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ROI Face Off!

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If you’re a small business owner and you’re working with a small marketing budget, online advertising can seem daunting. It doesn’t have to be — anyone who has researched Google AdWords or Facebook Advertising already knows that you can customize your ads, target your audience, and choose your keywords to fit practically any budget. But after all that time, effort, and the eventual monetary expense… are you getting your money’s worth? Does it make sense to spend the money on advertising when you can create a content marketing strategy for free? Where will you see your biggest return on investment (ROI)?

In the interest of fair comparison, let’s weigh a few factors.

Cost

Ads cost money. Whether you’re working with $10 a day or $1000, you’re still paying for every click or impression. Plus, you’ve got the added time cost of creating an ad that gets noticed (either graphic or keyword-driven)

Content costs time. In order to create truly great content, it’ll take you awhile. Whether you’re creating content on your own or you have someone else doing it, it’s still an investment. If time is money, then great content can be pretty costly.

 

Upkeep

Ads – If you’re using Google AdWords, once you find your golden combination of keywords, you can pretty much leave it alone and just check back weekly. However, getting to that point can be frustrating (and expensive).

Content – For content marketing to make an impression, you have to invest time and stay consistent. Once your audience gets used to seeing daily, bi-weekly, weekly posts, it’s strongly recommended that you stick with that schedule. That way, your loyal fans know what to expect and have something to look forward to!

 

Audience

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Ads – You have the potential to reach a completely new audience with online advertising. People who may have otherwise never known about you and your business may see you at the top of a Google search or in the sidelines of an article they’re reading. This is good, right? Well, if the audience is one you want, then yes. If they are in another country without access to your service, then maybe not. Be very careful when creating your ads – there are so many variables small mistakes can get very expensive, very fast. But if you do it right, you have the opportunity to reach prospective customers you might have otherwise missed.

Content – The people who will see your content first are those loyal fans who already subscribe to your blog, like you on Facebook, and follow you on Twitter. And that’s great! But how do you get your amazing content to spread like wildfire once your tried and true followers have already seen it? Well, that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it. You’ve got a ton of options to get the word out, but generally speaking, start with these 5 Essential Elements to make sure your content is ready to hit the ground running and reach the widest possible audience.

 

Lasting Impressions

Ads – Can you name a single memorable banner ad (other than the one with the shrinking belly fat… or the other one with the shrinking belly fat)? That’s because it’s really difficult to tell a story within the limitations of online advertising space. Remember the best commercials from that big football event we’re not supposed to name? The most memorable ones tell a story, whether it’s a humorous 30 second story or a tear-jerking 2 minute one. If you’re working with a small budget (and therefore can’t hire Don Draper and his team), you might find that creating a lasting impression online is really hard to do.

Content – The best content comes from a place of honesty, authenticity, and oftentimes humor. Content can be presented in many different forms: articles, blog posts, testimonial, videos… Whatever format you choose, you have an opportunity to create and share a memorable story with your audience that will make them feel connected to your brand. And people buy things when they feel connected to them.

 

Down the Road

Ads – Here’s a simple way to look at the longevity of an online ad: once the money stops, the ad disappears. If you’ve reached the end of your budget, all that hard work you put into creating the perfect piece of advertising is no longer seen online. Unlike a magazine ad or a postcard, which will at least live on to grace the bottom of Polly’s birdcage, the digital space will forget you were there faster than you can say “minimum bid.”

Content – Once you invest time in quality content, it can live for as long as you want it or need it to. There are no budget constraints — you can’t be out-bid or out-ranked on your own website. Of course, some of that content will only stay relevant for a certain amount of time – the length of a special offer, or until a new technology arrives (depending on your business/industry). But if you’re creating a decent amount of evergreen content, which (even years later) can be shared with new and prospective customers, you’ll continue to get a return on your investment.

Signing out,

Erika Stanley

Do you use content marketing or online advertising as part of your strategy? Which works better for you? Tell us about it in the comments section below!

[image credit: John "Jay" Glen]


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