As technology evolves and HIT demand drives more and more people to start their own businesses, i thought it would be nice to talk about advertising for small businesses. Over the years I have worked with many small healthcare businesses and
found that advertising is a huge challenge for small business. The reason for
this is simple, advertising is expensive. Still, there are ways to affordable ways to advertise.
Now, I am going to start this post by saying something
shocking – but don’t be turned off…wait and here me out. Here is the shocking
statement: Contrary to popular opinion,
services like Google Ad Words alone are not likely to produce a return on
investment. This is not to imply that you can ignore Google Ad Words, but
rather to say that Ad Words ALONE will not work and investment in Ad Words when
finances are limited can be disastrous.
First, I will give a brief blurb on Ad Words for those not
familiar. Search engines, like Google, have advertisements at the top and sides
of the page. These ads are produced based on the words a person searches
compared to the advertisement’s purchased keywords. For example, if I search
the word ‘tomato’, at the top and sides of the search page, I will see
advertisements for businesses who have ‘purchased’ the word ‘tomato’. Each time
a person clicks on one of those advertisements, the business that advertised by
purchasing the word ‘tomato’ is charged
for the word’s use.
So, if people are clicking on an advertised term, one can
assume that the person wants that item. Why would that be disastrous? There is
one single reason and it is return on investment (ROI). Let’s say a click on
your advertisement costs $0.50. Over the course of a month, 1,000 people click
on your ad. That will cost you $500. Your tomatoes sell for $0.50 each. Of that
1000 people, only 1 person bought a single tomato. So, your revenue was $0.50 and
your advertising cost was $500… where is the ROI?
It can be argued at this point that getting your name out
there - in front of the consumer - is worth that loss of $499.50 in the long
run. Unfortunately, for a small business this absence of immediate RIO is the
primary reason why the marketing/advertising budget is the first thing cut when
finances are tight. So, there has got to be a better way and there is.
First, let’s think about why only 1 person out of 1,000 bought
tomatoes from you. There are a lot of
possible reasons but two reasons stand out as things you can control and I will
discuss both at length in two posts (to keep this from getting too long). The first
possible reason is that your website is terrible. The second reason is your
brand recognition which I will explain in this post and give tips for improving
it in another post.
Let’s start with your terrible website. A terrible website
can be defined in two ways. One is a website that is confusing. There are ‘rules’
for good user interface (UI) design. If your website breaks the rules and
people cannot find what they want –they will not buy from you. If you don’t know
the rules, you can research that but before you rush off to do that finish
reading here first.
The next thing about terrible websites are ugly, homegrown,
unprofessional websites. In many ways an
ugly website is WORSE than breaking good UI design rules. If your website it
ugly, people will leave the site immediately and your reputation will sink. It does not matter how good a business you have, how
affordable your prices, how fabulous your service, etc…if your site is ugly –
you lose business.
Face it, most people like shiny objects – attractive
websites, modern websites, innovative-looking websites will take your business
away. Don’t depend on your own judgment about your website – you are bias. It
is like children’s artwork – to a parent, that piece of artwork hanging on the
fridge is comparable to any Van Gogh. To everyone else, it’s just ugly. The best
investment a small business will EVER make is in professional web design.
Now, understand professional web design is not a homegrown thing
done by a relative who claims to know something about it. You need to hire a
consultant who is wholly objective. Interview a LOT of companies or independent
designers before choosing who will do your website. The person/company you choose should understand good user
interface design, user experience, and search engine optimization (SEO, search
engine optimization is the art of designing a website so search engines can
effectively catalogue your contents and product web search results).
Do your research on these terms before interviewing – understand
the topics so you are not deceived by someone who claims to know more than they
do. Then spend quality time reviewing the designer’s portfolio. Ask a lot of
questions. You can also ask many designers to create a sample page for your
website so you can see what they are capable of. Keep in mind many designers
will charge for such custom samples (as a precaution). Above all else, don’t be cheap in website design! Spend the
money on your site and hold off on the expense of Ad Words for a bit. Once you
have a good website, you can start driving traffic for free or relatively inexpensively.
The next reason you only sold one tomato may be your brand
image. As a small business, how can customers know you are reputable? Who are
you? Before Ad Words can have a positive impact on your sales, you need to
build your brand. A brand is the combination of your name, what you do, how you
do it, what you stand for, etc. Before people will trust to buy from you, they
need to know your brand or at least not be afraid of it. Your website is a
major part of your brand, make sure it is professional-looking! Additionally,
branding activities can be used to generate website traffic. That, however, is
the subject of the next post.
