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The Best Way To Save Money On Advertising - Target Locally

Over the years I have discovered exactly what derails an ad.

More often than not, when an ad fails to produce results, the

problem isn't with the ad. The problem is with WHO the ad

reaches.

Before you start blaming lack of response on your ad, stop a

moment to consider who it is TARGETED to.

Let's take a moment to look at Internet advertising. First off,

let me say I dearly love advertising on the Net. The advertising

rates for search engines and ezines are far, far lower than

advertising your business on traditional media like TV or

newspapers. For what one TV commercial would cost, I can

advertise a business extensively for weeks, even months.

But, as I'm sure you've realized by now, the Internet is no

magic advertising medium. Just as often as with anywhere else,

your ad can pull less than expected response. The problem is

with lack of targeting.

If most or all of your customers live in the geographical area

of your store, using a search engine to reach people all over

the world doesn't make much sense. You can consider your money

wasted when somebody who will NEVER walk into your store reads

your ad.

The solution is to advertise on sites or ezines that reach YOUR

customers at a very high rate. This could be a local site that

provides sports scores for dozens of local sports teams. Or a

site that lists a great many local building contractors. Very

specific information needed by people in YOUR area will draw

just the kind of local crowd you can capitalize on.

We're seeing a sudden rise of local pay-per-click search

engines. These use the same popular technology as Google and

Overture, but limit their reach to businesses in a particular

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city, state, or region.

Often these local pay-per-click sites have very low rates, a

little as one cent per click. Many offer as many as 1,000 free

clicks to any business that signs up.

Be sure to check if the pay-per-click site has plenty of

businesses listed in their database. An empty site won't attract

many visitors and you may not reach enough audience to have any

effect on your sales. Also watch for a pay-per-click that is

promoting in your area. If they are visible to you, they are

probably getting the attention of lots of your customers.

About the author:

Linda Stevens is CEO of http://MyCalgaryClicks.com, the local

Pay-Per-Click city search directory for Calgary, AB Canada.

Linda believes in following her own advice and is offering $10

in free bidding cash to any site that signs up to advertise.

Reach Linda at support@mycalgaryclicks.com