Are your pay per click advertising dollars being spent on people who already bought your product? Pay per click advertising is one of the most lucrative and misunderstood tools on the internet. I am a big fan of some internet marketing “Guru’s” like Jeff Walker and Rich Shefren. Their work has influenced our business without a doubt, and what we do for our clients.
Jeff released a new book, and following Brendon Buchards lead, he gave away the first several thousand copies to become a “best selling author” in the category. I might follow suit with my next book so stay tuned if you want a free book.
Of course being a fan of Jeff’s, I jumped on to try and get a free copy. Now every google page and Facebook page has an ad displayed for Jeff’s book. Isn’t that a waste because I already bought it?
The answer is I don’t know, and there is no way for me to tell you. Jeff’s product isn’t really the book. It is his information and coaching systems. Jeff sells seminars, online classes and an information product called PLF. I was a PLF member for a couple of years. If the add for his new book leads me to buy another seminar or renew with PLF, then the add is worth the money.
If the ad causes me to ignore Jeff’s picture because I already ordered the book, then it might be a wasted impression.
The value of the ad depends on two things. First, you need to know if it is a Pay Per Click (PPC) or Pay Per Thousand (PPM) ad? If it is and PPC ad then it doesn’t cost Jeff or his affiliates a penny for me to see him there. It is working to reinforce the impression that I have of Jeff as an information marketing guru. Facebook and Google are losing out because I won’t click and they won’t make any money.
If it is a PPM ad, then the next question has to do with up-sales. Are people who bought the book originally, coming back and buying more later with these ads? If so, then that is great advertising and can be money well spent. Any type of service business can use this method to bring back customers for different services. Realtors can use it to hope that they get some leads. The reality though is you should have a time between customer interactions of less than 3 months for this to work. Most people only move once every five years.
A Tire dealer might get an up-sale for a brake job if the customer remembers that they do brakes and left with a favorable impression of the dealer. A bakery might get a big birthday cake sale from an ad for cupcakes. People might just come back for more cupcakes. In all of these ads, another sale was made. I didn’t order another copy of Jeff’s book so only he will ever know if that ad is adding to his bottom line or not.
Part of the fees that marketing companies charge should cover measuring ads and response. Paying for an ad blindly is just money spent on “hope marketing”. That is when you spend money and “hope” that a client walks in the door. Even when they do, you don’t know why so you can’t do it again or better.
Where is your ad money going? Are you sure about that?
