Best Lead Source EVER

by Ryan McMullen

The No. 1 goal, or what should be the No. 1 goal, for all business owners is to generate leads and drive sales. Without a pipeline of new prospects, a business won’t grow and eventually will die.  Pretty simple, right?  

In addition, not only do we all want more leads, but we also want them right now.  For businesses that are on the edge of closing their doors, this is especially important. They don’t have time to wait for long-term marketing strategies like SEO to become effective.  

Even successful small businesses want to see results immediately. We’re Americans living in the age of instant gratification, and we’re not going to wait for anything. We want our pizza delivered in 30 minutes, our food heated up in high-tech microwaves, our eye glasses in an hour, and the list goes on and on.  

Every single day, multiple times a day, small-business owners are bombarded with an army of salespeople who have the secret that is going to “transform your business” and “help you sleep at night.” So, the question becomes, “What is the fastest way to fill your pipeline with quality prospects?”

For my money, Google Ads are the king of instant and quality leads. If you are unfamiliar, Google Ads are the text ads that appear at the top and along the right-hand side of Google searches. The genius is that you have to pay for the ad only if somebody actually clicks on it.  

For example, if you go to Google and search for “men’s shoes,” you will see three ads up top in a shaded box – for Zappos.com, Shoes.com and 6pm.com. In addition, you will see eight smaller ads down the right side for other businesses. All of that ad space is for sale by Google, and you can be listed there in usually 24 hours or less.  

The reason Google AdWords is so effective is twofold:
1.  Your ads are supertargeted because they are being shown only to people looking for exactly what you are selling at the exact moment they are thinking about it.  
Your prospect may be in the market for a new car and see your billboard with a shiny new Chevy on it, but the chances of him picking up the phone to call you once he gets home are pretty slim – not to mention his chances of actually remembering your phone number.
Wouldn’t you rather get your phone number in front of the person who has taken the time out of his day to sit behind a computer/tablet/phone and actively search? If you’re doing it right, you are giving people exactly what they are looking for at the exact moment they need it. Do you think that person might be a buyer?
2. You can be at the top of the first page of Google in less than a day. Some may argue with me, but I believe the first page of Google is the most valuable marketing real estate on the planet.  

For the record, I’m not saying you should abandon all other forms of advertising. Ideally, we would all have Budweiser-esque budgets and could reach our clients using every avenue at our disposal.  Obviously that is not the small-business owner’s reality.

For small businesses looking to make an impact and drive real leads very quickly, Google AdWords is absolutely unrivaled.        
    
Ryan McMullen (ryan@stlouismarketinglab.com) is the owner of St. Louis Marketing Lab.