Over the next couple weeks, I’m planning to offer various tips for businesses here in Northern Colorado to market themselves with limited budgets. I speak with small business owners all the time and I just keep hearing the need for something different. Advertising budgets are smaller so how can you still get the same bang for your buck? Let’s start with a relatively new technique. It’s available nation-wide, but many small businesses here in Northern Colorado are starting to catch on and enjoy the benefits.
Pay-Per-Call Advertising
No, that’s not a typo. It’s not supposed to say pay-per-click. It’s called pay-per-call advertising. What’s that even mean? Well, with pay-per-call advertising, as the name suggests, you only pay when someone actually calls your Northern Colorado business. Essentially you’ll have a free listing on some of the largest directories like YellowPages.com. When someone is searching for the type of product you offer your ad will be displayed. In our case, we’d be found under things like “Web Development in Northern Colorado” or “Marketing in Fort Collins.” But remember I said it’s a free listing. You don’t pay a thing to have your company listed. You only pay when someone calls the 800 number listed on your ad. They provide you with an 800 number that routes through to your number so the calls are tracked. Each day, you’ll receive a list of who called, when they called and how long you were on the line. If they call back in the future, you won’t be charged again, even if they use the routing telephone number.
It’s proven to be one of the most profitable forms of advertising for our clients and here’s why. It turns the tabels on traditional advertising. Normally, you’re trying to push your message on your customer at a time when they’re preoccupied with other, more pressing issues. You’re trying to break through the clutter and get them to pay attention to your ad on T.V. just when they are wondering who they’re going to get to babysit on Friday night. Or when they’re needing to prepare their thoughts for that big meeting in the morning. Traditional advertising is like pushing. Pay-per-call is like pulling. The prospect is actively looking for your services when you present your ad to them. They’re engaged and are seeking you out rather than forcing your ad on them when they’re worried about other things.
As if that’s not cool enough, the cost is extremely low too. How many post cards do you think you’d have to send out to get one phone call? Maybe 100? That’s pretty typical of direct mail. So do the math. After design, writing, printing and postage you’d be looking at well over $500 to mail just 100 cards. That’s essentially like paying $500 to get one prospect to call. Now on the other hand, pay-per-call advertising starts at just $2 per call. That’s right. Just $2. How can you beat that? You can’t. That’s why it’s taking off as more and more small businesses take their advertising budgets out of the yellow pages and turn to pay-per-call. If you’d like to learn more, I’m happy to discuss it.
Here’s to the success of your Northern Colorado business.
Chadd Bryant