The Basics, The Differences Explained
It’s common knowledge that businesses need to advertise in order to succeed. With more customers turning online to either find tutorials, reviews, or how-to-videos, it is exactly why most businesses owners are turning to online marketing, in order to attract their audience. However, so many businesses don’t exactly know where to start with online marketing, the common question we hear is how do ads run? How much time will it take you to manage them? And How much money should I be spending online? When it comes to online marketing, the questions can be endless.
Many of the people we speak to tell us they have tried digital marketing using Google AdWords, but what they often forget to tell us, is that they have tried using AdWords. We hear the good, and the bad with using AdWords Express and we thought we would break it down by explaining the differences between both platforms.
Time
Adwords Express:
Most businesses are often willing to try digital marketing because they know they need to be online. It’s a no brainer. But there is a huge time commitment that people simply, do not have. With AdWords Express time is of the essence, businesses owners need to have campaigns up, and running fast and efficiently. AdWords Express is a great tool to allow you to cut time with very limited resources.
Adwords Express is for the business that does not want to hire an agency, or spend time managing a campaign on a daily or weekly basis. It’s a short-term quick fix, or at best an easy gateway into using Adwords. In our industry we call it the “set it, and forget it” model. This ideal is for the person who wears multiple hats in their organization and working on their advertising is a necessity, but there is no time to commit. With Adwords Express, you can set a budget, and based on your type of business Google will automate a list of keywords to trigger your ads to your site or Google+ page. Minimal management and management is done from a representative from Google, mostly to fix updates and patches on their system altogether. It is a great app that can be downloaded for either
Adwords:
if you have the time to manage a campaign, ideally up to an extra 15 to 20 hours per week (minimum), then Adwords is for you. Adwords gives you the ability o to show up on Google, the display network, Google+, and Google maps. It requires a level of knowledge on the AdWords platform, and depending how knowledgeable you are you can dictate how much time you may need in order to spend on a campaign and optimization.
However, it is up to the user to create an ever evolving campaign structure, with rules, and updates , and specific keywords that are best for their business. Users can trigger which keywords they want to have, and funnel out negative keywords they wish to ignore. They can create optimal bids, write text ads, remarket on search, create display ads and control how they are seen online. This is why it can take several hours and why most people often outsource the time to a certified Google agency.
AdFormats
Adwords Express
If you want a quick, and fast way to show up online and only want to be seen on Google or just have a pin on the maps then you should look into Adwords Express. You still will be able to create your own ads, which will show up in the“sponsored links” section. To run Adwords Express you don’t even need a website, you can direct all your ads to a simple Google+ page which takes 2 minutes to set up.
Adwords:
If you are looking for something more powerful than a simple plug, and play option such as – inclusive text, animated and or static banners, engaging video formats, then Adwords is the place to be. This platform is for any organization that has their own website, with campaigns targeting many moving parts – i.e. landing pages, banners, videos .
This is where many A/B testing comes in to play to determine which specific ads work better, and gain more traction and conversion. Using an Agency will help you by doing all the testing for you, in a much faster and shorter time frame.
Resources
Adwords Express:
With Adwords Express, it is up to the customer to set a budget and cap themselves a limit which they do not want to succeed. With little, knowledge on bidding, keyword selections and campaign knowledge using the Adwords Express tool will get your business exposure online.
However, Google will use hundreds of keywords to market you online but if you don’t know what people are searching for, how they are finding you, then you are spending too much money to be found. Remember, Google will bill you every time your ad gets cliked and found. So they want to make sure you are showing up almost everywhere in order to get those clicks.
Adwords:
With Adwords, the customer can control which keywords, and in what areas they want to be found. You can bid on showing up within the top 3 ad spots, or somewhere on the sides. Strategically you can make sure you are showing up during specific times of the day, and even control which keywords you do not want to show up for.
The Decision
Go with Adwords! Get more bang for your buck. At ClientFlo, we believe in using AdWords because of the ability it gives clients to really grow their business. We use a customer’s budget so that we make sure we don’t spend over the amount they wish to spend each month. The difference however, is that we are analyzing data on a daily basis. Those 15-20 hours per week is being looked over by an account manager, who is specialized and Google certified. Our goal is to make sure that we are bidding on keywords that not just get you clicks, but also which keywords convert by getting you phone calls. To sum it up, at ClientFlo we don’t just want to spend your money advertising on Google, we want to optimize your campaign to make sure you are getting the best clicks possible for the least amount of money. After all, a happy customer is a loyal customer.