“Why use a cannon to kill a mosquito?”
The wisdom of this Japanese proverb unveils the truth about advertising in traditional media such as TV, radio, newspapers and direct mail.
They usually quote their ad rates by CPM or “Cost per Thousand” people, to make the cost easier to digest. What they’re not telling you however is the cost to reach 1000 customer prospects for your business is actually much higher because only a percentage of their audience (often a small percentage) are qualified prospects. These outlets rely on vague demographics in hopes of reaching a specific group of people, but the targeting is often quite limited. Show us a group of 1000 “18 to 34 year-old males” in your city and we’ll show you 1000 different consumers!
Would you advertise retirement packages to teens?
Or veterinary services to consumers without pets?
It used to be you had to pay to hit tens of thousands of unqualified prospects to meet your advertising goals because there was no alternative. Like the cannon used to kill a mosquito, a lot of firepower (your advertising budget) was wasted.
With the Internet that’s all changed.
Search engine marketing has become the most cost-effective way to reach your customers and offers unprecedented targeting capabilities.
At WSI we use unique tools and business processes, combined with techniques like Web ads, Search Engine Optimization, Guaranteed Inclusion advertising, among others, to ensure your business attracts the highest volume of targeted Web traffic possible.
One of our specialties, Pay-Per-Click advertising which is the leading form of search engine advertising, is the equivalent of a customer-seeking smart bomb. PPC allows you to reach consumers when they are actively searching for your products or services, sending qualified buyers straight to your business.
This is achieved by bidding on specific search terms, or keywords, people use to find things online (your city flowers, tubular steel, women’s shoes, your country molded plastics supply, just to name a few of the countless possible terms a business can bid on). Your ad will show whenever your search terms are used. When a consumer clicks on your ad, you pay the nominal fee you bid on for that search term.
PPC (also known as Pay for Performance advertising), allows for complete control of your costs because you only pay when your ad is clicked on. If your ad is displayed 1000 times and one person clicks on it, you only pay for one click!
Try our interactive WSI IM Pay-Per-Click Calculator to get an idea of the kind of Return on Investment you can expect from a PPC advertising campaign to increase your web site traffic.