Ten-year-old AutomationDirect is a direct marketer of industrial automation components. Through its website (www.automationdirect.com) and print catalogs, the company sells thousands of programmable logic controllers, sensors, operator interface panels, AC drives, motors, enclosures, timers, and other industrial control devices to customers in industries ranging from water treatment, power management, and food processing to all types of manufacturing. Since 1999, the company's sales via the Internet have grown substantially; and since 2000, AutomationDirect has sought to maximize its online presence through various paid placement programs, as well as search advertising.
| "Google has remained our most
effective search engine and source
for online ad delivery for quite
some time. We have experienced
record high web activity in all
areas: hits, page views, average
daily visitors, unique IP addresses,
and increased visits to our
documentation and tech support
pages."
|
Approach
Online marketing specialist Liz Jacobson launched the company's first comprehensive
Google AdWords™ campaign in 2002. Her goal was to increase clickthrough rates to
the company's e-commerce site to gain better visibility for the company's industrial
automation products. In addition, she wanted to increase the number of newsletter
subscribers, catalog requests, and sales. And she didn't want to spend a lot more than
she had been previously to achieve those goals.
Results
Moving from the previous AdWords CPM-based model to the newer cost-per-click
program in 2004, Jacobson added a few hundred more keywords to her campaign.
"Google AdWords produced more clickthroughs in three months than we got over
10 months in 2003 for the same monthly expenditure, and the average cost per click
is less than half what it was previously," says Jacobson. In fact, she adds, "Google
has remained our most effective search engine and source for online ad delivery for
quite some time. We have experienced record high web activity in all areas: hits,
page views, average daily visitors, unique IP addresses, and increased visits to our
documentation and tech support pages."
Jacobson also notes that the AutomationDirect site now sees more visitors per month
than the typical number of leads delivered by trade publication advertising. The
conversion rate is good, too, she adds: "All our conversion indicators are definitely
up: newsletter subscribers, product catalog requests, and sales."
Taking advantage of AdWords' activity and performance reports, Jacobson notes that
her company is seeing "increases in product sales corresponding to popular product
keyword inquiries." She spends about two hours weekly monitoring and adjusting her
campaigns, and once a month conducts an in-depth review at the keyword level.
A relatively small percentage of her overall advertising budget is dedicated to online
programs, because the cost for lead acquisition using AdWords is "dramatically less"
than it is in other forms of advertising they use (direct mail, trade shows, and trade
publication advertising). Summing up her AdWords program, Jacobson says, "Given
the scope of our results, it's been well worth it. We are very likely to continue."
About Google Advertising
Google AdWords is currently used by
thousands of businesses worldwide
to gain new customers in a cost-effective
way. AdWords uses keywords to precisely target
ad delivery to web users seeking information about a particular product
or service. The program is based on cost-per-click (CPC) pricing, so
advertisers only pay when an ad is clicked on. Advertisers can take
advantage of an extremely broad distribution network, and choose the
level of support and spending appropriate for their business. For more
information, go to www.google.com/ads.