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Web ads and cost – thinking outside the box
Thanks to the Internet, one can now go to a website that allows one to find and potentially date millionaires and billionaires. That is a nice niche market; a website for people who only want to date very wealthy people. You may just find Tiger Woods on one of those sites soon, writes Francois Vorster
On the Web, you can find just about anything today as well as things you have never even thought of. You can reconnect with old friends and find original Star Wars figurines for a price and, of course, you can find luck, love and lots of lemons.
But, the big question is: what are your customers (and potential costomers) doing online when they are not searching for your products? Are they socialising, playing games, reading the news or watching videos?
An online article recently highlighted the most expensive cost per click (CPC) Google keywords (the amounts are the CPC value):
• $25.21 – Asbestos lawyer
• $23.07 – Donate a car
• $21.72 – Criminal lawyer
• $14.22 – Medical malpractice lawyer
• $10.81 – California divorce lawyer
• $10.81 – California divorce attorney
• $3.28 – Hair loss
The list appears to be a United States one, but it seems charities will pay much money to get your donations and old cars. Additionally, being a lawyer in the US seems profitable if they are paying over $20.00 (R150.00) for a click; and hair loss treatments cost quite a bit to advertise on Google.
I have chosen a few from a long list of expensive ad words to highlight the value and cost. So the question is: how much are you willing to pay for a click on one of your online ads?
You can reduce your CPC amount on ads significantly if you purchase keywords that cost less. Remember, a businessperson who buys office equipment does not only search for office equipment online. He or she will also read the news online, read car reviews, read a joke perhaps, and be on Facebook and watch clips on YouTube.
So, if you go outside of niche environments, you can get cheaper advertising space and still target your market. The difference here is that your message and creative will have to be very different because the person will be in a different frame of mind and not in work mode. Approaching your market from the side can be very lucrative and could reduce you customer acquisition costs or your CPC costs.
So think outside of the box and get to truly understand your target market, not merely why they would use your product or service. The better you understand them, the greater the opportunities to target them.
Remember the fundamentals: if you see a television ad at home for a new car, you won’t – or can’t – buy one straight away as it is 10:30 at night. But you may go, in a few days’ time, and have a test drive and then buy one.
Online advertising also has delayed effects, and can create demand and awareness just like other media forms.
So be clever with your money and look for effective opportunities that deliver. If you want some thoughts or ideas on what you are doing currently, or can do, e-mail me on
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or visit www.solarstorm.co.za. Alternatively, call me on 011 0234 369 (Skype francoisv100).
Well, stay cool, stay focused and smile kindly to an unconnected person this week.
