Paid search marketing: Very few marketing channels position painters so close to consumers when transactional intent is at its highest.
a house painter at that moment in time. Very few marketing channels position painters so close to consumers when transactional intent is at its highest.
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AARON HOCKEL is the VP of Digital Marketing at AltaVista Strategic Partners, an agency that specializes in marketing commercial and residential painting businesses. He also leads online marketing workshops at the PDCA Expo and is a regular guest on their paintED podcast series. Aaron can be reached at aaron@altavistasp.com
Display Advertising on the Google Display Network
Display ads appear everywhere online from mobile browsers and apps to desktop browsers on laptops— appearing above, next to, and inside content. Digital ads are normally image-based and sometimes include a call to action such as ‘Learn More’ or ‘Free Quote,’ however text-based display ads, powered mainly by Google, have become more common in recent years. Despite being the oldest form of online advertising, even predating Google, display ads still have a meaningful place in a painting contractor’s Google marketing strategy today. Here’s an approach painters can use today: Display ads can be used to retarget website traffic. Retargeting is a very simple concept. Here’s an example of how it works: After you visit the Sherwin-Williams website, you begin seeing ads for Sherwin-Williams on other websites you visit. That’s because Google views every website visitor that does not contact that business as essentially a ‘window shopper,’ and it uses retargeting to keep their brand and logo in front of its window shoppers until they are ready to make contact. In terms of display ads, retargeting is the most impactful use for painters with a limited advertising budget. Google helps make this possible by allowing you to spend as little as $1 per day on retargeting.
Understanding Google Advertising Costs Most ads on Google run on a cost-per-click basis. For paid search and Google Maps ads, the cost can range from $5.00 to $20.00, and even more than $40.00 in 24
inPAINT | Sep/Oct 2018
major U.S. markets. Advertisers have control over what they are willing to pay for each click. Clicks on paid search ads are expensive because of the high transactional intent of searches on Google. Display ads also run on a cost-per-click model, but at significantly lower prices. The typical cost ranges from $0.05 to $0.15. Unfortunately, clicks on display ads have much lower transactional intent, but one benefit is that your budget can be as low as $1.00 per day, making advertising with Google an option for any painting business. Video ads operate on a cost-per-view system. Every time someone watches an ad for at least 15 seconds, that advertiser gets charged by Google; you can expect to pay between $0.25 and $0.35 per completed view.
Launching a Google Marketing Campaign With so many options, marketing on Google can be intimidating. Further complicating matters are the variable expenses involved. While it is not impossible to do your Google marketing, it is incredibly challenging. Thankfully, there are resources in place for painting contractors to find certified Google partners to assist with their Google marketing campaigns. Simply search ‘Find a Google Partner’ on Google to access the directory of consultants and agencies who meet Google’s testing and performance-based standards. Here, you can review specific credentials an agency or consultant holds to help you choose an expert in search, display or video advertising. Given that Google’s role in how consumers find and contact contractors in not likely to change dramatically in the foreseeable future, it’s imperative that you, the contractor, have a concrete Google marketing strategy. -