Generally speaking, the lead quality from Adwords is low in my experience. I worked with a small company that manufactures duvets. Of all clicks, we had one conversion. The fact is that their product is fairly high-end, and appeals to a very specific audience. There's no real way within adwords to truly narrow your target to reach only these people. I'm starting to come under the impression that Adwords are more suitable for companies with larger marketing budgets. thoughts?
I absolutely disagree. AdWords allows "mom and pop" shops near instant access to a segment of customers they could not previoulsy reach, and, they can reach that audience in a cost effective fashion.
I too, disagree with the statement that Adwords is unsuitable for 'mom and pop' type companies. The trick with Adwords is to target keywords as tightly as possible and make certain that the ad itself gives a clue to the high-end side of things.
That Google has in the neighborhood of 400,000 advertisers is the best proof that it's working for small advertisers. The keys are to target your local AdWords buy both by keyword and via geo-targeting, and to track and optimize relentlessly. -Shorebreak
I disagree also. I have been using Adwords since it started for my small construction company; in fact, it is the only source of advertising I use other than referrals. Proper use of keywords and geo-targeting is essential. For example, if your business is local, you can define an exact trade area in the Toronto area using the multi-point option. The more you know about your clientele, and the more you can incorporate that information into your campaign, the better your results will be.
Adwords give my business (if you can call a laptop, a desk, a chair and a printer a busines) a chance to compete with companies with 1000 times my sales. Some times I win too. I love it!
Start really low. something like 10cents per click with a total budget of $5.00 per day. From their you can move it up slowly. A good idea is to look in your stats and target the best performing keywords from there to start with.