Promoting your manufacturing business online can be tricky, especially if you’ve only been using traditional offline tactics. Advertising is a prime example. While paid listings in online directories and event sponsorship can work, and often provide the kind of targeted traffic you need to find those ideal prospects, there are more agile, efficient, and often effective advertising opportunities available.
But it’s not as easy as punching in a few search keywords and giving Google a credit card number. Paid search traffic from Google AdWords can be immensely powerful and convert at a high rate, but it can just as easily drain your advertising budget if not setup properly. To help guide you through the initial steps of building your ad campaign, here are some important steps you should consider following.
Designing an Ad Campaign
Google search ads are based on the keywords people use to look for your business online. Someone searches for a product or service you offer and you bid for placement on the search results page, showing up at the top of the page with the ad copy you’ve provided to Google.
Sounds easy, right? That’s where it gets tricky. Yes, it’s easy to setup a Google AdWords account and start spending money. You can get your ads in front of as many eyeballs as you can afford, but will they convert to leads and eventual sales? AdWords is the lowest hanging fruit for marketing and sales departments in manufacturing companies, but it can also be a deep pit if you’re not careful.
It starts with a clear understanding of who your audience is and what they need. That means:
- Identifying the specific language they will use when searching for your products and services.
- Creating a list of between 50 and 300 variants on those searches. This can be a list of part numbers and sizes if you are an OEM or distributor, or specific techniques, finishing services, or equipment utilized for your custom manufacturing services.
- Identifying the most effective language and offer you can put in front of them when they search for these specific terms. This isn’t an exact science; you’ll need to test and retest your headlines and ad copy over time.
- Set aside 1-2 hours per week to evaluate the performance of your ad campaign. Realistically, you’re looking at 30-60 days of adjustment and testing in you campaign before you build ads that resonate with your target audience.
One of the most challenging components of running an ad campaign in the manufacturing industry is that there isn’t a lot of search traffic from buyers and engineers. Sure, you might be able to get a lot of traffic if you advertise for “metal stamping” or “tube fittings”, but are those the people you want to visit your website?
The more general and generic your keywords, the less likely they will turn into viable traffic that leads to a sale. So you need to specify the types of questions and concerns they voice when searching. Things like:
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- “Material selection for metal stamped part”
- “tube fitting replacement comparisons”
“fluid compatibility for seals and gaskets”
The more specific you can be and the broader you can cast your net, the more effectively you’ll be able to capture people at the point of research, already into the buying cycle.
- Optimizing Your Website for Paid Search
Keyword selection and ad design aren’t everything. You’ll also need to ensure your website is designed to convert traffic you pay for. There are two factors here:
- When someone clicks on an ad, do they go to a page that directly answers their question and provides them an opportunity to contact your company and learn more?
- Does your landing page satisfy the metrics used by Google to assign a quality score? This number will determine if your ad appears for the keywords you’ve selected and how much you’ll need to bid for good placement.
There are a lot of factors that can influence both above things. But at the core, you need to have a decent sized site map that covers several important issues. Some areas to review include:
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- Problem oriented content – Do you have pages dedicated to the specific questions asked by your target prospects?
- Headlines – Do your headlines address these problems and reference the language used in the ad or that was used in the search?
- Visuals – Are you showing the prospect a visual representation of their problem – a broken part, custom manufactured project you worked on, or something similar?
- Contact Method – Do you have an easy to use contact form on your website? This can be a call-to-action button, a form for them to complete or something similar.
A good Google AdWords campaign will guide people from the questions they have to relevant ad copy and into a landing page that answers their question while encouraging them to contact you for more information.
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- Getting More Exposure for Your Manufacturing Business Online
If you are trying to increase traffic to your industrial website and find that the traditional methods don’t work, or if you’ve tried paid search with less than stellar results, consider a new approach. Building a carefully constructed ad campaign from the ground up that focuses on your audience and their problems rather than your services and products will help to get the right people on your site.
Learn more about how a well-structured website, clear understanding of your target audience, and a carefully built AdWords campaign can benefit your business. Contact the experts of Pronto today to learn more.
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