Adwords for publicity

Has anyone tried this?

[gsmith]

I want people to find out about my brand new web site. From just letting friends try it out I've received some very positive feedback, so I hope that if people knew about the site and gave it a try they would like it.

I've just started placing AdWords ads, and (it's still very early) my affiliate ads haven't been getting many clicks. Even so, I hope that once people find out about the site they will let others know about it, thereby 1) getting more traffic than I'm initially paying for, and 2) maybe getting some links to my site placed on blogs or whatever.

Has anyone else tried this? Has it worked?

Doug

[netmeg]

It's probably not the most efficient way to do it, and it could cost you a lot of money. AdWords works well for *targeted* advertising - i.e. you put your very relevant and laser-focused ad in front of the potential buyer just when he's ready to see it. The approach you describe is a little like not knowing where the gas tank is, so you pour gas all over the car hoping it seeps in somewhere.

You can use AdWords for branding, per se, but unless you have a big budget for a blitz, I dunno that I'd bother. I've most often seen this tactic used by car companies to introduce a new model - and look where they are today.

[gsmith]

The approach you describe is a little like not knowing where the gas tank is, so you pour gas all over the car hoping it seeps in somewhere.

Well, I'm not the type that gives up easily, but that should do it.

Thanks netmeg.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

Hello gsmith,

While I tend to agree with netmeg in this case, I just wanted to say there is always the time-honored 'Try it and see what happens' option to consider.

The ground rules for this option are to learn as much as you can about how AdWords works first, decide how much you are willing to 'risk' in an experiment to see if AdWords can work for your scenario, and then create the best campaign you know how to create and set it running. And, then, see what happens.

The approach you describe is a little like not knowing where the gas tank is, so you pour gas all over the car hoping it seeps in somewhere.

I do love car analogies because they really help people to just 'get' what is being said, rather quickly. And this is one of the best car analogies I have ever heard. Ever.

Tell me, what sort of royalties would I need to offer to be allowed to employ this analogy in my own posts from time to time - assuming a simple asterisk leading to '*Analogy by netmeg' would not do the job? :)

AWA

[Prasoon2096]

Hello gsmith,
I have run a branding campaign successfully on Adwords but still i agree with Netmeg, my campaign was successful because i divided my target audience into profiles & placed my ads contextually ... but keeping these so called long tail keywords active on search is very hard, because as netmeg rightly said search works on relevancy factor, so you'll have to burn a big budget to keep them active (if you want to keep them)

so i agree not a very efficient way but worked for me, could work for you too... All the best.

[netmeg]

Tell me, what sort of royalties would I need to offer to be allowed to employ this analogy in my own posts from time to time - assuming a simple asterisk leading to '*Analogy by netmeg' would not do the job? :)

Since it's paraphrased from an old old Bill Cosby routine about his experience with an AC Cobra, I can't claim total credit. So go for it.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

Since it's paraphrased from an old old Bill Cosby routine about his experience with an AC Cobra, I can't claim total credit. So go for it.

K - I'm gonna. Thanks to both you and Mr Cosby.

<aside> AC Cobra!? In my early teens I used to work (paint prep plus sweeping up) in a body shop that specialized in AC Cobras, and I have a real affection for them. I'll have to go find a copy of that recording - I've never even heard it! </aside>

AWA

[netmeg]

<aside> my father brought the AC Cobra to market for Ford. The Bill Cosby album is called 200mph and is quite funny</aside>

[eWhisper]

I mostly agree with the above; however, there are times the branding strategy can work. So, I'll show the other side of this argument...

What you can do to test your branding effectiveness is:

Set up image based content campaigns (highly targeted placements are much better).

Send visitors to a landing page that isn't just about converting a sale, but also being involved in your brand (newsletter subscription, downloads, follow on twitter/facebook/etc, vcard download if appropriate). This is one level of effectiveness.

Secondly, measure the change in brand searches and CTR for your search ads (as well as clicks from placement campaigns). Often placements (or banners in general) can be measure beyond just their impression to see if they are increasing company, website, brand search volume. In some cases, the image ads can also lead to a higher search CTR (higher authority if the image is recalled when they see your ad/URL).

Placements + search can work well together if done correctly. If you start with very specific placements, then you won't see a lot of gains in search - but you also aren't risking a large budget. The smaller your budget, the more targeted your placements + keywords need to be to see gains.

If the strategy is working, gradually increase it while continuing to redefine your success metrics.

[hooloovoo22]

I think the best case study for this was years ago when ebay and amazon bid on everything under the sun. At that scale I *think* they probably got a bit of exposure from it, even moreso than their actual sales from those kws. Pulling that off under current conditions though, I'm very doubtful on - more because of scale needed to do this effectively and having any grasp on measurement.

@ewhisper
I'd still call subscribing/download/follow a conversion. maybe not a typical conversion for most companies, but definitely still converting. That's really just display direct response...but definitely a good idea to try