Google Ads Management and Online Advertising

Most Calgary business owners would be shocked to learn that about half of their Google Ads budget is wasted. There’s an adage in advertising, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half”. This phrase was coined almost 100 years ago by John Wanamaker. If John was around today he might say something like, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; and it’s because my Google Ads manager used a “set it and forget it strategy.”

Below is a screen shot of one of Matterhorn’s Google Ads accounts. Most of the listed campaigns are for well known Calgary land developments and home builders. The main thing to note is the cost per click (how much you pay every time some one clicks on your ad). We have our clients so well targeted that they are only paying anywhere from 99 cents to $2.19 per click! When we took over these campaigns, our clients were paying upwards of $6.00 per click. So how did we get out clients an 84% discount on their online advertising cost? We list some of the reasons below this image.

How to reduce your online advertising cost

• Hire a marketing company that cares about your money as much as you do.
• Do not tolerate a set it and forget it strategy
• Ask for monthly detailed reports that lists
  • • Total spend
    • Total clicks
    • Cost per click
    • The geography targeted
    • The search terms targeted
    • The negative search terms (searches you do NOT want the ads to be seen)
    • The ads themselves
    • The click though rates of each ad
    • The click through rates of each search term
    • What pages of your website the ads are targeting
    • The length of visit on your website of each ad or campaign
    • The leads (or other metric) generated on your website by these ads
    • The cost of a lead (or other metric) based on how many clicks it takes to create a lead
• Ask other business owners what they are paying for their Google Ad campaigns.
• Understand that Google is an online auction system and its priority is maximizing its own revenues by getting you to pay as much as possible for as long as possible.
• Understand some basic auction and game theory principles
  Experiment
• Start you campaign earlier than you need to to refine your ad campaigns so you pay the lowest possible price
• Call Matterhorn and let us take care of all of this and the creative elements for you. We can also design your landing pages or new website if that’s what you need

Ultimately, your marketing is up to you. Our mission is to make sure that you are informed well enough to make the best decisions.

Why Choose Matterhorn for Google Ads Management?

• We don’t require a contract.
• A flat monthly fee starting at $250 and even free for some clients.
• 31-year marketing expert David Howse manages your campaign.
• David has 15 years of marketing experience in Alberta – he knows the market!
• David has 14 years of Google Ads experience – he knows the system.
• David teaches Google Ads Management at Mount Royal University – he is a trusted expert.
• You see exactly what we spend as you own the Google Ad account
• Unlike the competition, we don’t use the “set it and forget it strategy.”
• No problem pausing your campaign during slow season times (no billing either).
• We will make sure your Google Ads aren’t on top of your ranked SEO terms
• Free advice on your landing page and its ability to sell.
• Free Google Analytics analysis to help you grow.
• Combine our SEO and Google Ads services for even better sales and exposure

A Brief Introduction to Offering a Google Ads Service in Calgary

The below table is from a Google Ad Campaign for this website. The campaign is two days old and we are collecting date and making strategic changes. Go through the table and note a couple things, (1) Google’s suggested bid in the status column and (2) our bid in the Max CPC column. After the table, we will offer some insights on our Google Ads strategy.

Google Ads Strategy

By now, you should realize that the campaign in the above table came from was designed to get website visits from business owners looking for a Google Ads agency. You’ll also notice that we are underbidding for almost every search term.

Here is the core of our Google Ads Strategy

1. Like negotiations, who ever wants something the most, pays the most.
2. To not care if we get clicks from a particular campaign, we are running eight different campaigns with 5-10 ad groups each for different marketing services.
3. We know agencies set a maximum daily budget in Google Ads – when the top bidder’s budget runs out, the next lowest bidder gets the ad spot on Google
4. Out of 2000 different searches, all we need is a few searches were the competition’s budget has run out and we get the clicks for cheap
5. Google wants $57 for the term, “google ads marketing company” but only wants $10 for “google ads marketing agency.” We don’t care which one we get so long as we don’t pay more than $10 for it. In reality, you’ll probably only spend $5 for it while our competition pays $50.
6. We don’t let anyone outside of Calgary (or your geography) see your ads
7. We target the age group most likely to buy
8. We turn off our ads on mobile devices or laptops, almost all of our buyers use one of mobile devices or laptops and desktops (B2B tends to be like that).
9. We filter out hundreds of terms to make sure we don’t pay for searches like, “how to do your own Google Ads.”
10. We use Google Analytics to give us more data
11. We use our 28 years of marketing experience to make the best strategic decisions.
12. There are dozens of more elements to our strategy but some things have to stay a secret.

If this is the kind of thinking you want behind your Google Ads, then call or leave us a message today and let us help your business.