Is Google Adwords the only way to go?

[thesofaking]

I have always and still am a huge advocate for Google Adwords. I love you only pay for clicks. I love their are no contracts. I love you such control as to where ads pop up. With that said, am I being naive for not trying other advertising avenues?

Lately I been talking to sales reps for different online marketing companies and every time I am comparing them to Google, they can't convince me their system is as good.

I am a brick and mortar furniture retailer. I have 3 retail locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. The name of the business is Sofa Creations. We sell custom sofas, delivered to the customer in 2 weeks at affordable prices. Also comes with a seven year warranty. My site which is currently being redone is mysofacreation.com

Any suggestions?

I have been doing postcard mailers to 500 interior designers, property management companies, stagers etc. Just sent out my 3rd round. Got 2 sales from the 1st round, none from the 2nd.

[Kumar Palani]

I have always and still am a huge advocate for Google Adwords. I love you only pay for clicks. I love their are no contracts. I love you such control as to where ads pop up. With that said, am I being naive for not trying other advertising avenues?

Lately I been talking to sales reps for different online marketing companies and every time I am comparing them to Google, they can't convince me their system is as good.

I am a brick and mortar furniture retailer. I have 3 retail locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. The name of the business is Sofa Creations. We sell custom sofas, delivered to the customer in 2 weeks at affordable prices. Also comes with a seven year warranty. My site which is currently being redone is mysofacreation.com

Any suggestions?

I have been doing postcard mailers to 500 interior designers, property management companies, stagers etc. Just sent out my 3rd round. Got 2 sales from the 1st round, none from the 2nd.

Based on what I understand from what you wrote, I still believe you are perfectly to stick with Google Ad-words over other ads systems. However if you are not taking other internet marketing strategies into consideration (which I am not sure about) then you should change your mind soon.

While it is true that Ads on Google Search is really worthy and works perfectly, however one should remember that no less than 95% of searchers click organic search results instead of paid ads on Google. If you wanna get more traffic and leads via Google then you should focus your efforts on SEO as well. As a marketer I would recommend keeping as many doors open as possible. Beyond SEO and PPC, there are tons of other internet marketing strategies that you should try to spend your time on, Social Media, Local directories, Paid/free ad sites and tons more..!

[thesofaking]

Thank you for the feedback Kumar. I have tried social media with paid advertising with Facebook for a few months and didn't have any luck. We do still make facebook and twitter posts though to help our SEO which is pretty good.

I am surprised to hear though that so many people click organically over the Adwords. I will definitely keep working on my SEO.

[billbenson]

IMO the redundancy of having an AdWords ad displaying above the natural SERPS helps your click through for the natural SERPS.

[Dan Furman]

I have always and still am a huge advocate for Google Adwords. I love you only pay for clicks. I love their are no contracts. I love you such control as to where ads pop up. With that said, am I being naive for not trying other advertising avenues?

Lately I been talking to sales reps for different online marketing companies and every time I am comparing them to Google, they can't convince me their system is as good.

I am a brick and mortar furniture retailer. I have 3 retail locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. The name of the business is Sofa Creations. We sell custom sofas, delivered to the customer in 2 weeks at affordable prices. Also comes with a seven year warranty. My site which is currently being redone is mysofacreation.com

Any suggestions?

I have been doing postcard mailers to 500 interior designers, property management companies, stagers etc. Just sent out my 3rd round. Got 2 sales from the 1st round, none from the 2nd.

And here I was hoping there was a real business named "Sofa King", just so they could have a non-wacky-morning-DJ-manufactured commercial saying their stuff is "Sofa King Good"

[Kumar Palani]

Thank you for the feedback Kumar. I have tried social media with paid advertising with Facebook for a few months and didn't have any luck. We do still make facebook and twitter posts though to help our SEO which is pretty good.

I am surprised to hear though that so many people click organically over the Adwords. I will definitely keep working on my SEO.

Social Media works perfectly when you lure your potential clients with stuffs that are irresistible to them. Start by providing excellent information and keep your marketing on a 80:20 Ratio. 80% Information, and 20% (or lesser) Marketing/promotion. For you need listeners before you can speak, and people listen when you provide them with information that are useful. Beyond, people you educate may feel like they vow you something and that's where you can build trust, relationship (network) and business.

[Freelancier]

Since you're local, brick and mortar, something that gets bought once every 5-10 years for a single customer, worrying about someone "following" you on social media seems like a waste of time. You need to work on brand awareness for people who are older and can afford what you're selling. Right now, those people are stuck in traffic (either driving car-pool or driving to work).

Targeting designers is a good idea, but only gets designers into the store. That's not a large enough share, but is definitely inexpensive. Go look at local radio and billboards next (including media displays on BART). Build brand awareness for people who have money and don't have time to hang around on social media. It's more expensive, but in the end you'll end up with more traffic and more sales.

[The Pocket Shot]

My business can't use Google Adwords because it is against their "Policy." I will say that I was discouraged at first but have had no problem getting around it and frankly, it probably saved my business a ton of money. So yes, it is not necessary to use Adwords, but I know plenty of people that use it as well. We are first on Google if you search for anything related to our product. (We also take up almost the first page.)
I think the most important thing above all else is content. Tons of content related to your business or product. Since your a Brick and mortar store I would HAMMER the phrase furniture and San Francisco.

[webfanatic]

I suggest you focus on local search marketing. Google that phrases and other phrases and you'll get a lot of info on what you should be doing (if you're not already).

Because you want to see a return on your investment dollars as quickly as you can, PPC may not be the best route to take. I also wouldn't do brand awareness because you can't track that. When you're a small business it's important that you focus on things that can be measured and tracked or else you could end up losing a lot of money.

I suggest do targeted social media, where you actually have an end in mind. For example, have a customer appreciation day in your store. Post about it in your social media, Twitter, etc... See how many people actually show up and how much money you made that day vs a typical day. Look at major furniture retailers social profiles like Ashley Furniture, Living Spaces, (or whatever is in your area). See how and what they tweet on Twitter, the engagement on their FB page, etc..

Also build a list, especially a list of people who have bought from you. If they buy once, they'll buy again.

Lastly, look at your local small business competitors and see how they're marketing their furniture business. Look at their social profiles, the keywords they're targeting - organic and search (use SpyFu or Keyword Spy). If you can "spy" on your competitors who are having success, you can implement the same things in your business.

[thesofaking]

Thank you webfanatic!

[chewbecca]

Do you track your conversions through AdWords or are you mainly trying to get some traffic on your home pages. I mean, as long you're getting more money out of your clicks than you spent on them I'd always advise to increase your budget on AdWords. If AdWords is worth it without tracking is tough to say. How attractive are your products? Somewhat "upscale" furniture could definetely be marketed on social media.

[MikeSweeney]

I would think about broadening your PPC ads to Facebook and YouTube. They both use advertising formats. I would even start doing video ads on Facebook, they are really trying to take YouTube ad shares.

Social media is a great place to get people talking about you. Especially customers that have purchased from you. Get them to share and spread the word for you. It's free! Word of mouth is always a businesses best friend!

Get a Facebook business page. Post videos to it. Then use the Facebook advertising platform to promote that video on your Facebook page. Get people to share and like it.

Also, start capturing emails of people who visit your website. Use email marketing to promote specials, sales, new product lines, etc... Also, what can you offer existing customers?

Mike

[WPCarer]

I spent way longer than I should have trying to decode your user name... I came up with The S of a King and the So Faking. Needless to say I felt pretty dumb when I saw your company name in your post :o

[kb24]

Aside from adwords there's Bing ads also. There are also many 2nd tier ppc networks as well..

[Harold Mansfield]

Aside from adwords there's Bing ads also. There are also many 2nd tier ppc networks as well..

Good advice. Google ain't the only game in town. If you can find your own little pocket of the web to capitalize on, that's the way to go.

[PDQ Fire & Water Damage]

We have had good luck with Google PPC.
We also do a lot of geolocal targeted seo, our goal is to take as much space on page one. over 95% of all clicks are on page one.

[99social]

I will second getting involved in social media. Facebook ads can be incredibly helpful, if you know what your target audience is and you can make them location specific. Plus, I find it to be relatively inexpensive compared to other routes.