It’s this simple:

1. Login to your Adzooma account
2. Click ‘Refer A Friend‘ in the top right menu
3. Share your unique code

See, it really is that simple.

With unlimited referrals and gift cards allowed, you can refer as many people as you like. The more you refer, the more you’ll earn. Just make sure that you always use your code so we know which referrals are yours.

Sign in and start collecting your £20 vouchers right now!

‘But what on earth should I buy?’ 

I hear you. And as I realise how delightfully shocking it can be to receive instantly spendable vouchers, I’ve done some research for you in advance.

You’ll be pleased to hear I have found 5 ‘must have’ products, just in case you get in a pickle trying to decide what to spend your vouchers on.

Don’t expect a run of the mill here. There are no Sponge Bob bobble hats, glow-in-the-dark sneaker laces or bulk baked bean bargains.

You’re welcome.

1: A Life-Sized Rowan Atkinson Cutout – £30.43

I can tell you’re shocked, but wait . . . 

Free vouchers are the perfect opportunity to think big. ‘Out of the box’ kind of thing, right? You’ve got to be in it to win it.

And win it you will, when your friends rock up to your home and WOW! Look who’s right there in the hall to greet them. Imagine the look on their faces. 

Priceless!

Well actually it’s just one and a half Refer-a-Friend commissions. Exciting, right? 

But before you go diving in, I have 4 more Amazon jewels for you . . . 

2: Chicken Harness with 6ft Matching Leash – £25.18

I know, I know, genius right? 

‘Office dog? Pah! I’ve got an office chicken mate’ 

Say those words with pride my friend, because they’re guaranteed to propel you to the top of the office pecking order. 

See . . . you’re already thinking of names, aren’t you? Dave, Vera, Chick, Feathery Mcfeatherface, Clucky . . . decisions, decisions. 

But oh what fun you’ll have. 

If there was ever an intelligent reason to get yourself a pet chicken, this is it. Stardom awaits.

Wait though, it gets better: ‘A storage bag as gift: it not only holds chicken harness. but also accommodates the articles such as keys, coins, lipsticks’

And all for less than ONE Refer-a-friend commission?? I can’t cope. Please make them stop.

*NOTE: Unfortunately, Dave (best name) doesn’t come with the harness.

3: E.M.T. (Emergency Meal Transport) Insulated Lunch Tote – £35.61

So . . . you waltz back into the office, Dave on his leash by your side. Cool. 

But why not give your street cred a further boost by rockin this quite simply amazing lunch carrying device. You’ll become a legend in your own lunchtime, that’s for sure.

And it has the FREE added bonus of keeping those heartless (see what I did there?) lunch peepers away.

You can relax knowing your perfectly prepared tofu, asparagus and butternut squash wrap, or spare liver, remain cool, calm and collected.

Go on. You know it makes sense.

4: Archie McPhee Handi Squirrel – £8.99

Don’t you just love simple ideas? If you love them as much as I do, you’d better brace yourself for this one. 

Only 2 steps to heaven:

• Includes 4 paws & 1 head
• Transforms hand into a squirrel

I’m beyond excited. Is it a hand? Or is it a squirrel? Modern technology is off the hook right now. I just can’t keep up.

You might THINK your life is complete, but is it? Is it really? With just HALF of a single Refer-a-Friend commission, YOU can welcome Archie McPhee into your life. 

What a time to be alive.

5: Unicorn Squirrel Feeder – £16.92

LOOK. AT. IT. 

This makes me chuckle, and we all need a good chuckle every once in a while, do we not?

‘Nope. I do not want that magnificent creation in my garden’. Said no-one ever.

Other than squirrel haters obviously. 

Do you hate squirrels? No . . . of course you don’t. You love the furry little things, right? 

Well my friend, I’m hopefully making your day with the news that YOU can enjoy the warm rush of bliss you get looking at that image, every day, in the flesh, for the rest of your life. 

For cryin out loud, just click the image and get one right now. 

Hope that helps . . .

As you can see, ‘buy with your soul’ is my message to you today. And I suggest you start promoting right now, because you know Archie McPhee is going to sell out FAST!

If you need any more help or details simply let us know, ok?

If you are just starting out then you may find it all a little confusing, but don’t despair as we’re going to explain a few of the best options to you right now.

To begin with, you have 2 main options: 

• The service-hosted options such as Wix are like renting your house instead of buying it. You can still decorate to your taste and run it day-to-day, but your landlord will take care of the maintenance.
• The self-hosted options such as WordPress are more like buying your house, as you get complete control. But if you have any problems, your hosting company will often help you via live chat.

Drag and drop website builders are great, but getting your website online is only half of the story, as you need to attract targeted visitors to spend money with you.

Although you get some visitor attracting tools with the website builders, they are not as fast and efficient as the more established, popular and proven methods such as high-visibility online advertising, which is included in our done for you option.

You’ll soon see how easy it is to build a very professional and stunning website, without spending 1000’s on having a website designed and built.

Webflow – Service-Hosted

Founded in 2013, Webflow has grown to have over 2 million users and was named the 2nd ‘Most Innovative Company in Design’ in 2020 by Fast Company.

Similarly to Weebly and Wix, Webflow is a drag-and-drop tool for creating responsive websites and apps without the use of coding. It attempts to fill the space between DIY software, content management systems and front-end web development.

The Good

• No coding experience required – Webflow translates your design into clean, semantic code that’s ready to publish.
• Access training materials – They offer hundreds of in-depth videos, courses and guides to get your website up and running fast.
• The Showcase – Their very own gallery showcasing websites built by members of the community.
• Over 500 templates to choose from – Which you can customize with Webflow’s code-free design tools.
• Webflow Community – Their community allows you to connect with members who are contributing to Webflow’s mission and building the future of visual development.

The Bad

• Although they pride themselves on being a free platform, you have to pay extra for their plans which are fairly expensive
• No live chat or phone support.

Prices

Webflow is free, however they also offer account plans that you can upgrade to, so you can access additional features. Upgrading ranges from $16 to $35 a month. You can view the pricing in full here.

(Click image to enlarge)

Learn more about Webflow

Weebly – Service-Hosted

Weebly allows you to design your sites using the drag and drop editor and it has lots of tools and resources to ensure you get your site looking and functioning how you want.

If you understand HTML or CSS, Weebly allows you to use them more than its rival Wix, as it has a built-in code editor for added customization to your needs.

The Good

• Simple to use with drag and drop editor for standard customization options such as adding text, images, file uploads, slideshows, membership and advertising options etc. This makes everything easy but with a more limited choice than Wix.
• 40 pre-designed page layouts including landing pages for PPC, contact pages, portfolios and sitemaps.
• Good support. No live chat but plenty more including an online help centre, a forum, ticketing system and phone support.
• Free email account.

The Bad

They don’t have as many templates as other website builders such as Wix and they don’t seem quite as special looking. However, it completely depends on your tastes and needs. The limited available apps to increase functionality will mean it’s not as powerful in that regard.

As with Wix, you’ll need to learn the best ways to get plenty of visitors to your site, as there are only limited resources for this.

Prices

Weebly offers a free option and three paid options. The free option has limited space, can only be used with a Weebly sub-domain, not your own, and your site will have Weebly ads on it. The Business package is aimed at small businesses and ecommerce sites and at an affordable rate. You can view the pricing in full here.

(Click to enlarge)

Summary

To be fair, for the majority of users, the resources they choose will depend on the price and probably the templates. Weebly isn’t as strong as Wix template-wise but the cost is competitive and there is that free option if you want to test the water.

Learn more about Weebly

Squarespace – Service-Hosted

Squarespace is similar to Weebly as it’s drag-and-drop-based and very easy to use. Their tagline is ‘Build It Beautiful’ and their focus is on stunning themes, relying heavily on high-level photography.

So if the look of your website is everything to you, Squarespace is worth a closer look.

The Good

• The most design-conscious of the options here, there’s a huge selection of professional and stunning photography based design templates, or you can upload your own design.
• Clear and simple management area makes working on your website a breeze.
• There’s a ton of help on offer with 24/7 customer support, live chat and email tickets and a complete knowledge base of walkthrough videos and guides, along with a high-quality customer forum.

The Bad

A bit expensive for what you get in comparison to the competition. As with the others, it’s not great for advanced marketing tools, so you need to keep in mind you’ll need something else to really bring in the visitors.

Prices

Packages range from $12 to $40 a month, depending on the package and when you pay. You can view the pricing in full here.

As mentioned before, there isn’t a massive difference between these brands as they have to offer similar things to remain competitive.

Squarespace isn’t the most cost-effective here but they do offer what is widely judged to be the most attractive templates of all website builders, so if that’s very important to you, Squarespace will do you proud.

Learn more about Squarespace

Wix – Service – Hosted

Launched more than a decade ago, Wix has become one of the most popular website builders with over 125 MILLION customers.

Popularity is comforting when you are in the market for something, and that number of people trusting their online presence to Wix is a great accolade for their service.

One of the main reasons for its popularity is its Drag & Drop ease of use and the great templates you can use to make your site look amazing.

The Good

• Very simple and easy to use with around 500 customisable templates suitable for all kinds of businesses. Most changes can be made by clicking on a site element and adjusting it to meet your needs.
• Includes Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI), which is perfect for beginners as you just answer a few simple questions and Wix will design your website for you. Obviously, you can tweak the design as much as you want.
• Very reliable with fast load times and a reputation for minimum downtime.
• Template Gallery has over 500 designer-made templates, making it easy to find a design you love.
• Build and host multiple different websites without restrictions on time or being forced to upgrade.
• In the Wix App Market you can access a ton of useful add-on apps, including bookings & payments facility, professionally designed marketing emails, contest apps to engage your visitors and the ability to offer live support

The Bad

If you need to add an online e-commerce store, it’s only available on the more expensive package and email accounts cost £5 extra each.

You’ll also have to decide how to get visitors to your site, as although there are a few tools for this included, you may find they’re not enough to offer a real boost to your site.

Prices

Packages range from £3 to £18 a month, depending on your needs. You get a free domain name, £75 of advertising vouchers and you can remove the Wix ads, on all but the cheapest package. You can view the pricing in full here.

(Click image to enlarge)

Summary

Wix has one of the most intuitive user interfaces in the website builder market which makes it great for beginners and you can easily have your site up and running in hours rather than days. Perfect for small firms.

You even get a tool to edit your images with Wix, there are help buttons for virtually everything and a vast Online Help Centre if you have any questions.

Learn more about Wix

Elementor – Service – Hosted 

Founded in 2016, Elementor is now used by 6% of all the world’s websites (yes, you read that correctly). A WordPress website builder, has become a go-to tool for SMB owners who lack traditional coding chops but who are (justifiably) unwilling to compromise on a comprehensive WordPress website. Boasting a powerful WooCommerce builder, Elementor can be leveraged towards creating online stores, as well.

The Good

• WordPress without code: The world’s leading CMS for a reason, WordPress can be a channeling platform for those lacking considerable technical expertise. Elementor empowers web designers to create stunning WordPress websites without having to touch a single line of code.
• Kits Library: Elementor’s Kits Library contains dozens of complete, designer-made website kits. These kits include all the elements and attributes a website needs in one single kit. With just a few clicks, you can customize a kit to fit your needs and vision, and, voila, you’re up and running with a complete website!
• Perfect for SMB online stores: Users can display their products in the exact way they’d like with Elementor’s drag-and-drop editor, 90+ widgets, and pre-designed templates. Users can boost sales with pixel-perfect product landing pages and popups, tailored to every type of customer.
• Powerful community and academy: Elementor users (dubbed Elementorists) can seek inspiration from the website builder’s vibrant community. Additionally, they can find any and all information pertaining to Elementor’s features and functionality on the website builder’s newly minted academy.

The bad

Elementor offers hosting services. However, these offerings need to be worked out somewhat. By the halfway point of 2022, Elementor users should be able to rely solely on Elementor to host their website.

Prices

(Click image to enlarge)

In addition to an extensive free plan, Elementor offers four subscription packages. Prices start from $49US per year.

Summary

If you have your heart set on a WordPress website and want an intuitive, code-free user experience, Elementor is your tool of choice. With a constant roll-out of features and tools, Elementor will become even more dynamic in the coming years, and SMB owners should explore its free plan.

Learn more about Elementor

Conclusion

If you’re brand new to business website building don’t worry, all of these options make it easy to get started quickly and before long, confidently. That’s the whole point after all.

The great thing is that you can get started with these services in no time at all and you won’t have to mess around with lots of code.

• Small, local and home businesses: for ad copy that attracts potential customers and clients to their products and services.
• Huge, multinational companies: as part of complex sales funnel strategy, with hundreds of ad groups, multi-level testing and every other available feature.

It can work for all levels but it’s the latter of the two above examples where the Google Ads experts really come into play. They are PPC (pay-per-click) specialists and have learnt over the years how to get the most out of the platform.

Some of the below experts also work for companies and agencies featured on our Marketplace, so if you’re looking for a bit more help, you’ll find loads there.

What makes a Google Ads specialist an expert?

Nobody is born an expert. It takes years of hard work, patience, and understanding of algorithm updates and fluctuations. They stay up to date with any additions, changes or improvements on a daily basis, often work with some of the biggest brands on earth, and they’re the go-to guys for all thing Google Ads.

Expertise is a spectrum and that’s why it’s important to do all those things and, above all, be helpful and informative to people who need that expertise. They regularly share their strategies and offer tips and tricks to help you make the most of Google Ads.

We have a list of the top 13 Google Ads experts right here, so you can learn more from them and stoke your own enthusiasm.

1. Purna Virji

Purna Virji is the Senior Manager of Global Engagement at Microsoft and was named by PPC Hero as the most influential PPC expert of 2016 as well as US Search Personality of the Year in 2019.

Purna has over a decade of experience in search, with her specialities lying in SEO, content marketing, CRO, and voice search (besides PPC of course). She’s also a regular on the conference circuit as a keynote speaker.

When someone calls you The Wonder Woman of PPC, you stand and take notice. Her work in PPC is well-renowned and her talks are must-watches if you want to get into the field.

Follow Purna on Twitter and LinkedIn.

2. Lisa Raehsler

Big Click Co’s Lisa Raehsler is known as a specialist in high-level SEM and PPC for search engines, display, retargeting, and paid search campaigns.

Lisa enjoys translating new tech from Bing Ads and Google Ads, into simple, usable recommendations to help get the best results for real-life businesses.

Follow Lisa on LinkedIn.

3. Perry Marshall

Entrepreneur Magazine says, “Perry Marshall is the #1 author and world’s most-quoted consultant on Google Advertising.”

Perry Marshall is always one of the first names to come up when talking about Ads experts.

Perry has written 7 books including, Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords (2014), Ultimate Guide to Facebook Advertising (2014), 80/20 Sales and Marketing (Entrepreneur Press, 2013) and Ultimate Guide to Local Business Marketing (2016).

He is the president of the Chicago based Perry S. Marshall & Associates, a company that works with both online and brick-and-mortar businesses to generate sales leads, web traffic and maximize advertising results.

Charging $2,000 per hour, he’s one of the world’s highest-paid and sought-after digital marketing consultants, yet his coaching groups have waiting lists, with many of his clients hiring him continuously for over 10 years.

His work is referenced in dozens of influential digital marketing books by authors like Jay Conrad Levinson, Mark Joyner, Joel Comm, Howard Jacobson, Richard Stokes and John Jantsch.

He’s been featured at conferences in the U.S., Canada, UK, Israel and Australia. He’s shared the stage with Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, Jay Abraham, Mari Smith, Harvey Mackay and Les Brown.

He’s consulted in over 300 industries, from computer hardware and software to high-end consulting including health & fitness and corporate finance.

You can find him at perrymarshall.com

4. Samantha Noble

Samantha Noble is a keynote, conference speaker, and judge for several industry awards. She shares industry news and events on her Twitter feed.

She’s the Founder of Biddable Moments and Digital Females, along with being a Keynote & Conference Speaker & Judge, as well as a being a successful Marketing Consultant.

Samantha will once again be a judge for the 2020 UK Biddable Media Awards, which celebrate and reward the expertise, talent and achievements of the UK Biddable Media industry.

As founder of Digital Females group in the UK, she brings together like-minded females in the digital marketing industry.

Follow Samantha on Twitter or LinkedIn

5. Brad Geddes

Over the past 15 years, Brad Geddes has provided a variety of online consulting services, including usability, conversion optimization, product development, product positioning, and agency consulting.

He has vast experience in managing SEO, PPC, social, display, and affiliate marketing campaigns for both himself and others.

His writing, speaking, and training focusing on demystifying the more complicated aspects of SEO, PPC, and Internet advertising, have made him a big name in his field.

6. Tim Ash

Tim Ash is the CEO of SiteTuners, a conversion rate optimization (CRO) agency with offices in San Diego, and Tampa and has authored 2 bestselling books on Landing Page Optimization.

Tim’s main expertise is in user-centred design, persuasion and understanding online behaviour, along with landing page testing. Tim was a pioneer in website CRO (conversion rate optimisation), starting way back in the mid-1990’s.

The list of major US and international brands Tim has worked with over the last 20 years, to help them develop successful web-based initiatives includes Google, Expedia, eHarmony, Facebook, American Express, Canon, Nestle, Symantec, Sears, Intuit, Autodesk, Yahoo!

Check out Tim’s website here: https://sitetuners.com/

7. Bryan Eisenberg

Bryan Eisenberg is an internationally recognized online marketing authority, specialising in improving conversion rates and helping organizations improve their customer experiences.

Bryan co-founded Future Now Group Inc. (FutureNow Inc.) in 1998 and IdealSpot, Inc. in 2014. He also co-founded Web Analytics Association and serves as its Chairman Emeritus.

He has consulted to and run seminars for companies such as huge and diverse as Universal Orlando, GE, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, AeroTek/Allegis Group, Dell, Volvo, Computer Associates, Overstock.com, LowerMyBills, Agora Publishing, and CafePress.com, to name a few.

With extensive expertise in PPC and marketing performance metrics, he is recognized worldwide as a leading specialist in digital marketing.

He is also an inventor of Persuasion Architecture (patent pending) and co-author of the #1 best-selling Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, and Business Week best sellers: “Waiting For Your Cat to Bark?“ and “Call to Action“.

You can see Brian’s website here: https://www.bryaneisenberg.com

8. Danny Sullivan

Danny Sullivan co-founded Third Door Media, publishers of Search Engine Land, Marketing Land, MarTech Today and producers of the SMX: Search Marketing Expo and MarTech events.

He was a prolific journalist and analyst and in the digital and search marketing space from 1996 until he retired from journalism and Third Door Media in June 2017.

He also works for Google helping to educate the public about search marketing, explaining issues arising with paid search and encourages public feedback to help promote solutions.

Find Danny here: https://dannysullivan.com/

9. Daniel Gilbert

Recently named the 3rd Most Influential PPC Expert in the World by PPC Hero, the UK’s Daniel Gilbert started his career with Google and only left to start his own company Brainlabs, which is now one of the fastest-growing businesses in the USA and UK.

It was also recently awarded #1 on the Deloitte Fast50 Tech Track & grabbed the ‘Agency of the Year’ award at Econsultancy’s the Masters of Marketing. Brainlabs has grown from 1 to 160 staff in just 5 years and they’re planning to double in size again over the next year.

Daniel writes a column for Search Engine Land and is a conference speaker at HeroConf, Marketing Festival, SMX, ClickZ & SearchLove.

Find Daniel here: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/danielgilbert1

10. Matt Umbro

Since 2007 Matt Umbro has been instrumental in his guidance and wisdom around PPC topics and paid search tactics. He’s well respected for his passion, knowledge and experience for paid search ads and PPC techniques.

He has helped to spread new thinking and tactics throughout his industry, by promoting and sharing ideas via a weekly Twitter PPCChat, which enables industry specialists and other Google Ads experts to analyze and debate a wide variety of PPC topics, new ideas and new methods in the PPC community.

Read more about Matt here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattumbro

11. Justin Seibert

Justin is President of Direct Online Marketing which is a top 200 Premier Google Partner assisting exporters and national companies to quickly grow their businesses via PPC, SEO, social media advertising, and retargeting.

Justin has been a pioneer in designing SEM (search engine marketing) campaigns since 2001 when he worked for a financial firm in Los Angeles growing their digital marketing program from a standing start to a multi-million dollar per year revenue.

For 3 years running Justin has been voted one of the top 25 Most Influential Pay Per Click Advertising Experts by Hanapin Marketing.

He regularly speaks at conferences around the globe and has been featured in publications such as Advertising Age, the Pittsburgh Business Times, Search Engine Strategies Magazine, and Successful Dealer.

Find Justin on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinseibert/

12. Anders Hjorth

Anders has created several online agencies and is a digital marketing strategist and regular speaker at Digital Marketing events.

He has 20 years experience in paid search, social media advertising, seo, affiliate marketing and content marketing. And is the founder of Innovell, a provider of digital marketing insights.

He is also a judge for industry awards in Search Marketing, Social Media Marketing and Biddable Media categories.

Follow Anders on Twitter or LinkedIn

13. Kirk Williams

Kirk, the Founder of ZATO, a Paid Search & Social PPC micro-agency, has operated in the Digital Marketing space since 2009.

PPC Hero has named him one of the Top 25 Most Influential PPC Experts in the world 4 years in a row. A prolific writer, he has written for publications such as Search Engine Land, Moz, PPC Hero and Bing, and regularly features on digital marketing podcasts and webinars.

He is one of the hosts of #PPCChat on Twitter, and his expertise makes him an in-demand conference speaker focusing on Paid Search, particularly Shopping Ads.

Follow Kirk on Twitter or LinkedIn

And the timing couldn’t be better. We know they’re the perfect fit for Adzooma, as just like us their whole ethos is to help digital marketers, teams, and agencies achieve their goals.

Just as we have decided to offer Adzooma for free during the upheaval of the COVID-19 outbreak, DigitalMarketer is currently doing the same with their valuable memberships.

They are even including free access to their flagship subscription, DigitalMarketer Lab until at least the 15th April.

With no trial, credit card details needed or upsells, 30,000 marketers have benefitted from this offer already and you can join them today.

So make sure you take advantage of this free offer and sign up before the end of March to ensure you don’t miss out.

Who are DigitalMarketer?

DigitalMarketer is an online community for digital marketing professionals with over 26,000 members in 68 countries around the globe. They are also the leading provider of tools, training and certifications for digital marketing professionals.

Thanks to this success they have become one of the world’s most trusted voices, sharing the best of what works in digital marketing.

They make it easy for you to market like a pro, connect with industry experts, and get the strategies and tools you need to grow and scale your business to new heights.

If you want to take your marketing to the next level, DigitalMarketer’s tools and training are the perfect partners to Adzooma’s platform.

What do they offer

The value you get from DigitalMarketer’s offering cannot be overemphasised. Here’s a summary of exactly what you get if you sign up before the end of March:

Digital Marketer Labs

• A library of 36 marketing playbooks (and growing every month)
• 11 comprehensive “Master Classes” plus future updates to keep you on the cutting edge of digital marketing
• A supportive community of 10,000+ marketers to answer any and all of your questions
• Exclusive discounts and deals on the tools you’re likely already using (this one benefit should literally pay for itself)

Digital Marketer Insider

• A library of 30+ marketing guides, reports, scorecards and audits
• Insider-Only articles on the DM site
• The weekly “Insider Memo,” the one email you’ll actually look forward to hitting your inbox every week.
• Invites to weekly live training sessions with some of the brightest minds in marketing

6 incredibly useful and valuable resources

1. Customer Value Journey Framework

The Customer Value Journey is about turning strangers into super-fans. While other templates have been created, none are in-depth as the map we’re going to lay out for you.

2. Customer Avatar Worksheet

To successfully sell, you need to present potential customers with a message that moves them to action. The Customer Avatar Worksheet helps you to define an effective message.

3. 15 Page Landing Page Audit

No matter how much traffic you generate, or how good your offer is, you must have the right elements in place for your landing page to be successful. DigitalMarketer’s 15-Point Landing Page Audit will help you see how your landing page efforts stack up.

4. 5 Point Paid Ad Audit

Use this simple audit to grade your social efforts and identify opportunities to get more followers, increase engagement, and drive more traffic.

5. Facebook Ad Template Library

Don’t worry if you’re unsure about how to create an ultra-effective Facebook ad. The Ultimate Facebook Ad Template Library gives you 7 proven Facebook ad campaigns you can copy and paste to create low-cost, high-converting ads on demand.

6. The 10 Minute Social Media Audit and Social Media Scorecards

If you want your Social Media to actually drive leads, sales, & conversions, follow the 4-Step formula in these scorecards. You’ll know which posts are effectively driving growth in your business.

Unlock even more

When you register for free access to DigitalMarketer Lab you’ll also unlock access to:

• The 36 Marketing Playbooks library
  • Facebook Ads Playbook
  • Google Ads Playbook
  • Email Follow-Up Campaign Playbook
  • Landing Page Builder Playbook

• The 11 Marketing Mastery courses and certifications covering
  • Copywriting
  • Paid traffic
  • Content marketing
  • Email marketing
  • Search marketing
  • Conversion funnels
  • Social media optimization and testing
  • Data and analytics
  • Community management
  • Ecommerce marketing

And you get access to DigitalMarketer Engage, a supportive Facebook community of 10,000+ marketers to answer any and all of your questions.

How do I join?

Simply head over to the sign up page to take advantage of this FREE offer. Remember you need to get in before the end of March, so please don’t miss out.

The thing is, Google Ads can be a little intimidating when you first use it. How do you know if an ad is going to perform well? Yes, there’s a Quality Score but that isn’t a guarantee for success. What makes a really good Google Ad?

Let us expand your knowledge with 10 tips, hints, and suggestions to turn your words into some kickass ads!

1. Don’t directly sell your product in your ad copy

The job of your PPC ads is to target visitors to your website. Successful Google ads will make people want to know more about your product or service and turn them into paying customers. This means it should only attract those who are actually interested in what you’re offering, not random clicks. That helps your impression metrics and gives you a healthy click-through rate (CTR).

No more wasted ad spend.

The only real exceptions to this are when you use ad extensions such as a contact number or physical address. These are essential in encouraging users to call or visit your store without needing them to find your details on your website.

2. Use your keywords in your ads (and try some power words)

What do these keywords all have in common?

• ‘Hairdresser in Nottingham’
• ‘Plumber in Leeds’
• ‘buy bulk pet food’
• ‘replacement bags for Kirby cleaner’

They’re very specific search terms and there’s an intent to buy. That’s why you need to think about what keywords you try to target and feature in your ads.

Your ads need to be clear and succinct (don’t forget those character limits) and using the right keywords is a big part in doing that. That’s why Google Ads is perfect for attracting very targeted visitors.

To add something extra, you can try using power words. They are adjectives that trigger emotions and evoke curiosity. They can work well in marketing and could make a real difference. But it’s important not to try and stuff them in. There’s no guarantee they’ll work for you or your brand but that’s what split testing is for.

It’s important to keep an eye on which keywords are your best performers too so you can put more budget behind them. For keywords that are getting no clicks, you’ll want to pause them and save spend. Software like Adzooma can monitor your keywords for you and prompt you to make appropriate changes. That way you can be sure you’re getting the most for your money.

3. Link your ads to appropriate landing pages

Your landing page is the page you send visitors to. Once they’ve clicked on your ad, they expect to find a page that matches the ad. If they see an unrelated page, that’s a wasted impression, wasted click, and your bounce rate will go up. All because you linked the wrong landing page to your ad.

So if your ad is for the keyword ‘buy bulk pet food’, you need a landing page that allows them to buy pet food in bulk. Don’t send them round your website to find it.

4. Offer the benefits of using your product/service in your ad copy and landing pages

You need to focus on telling your visitors how your product or service will help them, save them time, save them money, make their life easier and so on. 

Remember, because you are not the only one in your marketplace, you need to grab attention and let them know you have what they need to solve their problem.

Check out other ads in your marketplace to see what others are saying in their ads. How can you stand out? Are there benefits your competitors aren’t pushing?

You can also try adding the price of your product/service, to pre-qualify your prospects and use extensions where possible to get more features in the ad too.

5. Define your USP and use it

What it is that makes your offer, brand, product or service unique? Are you the best in the industry, most cost-effective, most experienced, the original, most established, most effective or proven?

This can form the basis of your USP (Unique Selling Proposition).

A USP has the power to turn a flaw into a strength. Car rental company Avis spent a lot of time in Hertz’s shadow, which affected income. So the company had a revamp, hired Doyle Dane Bernbach (now known as DDB) used made that silver medal a gold one with their ‘We Try Harder’ campaign. The results: Avis’ market share went from 11% to 35% in 4 years.

It’s one of the most famous ad campaigns: it was unique, it sold the brand, and left the customer with a proposition that led to more than tripling their market share.

Put some thought into this as it can transform you into a recognised brand very quickly.

6. Local business? Use geotargeting

If you are a local shop looking for local people, you obviously don’t want to be wasting clicks from people who are miles away and can’t get to you.

This is where geotargeting comes in.

You simply add geographical boundaries to the reach of your ad. This way you can be sure that only those people who are in your defined area will see your ad.

This is yet another great benefit of Google Ads, and it means you won’t be paying for clicks from people that have no chance of becoming customers.

As an aside: it’s might also be worth considering local service ads for services like plumbing and electrics.

7. Make your ad stand out with ad extensions

As you can probably imagine, the more space your ad takes up on the results page, the more attention it will attract.

Ad extensions allow you to include extra information in your advert. They include:

• App extensions which add a link directing people to the app store to download your app. This is only available on tablets and mobiles.
• Call extensions which enable people to call you by clicking a phone number in your ad.
• Sitelink extensions which add deep links to pages on your website, along with a brief description.
• Callout extensions which feature extra text highlighting key information such as your USPs.

You don’t need to use all of these, but check them out in Google Ads and use the ones that are useful to you. Test different ones keep the clicks, calls or visits coming in.

8. Use remarketing for multiple chances to sell

Visitors tend not to buy on their first visit to your website. However, there are things you can do to have multiple chances to sell to the same visitors, even after they’ve left your site.

Retargeting enables you to display your PPC ad on other websites that your visitor goes to after they’ve been to yours.

It uses a ‘cookie’ to tag your visitors and then displays your ad on various sites displaying PPC ads, so your visitors are exposed to your ad multiple times in succession.

Get to know this technology and try it for yourself, as it’s a great way to re-engage with lost visitors, while you’re fresh in their mind.

9. Always track conversions

Simply put, if a visitor completes an action that you’ve predefined, these actions are called conversions.

Conversion tracking is important to give you the full picture and excellent info you can use to optimise your online sales process.

You can use free tools for tracking which will show you what happens after a customer has clicked on your ad. Whether they opted into your newsletter, purchased your product, phoned your business, downloaded a price list, brochure or report, or downloaded your app.

This is important as you need to know the keywords which are responsible for making sales. Once you know your most effective, profitable keywords, you can roll them out and increase your spend for more profits.

10. Test, test and test again

You can ramp up your results, cheaper clicks and higher conversions, by testing different parts of your ad and even your landing pages.

Try testing your keywords, ad copy, headlines, extensions, and so on, until something improves your results.

Run with the winners but keep testing new ads against them and you can keep pushing up your results.

Adzooma – the kickass PPC optimisation platform

Following these simple writing tips can make a world of difference to your Google Ads results. The more you learn and apply, the more kickass your ads will be – it really is that simple. 

If you want to flatten your learning curve and use a shortcut to Google Ads success, you can join us here at Adzooma.

We offer the perfect slot in-between your PPC account and you. You still get all the power, but Adzooma intelligently manages most of it behind the scenes. No complicated platforms, Adzooma simply tells you how to optimise your adverts and campaigns. You also get access to a whole host of other features such as automation, one-screen management, custom reporting and more, so as your knowledge grows you’ve got a tool that can grow with you.

Find out more about Adzooma and join for free today.

The reason for this is simple.

You cannot sell without tapping into human psychology. In fact, how well you do it determines your results. Whatever we’re buying, we all respond to simple psychological ‘triggers’.

Marketers can harness these to boost the persuasion level of their marketing. And this masterpiece contains a gold mine of seriously powerful and proven principles you can harness to boost the results of your marketing.

‘But it was published 35 years ago. Before online marketing’, I hear you scream.

Don’t worry, these principles are evergreen. They are not based on specific advertising channels, platforms or mediums – they are all based on simple human psychology.

Along with looking at other people’s research, Dr Cialdini spent 3 years “undercover” applying for and training at fundraising organisations, used car dealerships, and telemarketing firms.

Thanks to this, he was able to observe and document persuasion situations as they happened.

His findings showed that influence is based on six key principles:

1. Reciprocity
2. Commitment and Consistency
3. Social Proof
4. Authority
5. Liking
6. Scarcity

Let’s take a closer look at each one, with examples of how you can use them in your marketing.

Reciprocity

This principle is based on the fact that by nature we feel the need to return favours and good deeds, and treat others as they treat us.

If you do something for someone with no conditions or expectations, they are more likely to do something for you in return.

Here’s what Dr. Cialdini says about this:

“It’s the principle that suggests that people give back to you the kind of treatment that they’ve received from you. If you do something first, by giving them an item of value, a piece of information, or a positive attitude, it will all come back to you. The key is to go first.

If you smile at a stranger, you get a smile back. If you don’t, you don’t get a smile back. That’s essentially the rule. Whatever it is that you would like to get from a situation, you can increase the likelihood that it will be forthcoming if you provide it first.”

Have you ever received a direct mail piece from an insurance company which included a free pen? That’s harnessing this specific principle.

The free, unexpected gift makes many people want to reciprocate. Even if it’s just giving your offer serious consideration.

It obviously doesn’t work on everyone. However, it works on enough of the population to make a difference to conversions.

How can I use this in my marketing?

Offer free stuff to your potential customers!

Free content, research, or even professional advice, all take advantage of reciprocity. Many people feel beholden to act on your offer, thanks to your gift triggering the law of reciprocation.

Try posting expert tips, how-to guides, latest research, time-saving ideas etc on your website. Your visitors will be grateful for your free help and much more likely to respond favourably to your offers.

You’ll also have the extra benefit of new content for the search engines to index, attracting more potential customers.

A classic example of how this principle is used in digital marketing is to offer free reports, guides, samples, tips, videos, coaching etc, in exchange for a prospect’s email. Ask for an email without offering anything first and your response is usually much lower, as there is no act to reciprocate.

Look at what other people in your industry are doing to come up with ideas. However, try and be original so you stand out from your competitors.

And always test different things, as you never know what will bring you the best results.

Commitment and Consistency

As humans, we subconsciously feel the need to behave in a manner consistent with our past behaviour. And once we’ve made a commitment publicly, we’re far more likely to stick to our guns and deliver on it.

Here’s what Dr. Cialdini says about this:

“There’s a great study that I like to cite having to do with one restaurant owner in Chicago who was able to reduce the number of no-shows at his restaurant by just having his receptionist change two words that she used when she took a booking. Previously she said, “Thank you for calling Gordon’s Restaurant. If you have to change or cancel your reservation, please call.” That was the standard approach and it was producing about 30 percent no-shows.

If she changed to saying instead of “Please call if you have to change or cancel your reservation,” if she said, “Will you please call if you have to change or cancel your reservation?” and waited for people to say yes, as they all did, then no-shows dropped to 10 percent because people were going to be consistent with what they had said publicly they would do.”

In a famous study, researchers asked people to erect a Drive Safely advertising board in their garden. Very few people agreed, even though it was to support a Drive Safely campaign.

Meanwhile, in a similar neighbourhood, four times as many agreed. How come?

Simply because ten days previously, these people agreed to place a postcard in their front window supporting the Drive Safely campaign.

In a nutshell, the initial commitment of the postcard led to a 400% increase in those agreeing to the large board, because it was consistent with their past, albeit smaller, commitment.

How can I use this in my marketing?

Instead of going straight for the sale, try getting your visitors to commit to something small and preferably free, such as a video, report, guide or cheat sheet.

The simple act of accepting your free offer increases the chance of those visitors eventually seeing themselves as customers. And this change in self-perception means they’re more likely to be receptive to your follow up offers.

Simply break up larger commitments or actions into smaller micro-commitments. It’s not only less daunting, but it also triggers this principle.

You can also use multi-page forms to exploit this principle. Rather than have a large complex form, split it up. When a visitor fills in a few fields then clicks through, that’s a ‘micro commitment’.

If they are then presented with another page with more fields, the need for consistency drives them to complete it.

Social proof

This is based on the old adage, ‘There’s safety in numbers’. Cialdini defines social proof as simply people doing what they observe other people doing.

This principle is stronger when:

• We’re unsure what to do
• Those we observe are similar to us

Here’s what Dr. Cialdini says about this:

“People will be likely to say yes to your request if you give them evidence that people just like them have been saying yes to it, too. For example, I saw a recent study that came from Beijing. If a manager put on the menu of the restaurant, “These are our most popular dishes,” each one immediately became 13 to 20 percent more popular.

What I like about that is, not only did a very small change produce a big effect, it was entirely costless and entirely ethical. It was only the case that these popular items were identified as popular items. That was enough to cause people to want to go along with what they saw as the wisdom of the crowd.”

If a potential customer sees that you’re popular with other people, it can draw them towards you. They feel safer in a group and they are more confident that they’re making the right buying decision.

‘If all these people love them, they must be pretty good.’

How can I use this in my marketing?

There are many ways to harness this principle in your business, and the great thing is, they’re easy to implement.

• Show off the great reviews and comments about your products from current customers.
• Got a large number of satisfied customers, members or clients? Tell your prospects!
• Does your product outsell your competitors? You’re popular. Shout about it.
• Got celebrity endorsements? Let people know. ‘If Famous McFamous has bought this, it must be good’
• Has your product or business been mentioned in the media? Excellent. This kind of social exposure attracts other people.

You need to promote anything that shows popularity and customer satisfaction. This will help potential customers to trust you, as that many people can’t be wrong about you!

Authority

Have you noticed that we tend to trust and obey authority figures, even the objectionable ones? We simply can’t resist human nature.

Job titles such as ‘Dr’ and anyone in a position of authority or a uniform, immediately gain our respect and make us more likely to accept what they say. This is why so many health products have a doctor in a white coat endorsing them.

‘If a Doctor says it works, it must be ok’. The trust and proof implied when an authoritative figure is promoting the product cannot be underestimated.

In fact, you probably trust this information because the author of the referenced book is a doctor! A perfect example of the principle in action.

So here’s what the trusted doctor says about this:

“Authority refers to the tendency of people to be persuaded in your direction when they see you as having knowledge and credibility on the topic. What’s interesting is how many people fail to properly inform their audience of their genuine credentials before launching into an influence attempt. It’s a big mistake.

A crucial point here with regard to authority is I’m not talking about being in authority and using that lever to move people in your direction. There are all kinds of problems associated with that, including resentment and resistance. I’m talking about being an authority. Someone who is perceived as a credible source of information that people can use to make good choices.”

Authority is one of the most powerful principles on this list.

Psychologist Stanley Milgram’s famous study showed that test subjects were so deferential to the perceived authority of a white lab coat wearing experimenter, they subjected an unseen person with electric shocks!

Don’t worry, the screams were simulated, and nobody was actually hurt in the experiment.

How can I use this in my marketing?

You can add authority to your own brand by showing off awards you’ve won, books you’ve written, guest appearances you’ve made or high-level partnerships you’ve formed.

You can also borrow other people’s authority by hiring a professional to endorse your brand or product. It can be expensive, but the boost it can give to your results can pay off handsomely.

It’s hard to stand out in crowded marketplaces, but these kinds of things really resonate in people, as they raise you above your competitors.

Liking

According to Cialdini, how much you can be influenced by someone, depends on how much you like them. He also adds a key element of liking is having things in common with each other.

Here’s what the good Dr. has to say about this:

“No surprise that people prefer to say yes to a request to the degree that they know and like the requester. A simple way to make things happen in your direction is to uncover genuine similarities or parallels that exist between you and the person you want to influence, and then raise them to the surface. That increases rapport.

Similarly, uncovering genuinely admirable or commendable features of a person, and complimenting the person on those things will lead to liking. Simple things that we can easily get access to. Instead of burying them and keeping them under wraps, we mention those similarities, we mention those compliments that are genuine to provide. That establishes a rapport that leads to a yes.”

This is why good salespeople try to establish common ground with their potential customers.

If they can find a shared interest, hobby, sport, education etc, they can use that to build rapport and come across as human and likeable.

‘Hey, I’m the same as you. Buy my stuff!’

How can I use this in my marketing?

The best way to harness this principle is to ensure you show your prospects you’re likeable.

How do you do that? The best place to start is on your about page. It’s the perfect place to show off your human side and to bond with your potential customers.

A 2015 study [PDF] revealed that 52% of visitors visit your about page, after your homepage.

This is a sign that they want to know more about you. If your page has your business details and a few paragraphs of self-praise, you’re going to lose that visitor in a heartbeat.

People do not want to deal with anonymous brands. How can they trust you if you don’t show yourself? Why are you hiding? Aren’t you legit?

You can overcome this by including photos of the founders, the staff (Smiling of course), group activities, workplace events, premises, office dog etc. Think of it like your business profile, where you show off the human side of your business.

The more human you make it, the more the customers you are trying to attract will resonate with you.

Only one more point remaining, read it before it’s gone…

Scarcity

What happens when there’s a shortage of something? More people want it. There’s something about human psychology that makes us hate to miss out. Especially on a bargain.

Our fear acts as a powerful motivator to encourage us to act quickly. That’s why the suggestion of scarcity works so well to boost conversions.

Here’s what Dr. Cialdini says about this:

“People will try to seize those opportunities that you offer them that are rare or scarce, dwindling in availability. That’s an important reminder that we need to differentiate what we have to offer that is different from our rivals or competitors. That way we can tell people honestly, “You can only get this aspect, or this feature, or this combination of advantages by moving in the direction that I’m recommending.”

FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) has driven many sales over the years, as it’s such a powerful force. The popularity of Black Friday sales, for instance, is staggering.

It is defined as a “pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent. It is characterized by the ‘desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing.’”

It seems like if we can’t have something, we want it more. If something is scarce, we’ll pay more for it.

How can I use this in my marketing?

Obviously, we’re not suggesting you lie about availability. But you should announce when you have genuine limited stock.

Any of these will work:

• Genuinely limited stock
• Limited time sale
• Ending a product line and only a few left
• Limited introductory price
• Limited free bonuses

And here are some classic uses of this principle:

• Only 3 left
• Offer expires at midnight
• Only 4 seats left at this price
• Only 2 room left
• Last ones available
• Special deal
• 50% off – today only

Another benefit of this principle is the fact that when you announce low or limited stock, visitors who aren’t quite ready to buy, may feel the need to buy earlier so they don’t miss out. You can read more about this in our guide to psychological pricing.

Finally, please don’t ever fake scarcity. If you overuse it your visitors will see right through you.

Conclusion

All marketing is based on psychology. If you learn how to tap into this in a proven and effective way, you can seriously improve your results.

Dr. Cialdini’s research can be invaluable to your business if you learn to harness it. You may find some of these work better than others for you, so always test everything.

Remember that understanding buying psychology is the key to understanding your prospects. Familiarise yourself with these principles, learn to apply them and you really can improve your results.

TL;DR

• An infographic guiding you through the biggest Digital Advertising milestones of the last 50 years.
• Highlights include the birth of Google Adwords in 2000 and the first banner ad in ’93.

From its official launch way back in July 1969 to the present day, the internet has grown beyond everyone’s expectations. It has become a major aspect of our lives, essential for keeping in touch with friends and family, advertising a business or buying everything from your next car to food for your pet.

It has also become a marketers dream, with a reach that other marketing techniques can’t begin to match. However, it hasn’t always been this way. The history of advertising online has been a slow burn, taking years to reach the galactic level of engagement advertisers can now benefit from.

Our fascinating infographic charts the history of digital advertising, from its humble beginnings to its current status as the number one way to advertise and grow your business.

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Adzooma is on hand to explain some common online advertising terms, as well as clear up some of the more complicated industry terminology.

Ready? Good. Let’s do this!

A

A/B Testing – Also known as “split testing”, this involves analysing the performance of two different landing pages to see which converts better. Changes between them are often subtle, like different CTAs or page design elements like colours or slight copy variations.

Ad Copy – if content truly is king, then the importance of your ad copy cannot be understated. The writing you use in your ad is one of the first things that a potential new customer will see.

Ad Extensions – Features on Google Ads that provide extra forms of information on an ad such as links to other landing pages, contact details, and shop ratings. Because ad extensions take up more space on the SERPs, they result in higher CTRs compared to ads without extensions.

Ad Groups – A collection of one or more ads with the same target, containing a set of related keywords, often grouped by a single theme.

Ad Rank – A value that determines your ad position based on your bid amount and Quality Score.

Ad Serving – Via an ad-management system, ad serving is the delivery of online ads to a consumer’s computer. This is a system that allows different ads to be viewed by different audiences simultaneously as well as across multiple sites.

API – Standing for application programming interface, an API is a set of functions and instructions for developers to create applications. Ad publishers like Google Ads and Microsoft Ads have a variety of APIs to help with bidding, reporting, and data management.

B

Bid – The highest amount you are willing to pay for an ad click.

Bing – A search engine created by Microsoft.

Bounce Rate – The overall percentage of visitors to your website who navigate away without viewing another page.

Button – A squared online advertisement usually embedded within a web page.

C

Call-to-Action – Asking a customer or visitor to do perform an action. Often in the form of a clickable button that navigates elsewhere.

Click fraud – The fraudulent clicking of ads to waste a competitors ad budget.

Clickthrough – When a user clicks through to the advertiser’s site via an ad.

Conversion – When a consumer clicks on your ad and takes an action that you deem to be important to your business. Whether it be a sale, sign-up or lead, a conversion is a positive for you.

Conversion rate – The total number of conversions per ad interactions (displayed as a percentage).

CPA – CPA or Cost Per Acquisition equates to the price you pay for a lead or specified action. You can set this to whatever you choose, from impressions or clicks to sales or form submissions.

CPC – The average amount you have paid for one click (cost per click). With the value of clicks having the potential to change between campaigns, it makes it important to take an average.

CPM – Also known as the cost per mile or cost per thousand, online advertising can be purchased on the basis of what it costs to show the ad to 1,000 viewers. CPM is used to calculate the cost of a campaign.

CTR – A click-through-rate is one of the more common advertising terms. It represents the number of users who click on a link, compared with the number who saw it. Its primary function is to see how your ads and keywords are performing.

D

Display ads – Graphical ads that appear on a display network like Google Display Network. They often come in the form of banners.

Dynamic Keyword Insertion – The process of automatically updating text in an ad to include a keyword that matches a user’s search query.

E

Engagement Rate – Used to ascertain the percentage of people who acted upon viewing a social media post. It is worked out by dividing their interactions by the number of people who saw the post.

F

Facebook Ads – An advertising platform created by Facebook which serves ads through its social media network and Instagram.

G

Geotargeting – The ability to target specific locations and countries in ads. Also known as location targeting.

Google Ads – An online advertising platform developed by Google. It offers advertisers the ability to pay to display ads across different networks, such as the Google Search Network and the Google Display Network.

Google Analytics – Google’s free web analytics tool used for data analysis on websites and paid ads.

H

Headline – In PPC, this is the top line of a text ad, consisting of 30 characters and ideally including your target keyword. Each advert can have up to 3 different headlines on Google Ads and Microsoft Ads. In SEO, a headline can be another name for a page’s meta title.

I

Impression – When your ad is shown to a user on a search results page (SERP) or via an ad publisher’s display network. In SEO, an impression is whenever your page shows up on a SERP.

Impression Share – Ratio of the percentage of impressions that an ad receives versus the total number of impressions the ad could receive.

Instagram Ads – An advertising platform which services ads from Facebook.

K

Keywords – A particular word or phrase that describes the contents of the page in question. Also the words that a company bids on for their adverts to appear against.

KPI – In order to measure the success of any campaign, a key performance indicator must be put in place. KPI’s are the key indicators for success and should serve to influence which campaigns best align with your goals.

L

Landing Page – Designed for customers who click on your ad. A landing page should be the point and include a clear call-to-action.

M

Microsite – A small website designed to function as a supplement to a primary website.

Microsoft Ads – An online advertising platform developed by Microsoft. It offers advertisers the ability to pay to display ads across different networks, such as the Microsoft Search Network and the Microsoft Audience Network.

N

Native Advertising – In basic advertising terminology, native advertising is used by publisher websites where the content is meant to look like the articles it usually publishes.

O

Overlay – Online advertising content that appears over the top of a page.

P

PPC – Pay-per-click is a form of marketing where advertisers pay every time a user clicks on their ad. When bidding against other marketers for the use of a phrase, the more you pay per click the more likely your ad is to appear in the search results.

PPC optimisation – The act of improving PPC campaigns at varying scales. Optimisation can involve restructuring a whole Google Ads account or converting a single keyword ad group into a single theme ad group.

PPC software – A paid marketing tool or set of tools that manage PPC campaigns. Adzooma is an example of PPC software.

Q

Quality Score – Simply put, the score that Google awards a page depending on its relevance to a particular topic.

R

Remarketing – When a customer has previously expressed an interest in your company or product, remarketing is the action of displaying related ads while such customers browse the internet.

ROI – Otherwise known as return on investment, ROI measures your performance by taking your profit and investment amount and working out if your money has been well spent.

S

Search engine – A system that carries out searches on the Internet and returns relevant information based on the search query.

Search query – A keyword or phrase used in a search, e.g. “rockets”, “dog food” and “best ppc software” are all search queries.

SEM – Search engine marketing, a form of marketing specifically for search engines. This includes SEO and PPC.

SEO – Search engine optimisation, a strategy used to boost the organic visibility of websites on search engines.

Skyscraper – A vertical online ad usually positioned down the side of a page.

T

Tracking code – A snippet of HTML code added to a page which tracks the behaviour of a user. A web analytics tool can use this data to track conversions and analyse metrics such as bounce rate, page views, and session duration.

V

Viral Marketing – The sharing of online content, such as video clips and imagery, in order to build brand awareness.

W

Web Analytics – The analysis of Web data to review the performance of various aspects of your website, PPC campaigns, customer behaviour and much more. Tools like Google Analytics allow users to do this with an intuitive UI.

So, there you have it. A comprehensive advertising jargon buster that should serve to assist you for all of your advertising needs.

This is a method that some of the biggest brands online use including Amazon, eBay and thousands of others. Don’t worry if you have a small business as the results can be scaled both for smaller businesses and global brands.

However, this won’t suit all businesses. If you’re a hairdresser, for instance, and you’re not looking for a huge boost in customers, affiliate marketing may be too much. 

It works best for online companies, even small ones looking to grow, as the whole process is automated by whichever online affiliate network you choose. More on that in a moment.

Small business affiliate marketing is basically commission-based sales

You allow people to sign up as your affiliate (commission only online salesperson) and promote your products or service online, via simple, personalised text links. 

When someone clicks on one of these links to your product and buys, you pay the referring affiliate a predetermined commission. The commission rate depends on the business and products but it’s usually from around 1 to 2% up to 70 or 80%, depending on the industry and product cost.

Most businesses will pay out anywhere from 2% to 50% and this works great as you still profit from sales without having to source them yourself.

Your affiliate has brought the new potential customer to your website and, if they buy, you’ll pay the affiliate commission AFTER the sale.

This makes it unbelievably cost-effective, as you don’t pay out anything upfront, only from the profit on the sale.

Affiliate marketing offers a stack of profitable benefits

Your Visitors Are Targeted

The great thing about affiliates is they work and promote in your niche, so the visitors they send you are perfectly targeted to your business. The more targeted your visitors are, the higher your conversions from visitor to customer will be.

Your Visitors Are Pre-Qualified

When affiliate-sourced visitors reach your website, they’re pre-qualified thanks to the info or review of your product on the affiliate’s site. They know what you’re selling and if they click through, they’re obviously interested.

Once again, this can have a huge effect on your conversion rate, simply because untargeted traffic never converts well.

Your Visitors Are Pre-Warmed

An affiliate’s website will usually ‘pre-sell’ your product in their post and get the visitor excited and enthused about your product or service. So they will either present a problem which is solved by your product or compare your product, along with a handful of others, in a product comparison/review.

This means that by the time the visitor arrives on your site, they are almost ready to buy and all you have to do is push them over the edge. 

Your Visitors Are Cost-Effective

As there’s no outlay until an affiliate makes a sale and then you pay the affiliate from the sale, there’s no initial outlay for your business.

You really can’t get any more cost-effective than not paying out until you make an actual sale.

You Get Free Subscribers

Don’t forget that if you have an opt-in form on your website, maybe offering a newsletter, special report or discount etc, affiliates can help to build your subscriber list for free.

The thing is, some of your visitors won’t buy, but they will become a subscriber via your email form. This is how other brands build huge subscriber lists who they pay for once, and then sell to over and over again.

And because it was your affiliates who sent you the visitor, you haven’t paid to build your list of subscribers.

The overlooked benefit of having affiliates promoting your brand

When you buy Pay Per Click traffic via Google, Bing or Facebook etc, some people who come to your site and aren’t immediately convinced may search Google to see if they can find out more about your product.

If you have affiliates promoting you, their websites will also show up in the search results when someone looks for what you’re selling. And this means your product will suddenly have multiple websites in the search results promoting your product.

In other words, you don’t pay for any of this traffic as your affiliates are taking care of it, and you only pay your set amount commission when the affiliate makes an actual sale.

It’s hard to think of a more efficient, cost-effective way to get more customers and sales.

How do you take advantage of affiliate marketing?

You can use an online affiliate network, which companies online who specialise in bringing together businesses and affiliates.

You simply add your product or service to their marketplace and their affiliates can then promote it if they choose to.

These networks have thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of affiliates in all kind of industries, so chances are some of them are looking for things to promote in YOUR industry.

If small business affiliate marketing is something that interests you, I suggest you begin researching affiliate marketing yourself, as it can build your business faster than anything else.

Obviously, each network has its own rules etc and some will charge you a small fee to list your business, while some are free. There are also networks focusing on certain niches and industries, while others have a huge and varied selection.

Afiliateprogram DB have put a list of their best affiliate programs together which are worth checking out. And here are a few of our favourites:

PartnerStack

Click here to visit PartnerStack

Impact

Click here to visit Impact

Tapfiliate

Click here to visit Tapfiliate

PayKickStart

Click here to visit PayKickStart

Post Affiliate Pro

Click here to visit Post Affiliate Pro

Summary

Small business affiliate marketing is one of the most powerful ways to grow. Basically, you can have an army of people promoting your business and you don’t pay them a penny until they make a sale for you. 

The thing to keep in mind, however, is scale. If you are not ready for a ton of extra sales, it might be worth waiting to jump on the affiliate train.

It depends on your business, but, if for instance you do all your sales online and have the capacity to ramp up, affiliate marketing is definitely worth a closer look.