Google AdWords fall short for SMEs
Oct 18 2011
Google AdWords is a prominent avenue for small businesses to market themselves
Less than a fifth of small businesses using Google AdWords say they recoup the cost of their investment, research finds.
The remaining 82 per cent say they are either not recouping their cost in terms of online sales, or simply don’t know if they are or not, according to an online survey of more than 500 small company CEOs conducted by research organisation YouGov.
Google AdWords are promoted widely to SMEs as a direct and cost-effective way of raising brand awareness and boosting sales of products and services. But the survey suggests that this message is lost on many, as they are unable to track the link between the money they put in and the revenue they get out.
John Cheney, CEO of CRM provider Workbooks.com, which commissioned the research says, ‘These results echo the conversations we are having with many of our customers. SMEs feel they need to be ‘seen’ on Google, but they just don’t have the tools to measure the effectiveness of their investment.
‘With Google AdWords now well established as one of the world’s leading advertising media, offering enormous potential for a more level playing field between SMEs and their larger competitors, it is a real shame that many firms are still struggling to quantify the benefits.’
Cheney says that one company found that for every £1 they spent on Google AdWords they generated a mere 18 pence in sales.
‘Smaller firms have limited marketing budgets and they want to spend it in the way that will generate the greatest return,’ he adds.
Comment by James Bloor
Tuesday 18th October 2011I can't help but think this is a lack of understanding of the Adwords platform, and how to use it properly. Most SMEs would be wise to commission a marketing expert to help them set up their campaigns and explain how to monitor them moving forward, rather than trying to do it themselves. James
Report this comment
Comment by Adrian Bold
Thursday 20th October 2011This doesn't surprise me. Many AdWords accounts are created using the default recommendations, pay little regard to correct use of keyword match types and often even fail to implement conversion tracking in order to see what is working and what is not.
Report this comment
Comment by Jim Hunt
Monday 24th October 2011I agree Adrian. Google make using adwords easy so that just about anyone can do it. LinkedIn and Facebook too. Mailchimp make it easy to implement email marketing. There's a common theme in all these to my mind. People can do these things for themselves easily enough so they do. Unfortunately there's more to these forms of promotion than the technology to do it. Most SMEs don't have the marketing expertise to do them well. Just because you CAN do something yourself doesn't mean you SHOULD!
Report this comment
Comments [3]