Is Your Ad Campaign CONGRUENT?!? (not a math quiz)

IS YOUR AD CAMPAIGN CONGRUENT?

Are you frustrated with low sales conversions?  Are you getting traffic to your site, but no one is buying your product or service?
I was too, until I figured out how to make my marketing efforts CONGRUENT.  (And, I call 'dibs' on that term.)

Congruence is defined as "Agreement; harmony, conformity or correspondence"

The purpose of this article is to explain how to make your ad campaigns congruent from start to finish, so that your sales conversions will increase, and make your online marketing efforts profitable.  This article is mainly geared towards online marketing where "ad copy" is used, and most specifically "Pay Per Click".  But also applies to any type of online marketing, including social media and Web 2.0 strategies.  In online marketing terms, making your marketing congruent means that your keywords/search terms, ad copy, website content, and product should all be in harmony.  This will increase your sales conversions and decrease your marketing costs.

Here's how to do it: 

1. Start at the END (your unique solution), and work backwards.

In order to create a congruent marketing campaign, you must start with a clearly defined idea of what your product is.  What is it that you want people to buy?  (I hope you know this!)  To clearly define your product, and build your ad campaign effectively, start at the END (the Sale) and work backwards.  Look at your website, which should accurately describe your product or service in specific terms, and then define, in a few words, a short description of what solution your product provides. (3-5 words).

This short description is sometimes called a "long tail" keyword.  You want to make this as specific as possible.  I am going to call this "long-tail keyword" your "short product solution".  If your keywords are too broad, you will get more traffic, but less sales conversions.  Believe me, I know this frustration from experience, and this is why I'm sharing this info with you.  If you are implementing Pay Per Click, these "short-tail" terms are also much more competitive and thus more expensive, so don't waste your time and money!

The "short product solution" discussed above, should be reflected in your website content, creating "relevance" for individual searches as well as search engine spiders, and ultimately improving your organic rankings as well as lowering your cost of Pay Per Click marketing due to an increased quality score with Google.  So, this is why you should create your "short product solution" from your website content, which (I am assuming) states exactly what you are selling.

     2.  Now, work backwards to your AD COPY, which should mirror your "short product solution".

Working backwards, Your ad copy should restate your "short product solution".  It should mirror the terms exactly. (This is important in Google Adwords, classifieds, forums, blogs... whatever vehicle you are using)    This creates "relevance".  Relevance is particularly important with Google Adwords Pay Per Click or Yahoo Search.  But, relevance is also important for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and organic rankings.  Most importantly, a congruent ad campaign from start to finish will result in MORE CONVERSIONS, as people will find exactly what they were searching for.  If someone clicks an ad that promises one thing, and they reach the page and get something different, they will hit the "Back" button, and go back and search again.  This type of activity is a result of lack of congruence, and will result in a lower quality score and higher cost per click rates.

In general, when writing AD COPY, you should craft your copy in terms of the solutions that your product or service offers, rather than a mere description of your product.  Tell the reader what you can do to solve their problem and they will be compelled to click.  

     3.    Now, bid on the exact KEYWORDS or SEARCH TERMS that you have in your "short product solution", AND ONLY THOSE TERMS, creating CONGRUENCE throughout your campaign.

You should bid on your "short product solution" as your long-tail keyword.  If a prospect is looking for "Miniature Fried Green Tomato Solutions", (I dont know if there is such a thing, but bear with me.)  This is most likely what they will put in as a search term.  You want your KEYWORDS to be "Miniature Fried Green Tomato Solutions", which will be mirrored in your AD TEXT, increasing the likelihood of someone clicking your ad - as you have just what they were looking for.  And they will be more likely to purchase when they get to your site, which will correspond to the search terms and ad text.

This way, when someone searches for your product, they will find exactly what they are looking for, and be more likely to purchase.  For example, if you advertise only "Tomato Recipes" then you are going to get more visitors to your site, but some will be looking for  "Red Tomato Recipes", and not necessarily Miniature Fried Green Tomato Recipes.  Or, if you advertise only "Fried Green Tomatoes", you may get visitors looking for the movie with that title, or even Fried Green Tomato Farms. 

The point is, these visitors are not going to buy your product or engage your services if you are not what they were looking for when they did a search.  When they hit the back button, your quality score goes down, and your cost per click goes up.  It seems to be common sense, but I am amazed at how few people implement this.  Although, I was running a Google Adwords Campaign for several months (and wasted a lot of money) before I realized this.  Also, using the long-tail keyword will result in less clicks - but this is good!  The clicks that you do receive will be from targeted prospects, that is, people who are looking for exactly what you have.  This will lower your cost per click, raise your quality score with Google Adwords, and increase your revenues.

     4.     In Conclusion

Offer your end-solution to the customer right from the start, specifically stating what solution your product provides.  Align your campaign with the specific terms that are on your site, and create corresponding ad text.  Finish with bidding on those specific terms, creating a "Congruent" campaign from start to finish.  Creating your campaigns in this manner will result in less traffic, but more sales conversions, because it allows prospects to find exactly what they are looking for.  This will result in lower cost per click as a result of higher relevance and Quality Score with Google Adwords.  You will have less visitors, resulting in lower costs, but more customers! Which is your goal, right?

Be disciplined in your online marketing efforts, and take the time to build a congruent and relevant campaign, and you will reap the benefits of your hard work.