Hi NWFA community, my name is Todd and I’m excited to be participating in the NWFA virtual expo, Hardwood Floors Now. There, we are going to be talking in detail about Google Ad strategies that can help you beat the box stores. But first, I wanted to clear up 3 myths about Google Ads.
A little about me: I started my career on the AdWords team at Google, so Google Ads is something I know inside and out. Today, I am CEO of Broadlume, parent company of FloorForce, Creating Your Space and the consumer-facing flooring directory FlooringStores.
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Yes, Google Ads can be very complex. But with the correct strategy, it is possible to build it into a scalable, predictable, and profitable lead machine. However, there are still a number of false impressions about Google Ads that I want to clear up for everyone in the wood flooring business.
Myth: Google Ads are too pricey and not worth the money.
Truth: When we examine recent data from our partners, the cost of a Google Ad click (CPC) is currently at a 6-month low. Click prices have gone down from $3.85 to $2.73, an almost 40% decrease. This means right now is one of the most affordable times you could advertise with Google. Moreover, CPA (cost per lead) prices are also down 31%.
Myth: Google Ads works, but the targeting is not specific enough to attract my customers.
Truth: Targeting on Google Ads can become extremely specific. Advertisers can target consumers in various ways, from targeting everyone within a certain geographical area, to targeting everyone in that area of a certain income level, to targeting people who search a specific keyword phrase like “best engineered wood flooring” or “NWFA guidelines”.
Tip: some of our customers have had good results targeting consumers within 3 miles of a box store, or by targeting “brand name + flooring”, like “RevWood flooring”. It’s a question of deciding what local market you want to target.
Myth: Google Ads is easy!
Truth: At the end of the day, Google does make getting started with Google Ads simple. Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to scale your Google Ads or make them super-profitable. So before you start diving into Google Ads, you should at least be familiar with the various keywords types. The way you structure these keywords (broach match, broad match modified, phrase, exact) will completely alter the way your ad campaigns perform.
As an example for this, let’s pretend we are advertising the most durable wood flooring. A broad match will show our ad to anyone who searches “durable oak wood floors”. An exact match will not.
I hope we have been able to clarify these 3 myths of Google Ads for you today. If you ever have any questions about digital marketing, please feel free to email me at todd.saunders@broadlume.com. And remember: you can always call Google directly at 18662GOOGLE.
Google ads are one of the least expensive ways to target customers. It’s definitely worth educating yourself.
The value is in the analysis/feedback, even if the campaign is not a success. It’s easy to quickly learn what works and what doesn’t work based off of a $5 ad investment. $2000 print ads won’t give you the same level of data to work with.