As you may have heard, we are in a recession. The big ‘R’ still stalks the land like a great big stalking thing. One of the first things that happens during these times is the slashing of companies advertising budgets. This is the exact opposite of what businesses should be doing. There are fewer customers spending less so they need to be chased harder. I have personally spoken to many business owner who realise they are doing the wrong thing in not spending money to make it, but they just feel that they are better off battening down the hatches and riding the storm out.
Internet advertising however is defying the trend. It is expected that it will actually increase by more than 10 percent in 2009. And a big percentage of that money is being spent on Pay-Per-Click (PPC).
The reason for this is PPC is thought of as an extremely effective use of advertising dollars due to it’s above average return on investment, highly measurable and quantifiable results. As a result, more money is moving from traditional channels to PPC.
With more and more companies realising the many benefits of undertaking a PPC campaign the market obviously becomes tougher with more competition around. Combine the increased competition with low consumer confidence and spending levels, and it can lead to higher cost-per-conversion for advertisers. One of the ways around this is by making extensive use of geo-targeted PPC campaigns.
Geo-targeting is an obvious choice for local or regional advertisers who can’t, or don’t want to, serve a national audience or companies that have a limited online marketing budget. However, geo-targeting can also be a great choice for national advertisers who want to expand their reach.
One of the great things about geo-targeting is the ability to bid on general terms that you can’t afford on a national basis.
For instance, buying the term “Car Rental” on a national scale is pricey, and the ROI may not be all that great. But buying “Queenstown Car Rental” for the immediate area around Queenstown can work very well, because those searchers are more likely than average to convert.