Chicago – October 25, 2018
Google Ads and Bing Ads are both part of Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising where your ads are served to search engine users and you pay when someone clicks on your ad. You hope that the right user clicked on your ad and ends up making a purchase.
Making your PPC ad effective can be a key ingredient to your online sales. When a customer does a search, you want your company can bounce to the top of the preferred list. It’s easy, right?
Well, it can be, if you do it right.
You need to start with crafting your USP — your Unique Selling Position.
Updating your USP
If you’ve been in business for a while, you know your Unique Selling Position as those few words that tell people what differentiates you from your competitors. It’s your secret sauce for why you are special. It tells the customer why they should buy from you verses another company. It tips the buyer towards your direction or sometimes kicks them off the fence into your direction when they are confused. Your USP needs to be strategic, well-thought, catchy and effective.
1st It attracts customers and discourages undesirable customers. If the buyer is interested and close to decision making – it compels them. If they are not, they click away.
2nd A good USP will generate more traffic to your website. The more clicks you have, the more potential for a good sale. A good sale can also lead to repeat customers, so you actually build your business by getting qualified leads. You can market to these confirmed buyers in the future for repeat business.
3rd People stop shopping around. People commit to making a purchase and stop price comparing. You are no longer a commodity broker but a preferred vendor. If you give the buyer a compelling reason to shop, they stop looking and buy from you. Price becomes a secondary decision and even if your prices are slightly higher than the competition, you offer a value-added incentive. You come out on top.
Crafting a good USP
First Step: Take the time to focus on your business’s strengths. Ask yourself — what do you do best?
Second Step: Talk to you customers. This is important investigative tool. The reasons customers use you verses your competition is a telltale sign.What you think is important may not be important to them. Let your customer tell you why they buy from you. You may think they buy from you because of your location but they may tell you they like your customer service.
Third Step: Add the “Unique” to your position. You will need to look at your competition to see what they do best and find a means of selling against them. Look at the commonalities and find an opening to make your sales pitch. This is the “unique” in the selling position.
The last step is of course the hardest. It requires some expert assistance, some long-term work and may require some trial and error to get the tone exactly perfect. It is not an overnight success but a strategic part of building your business brand.
An often used example of a good USP and our favorite is Domino’s ““Fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed.” Notice how it is brief, to the point, and only talks about one unique strength – that a fresh, hot pizza can be delivered in 30 minutes or less. It does not talk about how good the pizza tastes, or how many toppings they offer, or how good is their customer service. Nor do they offer vague suggestions about speed – using terms like fast, soon, and quick. They tell you – precisely in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed. It’s quite powerful!
The best Google Ads all have great USPs.
Send us your thoughts at info@cagoinc.com – we would love to hear from you.
