Stop spending money on advertising until you do this!

Why, because the old approach to marketing NO longer works. 

Introduction

How do we know that spending money on digital ads is the old approach to marketing? Because we've seen the evidence, spoken with the agencies and we've listened to businesses like yours explain their struggles to gain a new client.

And with the cost of ads increasing and businesses needing larger budgets to get the same outcomes we think this is only going to get worse. So in this blog stop spending money on advertising until you do this, we will share the secrets to getting a better ROI.

How Tight Is Your Marketing Budget?

As a side note, did you know that during the Global Financial Crisis, Google continued growing, making a massive profit? Why, because companies worried that their well of clients would dry up or even worse, stop all together.

And unfortunately this same undertone is happening again now, so it seems a great time to share these secrets. Back then businesses spent more to compensate for those fears.

Recently I heard Neil Patel infer: If during this current financial downturn or recession, Google starts to see a decrease in profits, don’t be surprised if they change the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) showing more ads on page 1 of google search.

Facebook and the other platforms are no different, they will find a way to continue taking our money and making massive profits.

It's us against them! (Neil didn't say that.. I did).

Facebook is becoming a headache for many agencies

Facebook is becoming a headache for many agencies, with Facebook shutting down an increasing number of ad accounts, and the regular changes to algorithms. Which means a greater ad spend for you and I.

While we try to interrupt the platform, and guess what, as soon as we feel like we have broken the code, something seems to change or get updated. It has a feeling of poker machines about it.

How do you see Advertising and Marketing as a cost or an investment?

And while, some owners look at marketing and advertising as just a cost of doing business on their profit and loss.

When you do advertising and marketing, as outlined above and only achieve those ‘one off ‘ sales or clients, I would tend to agree. And the following outlines the vicious circle that is costly in this current financial environment.

Business spends money on ads >

Get a new client >

Make a small profit >

Puts the small profit back into the business >

More ads = Vicious circle.

But when you spend money on increasing and building a sustainable online reputation, things start changing.

You are now spending money on an ever growing asset.

YOUR REPUTATION.

Reviews are the special sauce, that golden ticket to achieving a better ROI. Especially when productivity needs to come first. The key to growing with Google and increasing rankings is ongoing reviews. Which not only builds trust with your prospects but also with Google, themselves.

This is where your business needs some sort of software platform,or reputational management system. This becomes an investment in your future as you build a business asset.

Google reviews or any kind of 3rd party platform reviews are protecting your reputation and cutting your ongoing advertising costs in the future. 

Turning those ‘one off’ clients into a word of mouth, compounding machine. Not to mention your business becomes a magnet for your ideal clients and converting them into a customer is so much easier. It becomes a ‘pull’ sale rather than you having to ‘push’ everything down their throats to get them across the dotted line.

From the moment Eugene Schwartz wrote undoubtedly one of the most acclaimed books on the subject Breakthrough advertising in 1966. Companies have tried and tested different models but ultimately, the best customer is the one who knows that they need your ‘widget’ or 'service' and are happy to hand over the cash, no matter what it costs.

Wouldn't that be nice? Working with easy to please customers, who need less company resources and take less energy from you and your staff. Are happy to pay the price and don't want to haggle because they respect your offer. Whether you're working B2B or B2C, people want to share their experience and tell the world. These customers are priceless, are they not? 

This very thing has happened to a client of ours Educational Resource Associates. The owner is without a doubt a leader in her field and was getting frustrated with parents arguing about her price and wanting to debate everything. Since working with us, she now is getting high net worth patients and referrals from doctors. For the owner and her team of dedicated staff their days seem brighter and it's a pleasure (even more so) rather than a chore to go to work.

So Stop Spending Money On Ads!  Because The Old Approach To Marketing No Longer Works And Google Reviews Now Make All The Difference To Your Ideal Customers.👊

Getting a purchaser to part with their cash has certainly changed. In the diagram below we have the traditional buying decision model of a customer who needs what you are selling.

It’s pretty simple, really, the purchaser decides ``I want it”, take my money. Then if the widget or service lives up to their expectations, they may buy it again, keep the experience to themselves or if they hear someone speak of a problem the widget can solve, they may share their experience.

Today and especially in the last 24 months since COVID our buying decision model has changed. In this day and age of over 15 billion mobile devices, it makes sense that we all hop onto our mobile computer in our hand. We want to see what others are saying about the widget we are buying after all. Because who knows it could be complete rubbish and a waste of our hard earned money. We as consumers trust would other consumers say more than what the company tells us.

Today, before we even go into a shop or engage with a service provider, we've researched and googled. Who wants to waste time going from store to store when in your hands is the answer in real-time. And more importantly, when Eugene Swartz wrote his famous book back in the sixties, we trusted what the business said about their products and services. Today not so much, our level of trust in what a business tells us needs to be confirmed by someone's experience.

We call this the zero-moment-of-truth. After a previous purchaser leaves a google review.

This article explains how consumer buying behaviours have changed .So what is the outcome of this new movement, well if you aren't collecting google reviews how can your new customers know that your widget or service does what you say it does? Unless you have testimonials or reviews, that possible buyer may move onto the next business that has online trusted and a better online reputation. This isn't going away, research says it's only building.

• 92% of consumers will hesitate to buy a product if there are no reviews left by customers

• Customer reviews can increase conversions by 270%.

• 97% of consumers report that the customer reviews they read influence their purchasing decisions.

  Source:https://websitebuilder.org/blog/online-review-statistics/

Other resources to help you get a better ROI from your Ad spend.

So when every sale counts and the costs of doing business are increasing, what is it costing you to not have a process for collecting reviews from your satisfied clientele? And when persuasion is so important, as outlined in Breakthrough Advertising, how will your business survive when your competitors have 100's if not 1000's of reviews and you haven't even started building your online reputation?