Whether it’s a brick-and-mortar location or a full-fledged drop-shipping operation, entering a new geographical territory demands a well-planned marketing strategy. Paid media is one of the most effective (yet aggressive) ways to establish your presence when you have landed on unfamiliar turf. Here are a few tips for fine-tuning your PPC efforts toward a region that is brand-new for your brand.
Stepping Things Up W/Search Volume:
Closely examining projected search volume in advance is one of the most thorough and accurate means of putting together a realistic budget for paid media. You also can use this data to closely examine the keywords that will make a difference in the early stages of your campaign. Budgeting limitations this third quarter have definitely been a factor for many agencies, and the mantra that “every keyword counts” couldn’t be more concrete.
The keyword planner tools offered by Google and Microsoft also have excellent solutions 2 predict your volume on each platform. Some of this data must be looked at as approximate, and for focused niches such as health food, fitness, and medical products, it could be skewed inaccurately. When the opportune moment comes, you can use this data post-launch to effectively measure actual volume.
Keywords That are Keen on The Area:
Once you have your business up and running and are ready to eagerly claim new territory, the keywords you’re using can have a huge effect on your success. Bars and restaurants are examples of the kinds of businesses that will benefit from this right away, as well as screen printers, counseling and addiction help, pet grooming, and other area-specific endeavors. Here are some savvy and productive ways to incorporate geographics into keywords:
- City/town names
- County names
- State and province names
- Popularly used area references, (such as North Bottoms, Eastern Flats)
With the right combination of phrases and broad match keywords, you can enjoy success with queries that consist of local modifiers. For instance, the keyword “guitar lessons” may show for the query “Dallas guitar lessons.” Keep an eye on your search terms for new local queries, and simply add the ones that display ample volume.
Clearing the Path for Area-Specific Customization:
You can learn from existing markets about what kind of ad copy performs the best, but you should also be aware of where you can work elements from your region in. Location insertion is an excellent tool to make sure the audience is aware of the city name in ads whenever possible. When it comes to your landing page, it helps to include location call outs and images of recognizable landmarks from the region you’re targeting. This way, those who are browsing can see that you’ve put in the time to get a feel for the area.
Monitoring Conversion Tracking and Tagging:
This is a very crucial area that is easy to overlook when first beginning a new marketing effort. It’s important to be sure that you’re getting accurate conversion data to give ad platforms adequate time to learn and report on performance. It may be necessary to configure new conversion tracking or ensure that existing pixels are carried over properly to the new pages. Offering a coupon code for new markets is a great idea to gain followers, but to make sure things run smoothly you may need a separate UTM parameter for that function.
“Research, Bid, Succeed”: Notes on Competitive Intelligence
Competitor bidding is an effective way to grab potential customers’ attention while they are searching in a parallel or very similar genre. You can research local competitors that are doing well in your market, and even be as bold as to find ways that incorporate their names into various keywords. These keywords tend to cost more, making it important to test and segment them into unique campaigns.
It is possible to research top selling points for competitors and frequent websites such as Yelp to find unique pain points. You can also utilize your core search campaigns to ultimately paint a clear picture about your new competition that you can bid on as you are choosing your search terms. There can be instances where the competition becomes so heated between two entities that tactics such as this are required to win the neck-and-neck race for sales or positive reviews.
Realistic Targets & Expectation Management:
While you are preparing to do business where people are unfamiliar with your specific brand, your conversions may not be as swift in the beginning as you may expect. Early on in the game, some businesses such as ride-sharing and food delivery services were not quite as successful as they were in the markets where they had operated successfully for many years. The effort of starting something new may involve having to scale the budget rapidly, in learning to get by with much fewer positive responses than you’re used to. If things don’t go excellently at first, it does not mean that things will consistently be that way, but buyers are just beginning to warm up to your product or service.
Choosing to conduct business in a new area poses many challenges, but can also yield so many rewards! Here at FarFetched Studios, we have realized that much like Southern accents, targeting new and different zip codes can take some time to become prosperous and resilient. After coming to grips with the budget, channels, and keywords you will be successful with, our team will make sure that the “new territory’s digital welcome wagon” will ultimately an