A question that we get asked often is : ” Can Google AdWords help us get customers?” Our short answer is “Yes” and then in deeper discussion … the but –starts coming in. Google AdWords (or any other form of advertising for that matter) cannot engage your customer after they arrive at your website.
What Google AdWords really does well is to show your ad when people are searching for your product or service. This is huge because if they click on your ad, they arrive at a page on your website that meets their needs almost perfectly. In the physical world it is like getting a customer to walk into your store. Let us understand the customer’s behavior after she enters your say brick and mortar store:
Two things can happen after a person walks into your say brick and mortar store:
- The customer does not buy: This is not all bad news because the customer became aware of your store and its offerings.
- The customer buys:The customer buys and that is great. It shows that the customer liked your products and services, the service provided by your floor sales staff and the feeling or “ambiance” of the store.
There are two corresponding tasks that become important for the business:
- Changing your offering –if it makes sense:When customers walk in and browse your products but do not buy – is a great opportunity. It is worthwhile to try and find out if changing some things might switch a significant number of store visitors to buyers. These could include low cost changes like better lighting or simply more smiles or more complicated things like adding a new line. If adding a new line is expected to add lots of new customers at good margins , then it makes sense. On the other hand if adding a new line will mean distracting your workforce without convincing sales numbers, it probably is not a good idea. Incidentally, understanding web visitors and their buying behavior is far easier through Google Analytics than the physical world.
- Build Customer Engagement for buyers: Building customer engagement starts with a “wow” experience in the first encounter. It motivates the customer to come back for more, spread the word among friends and through social media and remember you the next time the customer is in the market for your product or service. Seeing permission and including the customer on your email list and Business Facebook and other social media pages is a great idea at check out.
To summarize, advertising does an essential job of getting your word out and getting the customer in the door (or website with Google AdWords). However, constant work is needed to engage the customer as a lifetime customer. About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.