How to get ROI from Google Adwords

 

Challenge your employees, especially those who handle marketing, to take a broader view of online advertising and ask them to justify the spend. Action must be taken immediately if return on investment (ROI) drops.

 

Any aspect of your business which fails to realise that 'profit and sales are king' is clearly misdirected. The marketing side of your business may be pleased with a number of click-throughs to the company's website from Google, but what truly matters is how many of those click-throughs convert into sales.

 

2. Find technology that works for your business

The key is to find the right technology that works in conjunction with your online campaign and helps your overall business objectives. Google AdWords offer basic tools and advice for SMEs trying to get the most from their online advertising budgets, but to have an edge on the competition businesses need to do more.

 

Cloud-based CRM software can provide businesses with a quick and easy way to track ROI and see if the leads generated actually convert to sales. Many of these options are specifically tailored for SMEs with limited budgets and offer advice and support for start-ups

 

3. Learn and adapt

If your company's current plan isn't working; do something about it. There is a whole host of software, services and advice out there and so to stay complacent is just foolish. It's not necessarily about getting it right the first time, but rather it’s about getting it right in the long term.

 

No two businesses are the same, each with varying and different requirements, cash flow and needs. Similarly, an organisations approach to online advertising campaigns should not be seen as 'one size fits all'. 

 

Take a critical eye to your current online campaigns, tweak them to gain better results and be aware of your company's spend. By reorganising your online advertising campaigns you can increase efficiency, save money and get a better ROI.

 

The battle with ROI from online advertising is something that my company, Workbooks.com, has struggled with as well. Last year we spent £36,000 on Google AdWords which generated around 13,000 unique visitors to our website. While this is a fair amount of traffic, our team calculated that the company made sales of just £5,000; making it by far the worst performing marketing activity.

 

In response, we changed where we were spending money. Our sales and marketing teams looked closely at our ROI and altered how much we were spending and where. The business looked at other options, like investing in PR and an SEO specialist to help give us that extra boost. Now we're getting about 1.5x on the investment with Google, which isn’t fantastic but is certainly a significant improvement. 

 

John Cheney is CEO of Workbooks.com.