Ever wonder why your marketing strategy fails, or doesn't return any real investment? You spend thousands on a billboard just to have friends say "I saw your billboard." You spend thousands on a radio ad just to have the FedEx guy say "I heard your ad on the radio today."
Each and every time you spend money on an ad, it should return enough sales to at least cover the cost of the ad. If not, well, then you did it wrong.
Wrong demographic target, or wrong placement, or wrong words, or maybe simply no one cares about what you are trying to sell. Of course, there's always the possibility that your ad slogan has some other urban slang definition and everyone's laughing at you.
Now in the second week of online marketing attempts, we are seeing random and sloppy ads from many jewelry stores.
Here's what we've seen so far:
Google AdWords Mistakes:
1. Don't even bother unless your website has a product catalog. Holiday website traffic is either looking for gifts for themselves or for others. Why would you pay advertising money to bring people to a website and then not show them products? Sorry, but this is just pure stupidity and probably cohesion or a feeling of peer pressure.
2. Websites devoid of educational information will also be devoid of most sales opportunities. AdWords jewelry ads tend to attract people who have never before walked into a jewelry store. It's their first purchase and they don't want to be over charged or otherwise cheated by a website or a local jeweler. You need to have educational information on your website that details popular aspects about the jewelry you carry. Some examples include: 4C's, How to Buy a Diamond, Differences of Stainless Steel and a Gemstone Guide.
3. Setting up AdWords with dozens of keyword phrases in a single Ad Group. Do yourself a favor and trust us on this one. Do not create Ad Groups that have more than 3 or 4 related keyword phrases in them. Related phrases would include plural and singular versions of the phrase. This setup will give you increased control of your Quality Score. If you want extreme control, then limit each Ad Group to a single phrase.
4. Setting up AdWords without negative keywords. There are just certain types of customers you don't want. If you don't carry Champagne colored diamonds, then set the word "Champagne" as a negative keyword for your ads. Your money will stretch much further.
5. Setting your ads to appear on the Display Network. Until your ROI on ads is proven to be high, you need to stay out of this advertising arena. Ads in the Display Network are "interrupt" ads that need to get someone's attention. Ads in the SERP are directly related to what someone is looking for. Different tactics are needed for each approach. This is where you will lose the most money.
Facebook Ad Mistakes:
1. Attempting direct marketing. Facebook ads are always "interrupt" ads. The approach is the complete opposite from Google AdWords. These ads need to catch someone's attention with a curious picture and a call to social interaction. Direct marketing ads like "Best Jewelry Store in Appleton Wisconsin on College Avenue" will not score any sales from the local music students at Lawrence University. Instead, the local jewelers should try a photo of a musical instrument with an ad like "Congratulate them on a performance well done" or "Perfectly priced charms to cheer up the over exhausted Lawrence Conservatory students."
2. Targeting to the wrong audience. Please turn off your ads if you don't understand how the Facebook system allows you target specific people. In our own office, we are seeing ads from jewelry stores all around the world. We have yet to see any Facebook ads leading to websites that could compete in a national or global e-commerce arena. If you don't sell through your website, then don't allow your ads to appear to anyone unless they are in local towns you target. If you don't want to sell out of your state or province, then you need to set that geo-targeting, too.
In conclusion, you will have a very expensive learning experience if you are doing any of the 7 items listed above, and you will probably have a zero return on your marketing money.
It is better to pay the same amount of money to an experienced online marketing expert that understands these points. No matter what, your advertising is always a trial and error situation, but at least an experienced online marketer already knows where to begin and what to avoid to get that initial ROI.
