Why Your Company Needs Google AdWords

If you aren’t already using it, it’s probably time for your company to start thinking about Google AdWords. While the ads you can create with this are quite simple, they are also very effective. This is because, when set up correctly, your advertisements will be shown to people who are actively seeking what you are offering.

Now you can’t just create a campaign in a few minutes, leave it on autopilot and expect it to work, at least, not without being disappointed. Creating these Google ads takes time and research. You need to know which keywords that are relevant to your product or service are being searched. You need to know which keywords have high levels competition and which ones have low levels of competition. Then you have to sprinkle your carefully researched keywords throughout your ad while still effectively communicating your message and staying within the character limit Google provides.

Once this is complete, set your budget and launch your campaign. You can usually expect to get a good amount of impressions, clicks and hopefully calls. Unfortunately, this will not be the end of your campaign management process. Keyword trends change on a monthly basis. They actually change on an hourly basis, but it’s best to look at them over a period of a month to allow a broader view of trends. You will need to track how consumers searching habits change and alter your advertisements accordingly.

This can present itself as a major challenge to companies that don’t believe the time to accomplish this. Luckily, you can outsource this task to other companies, S2N Design included. This will save you the hassle, but still get you the results.

What Ideals Does Your Company Advertise?

Norman Douglas, a member of the Advertising Hall of Fame, once said, "You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements." We agree with this sentiment. By noticing the advertising that is shown in any given country, you really begin to understand what its residents value. It could be sex, fame, money, power, self-fulfillment, charity, or multiculturalism. Whatever is considered an ideal within a country will either be promoted or appealed to through advertisements.

The same is true for your company. Everything you put in front of consumers says something about your business. You could be saying that your company believes in great value rather than low price or that your company believes a good night includes football, girls in bikinis, and lowered inhibitions. We aren't saying that one value is better than any other, but all values have the possibility of resonating  with certain people, while isolating others.

The point is that you must be careful. Your promotions are your image, and your image is everything.

Simplicity in Strategy

Simplicity is one of the most powerful techniques you can use when marketing or advertising. Things that are simple are also easy, and when you're trying to inspire someone into an action, easy is good.

Consider a Web site. While your natural instincts may tell you to add a lot of elements and gadgets, this can often lead to confusion for the user. Since Web sites are now one of the main avenues consumers use to find product information, find contact information, and make a purchase, it's absolutely necessary to make sure that your Web site is easy to navigate and understand.

Logos provide yet another example of the positive power of simplicity. Logos are created to stick in the minds of consumers. The more complex, the more there is to memorize. This makes it much more likely that your logo will not be remembered.

In short, simplicity in marketing or advertising increases the chances that your company will be considered by a customer because it eliminates potential speed bumps on the road to a purchase.

The Importance of Visual Communication

As you may be able to tell, considering we are putting time and effort towards creating and maintaining a company blog, we appreciate the power of words to effectively deliver a message. Graphics, however, hold a very special place in our hearts.

The use of imagery to communicate and persuade has a few distinct advantages that cannot be obtained through the use of the written word alone. While great writing can capture your imagination and paint a vivid picture in your mind's eye, it is ultimately you who has created that image. Sure, the writer gave you the boundaries. You also probably wouldn't have thought about the image in the first place had you not read what you did, but there is only so much detail that can be described through the use of colorful adjectives and eye-opening metaphors.

With images, however, the graphic designer knows exactly what the viewer will see. There's no guesswork involved because the image is right there to investigate, and if something seems ineffective or inappropriate, it can be changed.

Another advantage is that people tend to respond more to visuals. Would you want an advertisement for your business that consisted of nothing more than blocks of compelling and persuasive copy? Absolutely not. No one would take the time to look at it because of its lack of visual appeal. Without eyes to read it, the most effective copy in the world will do you no good.

These are just a couple of the unique advantages offered by design oriented work. While we could probably make a much longer list of benefits, it's not entirely necessary. Ultimately, design and copy must come together to produce something far more compelling and interesting than either could on their own.

Branding as Personality Traits

Branding is absolutely necessary for any business regardless of what it's selling. Most people seem to understand its importance, but they struggle when asked to define it.

Some might say it's the image, how people perceive the business relative to the competition. Others explain that it's the history, everything from the start up to where the company now stands. The truth is that it is both of these things, and so much more.

Branding encompasses your logo, website, history, price, availability, consumer perceptions and more. To keep things simple, think of branding as the effort put forth that attempts to control your brand's "personality."

It often helps to think of your brand as a person. Should it be the sexy and exclusive model that so many fashion companies strive for, or should it be the sturdy and reliable friend, like some of the less expensive car companies try to be.

Whichever personality trait you choose to ascribe to your brand, and their are far more than the two examples we chose to provide, it's important that you are proactive in making that vision a reality. After all, if you don't decide your brand's personality, someone else will.

Repositioning the Advertising Industry.

It's often been said that advertisers create a need within a consumer, but that isn't exactly how it works. In truth, everyone shares the same basic needs, such as food, shelter, sense of belonging, etc:.. Advertisers cannot create these needs, nor do they have to.

Ralph Starr Butler, a member of the Advertising Hall of Fame, once said, "Advertising promotes that divine discontent which makes people strive to improve their economic status." We're not sure it could be stated any better.

The challenge that advertisers must face is how to awaken those needs that already exist within potential customers. Doing this brings a sense of separation in each consumer between his or her desired and actual states. Then, advertisers must show how a particular product or service is the perfect solution. This is the process that Butler referred to as "promoting that divine discontent."

In this way, advertisers do not create needs. They just remind you that they're there and offer a solution.