Are you seeking alternative marketing solutions since the introduction of the General Data Protection Act (GDPR)? Many businesses have had to become more aware of their data sourcing and have taken steps to update their data. Any email/contact list which people did not freely opt into, does not meet legitimate interest, or which had questionable provenance has had to request subscribers to opt back in, the result of this being that many email/contact lists of thousands are now reduced to the hundreds (or less!).
If GDPR has had an impact on your marketing reach, leads generation and sales, read on for some advice on how you could redistribute your time and budget into other areas of digital marketing.
Generate Leads and Sales with Google Ads
If you don’t currently run Google Ads it is worth exploring their use as both a leads generator and sales tool. Google Ads (formally Google Adwords) allows you to create online ads which appear in the Google search engine and reach audiences that are interested in the products and services you offer.
The Google Ads platform runs on pay-per-click (PPC) advertising so you only pay each time a visitor clicks your ad. People are searching for solutions to problems that your business can offer, so if your ad can help them find the answer and it’s more compelling than your competitors, you’re onto a winner.
The great thing is that you can work with Google Ads using any budget – whether you have £50 or £2000 a month to spend, a well set up campaign can reach your target customers and generate interest straight away.
Target your Customer Profile using Facebook Ads
Whilst Google targets people who are actively searching for products or services such as yours, Facebook Ads provide a unique opportunity to target an audience who may be interested in your product – people who share characteristics with your existing customer base or your target customer profile.
Following on from the Facebook Cambridge Analytics scandal, combined with the introduction of GDPR, Facebook has removed access to the 3rd party data information which used to be available for ad targeting (more here. However, despite audience refinement becoming more limited post GDPR, Facebook still offers a powerful advertising platform. As well as offering the ability to target people who may be interested in your product or service, Facebook remarketing and dynamic ads allow accurate targeting of people who have shown an interest in your product.
Following GDPR, both Google and Facebook have updated their privacy policies. As a consequence, people can now opt into what topics and interest areas they would like to see ads about. This could actually improve targeting, since people are providing useful information about what they are interested in.
This blog posts covers two of the main areas of online advertising which offer lots of potential to increase leads and sales post GDPR. Depending on your customer profile you can also advertise on many other online platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn and Bing.
For help with any of your online advertising campaigns, get in touch.
