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The Power Of Pay Per Click Marketing

by Internet Advertising

Here at DanMatt Media we offer a full suite of digital marketing solutions, but without a question of a doubt, the one that typically gives our clients the greatest bang for their buck is PPC (Pay Per Click).

Many of you reading this article will be at least vaguely familiar with PPC. Sometimes called SEM or paid search, it’s the paid component to Google’s search engine (Google Ads). The PPC ads appear at the very top of the SERPs on page 1, and have you ever wondered why that is? Google is a for-profit company, and as such they have a vested interest in offering paid ads that searchers will actually click on. That’s why the paid ads appear at the very top of the page, and it’s why most of our digital marketing clients include PPC as a big part of their overall marketing strategy.

PPC campaigns are fully targetable by age and location, but even more importantly, they’re targetable by interest. Our client’s ads will not show up until someone is searching for the products and services that they offer. In that way, Google PPC produces a tremendous ROI for our clients. We get them placement in the coveted Top 3 positions at the top of the page, and they get phone calls, sales and leads from people who want to do business with them.

So what type of businesses benefit from PPC marketing? Well, just about anyone. We have service-based clients such as attorneys, pest control companies, dentists, bathroom remodeling companies, and garage door installation companies. And we have product-based companies such as online florists, self massage products, airport parking lots and online jewelry. With very few exceptions, your company is likely a fit for one of our custom PPC campaigns.

You may be thinking that PPC campaigns are too expensive for your business. While it’s true that they are often not the cheapest options, you get what you pay for. On balance Google PPC produces a far better ROI than social media marketing does, and unlike SEO it doesn’t take months or even years to start working. With PPC, we’ll have your new ads at the top of page 1 of Google the same week your campaign goes live. And for many local businesses, we can begin at very modest budgets of around $2,000 to $3,000 per month. Typically our clients report that their new PPC campaigns are paying for themselves within 1-2 months.

If you’re looking for more phone calls, more customers, and more sales, give us a call at 877-924-1543 for a free quote and evaluation. Chances are, we can help you.

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Is the customer always right?

by Online MarketingUncategorized

We’ve all heard this saying before. “The customer is always right”. But is it true?

In short, no. The customer is not always right. No one is ALWAYS right (except my wife, just in case she’s reading this article). But there is a right way to tell a valued client, who is spending his or her hard-earned money on your services, that they are wrong.

The best way that I have found to disagree with a client is to say nothing. At first. Let them talk, and let them vent. Let them explain their rationale and why they believe what they believe. Don’t interrupt or argue with them, even if you know and can prove that what they are saying is wrong. When they’re finished, you can address each of their points with facts and well-honed opinions. But do it without emotion, and without condescension. You can prove your point and show them the error in their ways, but always in a respectful manner. And always for the betterment of the partnership.

To be clear, there are a few things I won’t put up with from clients. Verbal abuse is one of them. I have had to reprimand several clients over the years for this, and with one exception (a real gem of a human being) they all apologized and never did it again. But I never allowed it to go unchallenged, and nor should you. We all have the right to be treated with respect.

I have also had to fire clients, because they simply would not agree to let us do the job they hired us to do. These are meddlers and armchair marketing quarterbacks, and when you have a client like that, it never works out. As a business owner, you always have to be prepared to walk away from a bad deal, and if a client won’t let you do your job, then that qualifies as a bad deal. But fortunately, instances like this have been very rare.

The bottom line is that marketing is a service-based business, and your clients are the lifeblood of that business. We don’t sell products. We sell expertise, research, business acumen, and a sincere commitment to customer service. The customer isn’t always right, but just by virtue of being the customer, they do have the right to express their opinion (respectfully, of course).

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Maximizing your marketing ROI

by Internet Advertising

Here at DanMatt Media we have many clients.  Some are big, some are small.  Some are located all over the country (and even overseas) and some are in a single state.  Some have big marketing budgets, and some have small ones.  But all of them have one goal, namely to achieve the best ROI possible with whatever marketing investment they are making.

We offer many advertising and marketing services, including SEO (organic search), SEM (paid search), print advertising (including pay per call), and performance-based market research panel and survey recruitment.  There are times when a client can benefit from multiple channels, and times when a single service line is in order.  So how do we go about obtaining the best ROI for our clients?

It starts by listening.  Simply put, we listen to our clients.  We find out their goals, their needs, and their dreams.  What are they really looking for in an advertising agency?  Once we have a good feel for what they need, we find out what they can invest.  We say invest (as opposed to spend) because marketing is really an investment in your company’s future.  Think about it.  The goal of any adverting and marketing campaign, whether online or offline, is to grow brand awareness and bring in new business.  To do that, you have to invest in your organization’s future, and that’s why our clients engage our services.

So now that we know what a client wants, and needs, and what they can reasonably invest in their marketing spend, we go about designing a customized plan to bring them the best ROI possible for their investment.  That may include a combination of multiple advertising channels, and it could be an amalgamation of traditional offline media buying (print, TV, and radio) and online media buying (SEO, SEM, banner, and email marketing).  But the goal is to create a solution that maximizes ROI and exposure, while minimizing risk.

We’re not the only advertising agency in Washington, DC and Denver, Colorado, but we do like to think of ourselves as one of the best.  We take the time to listen to what our clients need, and we have the expertise to help them achieve the best ROI possible for their hard-earned dollars.  And in the end, that’s precisely what our clients are after.

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Are blogging and social media necessary for your business?

by Internet AdvertisingOnline Marketing

One of the questions I’m often asked, by potential clients and current ones, is whether blogging and social media are necessary for their businesses.  The answer is yes, and no…

A blog is a great way to keep the content on your website fresh and updated.  Blogs are an excellent opportunity to alert your potential and current clients to specials, promotions, and new services that your company is now offering.  It can be a great way to communicate success stories and helpful information.  But it will not, in and of itself, bring you more customers.

At this point you may be asking yourself how often you should update your website’s blog.  Well, in general, the more frequently the better.  Most industries do not change often enough to require daily blogging (tech, sports, and news would be the exceptions), and most business owners are too busy to blog on a very frequent basis.  But you don’t want a blog section on your website that hasn’t been updated in a year or two.  That gives off the appearance that you don’t have any news to report, and that you don’t care what user experience your viewers enjoy.  As such, we counsel our clients to update their blogs at least once per month.  That gives your website new content 12+ times per year, without adding too much to your already full plate.

In a similar fashion, your company’s social media pages (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter,  etc) can be an excellent way to spread your message to the world at-large.  You can think of your social media pages as an extension of your blog.  In fact, we advise our clients to post their new blog updates to all their social media pages at the same time they are updating their website.  But you don’t have to wait until you have a new blog entry to post a social media update.  The more frequently, the better.

Blogging and social media outreach will not grow your business by themselves, and truth be told many successful companies do not blog or update their social media pages on a regular basis.  But they will help to increase your brand awareness and engage potential and current clients.  So long as you’re not posting anything offensive (and why would you do that?) there is no downside to getting your company’s name and message out there for everyone to see.

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The value of a face-to-face meeting

by Internet AdvertisingMarket ResearchOnline MarketingPrint AdvertisingSocial Media Marketing

We’ve all heard the saying… “Customer service is dead”.  One round trip flight on a US carrier will assuredly confirm that for most of us.  But here at DanMatt Media customer service is alive and well.

We’re fortunate to live at a time when technology makes our lives and businesses easier and more convenient.  Contracts can be negotiated and signed over email.  Meetings can be held on conference calls and web cams.  We can all have longterm, lucrative partnerships with clients and vendors without ever having met them face-to-face.  But is that really the way it should be?

There’s no doubt that most of my client and publisher relationships were born through email, and nurtured over the phone.  We have clients all over the United States, and a few overseas as well (including England, India, Australia, and Romania).  Seeing them in person is a tall order (though I have made it to England and Australia so far).  But whenever possible, I like to meet my clients face-to-face.

I want them to see the passion I have for their marketing efforts.  I want to look them in the eye and promise them that I will do everything I can to help them achieve their goals.  I want to visit their offices so that I can get a personal feel for what they do and how they do it.  You can’t do those things over email or phone calls, so whenever possible I make sure to visit them and meet with them face-to-face.

If you’re not getting that level of customer service from your marketing partners, you should be.  After all, it’s your money, and it’s your campaign.  Modern technology and convenience are great, and we all take advantage of it every single day.  But nothing beats the value of a face-to-face meeting.

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What are you looking for in an agency partner?

by Internet AdvertisingOnline Marketing

Typically I write one of these blog posts a month.  They usually take the form of an essay on either work-related topics, golf, or a timely event (like last month’s entry on March Madness).  But for the month of April I thought I might try something different.  Namely, I’d like to ask the handful of people who read my blog posts what they are ideally looking for in an agency partner.

Giving our clients the services they need at the prices they can afford is a difficult balancing act.  Often the budgets we have to work with are less than what we would like to have in order to guarantee success, but I’d like to think we do a good job with what we’re given.  If you’ve read these posts you know that customer service and transparency are a key component of our agency, and every DanMatt Media client receives both no matter how much they’re spending with us.

But what I’d really like to find out is where our future clients place their priorities.  Is price the most important factor when choosing an online and offline agency to help grow your business?  Is expertise and business acumen the first thing you look for when you select an agency to partner with on your digital marketing campaign?  Are you looking for a balance between the two?  Is your ROI the deciding factor when you make your choice?

I would like to invite anyone reading this post to share some quick feedback on what you would look for in an agency partner.  It’s always helpful to have outside opinions, and we welcome them.  You can send your feedback to info@danmattmedia.com, and I promise you it will be read, reviewed, and taken to heart.

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Selecting The Right Media Buying Agency

by Internet AdvertisingOnline Marketing

Here at DanMatt Media our potential clients generally fall into one of two categories.  Either they are looking for a partner to set-up and manage a specific aspect of their marketing (for example, SEO only) or they are looking for an agency to handle all aspects of their media buying, both online and offline.  Either is great, but it’s the latter that really gets our juices flowing.

Business owners are busier than ever these days, and most would prefer to spend their time focusing on what they know best; namely their business.  They recognize that they need to grow their company, but they don’t have the time or expertise to do it themselves.  That’s where we come in.

When we get approached by a new client who is looking for us to help them grow, we ask them a few simple but salient questions.  Are they interested only in growing their revenues, or are they also looking to increase their brand awareness?  Have they previously run online and offline marketing campaigns?  What media buying strategies have they employed in the last few years?  What worked well for them in the past, and what did not?  What kind of financial and time investments are they willing to make in the success of their marketing campaign?

Selecting an agency to handle your online and offline media buying needs is a big deal.  It’s not nearly as important as whom you marry or whether you decide to have children, but it will have a major impact on the growth and success of your business.  Do you want to trust your company’s future to an agency or an individual who doesn’t provide you the transparency you need, or who has only been in business for a short time?  Of course not.  You need a partner who will put your needs first, and one who has the expertise and foresight to manage all of your media buying needs, both online and offline.

So if you’ve been looking for a partner to take your company to the next level, give us a call or send us a website request.  You’re only a few minutes away from finding the right agency partner.

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Here’s why performance-based marketing makes sense for your business

by Internet AdvertisingMarket ResearchOnline Marketing

There are all kinds of ways to grow your business and attract new customers.  Here at DanMatt Media we specialize in helping our clients to do just that.  We accomplish client growth through many different advertising and marketing channels, including our risk-free, performance-based offerings.

Business owners these days are continually having to do more with less.  As industries get more and more competitive, businesses find that they have to grow while keeping costs down.  Often times that means minimizing risk, and that’s exactly what performance-based marketing does.

DanMatt Media has an online marketing team that specializes in sending high-quality email, banner/display, and social media traffic to our client’s campaigns.  These include our eCommerce clients, where potential customers purchase products with a credit card, as well as our lead generation clients, where users fill out a website form.  It’s risk-free advertising for our customers, because DanMatt Media only gets paid a commission when their product is purchased or their form is filled-out.

The same can be said for market research services.  DanMatt Media works with multiple survey clients to bring them the completed surveys they need.  We send targeted, high-quality sample traffic to our client’s surveys, and we only get paid a commission when those surveys are filled out.  That means risk-free market research campaigns and the highest traffic quality in the industry.

Lastly, our pay-per-call (PPC) print services can drive traffic to your eCommerce or lead generation campaign through our network of national yellow page directories.  As with our online marketing and market research offerings, this is a performance-based model.  Our pay-per-call clients only pay us for the targeted phone calls they receive.  It’s a great way to augment your online performance-based strategy.

So if you’re a business owner or executive looking to grow your revenues and attract new customers, online and offline, give our performance-based marketing solutions a try.  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

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Celebrating our 20th year in business!

by Internet AdvertisingOnline MarketingPrint Advertising

This June will mark our 20th year in business.  DanMatt Media was founded way back in 1994 as a national print advertising agency.  We’re still going strong in print, but we’ve now added all kinds of online and offline advertising and marketing solutions to our portfolio.  A quick glance at our website will tell you just how much we’ve grown over the years.

20 years is a long time.  To put things in perspective, when DanMatt Media was founded the average price for a gallon of gas was $1.11, the average cost of a new home was $154,000, and Bill Clinton was only midway through his first term as president.  Jay Leno, who just wrapped-up 22 years as the host of The Tonight Show, was only two years into that role.

So how does a company stay in business for 20 years?  Well, for starters they hire and retain good employees.  We’re not a large company, but we have great employees who are always striving to be the best they can be.  Many of our employees have been with us for 5 or more years.  In an era of large-scale attrition and turnover that really helps us to stand out from our competitors.

Another way you stay in business for 20 years is by constantly putting your clients first.  Many things have changed in the last 20 years, but one thing that hasn’t changed is our commitment to customer service and satisfaction.  Customer service might be dead in the rest of the world, but it’s alive and well at DanMatt Media.  We answer phone calls and emails promptly, we are honest and upfront with our clients, and we always treat them the way we would want to be treated ourselves.

Finally, you stay in business for 20 years by changing with the times.  As I mentioned earlier we’re still leaders in print advertising, but as the landscape has changed, we have changed with it.  We now offer solutions such as SEM, SEO, email and banner/display marketing, social media marketing, radio and television advertising, and web design.  In today’s highly competitive world a company cannot afford to rest on its laurels.

Here’s to another great 20 years!