5 Reasons Your Online Advertising is Not Working for You
It’s 2019 and you’re doing your best keep up with digital marketing trends. Without a doubt, if the audience you want to reach uses the Internet then it’s an absolute must to have an online presence. Many business owners with no time to figure out the ins and outs of how each online marketing tool works will invest in advertising. With a sales person’s help or a nudge from the platform, ease of use makes advertising appealing. Undeniably, spending money on Google and social media can be a lucrative way of quickly sending traffic to your website. So, what’s the problem?
When analytics show high numbers but the business is not seeing conversions in the way of sales, phone calls or inquiries, then it seems something isn’t quite adding up. Sound familiar? If you are spending advertising dollars, seeing impressive spikes in traffic but no activity on the receiving end then you may need to take a closer look at the big picture.
Five reasons your online advertising is not bringing you more customers.
Your website has a Terrible User Experience
So, is it a website or a catch all brochure that belongs in the 80’s?
Every business owner should be wise to the fact that a modern website is a major customer service tool. Users visit the site to find answers to their questions, get the most current business information, and then may want to contact the business. If your advertising budget is spent on sending users to a website that feels outdated and cumbersome to navigate then the trust factor immediately plummets. When the trust factor is at risk then the number of submitted inquiries and sales are at risk.
It’s not consistent
Does your advertisement leave the user thinking “Wait, what just happened?”
It’s true, time is of the essence in advertising. It’s also true that mistakes are costly. When there is inconsistency between the ad and the landing page the user is immediately confused by the discrepancy. Here’s an example of a common mistake that happens in rushed advertising.
An established gym now offers a new massage therapy service. In an effort to get the word out quickly, their marketing director releases an ad campaign directed towards people searching “massage therapy”. As expected, the gym’s ad pops up when the targeted keyword, “massage therapy” is searched. The interested user clicks on the ad and lands on the gym’s homepage where there is no mention of massage therapy.
Avoid causing your potential customers confusion on their way to visit your website. Take the time to be thorough with your advertising flow.
Your message is all over the place
We know you have so much to offer your potential customers.
It’s overwhelmingly tempting to tell them about EVERYTHING you do so well. This is the Internet with overflowing information all the time. Resist the urge to be another overwhelming page of information. Make the content of each page of your website or landing page specific to the subject you are advertising. When your message is an overload of information your website user will find it difficult to find clear answers quickly. Instead let the ad work for you and give just enough good information that your reader will want to take the next step and contact you.
There is no call to action
Ask for what you want!
The first two questions to define after you’ve decided to invest in online advertising:
Question #1: What do you want to advertise?
Question #2: What action do you want people to take?
Don’t miss out on your chance to ask for what you want. When advertisements leave it up to the user to figure out what action to take after they click then the option to decide to do nothing is as valuable as the option to submit an inquiry. Make it clear on your landing page that the user should complete the form, make a call, schedule an appointment, buy a product, etc.
Your content is not valuable to your customers
Here is the best tip of this post…. industry lingo, generic, self promoting content is not convincing to most users. Valuable content is concise, specific and provides answers about what it is you provide that is beneficial to the user. It’s important to remember when designing and executing advertisements that it is all about the person on the other end. Above all, this advertisement should show that person the relief your service can provide.
If you need assistance forming your next strategic online marketing campaign we can help. Contact Riza Marketing.