential customer (and/or current customers) a peace of mind that you are not a fly by night company. Show your customers that you've invested in your business so that they as a customer will invest in your business and not your competitor's.

For more information on tracking
Geographically Targeted Advertising
visit
www.blainehilton.com/marketing
and click on CPC