Tag: Small Business

How to Create High-Converting Email Marketing Campaigns: A Step-by-Step Guide

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Google Ads on a Small Budget: 8 Effective Tactics to Absolutely Smash It!

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Maximizing Google Ads Results on a Small Budget: Proven Strategies for Small Businesses

You are a small business owner. You want to appear on search results and you hear about all those big advertising budgets needed to advertise on Google. You think to yourself, “Google advertising for small businesses is a myth; there is no way using Google Ads on a small budget will be able to compete no matter what keywords I use and how well structured my Google keyword plan is.

You are not wrong to think that way; after all, it is a platform that works on bidding, and how much you spend on Google Ads per month can have a huge impact on your ranking, but this is not the full story. There is a silver lining for small businesses; a golden opportunity if played correctly.

In this article, we will tell you about 8 tactics we use in our agency to market businesses on a small budget so you can implement them and get the best out of Google advertising for small businesses.

Spoiler alert: If you like fancy shmancy general articles with information found all over the internet that may or may not work, then you are in the wrong place. This is a tried and proven method we have been using to generate quality leads and sales for our own clients as well our own agency since we started out, so buckle up and let us dive in.

Before we begin, you might be wondering what classifies as a small budget on Google?

The short answer is this: Any account with less than $600 to spend is considered a small budget. It can go all the way up to $3,000 and still be called a small budget, but for this article’s purposes, we are talking about the tiny ones, from $600 all the way down to $200 and since the words tiny and budget are an eyesore for anyone, we will stick with the word small budget.

A dollar sign with legs signifying money that can run for ads

Let’s start with the most basic, and often overlooked, thinking that new campaign types are “Smarter” so they gotta work better, right? Wrong! Here is what you need to do:

1. Focus on One Campaign Type

Tactic: Stick to Search Campaigns

Since you have a limited budget, stick to only one campaign type, the best that was and still is Google Search, now called “Responsive Search Ads.” It is true that the formerly known as Google Adwords has come a long way with its new campaign format and smarter algorithms.

However, these types of campaigns need quite a bit of time to gather data—time that you cannot afford to waste. Even if you have enough budget, starting with search is always a winner. You are targeting users with high intent of buying because they are actively searching for what you offer. 

Do not try stretching your already thin budget on other campaign types that might or might not work. I am not here to tell you that other types do not work; for instance, Performance Max can do wonders, but without enough conversion data upfront to go on, it simply cannot do the job. 

A small caveat is if you are a small e-commerce brand, you can start with shopping instead of Search as Shopping is tailored for e-commerce. Give it a go; if it works, great; if not, go back to Search. Even for this type of business, we still recommend Search.

minimal illustration of a red headed woman using search physically on a big monitor

2. Concentrate on a Single Offer

Tactic: Promote Your Best-Performing Product or Service

You might be a small business, but that does not mean you only have one product or service. Having said that, if you want to succeed with your marketing efforts on Google with a small budget, it’s best to prioritize  one product or service. 

Why, you ask? Put simply, you cannot afford to stretch your budget on multiple products and services because this will require multiple campaigns eating up your Google Ads budget. 

Again if you are wondering why would that be the case, well I would love to tell you to just trust me and do it because a successful Google Ads campaign example would be optimized toward one main product, if your budget does not allow for multiple products. Think about it this way, each product or service might have different search volume, meaning different budget for each, meaning the one with the bigger volume will eat the small one if you decide to chuck all of your products in one campaign. 

Instead, focus on the item that has the most revenue, or most profit only, and try to make the most out of it using a combination of keyword tactics. This is a topic worthy of an entire blog post on its own, which brings me to the next tactic.

3. Target Specific Geographic Locations

Tactic: Narrow Down Your Location Targeting

This is as simple and straightforward as it gets. The bigger your geographic targeting, the more money you need to cover all that real estate. Keep it small, target only cities, counties, or even streets that you know have been good to you in the past. Even without previous data, if you are entirely new, you can figure out which areas might need your services the most, and which locations have users that are more likely to buy your product or service. 

 

3D Illustration of a map with a pin on it for local targeting in Google Ads for small businesses

After all, no matter how small your budget is, there are certain rules, ABC’s that you always need to follow to see success.

Start with your favorite Google Ads research tool (if you have one). We would recommend Google Ads Keyword Planner because it is free (and hey, it is from the source). Then don’t set it and forget it; keep on optimizing as you see more data. 

So how to get the best results using keyword planner? This is our next tactic.

4. Choose Less Expensive Keywords

Tactic: Opt for Lower Cost-Per-Click (CPC) Keywords

All businesses have high volume, high cost per click (CPC) keywords, and low volume, low CPC. Your job is to find the ones in the middle: keywords that are cheap but have a good amount of traffic. 

Now that is easier said than done. Finding those elusive keywords can be tricky. The solution: opt for cheap keywords keeping in mind inexpensive keywords are cheap for a reason.

Most businesses that have the budget do not use them, but that does not mean they cannot perform. If you cannot find high-volume keywords with a reasonable price, you can always use long tail keywords, which are generally inexpensive and with low volume, and find that enough of them will make a huge difference.

Instead of targeting “iPhone for sale” or “Buy iPhone” you can target “iPhone for sale in tripoli” when selling iphone in Tripole. Also, utilize the power of “Near me” keywords to target “apple phone for sale near me” using the near me phrase and swapping the famous “iPhone” in the keyword for “Apple phone.” Though it has lower volume, it has a much lower CPC, something you can afford to target and profit from at the end of the day.

an image of a one dollar bill with a magnifier glass on the washington section being magnified

5. Pre-Qualify Your Audience with Ad Copy

Tactic: Use Ad Copy to Filter Unqualified Clicks

This is a tactic very few know, yet is very smart and effective in weeding out clicks that will not convert and be proper leads by adding qualifiers in your headlines or description. 

What the heck is “pre-qualifying” you ask?

Essentially, it is inserting an element in your ad copy that will ward off unqualified leads that you do not want. This can be a something like: 

  • “Used Cars Starting $6,000” –  Instantly letting potential buyers know that if they do not have this amount of money to not waste their time and your valuable clicks.
  • “Swimming lessons for Kids 2-12yrs” – Parents that have a child older or younger won’t click
  • “Premiere Taxi Services In East Sussex” – Well, you get the idea.

This will definitely lower your traffic and clicks, but it will be the right traffic and the right click.

A purple funnel acting as a filter to filter unwanted traffic in google ads

6. Optimize Aggressively and Early

Tactic: Quickly Pause Underperforming Elements

A big topic in itself, optimizing google ads is a full time job and usually advertisers wait at least a month before doing any significant changes to their ads. This directly correlates to how much you are spending in google ads per month, but if your budget is below $400 you will want to immediately start, after a couple of days, removing keywords that are not performing well and replacing them with relevant search terms instead.

This also applies to your headlines and descriptions and to your geographical and demographic bidding. Do not waste any time applying changes to places that are working by giving them more budget and decreasing or removing entire segments of audience and areas that are not cutting it.

Having said that, there is one optimization that trumps all, and is important for big advertisers as it is for small ones, and that is using NEGATIVE KEYWORDS

an image of a magnet and a dollar sign as if Chasing leads in google ads

7. Utilize Negative Keywords

Tactic: Remove irrelevant Searches to Prevent Wasted Spend

This cannot be understated: if you are targeting keywords, no matter how good your Google keyword research is, you will get clicks from traffic that you do not want, which will eat up your budget. 

Do not wait. As early as the next day or two after you launch the campaign, go to the search terms section (not the Google Ads Keyword Planner), which is a section that populates with all the search queries users are using to see your ad.

Google, using its smart algorithm, can get it wrong (and believe me, they like to get it wrong sometimes so you can spend those precious dollars faster than you can click publish). If you see searches that are not relevant for your business, remove them immediately by making them a negative keyword. You can do this with a list on the account level or directly on the ad group level. Be very aggressive but also careful of what keywords you will add to that negative list.

 It is recommended that you use exact match in negative keywords because you don’t want to accidentally hurt your targeted keywords unless you are absolutely sure that this will not affect your targeting in any way if you make it broad.

a quirky image of magifier glass focusing on the perfect user by using negative keywords

8. Schedule Ads During Peak Times

Tactic: Always at the Right Time in the Right Place

I was going to make it a list of 7 tactics but I decided to add this as a bonus. 

Only run your ads when users are most active, or when you are able to be of service.

This is not for everyone but some businesses can only serve in certain hours and do not have an inquiry or contact us form. Maybe you just want to capitalize on the hours of the day where users are most likely to take action.

For example, If you run ads that have a call to action which involves phone calls, you might want to have it run only during business hours because if you are not going to take their call outside those hours, it will be wasted clicks and money and probably a bad experience. 

Conclusion

Operating with a small Google Ads budget doesn’t have to limit your success. By strategically focusing your efforts—whether it’s honing in on a single campaign type, targeting specific locations, or optimizing your keywords—you can maximize your return on investment.

This blog aims to empower you to grow your business with Google Ads. However, if you’d prefer expert assistance, consider booking a free strategy session where we handle your campaigns, allowing you to focus on what you do best—running your business.

However, if you want to do it yourself and need someone to guide you through it, we will be happy to provide consultation only, where we can check out your account and point out anything that needs to change to optimize for better results and scale your business together.

Integrating Social Media Marketing and SEO: Strategies for Starting Personal Brands and Businesses

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Creating Effective Social Media Marketing: Tips and Best Practices for Personal Brands and Businesses

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Launching Successful Social Media Ad Campaigns: A Step-by-Step Guide

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So you searched up something about social media ad campaigns ( 👀) because you want to put your business in front of the billions of eyes scrolling through their social feeds – you know it’s a great opportunity for your business to boom, but you’re not sure what to do.

You tried that cool boost post feature, but it didn’t really do anything. A few new followers and likes are cool. But you heard it would lead to new customers – so where are they?

There’s more to social advertising than a boosted post – so let’s dive into how to launch a successful social media ad campaign and take a look at how you can get new customers with all that new engagement on your socials

Setting Clear Objectives – Everyone’s Step 1

Yes, you did read me writing about new customers, but that’s your ultimate goal. Your business goal. Your daily ‘I need to build my revenue and that means paying customers’ goal. Not your ad campaign goal.

Different goals have different measures and metrics of success.

So let’s quickly go through some objectives you might consider for your next successful social media ad campaign:

Defining Campaign Goals

Brand Awareness: If this is your goal, you’re trying to reach a broad audience – as big as possible. WE WANT EVERYONE TO HEAR ABOUT YOU EVERYWHERE. Metrics like impressions, reach, and engagement actually matter here and aren’t just vanity.

Lead Generation: Also not specifically new sales. Here, we’re looking to capture user information and that’s what you’ll want your creatives focused on. This typically happens after your users are aware of your brand and are now willing to interact. The metrics you’ll want to watch here are lead volume, cost per lead, and conversion rates.

Conversions: Yes, this is what you’ve been reading to – the sales campaigns, the let me get new customers campaigns. Here, ads must be highly persuasive and highly targeted. No need to waste money on targeting massive audience that most likely won’t convert. Aim at those who have focused with you and consistently find themselves going down your funnel (we will talk about this in another blog). Metrics like conversation rate, cost per conversion, and return on ad spend (ROAS) are what you’ll want to use to measure campaign performance and success.

Understanding Your Target Audience - The Step Everyone Just Knows

No, I don’t mean everyone knows this step, I mean where everyone goes like ‘I know the audience just trust me bro.’

No offense (maybe a little), but I’d rather not have to just trust but rather see and analyze the data we have such easy access to – Google, Facebook, and every social platform have paid millions to set it up for us – let’s use it.

Here are some data points you get access to:

  • Demographics: Find your audience’s age, gender, location, activity times, memes they find funny (not this one) and other relevant general data that allows you to build personas for you to target with specific ad content and targeting options.
  • Behavioral Data: Understand how your customers interact with you and others and target them accordingly with handcrafted funnels built for them. Maybe you want to make sure you get users who came to your website but didn’t make a purchase or users who liked a bunch of your jewelry collection’s images but haven’t gone to your website. Build retargeting campaigns, nurture them, and make your sale.
  • Customer Personas: Build out semi-fictional characters of your audience. These personas help you build better campaigns and create better content that focuses on their actual problems and challenges and how to best show them your product or service is the best for it.

Choosing the Right Platforms - Yeah I know you want to be on all of them but that doesn’t mean advertising on all of them

Budgets mean constraints, and that means we can’t spend our money wherever and whenever. Launching your social media ad campaigns on the right platform can really help you get another step closer to success.

Let’s take a look at some of the major ones. (come back and check this when you’re deciding on a platform for your next social media campaign 😁):

multi ethnic people holding social media and famous digital icons like share and hashtags and @ up showcasing the power of social media

Overview of Major Social Media Platforms

  • Facebook: More than 2.7 billion active users make Facebook a versatile platform for a wide range of advertising options with a massive range of demographics and interests. It’s great for businesses looking to target specific demographics and interests.

  • Instagram: Owned by META (and where they test all those gorgeous ideas that are mainly not theirs), this visually-driven platform is incredible at showcasing products and services for businesses that have strong visual branding and understand the importance of quality images and recordings.

  • TikTok: A massively growing platform that took the world by storm, especially younger audiences. This platform is excellent for businesses building their customer base with engaging short-form content and trying to go viral. As a new platform, it has the most potential for you to capitalize on new monetization avenues as compared to other long-established platforms.

  • X (I still prefer to call it Twitter): A great place for active businesses looking to stay top-of-mind. Campaigns here are pricier, but it gives some more targeting options like targeting according to specific posts on top of general demographics.

  • LinkedIn: The job board that was – Now, it’s a massive platform for B2B marketing and lets you target professionals directly making it perfect for businesses looking to connect with corporate audiences.

Selecting Platforms That Align with Your Goals

  1. Audience Alignment: Make sure your audience is active on the platform you’re choosing to advertise on. For example, if you’re looking to target young adults, you’re going to have a better time on Instagram and Tiktok as opposed to the older and more corporate LinkedIn.
  2. Content Type: Create visuals and creatives that align with the type of content on the platform you’re on. If you’re planning on using a lot of text, Twitter and LinkedIn are better options. If you’re planning on creating killer images and videos, Instagram and TikTok are where you want to be.

Creating Compelling Social Media Ad Campaign Content

Your social media ad campaign is more than just the audience your target and the image you push (although they play some big roles).

Here are some tips to build scroll-stopping ads and launch successful social media ad campaigns:

Tips for Crafting Strong Social Media Ad Campaign Copy:

  1. Clear Messaging: Make it clear, easy to follow, and directly communicate your value proposition. Remember talk to the human, not the algorithm!
  2. Call-to-Action (CTA): Tell your audience what to do next. They’re not always looking to buy, they’re scrolling, so have them do something else (like follow for more, or check your profile).
  3. Emotional Appeal: Build a connection with your audience with relatable elements to drive engagement. Tell a story in as few words as possible.
Content creator, wearing a hat, looking at his camera

Importance of Visuals​

 

  1. High-Quality Images and Videos: Use high-quality visuals and optimize for mobile since that’s usually how people access social media.
  2. Consistent Branding: Be consistent wherever your audience sees you. Brand colors, fonts, logos, NAP consistency. Don’t confuse anyone who knows you on Facebook if they find you on Instagram.
  3. Captions and Text Overlays: Add captions and text overlays. (But Rami, it’s video, why am I making the viewer read AND cover what I’m trying to show them?) More often people are watching videos with the sound off. Scrolling through reels/tiktok/shorts in transit and earphones aren’t available – no problem, phone’s muted and the text is there. No reason to scroll past. 

Optimizing Social Media Ad Campaigns with Keywords

Using Relevant Keywords in Ad Copy

  1. Keyword Research: Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to find relevant terms your audience uses to find your product/service.
  2. Natural Integration: Make sure you’re using the keywords naturally in your text and content. You don’t want your ads to look spammy – both the people and the algorithm don’t like it.
  3. Localized Keywords: Don’t forget your local audience and direct nearby traffic around you to you by using keywords like “SMM agency near me” or “best coffee shop in…”
TRENDING word written on white background. TRENDING text on white for your designs, concept.

Analyzing Search Trends and Popular Areas

  1. Google Trends: This tool will help you identify current trending topics related to your search terms and help you see if people are searching for it on the regular.
  2. Competitor Analysis: Grab insights from colleagues in the industry and see what they’ve performed with to find what works and what doesn’t.

Launching and Monitoring the Campaign - The Step Everyone Does Later (do it now)

Tips for Monitoring Performance and Adjusting the Campaign

  1. Platform-Specific Ad Managers: Use the ad managers provided by each platform (e.g., Facebook Ads Manager, LinkedIn Ads Manager) to set up and launch your campaigns. These tools offer detailed targeting options, budget controls, and performance metrics.
  2. Budget Allocation: Start small and scale up as you gather data and optimize your campaigns. Don’t waste money on something you don’t see working out and invest in what does.
  3. Ad Scheduling: Use the built-in features of platforms to determine the best time for your ads, and that’s when your users are actively scrolling through the platform.
  4. Track Key Metrics: Monitor key metrics depending on your objective (mentioned above) and see adjust depending on your campaign’s performance to make data-driven decisions.
  5. A/B Testing: run A/B tests to compare creatives, ad copy, CTAs, and identify what works best to optimize your campaigns granularly according to your audience.
  6. Regular Reporting: Do it now and always. Don’t overlook the crucial element you need to adjust strategy, allocate budget, and optimize ad performance.

Key Takeaways

  • Define Clear Objectives: Align your ad campaigns with your business goals.
  • Choose the Right Platforms: Select platforms where your target audience is most active.
  • Create Compelling Ad Content: Use clear messaging, strong CTAs, and high-quality visuals.
  • Optimize with Keywords: Integrate relevant keywords naturally into your ad copy.
  • Monitor and Adjust: Track key metrics and make data-driven decisions to optimize your campaigns.
Book a free consultation today and see how Fatcow Digital can help you launch and succeed with your social media ad campaigns.

How to Use Near Me Keywords in Social Media Marketing: A Guide for Local Businesses

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Larger corporations have found their ways to limit competition in social advertising: outbid anyone smaller than me. So how can local, usually smaller, businesses compete with these international conglomerates? There are a few ways, but today we will dive into using near me keywords.

With social media’s domination of the advertising landscape, what was once a competitive market has now evolved into a hyper-competitive landscape with businesses, local and international, competing for social feed space. The marketplace has become crowded with everyone and everything taking up the same billboards, the same signs, and the same storefront – your phone’s screen.

So if you’re a local business looking to find a new way to attract customers than a simple ‘boost post’ button, the “near me” keyword can help you drive business at the best cost: free. Let’s take a look at how you can start today.

What Are Near Me Keywords

Importance of Near Me Keywords

  • Connecting with Local Customers

The near me keyword is a great way to have customers with high-purchase intent find you. Someone’s looking for a business like yours that’s close to them – this means they’re actively searching for what you offer. Whether they’re trying to find a ‘coffee shop near me’ or a ‘plumber near me’ this search term shows a strong intent to make a purchase quickly and high readiness to engage with a business.

  • Boosting Visibility in Local Searches

The near me keyword allows you to compete at the lovely cost of 0. Near Me boosts your visibility in local search results. This is major because users, more often than not, do not scroll past the first few search results. Getting yourself to appear as close to the top of the first page is immensely important. Get your business noticed by customers actively looking for what you offer.

  • Improving Mobile Search Results

Most near me keyword searches are done on phones and mobile devices. People using the near me keyword are usually already out and about and are looking for you now. Don’t sleep on optimizing for mobile and you’ll have more people walking through your door.

  • Increasing Trust and Credibility

Consistently showing up for the near me keyword builds trust with your market. Potential clients will react more favorably to a business that’s easy to find online, next to positive reviews and is only a few minutes away. By showing up near them constantly, you show your business is established, trusted, and reliable.

  • Staying Competitive in the Market

Businesses are starting to realize the importance of appearing in search results, so don’t lag and find yourself losing customers because they found your neighbor on Google, who’s not as near as you but is the only one that showed up because of their stronger digital search presence.

Implementing Near Me Keywords in Social Media Marketing

A 2D visual of a piece of paper with the text "keyword research" hung on a clothes line to represent the near me keyword research discussed in the section

Conducting Near Me Keyword Research

To benefit the most from the work you put into improving your digital footprint, you’ll want to research the best terms related to your business before linking them to the near me keyword.

Identify search phrases related to your overall business, your products, your services, and what locations you want to target.

Locations could mean your street, your neighborhood, your city, your county, etc. There’s no reason to limit yourself to only a street if you’re looking to get found by as many people as possible, but make sure to start with your street as that is as near as possible.

Optimizing Social Media Profiles for Local SEO

  • Complete and Accurate Profiles

Be consistent across your social media profiles and optimize for local SEO. Complete all fields, provide accurate information, and ensure NAP consistency (Name, Address, Phone number). Yes, really.

So many businesses make the mistake of having a website and social profiles with different names that people get confused, and they end up losing business that could have been theirs. Don’t make the same mistake.

  • Geotagging Posts

Geotagging can help your posts show up in search results. This is incredible for platforms that let users search for content using location, like Facebook and Instagram. Show where you are and let people find you.

  • Using Location-Specific Terms

Make sure to include geographic locations in your posts and your hashtags (and on your website). This will help search engines better understand what areas you serve and rank your business accordingly (at the top 😉).

If you are a business that services a specific geographical area like a mobile mechanic or you deliver to certain areas then make it known, there is a dedicated slot in your Google Business Profile (Google My Business Previously) just for that.

Integrating Near Me Keywords into Content

  • Natural Integration

Near me keywords help you avoid keyword saturation (overusing a keyword) simply by mixing them up with the near me keyword. Additionally, it also gives a better way to include keywords you want to target naturally, like “what are the best coffee shops near me” or “…locals looking for the best coffee near them.” (the bold text is the keyword a coffee shop would target).

  • Content Strategy

Factor in near me keywords within your content strategy so you can best make an impact with your post. It could be a blog post you’re sharing, a quick social story update, a customer review that mentions where you’re located, or even a reply that can be used to mention your store location.

Don’t lower your content quality – make it better with a new strategy.

  • Visual Content

Include location information in more than the caption. Add it to image alt-texts (if relevant), the file name, and even the description to help search engines understand the most important piece of context here: your location.

a picture of letters arranged to say the word keyword, with the the 'O' being a magnifying glass to represent finding the right near me keywords

Challenges and Best Practices

Avoiding Keyword Saturation

As mentioned before, don’t overuse the near me keyword. Keep content appealing without making it spammy. Adjust your strategy to include it while avoiding overusing it.

Local Competition

The near me keyword is a new digital battleground for businesses. Stand out by refining your strategy, offering a unique value proposition or selling point to your audience, and differentiating yourself from competitors.

Understand how your competitors are leveraging the keyword to best tackle it yourself and out-place them in people’s search results (or book a free strategy session and we’ll take a look together 👀).

Keyword Variability

Don’t stick to one or a few versions. People all communicate differently – this means they search differently. Think of variations to your targeted keywords and plan to hit a wide range of them to best target local users and increase your visibility.

Conclusion

Target near me keywords and get your business visible in the local market attracting more customers and driving business success.

Key Takeaways

  • Conduct Comprehensive Keyword Research: Identify the most relevant “near me” keywords for your business.
  • Optimize Social Media Profiles: Ensure all profiles are complete and NAP consistent.
  • Geotag Posts: Use location-specific terms to appear in local search results.
  • Natural Integration: Avoid keyword saturation by integrating keywords naturally into your content.