Small Businesses need all the help they can get to make their business into a revenue-generating machine. For the right company, Google Ads becomes a vital tool to gain solid leads and is essential for business growth.
But do you know when to offer Google Ads to a small business?
Many businesses can be allured by the idea of having their business be advertised online, and especially on Google. This can be exciting, and you can sell this excitement to business owners. “Then what’s the big problem?” you may find yourself asking, while others are already shouting out the problem.
Budget.
Budget is the beginning and end of many PPC (Pay Per Click) conversations. Without diving into the keywords, landing page, or even the campaign’s goals, a low budget will make competing in any industry almost impossible.
Here are a couple of items to consider when speaking to our clients to see if they are a good fit for Google Ads.
Intent & Business Fit
The client needs to have the right intent for Google Ads to work for their platform. Without knowing what the business owner’s goals are, we won’t know what to optimize.
Here are some questions you can ask to figure out their intent:
- What type of conversions are you looking for?
- Calls?
- In-store visits?
- Sales of your products?
- Leads?
- How aggressive and competitive are you willing to get for the front page ads?
- Who are your top three competitors?
Understanding their intent can give you a good idea of offering Google Ads as a service.
IN A SENSE, ADWORDS WILL HELP YOU CONNECT TO NEW CUSTOMERS THAT ARE SEARCHING FOR YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE.
Once here, you can figure out if their business is a good fit for PPC. This may be a bit harder to figure out right away, but there are a few clues you can follow.
High Customer Lifetime Value
Google Ads benefits from having a business that has High Customer Lifetime Value. Plainly, will a customer keep coming back to the company after becoming a customer? This repeat business can be seen in these type of industries:
- Doctors/ Dentist – most people go back to the same clinic/dentist for checkups.
- Cleaning Services – Businesses use the same cleaning services often
- Catering Restaurants – Most locations will call the same Pizza or catering restaurant when offering catering options.
A business that starts receiving customers and clients through Google Ads will benefit significantly in the long run. Ask yourself if the client you’re speaking with has access to repeat customers, and bring it up if they do for an easy sell!
High-Profit Margins
Businesses that gain from huge returns based on one sale often benefit significantly from Google Ads. These types of companies usually take on clients and projects based on a one-time contract.
- Home Service Contractors – Home landscaping, remodeling, interior designing all offer high one-time services.
- Lawyers – One client can net them thousands of dollars. High contrast from the price of the Google Ad they created
- Home Repair – Plumbers, Electricians, Carpenters all offer services that they can charge in the hundreds to repair.
These services offer huge returns for your PPC. Note that these contracts don’t need to be one-time deals. You can convince a business owner in these industries that PPC will help them keep a loyal fan base that will reach out to them again if a similar problem arises in the future.
Seasonal Promotions
Seasonal events are a great way for companies to take advantage of using PPC. Many companies gain most of their revenue from seasonal events. Such as:
- Flower Shops – These ads can be very competitive but thrive during Valentines
- Party Rentals – Graduations and Holiday seasons are big
- Tuxedo/ Dress Rental – School Dances, weddings, and Quincinieras are year-round special events that PPC can take advantage of
- Halloween Shops – These stores can significantly benefit by having a PPC campaign
These businesses are rarer but would gain the most exposure from having a PPC campaign around the peak season. Remind the client that during this time, customers are searching for exactly their products. These types of businesses should be easy to convince that a PPC campaign is right for them.
Are They Ready For An Ad Campaign?
Your ideal candidates are going to have more than just the right fit and intention for Google Ads. In addition to wanting to have an Ad Campaign, businesses must have a good landing page, or website, for the Ad to work.
I can’t state this enough, without the proper budget or landing page, Google Ads will not work for a company.
The Landing Page
Having the best Ad that converts the most clicks won’t mean much if the users clicking on the Ad leave as soon as they see a disastrous website. Even if the client’s website is only one page, users will click off if they believe the website looks too old, unorganized, or is plain confusing.
Use this opportunity to offer clients a way for BrandRep to clean up their website for them. Many of our clients arrive at our door without a website already set up for their business. Use this opportunity to sell them both Google Ads and a professionally made website created by BrandRep.
Google will rate how credible your Ad is by comparing the keywords you have chosen to bid against where you’re sending the user after clicking on your ad. If the landing page does not reflect the Ad, the Ad will lose credibility and quality score. That means the Ad will not be shown as much no matter what your bid is.
Budget
Finally, we arrive at what is arguably the most crucial part of a campaign. You can have the ad copy be perfect, have a great landing page, and correct keywords, but without a proper budget, it all goes downhill.
BrandRep’s best clients are in the $500-$1000 a month range. Plain and simple, you should not offer Ad services to any client who cannot put up at least $300 a month for a Google Ads campaign.
Without the proper monthly budget, our ads won’t be able to compete against the industry. Though the budget should change depending on the keywords chosen, often, clients would like to pay a flat fee for our ads service a month.
Let’s do an example:
- You have a client who runs their own Plumbing Service
- They offer you $300 a month for an Ad Campaign
- $300/30 = $10 a day to run an Ad campaign
- Here is what the Cost Per Click for an Ad is with the Keyword Plumber
With a $10 a day budget, and the lowest page bid for front of page for Plumber being $8, this client will get 1 click a day before expanding their daily budget.
Should A Business Get Google Ads?
When speaking with a client, use their industry to quickly search up the “Top of page bids” on Google’s Keyword Planner. Divide their monthly budget by 30.4, and you’ll have the daily budget for bids. Then compare their daily budget to the top of page bids. This should give you a good idea if their budget were enough to utilize Google Ads effectively.
Once you know their budget will be enough, you can start exploring their intent, goals, and landing page. This would be a great way to get to know both the client and their business needs.
Working with BrandRep, we want to make sure that we are giving the right services to our clients. Though some may want to start making Google Ads, we first have a responsibility to make sure they have the proper budget.
