Tag Archives: Paid Ads

Stop Wasting Money on Paid Ads: How to Build a Sustainable Marketing Strategy That Delivers Long-Term ROI

This entry was posted on June 18, 2025 by Jenny Weatherall.

In this post, you’ll learn why relying on paid ads alone is a costly mistake and how to build a sustainable marketing strategy that drives long-term ROI. We’ll break down key tactics like SEO, content marketing, and organic lead generation to help you reduce ad spend while growing your business smarter.

The Rising Costs of Paid Advertising

The cost of paid advertising has skyrocketed in recent years. According to industry reports, the average cost-per-click (CPC) for Google Ads increased by over 15% year-over-year, with some industries like legal services seeing CPCs exceed $50 per click. Facebook Ads have also followed this trend, with a 19% increase in average ad costs compared to previous years. For small businesses with limited budgets, these rising costs can quickly eat into profit margins.

Trends in Ad Budgets Across Industries

Businesses across industries are allocating more of their budgets toward paid ads, but many are finding it unsustainable. In highly competitive fields like healthcare, law, and e-commerce, ad spending can reach thousands of dollars per month just to maintain visibility. This heavy reliance on paid ads leaves businesses vulnerable to rising CPCs and diminishing returns.

A Costly Mistake: Solely Relying on Ads

Consider this scenario: A small addiction treatment center invests $10,000 monthly in Google Ads to generate leads. While they receive clicks, their website isn’t optimized to convert visitors into patients. With no engaging content or trust-building elements, most visitors leave without taking action. As a result, the treatment center burns through its ad budget without seeing a meaningful return on investment. This highlights the importance of pairing paid ads with a strong organic marketing strategy to maximize ROI and build a sustainable lead pipeline.

Many businesses rely heavily on paid advertising to generate leads, but at what cost? While paid ads can offer quick results, they are expensive, competitive, and disappear the moment you stop paying. While we provide paid ad management, we emphasize that relying only on paid ads is not a long-term strategy. The key is integrating organic marketing strategies to maximize ROI, enhance conversion rates, and build a sustainable lead pipeline.

At Eminent SEO, we specialize in helping businesses optimize their paid ad spend while developing organic marketing strategies that deliver consistent, high-quality leads without the high price tag of constant ad spending.

The Problem with Relying Solely on Paid Ads

Why Ad Budgets Fail

Many ad campaigns fail to deliver a meaningful return on investment due to several common issues:

Lack of Targeting: Failing to narrow down audiences results in clicks from people who aren’t genuinely interested in your offerings.
Poor Ad Copy: Ads that don’t clearly communicate value or have weak calls-to-action lead to low engagement.
Unoptimized Landing Pages: Driving traffic to slow-loading or cluttered landing pages often results in high bounce rates.

Industries Hit Hard by Ineffective Ad Spend

Certain industries, such as law firms, addiction treatment centers, and e-commerce, often face steep competition for paid ads, which quickly drives up costs:

Law Firms: CPCs for legal keywords can exceed $200 per click, making it one of the most expensive industries for Google Ads.
Addiction Treatment Centers: Highly competitive keywords like “rehab near me” can drain budgets without proper targeting.
E-Commerce: Without compelling product pages and retargeting strategies, e-commerce businesses struggle to convert ad clicks into sales.

How to Audit Paid Ad Campaigns to Minimize Waste

To ensure your ad spend is being used effectively, follow these steps:

Analyze Audience Segments: Use analytics tools to identify which audience groups perform best and focus your budget on them.
Refine Ad Copy: Test multiple variations to determine which messaging resonates most with your audience.
Optimize Landing Pages: Ensure pages are fast, mobile-friendly, and aligned with the ad’s promise.
Track Key Metrics: Monitor cost-per-click (CPC), cost-per-conversion (CPC), and overall ROI to identify areas for improvement.

Taking these measures can help reduce waste, improve conversions, and ensure your paid ads complement a broader, sustainable marketing strategy.

Paid advertising (Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads) can be an effective short-term solution, but it comes with major drawbacks:

High Cost: The cost per click (CPC) continues to rise, eating into your profit margins.
No Long-Term Value: Once you stop paying, the traffic and leads disappear.
Intense Competition: Your competitors can easily outbid you, driving up ad costs.
Wasted Spend Without Optimization: If you aren’t constantly testing and improving your website and conversion paths, you’re likely losing potential customers. A $20-$200 ad click means nothing if they bounce immediately.

Real-World Example:

Imagine a local law firm spending $10,000 a month on Google Ads. While their ad campaigns generate clicks, the firm’s website has slow load times, unclear calls-to-action, and lacks trust-building elements like client reviews or testimonials. As a result, many visitors bounce without contacting the firm. This scenario is a clear example of how ineffective website optimization wastes valuable ad spend.

If your marketing strategy depends solely on paid ads, you’re renting visibility instead of building lasting brand authority and conversions.

The Smarter Approach: Paid Ads + Organic Marketing for Sustainable Growth

Instead of burning your budget on expensive ads, investing in organic marketing strategies creates a scalable, long-term lead generation system that works even when ad budgets are cut.

Here’s how:

1. SEO That Drives High-Intent Leads

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the foundation of sustainable growth. By optimizing your website and content, you can rank higher in search results and attract leads who are actively searching for your services, without paying per click.

Local SEO for Law Firms & Service-Based Businesses – Get found in your city when potential clients search for your services. For example, a personal injury attorney ranking on Google Maps for “car accident lawyer near me” can drive highly targeted, local leads.
E-E-A-T & Authority Building – Google rewards businesses with high-quality, expert-driven content. Creating authoritative blog posts, white papers, and guides not only improves rankings but also establishes credibility with your audience.
Optimized Website Structure & Speed – Ensuring fast load times and mobile-friendly experiences boosts rankings and conversions. For instance, a retail business with a slow website risks losing impatient shoppers to competitors.

Tools and Processes to Drive SEO Success

Google Analytics – Track organic traffic, identify top-performing pages, and measure the effectiveness of your SEO campaigns.
Google Search Console – Monitor your site’s indexing, fix crawl errors, and discover opportunities to optimize for higher rankings.
Ahrefs or SEMrush – Conduct keyword research, analyze competitor strategies, and monitor backlinks to improve your domain authority.

Finding High-Intent Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are specific, low-competition phrases that capture high-intent traffic. For example, instead of targeting “lawyer,” a law firm could target “Phoenix estate planning lawyer for seniors.”

Brainstorm Search Intent: Think about what your ideal customers are searching for when they are ready to take action.
Leverage Keyword Tools: Use platforms like Ahrefs to find long-tail keyword opportunities and search volumes.
Localize Keywords: Add geographic markers like “near me” or city names to target local audiences effectively.

Elevating Your E-E-A-T

Google’s algorithm favors expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). Boost your site’s credibility by:

Adding Author Credentials: Highlight your expertise by including bios and credentials for blog contributors.
Publishing Whitepapers: Create in-depth, data-driven resources tailored to your industry.
Showcasing Reviews and Testimonials: Display customer feedback prominently to establish trust and authority.

By using these tools, processes, and strategies, businesses can elevate their SEO efforts and attract high-quality leads consistently.

Local SEO for Law Firms & Service-Based Businesses – Get found in your city when potential clients search for your services. For example, a personal injury attorney ranking on Google Maps for “car accident lawyer near me” can drive highly targeted, local leads.
E-E-A-T & Authority Building – Google rewards businesses with high-quality, expert-driven content. Creating authoritative blog posts, white papers, and guides not only improves rankings but also establishes credibility with your audience.
Optimized Website Structure & Speed – Ensuring fast load times and mobile-friendly experiences boosts rankings and conversions. For instance, a retail business with a slow website risks losing impatient shoppers to competitors.

Additional SEO Insights:

Keyword Targeting: Focus on long-tail keywords that match specific customer intent (e.g., “affordable addiction treatment in Arizona”).
Technical SEO Audits: Regularly audit your website for crawl errors, broken links, and duplicate content that could hinder performance.

2. Content Marketing That Builds Trust & Engagement

Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to build trust, educate potential customers, and nurture leads over time. It provides long-term value by positioning your business as an authority and driving consistent organic traffic.

Industry-Specific Content Types

Different industries benefit from tailored content strategies.

Here are some examples:

How-To Guides and Tutorials: These work exceptionally well for healthcare and legal industries. For instance, a blog titled “How to Prepare for Your First Consultation with a Divorce Lawyer” offers practical value to potential clients.
FAQs: Commonly asked questions, such as “What is the difference between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy?” help educate audiences while showcasing your expertise.
Infographics and Data Visualizations: These are ideal for breaking down complex concepts in visually engaging ways, perfect for industries like finance and technology.
Webinars and Video Content: Live sessions or recorded videos add a personal touch, especially for e-commerce or B2B businesses looking to build trust.

Tips for Repurposing Content

Maximize your content’s reach by repurposing it across multiple channels:

Turn Blog Posts into Videos: Summarize a blog post into an engaging video with visuals and narration.
Create Email Campaigns: Break down a long guide into a series of actionable tips for an email sequence.
Develop Social Media Content: Share key takeaways from infographics or webinars as bite-sized social posts.

Content Promotion Strategies

Creating content is only half the battle; promoting it effectively ensures it reaches the right audience:

Social Media Amplification: Share your content across social platforms like LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Instagram, tailoring each post to the platform’s strengths.
Email Newsletters: Distribute your latest blogs, case studies, or videos to your email subscribers with compelling subject lines.
Paid Content Promotion: Use tools like Google Ads or sponsored posts on social platforms to boost high-value content.

By diversifying your content types, repurposing existing material, and promoting it strategically, you can expand your reach and drive more leads without additional production costs.

Unlike paid ads, content marketing provides long-term value by educating and nurturing potential customers. High-quality, informative content can drive organic traffic, position your business as an authority, and improve conversions over time.

Blog Posts & Articles – Answer common questions and provide in-depth insights into industry-specific topics. For example, a blog titled “5 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Filing for Divorce” can attract potential clients searching for legal advice.
Case Studies & Testimonials – Showcasing real success stories builds credibility and trust. A case study detailing how your service helped a client achieve their goals can resonate with future prospects.
Video & Visual Content – Engaging videos, infographics, and interactive media increase engagement and retention. A quick explainer video about your product or service can significantly boost conversion rates.

Pro Tip:
Content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Focus on evergreen topics that remain relevant over time and regularly update your content to reflect industry changes.

3. Conversion-Focused Website & Lead Nurturing

Driving traffic to your website is only part of the equation. A well-optimized website and lead-nurturing strategy ensure that visitors turn into actual customers.

Successful Landing Pages: What Works

Effective landing pages prioritize clarity, speed, and value. Here’s what makes a great landing page:

Clear Value Proposition: Communicate your offer upfront with compelling headlines, benefits-focused messaging, and bullet points.
Trust Signals: Include client testimonials, certifications, or success metrics to build credibility.
Minimal Distractions: Keep the design clean, focusing on a single goal (e.g., booking a consultation or completing a form).
- Example: A law firm’s landing page might feature “Get Your Free Case Evaluation” as the headline, followed by a short form and client testimonials.

User Experience (UX) Optimizations

A seamless user experience improves engagement and conversion rates:

Faster Page Speed: Ensure pages load in under three seconds to reduce bounce rates.
Mobile-Friendly Design: Optimize for all devices, ensuring forms, CTAs, and content are accessible on smaller screens.
Accessibility Features: Include alt text for images, clear fonts, and easy navigation to enhance usability for all audiences.

Tracking Conversion Metrics

To refine your website’s performance, monitor these key metrics:

Form Fills: Track the number of inquiries or sign-ups submitted through your site.
Click-Through Rates (CTR): Measure the percentage of visitors clicking CTAs or links.
Time on Site: Longer sessions indicate that users find your content engaging and relevant.

A conversion-focused website is the linchpin of any successful marketing strategy. By implementing these best practices, businesses can turn more visitors into loyal customers.
Driving traffic to your website is only part of the equation. A well-optimized website and lead nurturing strategy ensure that visitors turn into actual customers.

Landing Pages Designed for Conversions – Clear messaging, fast load speeds, and strategically placed CTAs encourage conversions. A compelling headline, benefits-focused content, and an easy-to-complete form can make a significant difference.
Automated Email & Remarketing Campaigns – Keep potential leads engaged over time, even if they don’t convert immediately. For example, send follow-up emails with educational resources or special offers to re-engage cold leads.
Chatbots & CRM Integration – Improve user experience and capture leads in real time. Chatbots can answer frequently asked questions and direct visitors to relevant resources, while CRM systems ensure efficient lead management.

Key Metrics to Track:

Bounce rate
Conversion rate
Lead quality and pipeline velocity

4. Multi-Channel Marketing: What Happens After the Click?

Not every visitor converts immediately, but that doesn’t mean you’ve lost them forever. Multi-channel marketing strategies ensure you stay connected with potential customers and bring them back into your sales funnel when they are ready to make a decision.

Example Customer Journey

Imagine a potential client clicks on a paid ad for a local law firm but doesn’t fill out the consultation form. Two days later, they receive a personalized follow-up email offering a free downloadable guide on “What to Expect During Your First Consultation.” A few days later, they see a remarketing ad on Facebook featuring a client testimonial video. This multi-touch approach reinforces the firm’s credibility, keeping the lead engaged until they’re ready to convert.

Learn more: How to Map Out a Buyer’s Journey

Remarketing Strategies

Segment audiences based on behavior to deliver tailored remarketing ads:

Cart Abandonment Campaigns: Show ads to users who added items to their cart but didn’t complete the purchase.
Page-Specific Targeting: Retarget users based on the pages they visited, such as a service page or pricing page.
Dynamic Ads: Use product-specific ads for e-commerce businesses to display the exact items a user viewed.

Leveraging Social Proof for Repeat Engagement

Social proof builds trust and encourages potential clients to take action:

Client Testimonials: Showcase positive reviews prominently in remarketing ads and landing pages.
Case Studies: Share success stories that demonstrate your expertise and results.
User-Generated Content: Highlight posts, reviews, or photos from satisfied customers to humanize your brand.

By incorporating multi-channel strategies like follow-up emails, remarketing ads, and social proof, you can create a cohesive customer journey that keeps your brand top-of-mind and drives higher conversion rates.

Email Marketing & Drip Campaigns – Set up automated emails to educate, nurture, and stay top-of-mind with your leads. A monthly newsletter with helpful tips can maintain engagement.
Remarketing Ads – Re-engage visitors who have already interacted with your website or ads. For example, show ads to users who viewed a specific service page but didn’t take action.
Social Media Engagement – Build trust and connection by being active on platforms your audience frequents. Share user-generated content, respond to comments, and participate in trending conversations.

By leveraging these strategies, you create multiple touchpoints that guide potential customers toward conversion, ensuring that no opportunity is wasted.

Why Invest in a Holistic Marketing Approach?

To truly maximize your marketing investment, it’s essential to balance both paid advertising and organic strategies. A holistic marketing approach delivers the best of both worlds by combining the immediate benefits of paid ads with the long-term impact of organic growth.

Benefits of a Holistic Approach:

Sustainable Growth: Build lasting visibility and authority that doesn’t disappear when ad budgets run out.
Higher ROI: Organic strategies offer compounding value, reducing your cost per lead over time.
Improved Brand Trust: Content marketing, SEO, and social engagement help establish your business as a trusted authority in your industry.
Reduced Dependence on Ads: By diversifying your traffic sources, you become less vulnerable to rising ad costs and algorithm changes.

Real-World Success Stories:

Case Study: A Law Firm’s SEO Transformation

A mid-sized law firm specializing in personal injury cases struggled with expensive paid ads, spending over $20,000 monthly with minimal results. After partnering with us, we implemented a robust law firm SEO strategy focused on local keywords like “car accident lawyer Phoenix.” Within six months, their organic traffic increased by 85%, and they ranked on the first page for key search terms. This shift allowed the firm to reduce their ad spend by 30%, reallocating the budget to other growth initiatives.

Case Study: Healthcare Provider’s Organic Growth

A multi-location addiction treatment center relied heavily on Google Ads to attract patients, but the cost-per-click was unsustainable. We optimized their recovery program website for local SEO and created authoritative content targeting long-tail keywords like “holistic rehab programs in Arizona.” Over a year, their organic traffic grew by 120%, and their dependency on paid ads dropped by 40%, saving the center tens of thousands annually.

Let’s Build a Sustainable Growth Plan

Investing in a well-rounded marketing strategy ensures your business isn’t at the mercy of rising ad costs and unpredictable algorithms. By integrating organic marketing efforts like SEO, content marketing, and multi-channel engagement, you create a sustainable system that delivers consistent, high-quality leads over time.

At Eminent SEO, we help businesses reduce reliance on paid ads by building sustainable, results-driven marketing strategies. Schedule a free consultation today to discover how we can help you optimize your budget, improve conversion rates, and create a system that works long-term.

Contact us today and take the first step toward sustainable growth!

Jenny Weatherall

CEO, Business Consultant, Researcher and Marketing Strategist

Jenny Weatherall is the co-owner and CEO of Eminent SEO, a design and marketing agency founded in 2009. She has worked in the industry since 2005, when she fell in love with digital marketing… and her now husband and partner, Chris. Together they have 6 children and 3 granddaughters.

Jenny has a passion for learning and sharing what she learns. She has researched, written and published hundreds of articles on a wide variety of topics, including: SEO, design, marketing, ethics, business management, sustainability, inclusion, behavioral health, wellness and work-life balance.

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This entry was posted in Marketing Strategy and tagged Lead Generation, Marketing ROI, Paid Ads.

The Ultimate Guide to Pinterest Ads for Beginners

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This entry was posted on January 7, 2019 by Team Eminent SEO.

If you are like most business owners, you probably have focused a lot of your social media advertising efforts on Facebook. With over six million advertisers, the competition is pretty steep!

The good news is that there is another social media advertising option you can test for your business: Pinterest! Pinterest only has approximately 1.5 million companies connecting with users each month and offer a great opportunity to get your business in front of more users and new prospects for your brand.

This guide will show you everything you need to know about running a successful Pinterest ad campaign.

Why Should You Use Pinterest Ads?

While many people see Pinterest as just another social media platform, it is more like a search engine. With traditional social media platforms, users connect with each other and share content with friends and family. Pinterest is a platform where users search for inspiration and new products or ideas. They are able to create boards to save the content that they are interested in.

Pinterest ads appear as promoted pins that are sponsored by a company. This makes it easier for users to find and purchase the items they dream of having. Promoted Pins list the brand sponsoring the product and contain links to a sales page to make purchasing easy.

The concept of Pinterest began as a way to replace scrapbooks and corkboards used by many for inspiration with digital boards that could be added to or edited easily. Pinterest began as a simple idea that has grown into the third most popular social media platform in the U.S. Users are able to create wish lists and dream boards and companies are able to easily showcase their products and simplify the buying process.

Getting Started with Pinterest Ads

The first step to advertising on Pinterest is to create a business account. If you currently have a personal account that you wish to convert you can visit the business conversion site and follow the steps to convert your personal account into a business account. This includes creating a business profile with your company logo, business type, and a description of who you are and what your company does.

Creating a new account for your business is just as easy. Simply visit Pinterest homepage and click the link that says create a business account.

Enter the email address you wish to use for the account, create a password and enter your business name and type. Once you have entered the information click create account and you are ready to create your business profile and agree to the terms of service.

Once you have created a business account on Pinterest, it is time to create your very first board. This will make it easier for users to find your content. You will want to create business board that you can add relevant pins to. These pins can include blogs, special offers, new products, and so much more. As a business account you can create images and add summaries to each pin to grab a user’s attention.

Creating Pinterest Ads

Once you have created your business account and your first board, you are ready to enter the world of Pinterest ads. The advertising structure of Pinterest is very similar to that of Facebook and Instagram. You can create ad campaigns, ad groups, set the amount you wish to spend each day/week/month, and track the results of your advertising efforts.

There are three levels in the structure of Pinterest ads. The first level is the campaign. This is where you will set the objective of your campaign and the maximum amount you want to spend on a particular campaign. The second level is the ad group where you can decide on your budget, target audience, where to display your ads, and how long you want your ads to run. Depending on the objective for your ad campaign and your business type, you may have multiple ad groups within a campaign. The final level is the promoted pins that are the result of the process.

You will create your ads in the Ads Manager Dashboard. Once on the Dashboard, you will click create ad and begin the process. Pinterest makes creating ad campaigns simple by using a step by step process and giving you choices along the way. For example, there are four objectives to choose from when initially setting up your campaign. These include:

Brand Awareness
Traffic
App Install
Video Views

You will then be asked if you wish to create a new campaign or update an existing one. The next step in the process is to determine your budget limit and decide if your ad campaign is ready for an immediate live launch. If you are not fully ready to go live, there is an option to pause the campaign until you are ready to go live.

You will then select the ad group for your campaign and select a name for each group so that you can keep all of your campaigns organized.

Once you have selected your ad group, the most important part of a successful ad campaign is to select your target audience. This step is where you can very specific about who you want to see your advertisements.

If this is your first Pinterest ad, you will be asked to create an audience by choosing from four options. This audience can be based on people who have been to your site before, a set list of customers that you can upload, audience that has engaged with pins in your domain, or an audience similar to one you already have.

Once you have created an audience, it is time to target your ads to certain groups of people. You can choose a specific gender, age, language, what device they are using, their location, etc. By targeting your ad at specific people who are more likely to show interest in your product or service, you are avoiding wasted money on advertising efforts that don’t garner more business so be as picky as you like.

Advanced Options

Pinterest has a number of advanced options when creating ads on their platform. You can choose how and where your ads are displayed. You can choose whether ads are displayed as users browse their feed or similar pins, when they search for items similar to yours, or both. Choosing both allows your business ads maximum exposure to potential customers.

Another advanced option is to pick interests and keywords associated with your business. This will target ads to those who share the interests that align with your business and products. You can choose from over three thousand interest and it is recommended to choose at least 25 keywords.

Setting Your Pinterest Ad Budget

There are two options when setting your bid for ad campaigns. You can choose a daily budget or a lifetime budget. A daily budget indicated the maximum amount you want to spend each day on your ad campaign. A lifetime budget is the amount you wish to spend for the total time that your ad runs on Pinterest. The budget options you select will depend on the amount you can afford to spend on an ad campaign.

You will notice that as you change things such as your target audience and budget the estimated number of people that will be reached by your ad campaign will change as well. This is to help you get an idea of how effective an ad campaign will be based on the choices you make.

Adding Pins to Ad Groups

The final step is your ad creation is to select the pins you want to appear in the ad group. These pins will become the Promoted pins shown to your target audience. There are a few rules that must be followed in order to guarantee that your promoted pins are seen:

You must save pins to your own profile
Include destination URLs within each pin
Don’t use link shorteners in the destination URL or in the description
Follow Pinterest’s Ad Standards
Don’t include third-party GIFs or videos

Once you have followed the step by step guide to create your ads, they will need to be reviewed. This takes no more than 24 hours so you should be sure to plan your campaign to include the review time so that you aren’t waiting on the review when you want your ad to be live.

Promoted App and Video Pins

In addition to traditional promoted pins, if your business specializes in app creation, you may choose to create a promoted app pin. These pins contain a link that allows users to download the app directly from their device’s app store. If you wish to create a promoted app pin, you will want to select “app install” as your campaign objective.

Promoted videos are short videos that users can watch to learn more about your brand and products. You can choose between a standard size which is the same size as one pin or a max width pin that is the size of two pins. These videos play automatically when at least half of the ad is visible on the user’s screen. Most users will stop scrolling to watch a video which makes it a great way for you to get exposure for new products.

Selecting Images on Pinterest

Now that we have explained how to create ads on Pinterest, lets talk about what you should use for ads on Pinterest. Pinterest is an extremely visual search engine, similar to Instagram. When users search an interest of keyword, the results display as images rather than text. You want to choose images that are visually appealing to users.

Here are some helpful tips for creating strong images for Pinterest ads:

Use bright, warm colors. Reds, oranges, and browns tend to increase the number of clicks a pin gets. Don’t exceed 50% color saturation as those pins get more repins than those with a higher color saturation.
Use images that are light. Images with medium light get more repins than those that are dark.
Close ups are a must. Avoid white space or too much background image that can detract from the product you are trying to showcase.
Avoid centered images. When you divide your image in thirds, you want to have a majority of the image in the top, bottom, left, or right. Never centered.
Did you leave room for text? Don’t layer text over your image. Rather, crop and shift the image over to leave room for text above, below, or to the side of the image you wish to showcase.

Pinterest Analytics

The most important part of any successful ad campaign is being able to track its performance. Pinterest makes tracking an ad’s performance easy. Head over to the Ads Manager Dashboard (the same dashboard used to create your ad campaign) and select the analytics tab.

From here, you can see every ad campaign you have run as well as how many times your ads were seen, saved, clicked on, and liked. These analytics are displayed in graph form on the dashboard. Want more detail? Click more on the graph you wish to see more detail on. This will show you how many people viewed, clicked, or saved your ad in the past 7, 14, and 30 days. These analytics tools even allow you to track engagement over time, so you can improve or change your ads to continue to increase your engagement rates.

Pinterest Advertising Tips for B2B Companies

Create Boards Your Audience Will Love
Pinterest boards should group together content with a similar theme. You will want to carefully piece together boards with content your audience will enjoy. Once you have created your awesome boards, you will want to link all of your content to your website or a landing page. This way you are drawing users into your organization not just your pinning abilities.

Up the Visual Content

Remember, Pinterest is all about visual appeal. Its easy to talk about your company or product but, users are more interested in visual content. Using infographics, charts, advice guides, etc., your brand can increase the visual content to reach a greater audience. You will want to create stunning images by using photo editing software or take our photos at different angles rather than the traditional straight on shot.

Put a Face to Your Company
It’s easy to show off products or services you provide, and while these posts may gain attention from your audience, they don’t help users connect with your organization. To build the connection with your audience, you should add in personal items such as showcasing the people within your company or even their pets. No one can resist a cute puppy. Plus it helps people see your organization as more than just a business.

Focus on Trends

Pinterest is a great place to show trends and patterns happening within your industry as well as what you are doing to make strides within these trends. Show potential customers how you can help them stay up to date with the latest trends in the industry by creating specific boards for these topics.

Don’t Forget to Test Your Pinterest Ads

Advertising on Pinterest can be done by any business or organization regardless of size or budget. The key is to work smart and maximize the results of any ad campaign you create. This guide should help you take Pinterest by storm, if you follow the steps and tips that were given. Remember, when first starting out on your Pinterest ad campaign journey, it is important to experiment with different ideas and concepts while tracking the analytics of each ad campaign. Keep what works, fix what doesn’t and you will be doing big things in no time.

If you’re looking to advertise for your ecommerce store in Pinterest, check out our in-depth post: Everything You Need to Know About Product Pins on Pinterest

Team Eminent SEO

Eminent SEO provides strategic SEO campaigns with measurable results along with expert website design, development, pay per click, content and social media and organic website marketing. 800.871.4130.

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This entry was posted in Social Media and tagged Paid Ads, Social Media Strategy.

Vol. 82: 5 Quick Tips for Effective PPC Campaigns

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This entry was posted on September 21, 2018 by Chris Weatherall.

Succeed with PPC

With all of the changes to the organic search results over the last couple of years, pay per click (PPC) advertising is as important as ever in the digital marketing world. An effective PPC campaign will both support and enhance your overall marketing efforts while helping you achieve a solid, measurable ROI.

Here are some quick tips to help with your PPC marketing:

Tip 1: Don’t underestimate the value of keyword research.
Keyword research is the core structure of the overall PPC campaign.

Tip 2: Write compelling ad copy.
Explain what makes your company different. You have two description lines to explain your offer and the advantage you offer over the competition.

Tip 3: Test landing pages.
Perform A/B or multivariate testing on your landing pages to find out which content converts the best.

Tip 4: Pay attention to analytics and keep testing.
Review CTR and other metrics regularly to be sure you’re not throwing money away on ads that aren’t working.

Tip 5: Use PPC data to aid your organic SEO strategies.
PPC and organic SEO don’t have to, and shouldn’t, exist in isolation. The lessons you learn in one campaign might help you with another.

Get More Details on These Tips and See Additional Ones:

Get Our Free PPC Campaign Guide

More Advice on Effective PPC Campaigns from Our CEO

@eminentseo

''Most platforms have become pay to play in one form or another, even Google. Do a search for a product or service and look at the types of results you get. More than likely, you will see multiple paid ads first in the results.'' - @dayofjen #PPC.

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Featured Resources

In addition to following the 5 steps listed above and in our free eBook, the following reads will help boost your understanding and execution of PPC campaigns even further.

The ‘Pay to Play’ Era of Digital Marketing Strategies

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8 Tips for Effective PPC Landing Pages

See the Full Article

Chris Weatherall

President and SEO Strategist Chris has over a decade and a half of website development, SEO and organic link building experience. He manages the strategy for each client and drives the search engine rankings and traffic Eminent SEO is known for. When you hire Eminent you hire Chris, which means you have a veteran organic search expert on your team. Oh, and he’s funny too!

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This entry was posted in Newsletter, Paid Marketing, Sales & Pro Tips and tagged Paid Ads, SEO.

Ethical Addiction Treatment Marketing Alternatives to Paid Ads

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This entry was posted on August 15, 2018 by Jenny Weatherall.

Dear Rehab Owners: Beware of Shady Marketers and Lead Generators

I am part of an ethics in addiction treatment group on Facebook. Some of the members are marketers, like me, but most of the members of the group seem to be treatment providers. What they have to say about the shady practices is pretty disturbing, and it goes well beyond digital marketing.

One member asked about the ethics and legalities around addiction treatment marketing, and after reviewing the comments, it was clear that there is still a lot of gray area.

Some acted like all marketing is bad. Others implied that it was how the marketer was paid.

Can You Legally Market Your Addiction Treatment Center?

Marketing is an umbrella term for so many tactics and channels. You’ve got ground marketing, referral partnerships, online advertising, lead generation, traditional and digital forms. You’ve also got branding, content development, local, paid ads, organic, etc. etc.

The problem is all of these are legitimate forms of marketing, yet all can also be easily distorted and manipulated. So, when the law gets involved, they’re not always sure where to draw the line. There is a lot of gray area and the people writing and enforcing the laws don’t always understand the full scope of what’s going on. This leaves a lot of loopholes for anyone looking to scam the system.

Unfortunately, with technology and the law changing so fast, rehab owners can’t keep up with it all. Think about the implications of even owning and operating your own website. Is it safe and secure? Can you be sure your content is medically accurate, even blog posts from years ago? Do your leads go to a HIPAA compliant tool?

Don’t think this matters? Think again.

If you’re making claims and can’t back them up, you’re going to be in trouble. Not just with generating leads, but with insurance companies and, yes, the law.

Certain aspects to what falls under ‘marketing’ can be looked at as illegal. You can’t lie and manipulate. You can’t patient broker, fee split or take kickbacks. If you violate HIPAA compliance, they’ll be coming for you.

Defining Ethical Addiction Treatment Marketing

So, what defines addiction treatment marketing and how can you ensure you’re doing it ethically?

Most will agree that “marketing” is neither illegal nor unethical. To further clarify, addiction treatment marketing is when a treatment business hires an agency or salaried employees to:

Create a website with proper SEO and messaging.
Perform outreach and networking tasks on behalf of the facility.
Utilize digital marketing channels and assets to promote the brand.
Run paid ad campaigns to raise awareness and generate leads.
Attend conferences, man a marketing booth and network to promote the facility.
Educate other providers, such as EAP groups, unions and other potential referral sources.

All of this is legitimate and ethical, assuming you are working with honest people. Where you get into a gray area is when the individuals are also paid a commission based on admissions to the program. Many legitimate marketing positions, where all business is conducted in the light of day, include such incentives.

Many in my ethics group are confused why commission is allowed, but fee-per-referral is not, or is at least frowned upon. There are still hordes of websites and social media pages that seem to be making money from addiction treatment referrals.

Can You Refer Addiction Treatment Leads Legally?

Whether you are a facility owner or not, there are plenty of reasons why you might have to refer a lead to a treatment center. If you are an MD, psychologist, psychiatrist, counselor, run EAPs or have some other related affiliation, from time to time you may need to refer clients to an effective addiction treatment provider.

Please note that I am not a lawyer and therefore I can’t give legal advice. However, based on popular public opinion, I can say there are a few things you can do to avoid violating HIPAA and professional codes of ethics:

Pre-qualify any treatment center you partner with.
Only refer patients to facilities qualified to treat the specific needs of this client.
Host and transfer your treatment center leads in a HIPAA-compliant system.
Never sell your leads to the highest bidder.
Don’t accept kickbacks for patients you refer.

The laws around lead referral seem to vary per state, so if you are in the business of referring leads, you should definitely consult a lawyer and make sure you understand what you can and can’t do legally.

Generating Addiction Treatment Leads the Ethical Way Isn’t Easy

I can’t say I don’t understand why so many treatment centers resort to buying leads. Generating your own leads has always been hard. But, generating leads for addiction treatment is harder than ever.

At one point, before Google decided to eliminate the ability for addiction treatment centers to bid on treatment-related keywords, the cost per click on their paid ads had skyrocketed to $100 to $150 per click. This meant that Google ads were altogether too expensive for some of the smaller rehabs.

Alternative forms of marketing, such as branding and social media, can also be expensive and take time to get results. Plus, there are no guarantees. Take Facebook ads for example: After Google crushed AdWords, many rehabs moved to Facebook paid ads. So much for Google’s plan to stop shady rehabs from advertising, right?

Wrong.

Per this post from LegitScript on August 8^th, 2018, LegitScript Addiction Treatment Certification Expands to Include Facebook:

“Starting today, Facebook will require LegitScript certification for providers of drug and alcohol addiction treatment who want to advertise in the United States. This partnership follows the official rollout of our program, which began at the end of July after an initial pre-launch phase. Now both Google and Facebook will require LegitScript certification for addiction treatment providers looking to advertise.”

So, now you have to have a LegitScript certification for both Google AND Facebook ads.

Viable Marketing Alternatives to Paid Ads for Rehabs

Here’s what to do/try if you’re a rehab business and not LegitScript certified:

#1: More of What’s Already Working

Want growth like this? An organic approach to multi-channel marketing can rank your website for thousands of keywords and drive countless qualified visitors to your site and branded assets:

On-page SEO
Organic Link Building
Local Marketing
Strategic Blogging
Content Marketing
Asset Development
Branding
Outreach and Engagement
Email Marketing

#2: Test Other Ad Platforms

Google and Facebook are not the only tech giants selling ad space. Why are these other channels of marketing and paid ad opportunities not being more heavily tested? Someone give us a budget so we can test this stuff already, such as:

YouTube
Twitter
LinkedIn
Bing
Yahoo

If you do decide to test other ad platforms, just keep in mind that each work differently and may need to also utilize a supporting lead nurturing campaign.

When considering the buyers journey most ads on social platforms will reach buyers at the top of the funnel, or beginning of the journey. These leads can be nurtured into sales with the right strategy, but don’t expect to convert the majority of your visitors from the first touch.

You can learn more about this strategy here: How to Convert Leads into Sales by Understanding the Buyer’s Journey

#3: Get Listed on Relevant Sites

There are numerous high traffic sites that still sell ad space or offer directory listings. Trusted sites, such as PsychologyToday.com, offer brand visibility and referral traffic for a monthly fee.

Our good buddy, Jim Peake, of Addiction-Rep, has a good-sized drug rehab directory list on his site here. Some of the listings are free, but most decent websites want to charge you for valuable real estate on their site.

You do have to be careful about what sites you buy ad space from, however, as there are still so many shady third-party sites that fake their statistics and the quality of their traffic, banking on the ignorance of their buyers.

#4: Everything Else I Already Said Before

I don’t want to be redundant, so if you missed it, I provided some other interesting marketing ideas in my previous article here: Can Rehabs Survive Big Changes to the Addiction Treatment Industry?

In Closing

Unfortunately, there are no cheap solutions or quick fixes here.

Effective marketing requires addiction treatment center owners and advertisers to work together on reaching clients where they are with the right messaging. If Google and Facebook can eliminate your ability to bid on paid ads practically overnight, then your other channels of marketing and lead-generation sources could dry up in the same way.

The key is to diversify, test everything and use a smart marketing strategy that is always focused on what is working NOW … and focused on the tried-and-true solutions that provide long-term gains, like SEO.

See How We Approach Rehab Marketing

Jenny Weatherall

CEO, Business Consultant, Researcher and Marketing Strategist

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This entry was posted in Addiction Treatment Marketing, Paid Marketing and tagged Ethics, Paid Ads, Social Media Strategy.

Cannabis Marketing Challenges – and 10 Strategies You Can Try

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This entry was posted on August 10, 2018 by Jenny Weatherall.

Most Advertising Platforms Will NOT Accept Cannabis Ads

If you own a medical dispensary or work in the cannabis industry, you might already know this by now, but hear this: The big ad platforms are not your friend.

I know, I know, this is totally counterintuitive to our typical multi-channel marketing approach, but hear me out.

The United States is a big place and our country operates at the federal and state level. So, even though states like Arizona, California, Colorado, Washington and 24-plus other states have made the drug legal in some form, it doesn’t mean the big advertising platforms are happy to host paid ads.

In fact, with the changing political landscape, four of the major ad sellers – Google, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – have all decided NOT to allow marijuana brands to run paid ads on their platforms, at least at this time.

Facebook and Instagram Shut Down Cannabis Accounts

But, it’s not just paid ads the big tech giants have cracked down on. Both Facebook and Instagram are infamous for taking down cannabis-related accounts.

Look at what others are saying:

Facebook Cracks Down on Marijuana Firms with Dozens of Accounts Shut Down

“We tried to log into Instagram, and a message said we violated their policy, but they won’t say what that violation is,” said Rick Scarpello, CEO of Incredibles, a Denver-based edible company. “I’ve written them every day, saying I’m not doing anything illegal and please reinstate my account.”

Sound familiar? You’re not alone.

Did Instagram Change its Marijuana Marketing Policy?

“Instagram does not allow people or organizations to use the platform to advertise or sell marijuana, regardless of the seller’s state or country. This is primarily because most federal laws, including those of the United States, treat marijuana as either an illegal substance or highly regulated good. Our policy prohibits any marijuana seller, including dispensaries, from promoting their business by providing contact information like phone numbers, street addresses, or by using the ‘contact us’ tab in Instagram Business Accounts. We do however allow marijuana advocacy content as long as it is not promoting the sale of the drug. Dispensaries can promote the use and federal legalization of marijuana, provided that they do not also promote its sale or provide contact information to their store.”

Read this line again: Our policy prohibits any marijuana seller, including dispensaries, from promoting their business by providing contact information like phone numbers, street addresses, or by using the “contact us” tab in Instagram Business Accounts.

Wait, what?

A Long Way to Go – Another Example

The Cannabis Industry Is Still Fighting for Legitimacy on Social Media Platforms

“It’s been frustrating for us not being able to advertise on Facebook and Google because of our involvement in the cannabis industry,” said Jeffrey Zucker, co-founder and president of Green Lion Partners, a business strategy firm focused on early-stage development in the regulated cannabis industry. He added that he has had to deal with influencers who have spent a lot of time building up their followings suddenly seeing their accounts deleted without any prior messaging or warning, and often with no recourse.

So, what can you do?

1. Play by the Rules

You can still create branded social accounts. However, if you are going to use Facebook and Instagram, then you MUST play by the rules:

Add a disclaimer: “You must be 21 or over to follow this account.”
Don’t EVER post a product for sale.
Don’t use a “Contact Us” direct contact button on Instagram.
Avoid claiming any direct medical benefits.
To advocate for legalization and use, give strain and product reviews.
Don’t offer a physical address or phone number to buy any products.
To promote your store, direct people to your website for location information.

And, don’t think this is everything. These popular social platforms tend to update their terms of service quite frequently. As a cannabis business owner, it’s imperative you understand and keep up with the laws and changing restrictions.

2. Use Engagement and Outreach

If you’re going to play nice and use social media for your cannabis brand, you really need to get creative with your strategies. Even with ads, clients can have a hard time standing out online and getting new followers.

If you expect to grow your organic reach, you must identify, target and engage with your prospects. Try this on:

Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Tumblr
YouTube

Bonus engagement tip: Your biggest fans may already be engaging with your brand regularly. Don’t ignore those users. Instead, focus on building a relationship with them first. When relationships are nurtured correctly, fans can turn into powerful brand advocates who actually create engagement and viral opportunities for your business.

3. Brand Your Business

As this industry grows, the marketplace has become saturated with new products and brands. With so much to choose from, branding is key to ensure your marijuana business gets found. Try:

A stand-out logo (don’t be like everyone else)
A quality website
Online video
Public relations
Product swag and giveaways
Brochures and flyers

No matter which marketing channels you choose to leverage for your business, you need a memorable brand identity with a solid personality in order to gain customer engagement and brand loyalty.

Why does loyalty matter? If people like your brand, they might come back to buy again. If they love your brand, they’ll pick you over your competition every time. And, if they just can’t get enough of your brand? Well, they’ll tell all of their friends too.

4. Buy Media on Relevant Sites

Sure, Instagram and Facebook might not allow you to buy ads, but there are some digital advertising networks that do allow cannabis media buys, such as banner ads and other dynamic display ads.

Popular networks and media ad sites include:

However, buyer beware: As with any form of paid cannabis advertising, having rented ads on these sites isn’t cheap. Most will cost you at least $500 to $1,000 per month. Want to play with the big boys? An ad on the HighTimes.com online magazine starts at about $5,000 per location.

5. SEO Your Website

As an SEO agency, we might be a little biased. But, the data doesn’t lie. Websites with the right search engine optimization are getting the most traffic and best conversions. With the ongoing social media roadblocks and paid ad restrictions, organic website marketing is even more crucial to gaining visibility for your marijuana brand online.

Effective SEO tactics today include:

Identification of your ideal buyers
Keyword research and selection
Optimized metadata and image alt tags
High quality, unique and keyword rich content
AMP and mobile responsive pages
Rich schema markups
Local business citations
Mixed media for user engagement
Outreach and link building

The right SEO strategy can drive huge amounts of qualified search traffic to your website. Check out this organic case study on one of our local medical marijuana dispensaries. Now, after just a few more months into their campaign with us, they are getting HUGE amounts of organic traffic to the site.

In the last 30 days, they have had more than 8,000 visitors, 6,700 of which are organic. This is what expert SEO can get you.

6. Tap into Local

From Google My Business to Yelp, if you are a geo-targeted business, you MUST have a local presence. Did you know that your Google My Business page can rank for hundreds of keyword phrases? Just like organic SEO helps drive relevant traffic to your website, local SEO helps drive geo-targeted traffic to your Google My Business page.

Think about this: Most users are searching for cannabis-related products and dispensaries “nearby.” Google understands search behavior and therefore assumes specific keyword phrases are intended to produce a local result. Because of this, many terms will return the Google My Business listings before any organic website listings, even if they don’t include a geo-target or the words “near me.”

For example, I searched “medical dispensary,” a generic keyword phrase, and Google assumed I wanted local help:

Having a Google My Business for your cannabis shop, medical dispensary or marijuana product line is a no-brainer. If you don’t have one, go make one now: Google My Business

@eminentseo

“In cannabis, it's an education-first mindset, not product first.” – Matt Rizzetta, CEO of public relations agency N6A

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7. Share High-Quality Content

For decades now, cannabis has been illegal, forcing a lot of misinformation and stigma around the plant, including its uses and benefits. Many cannabis businesses are left with the task of raising awareness and spreading education around the facts.

Quality content can help a brand reach prospects and partners. If doctors are going to prescribe marijuana, they must understand it. By educating doctors and other health care providers on the benefits of the plant, dispensaries can earn trust, respect and new partnership opportunities.

You can develop and host high-quality content on:

Your own website
The company blog
Your public social media platforms
Your local listings

You can also write and share a company newsletter, offering users a gateway to other relevant content on your website and other branded platforms.

8. Leverage Email Campaigns

Another great way to share and spread quality information is through email marketing. In addition to a monthly newsletter about your brand, why not tap into targeted email marketing campaigns?

The Direct Marketing Association says for every $1 spent on email marketing, the average return on investment is $40.56. Not a bad ROI, huh? However, there’s a lot more to an effective campaign; sending out emails is only part of the strategy.

For effective email marketing, try this:

Develop specific landing pages to match your email offers.
Create multiple opportunities for new users to subscribe to your lists.
Organize your existing contacts into related groups.
Send each group offers and content relevant to their specific interests.
Use catchy headlines to increase open rates.
Test various send times and dates, and use analytics to optimize your delivery strategy.
Use your social media platforms to build a bigger audience.
Include personalized visual content, such as videos and GIFs.
Showcase client testimonials, case studies and other social proof.
Hire a designer to create a custom template and awesome graphics to wow the audience.
Always include a desired call to action. And, track everything!

Bonus Tip: Don’t oversell. Remember, when a user subscribes to a list, it’s because they believe they will receive something of value from it. Oftentimes, prospects are not ready to “buy now.” Instead, personalize your emails and become a trusted friend, someone your readers rely on for information they need. Provide value and the sales will come.

9. Try Text Messaging

Did you know that you can send short messages right to your employees, partners and customers using a text-messaging service? What better way to share daily quotes, specials, event updates and other important information with your clients? With text messaging, you can get your message directly to your audience in a cost-effective way.

With group texting services, you can:

Run Drip Campaigns:

Welcome texts
Updates on new products and sales
Detailed information about the service you offer
Transactional messages
Reminders about events

Send Business Promotions:

New offers and deals
Product announcements
Invitations to exclusive sale events
Announcements about sales
Product promotions

You can also segment your subscriber lists and send different messages to various groups based on their specific interests and buying patterns.

10. Traditional Marketing

This isn’t as much a tip as it is an option. Traditional marketing is expensive, but for cannabis?

“You have a handful of websites; you have print ads, which are abnormally popular, [and] dispensaries spend more on a cost-per-impression basis than a Super Bowl commercial to get into a local print publication,” Joel Milton, CEO of Baker Technologies, told Adweek.

Trying radio or TV? Good luck getting a prime spot:

“Most TV companies will only let you advertise if you can prove that the TV station or radio station has less than 30% of listeners that are under 21 years of age,” says Celeste Miranda, co-founder of The Cannabis Story Lab.

However, billboards might still work:

“We’re seeing a lot of marketers turn to out-of-home in place of digital opportunities,” says Kyle Del Muro, a consultant with several cannabis clients. “In Vegas, billboards are becoming a big thing,”

But, similar to online magazine ads, billboards are not cheap. To run a billboard ad in most small to mid-sized cities in the US is roughly $1,500 to $4,000 per month. Larger markets can reach $14,000 per month!

(Twitter Photo/@420dispensary)

Final Tip to Overcome Cannabis Marketing Challenges

Cannabis marketing and advertising isn’t easy. As the political and legal landscape continues to evolve, expect even more changes in the way cannabis businesses do marketing.

Get ahead of the curve, implement effective, long-term marketing strategies now, such as cannabis SEO, and reap the rewards for years to come.

Jenny Weatherall

CEO, Business Consultant, Researcher and Marketing Strategist

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This entry was posted in Cannabis Marketing and tagged Multi-Channel Marketing, Paid Ads, Social Media Strategy.

Why You Should Invest in Cannabis SEO for Your Canna-Business Right Now

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This entry was posted on June 27, 2018 by Team Eminent SEO.

Are you a cannabis business looking for a smokin’ deal? Cannabis SEO is where it’s at.

For cannabis companies, it’s important to understand where your advertising dollars are best being spent. If you’re a start-up dispensary or product manufacturer, you’re probably wondering how you’re able to get your brand out there to potential customers. A cannabis SEO strategy for your business would be an ideal place to invest.

Organic Search Can Be a Top Lead-Generating Channel

Without the ability to bid on keywords that you’d want to target for conversions through Google AdWords, you can still rank for these keywords organically on Google.

For the search query above, the first few results are organic listings. There aren’t any paid ads or local listings within the first few results, at least for now.

As you move further down the page for the same results, Google displays local organic listings and videos.

When performing a local search query, you’ll find that the results are still all organic, but make note that the local listings are the very top of the results.

Without paid ads taking up the majority of the search results, you have the opportunity to develop a website that can rank organically and see traffic from the organic search sources such as Google Maps and Google Organic.

How Do Websites Compete Organically on Google?

There is an array of organic ranking factors that Google considers before a website can organically rank in one of the top positions. These factors include:

Quality of website user experience and design
How the website functions on mobile platforms
Quality of website content
Which keywords the website is optimized for
Quality of other websites linking to this website
Social referral traffic and signals
Other referral traffic
User engagement on the website (time on site, bounce rate, pages per session, etc.)

By investing in a high-quality website design with optimized content up front, you are investing in your future SEO strategy – one that will bring your company qualified leads.

@eminentseo

The longer you wait to invest in website SEO, the farther you're going to fall behind your competition.

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Cannabis SEO Is Your Best Bet for ROI

Cannabis businesses will be required to invest in their own websites because Google, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are being very strict about their advertising policies for cannabis-related content.

Are there some loopholes to get found with paid advertising? Sure. However, don’t count on this for a long-term strategy if you want your brand to grow. It’s only a matter of time before the platform shuts down your ads or your entire page. So, tread lightly…

By investing in your website with cannabis SEO, you are developing unique content that will live on forever with Google. Blog posts can easily rank for years on end for a website as long as the topic is still highly relevant to the search query. This brings a large amount of organic traffic to your website with just one piece of content.

Now, multiply that one piece of content by hundreds of pages/posts on your website that could potentially rank for their own variations of different keywords. The possibilities are endless.

SEO is always a top lead-generating channel for businesses of any kind. People are using Google on their mobile devices to find:

Local marijuana dispensaries
Top-shelf cannabis strains
Legal news
How-to videos
And more

If your website provides useful information and content that speaks to that audience, you will see month-over-month organic ranking increases.

Have Patience with Rankings and Traffic

Keyword rankings lead to qualified organic traffic. As long as you’ve designed your website for optimal user experience, the site shouldn’t have issues converting that traffic into qualified leads.

All of our clients who have invested in an exceptional website and content with ongoing maintenance see a full return on their investment. Sometimes it can take a little longer to see results than anticipated, but the campaign will pay off. Just give it some time.

How Cannabis SEO and Social Media Work Together

A lead-generating SEO and social strategy will always work together as one unified campaign. For ongoing SEO, you’ll constantly need up-to-date articles or blog posts on your website to keep search engine crawlers coming back to your site and indexing your content.

Social media plays a large role in helping the content you’re generating on a weekly or monthly basis find an audience much quicker. By using social platforms to feed your audience the fresh content they want to read, your content will acquire social signals, user-generated comments and user engagement on the website. Those are three of ranking factors I mentioned above.

Puff, Puff, Pass the Competition

If you’re looking to invest in your cannabis company for long-term revenue increases, SEO can be your best option. We’ve already seen it happen with other cannabis companies. The longer you wait to invest in your website SEO, the longer it’s going to take to get ahead of your competition. Believe me, you’ll be able to smoke out the competition.

Our Cannabis Branding and Marketing Services

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This entry was posted in Cannabis Marketing, Local Marketing and tagged Content Marketing, Paid Ads, Small Business Marketing.

Can Rehabs Survive Big Changes to the Addiction Treatment Industry?

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This entry was posted on June 26, 2018 by Jenny Weatherall.

We work with several addiction treatment centers, speak with new prospects weekly and work with other consultants, and across the board, we are definitely seeing a trend. Despite increasing demand, treatment centers are finding it harder and harder to get new patients leaving many to wonder, can rehabs survive the big changes to the addiction treatment industry?

Even after growing a new client’s website traffic more than 40 percent month over month…

…they are still reporting a rough month for admissions and voicing concerns about how the insurance companies are not paying out like they once did.

All Treatment Centers Are Struggling, Even the Big Guys

It’s not just the “ma and pa” centers who are feeling the pain. Big, well-known treatment centers are not paying their employees, closing facilities and filing for bankruptcy.

Elements Behavioral Health, the rehab center that operates the very well-known Promises Malibu that treated actress Lindsay Lohan and singer Britney Spears, filed for filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month.

In the spring of 2016, Solid Landings didn’t have the resources to keep fighting the city of Costa Mesa, California. So, in a settlement agreement, Solid Landings agreed to shut down 33 sober living homes. Fifteen closed immediately. Just last month, they filed for federal bankruptcy protection.

The FBI raided Sovereign Health last year over patient allegations of insurance fraud. This year, employees are speaking out and even filing claims against the company, saying they are not receiving their paychecks and that no one is being forthright about why.

Why the Addiction Treatment Industry Is Hurting

If you are in the rehab business, you probably saw this video. If not, this might bring some quick clarity:

Despite its intentional focus on poking fun at the treatment space, this video actually hits home in a lot of ways for people familiar with the industry. And… it’s sad.

John Oliver may have not gotten all of the points right, but he touched on many issues that really reveal why the rehab industry is in the state it’s in now. For example:

Shady practices
Lack of regulation in the industry
Insurance fraud
Misguided ownership

But, that’s not all…

Google has made rehab advertising and marketing harder than ever.

You can’t really advertise with paid ads anymore – not on any of the keywords that matter, anyway. Read more: Did Google Crush Your Addiction Treatment AdWords Campaign?

It decided to make SAMHSA No. 1 organically for literally every single addiction treatment-related keyword. Although, just today, we are noticing other sites like Rehabs.com are now coming up in the No. 1 position for some terms again.

Spammers are still hacking Google Maps and getting away with it. These volunteers fight fake reviews, ghost listings and other scams on Google Maps – and they say the problem is getting worse.

How to Survive Big Changes to the Addiction Treatment Industry

Stay strong, treatment providers. To keep your addiction rehab center afloat during these rough waters, pay closer attention to these five areas:

Evaluate Costs

Knowing how much to spend on operations, overhead and marketing is key to any successful business. However, in the addiction treatment space, there are specific operational pitfalls you can easily avoid by carefully reviewing your internal processes for lead follow-up, staff retention, ground marketing and other non-clinical-related costs.

Align Sales and Marketing Goals

Too many addiction treatment centers rely on the marketing team to provide results. However, marketing is only part of the sales funnel. And if a business expects marketing to perform, the sales team must work hand-in-hand with the marketing team.

Learn more: How to Build an Aligned Sales and Marketing Strategy

Diversify Marketing Efforts

Having been in digital marketing for more than 13 years now, we have seen how unpredictable the internet can be. Because of its volatility, we have always been a strong advocate of multi-channel marketing. What works today can, quite literally, be gone tomorrow, so you should NEVER rely on one source of marketing.

Invest in Branding

So many forms of advertising are built to force the buyer to continue to pay for ads indefinitely. Some platforms wait until you are dependent on their ability to direct clients to you to then jack up the price and force you to pay to get the same leads you once got for a fraction of the price. However, with branding, you are investing in yourself – and this always pays off in big ways long term.

Track Everything

The beautiful part about digital marketing is everything is trackable. The data can tell you where your audience is, what content they engage with, what questions they have, what their likes and dislikes are and so much more.

With the right tracking metrics in place, the data can also tell you which marketing channels are producing leads. And, when the admit team gets involved and provides admission data, we can even report back on which marketing channel produced the admits – and develop strategies that focus on the campaigns that convert the best.

Is the Face of the Addiction Treatment Industry Changing?

With so much bad press, it’s no wonder individuals who are struggling with addiction are hesitant to go into treatment. After watching that John Oliver video, any family member would be right to question the clinical services, price and ethics of any rehab they are evaluating. Who wants to spend tens of thousands of dollars on treatment that might not even work? Tough sale.

The treatment center space is going to have to undergo a complete overhaul – including YOUR brand. You might offer a world-class treatment program, but if you continue to market it as you always have, you may be left in the dust.

The old methods of addiction recovery are already getting replaced by new concepts. Now is the time to evolve with the times. Here are a few of the innovative business models and ideas we think you’re going to start to see a lot more of:

Medically Assisted Treatment

Although medication-assisted treatment isn’t necessarily new, how treatment centers look at it and consider using it is evolving with the opioid epidemic. MAT is no longer simply the model for methadone and Suboxone clinics who supply a daily dose of the medication indefinitely.

Instead, with prescription drug addiction, there is a whole new set of pain medications that one must taper down from in order to be prescribed a different drug for pain management. Because of this, treatment centers should consider offering an MAT program and marketing it to EAPs.

The Bridge Device

After working with Jim Peake of Addiction-Rep on messaging for The Bridge Device, we are convinced that medication isn’t the only way to change the way our brains work. The Bridge Device is a gentle neuro-stimulation system (NSS) device that attaches to specific points on the earlobe.

The Bridge is generally worn for four to five days while the patient undergoes detox. The device is reportedly reduces the pain of withdrawal and detox. Patients also say the process is comfortable and goes by quickly.

Telemedicine Rehab Service

One of the obvious problems regarding addiction treatment is providing an affordable option to meet the growing demands of lower-income residents in urban and rural areas. Patients may have a hard time finding transportation to their treatment provider. Additionally, trained health care professionals may be hard to find in certain areas.

Because of this, we predict a rise in telemedicine in the addiction treatment space. Counselors can communicate with patients via video calls and other digital communications. Even if you don’t offer “digital rehab,” you may end up considering remote patient monitoring and alumni follow-ups.

Rehab Community Sites and Pages

Online addiction recovery communities have sometimes earned a bad rep. In fact, The Verge recently put out this huge exposé on Facebook Addiction Support Groups and how the predatory behavior runs rampant there. Although I agree, and have seen the scams with my own two eyes, I still found myself defending the concept to the Addiction Treatment Ethics Group I am in on Facebook.

“The thing is,” I said, “there is a right way and a wrong way to do everything”. I then went on to explain that a group, page or website is not in the wrong as long as what they offer is not misleading.

It’s not unethical to offer community support or even refer to your own treatment center, as long as you don’t trick or lie to the individuals seeking help. And, it’s not illegal unless you SELL the leads. Community sites and pages provide a unique value to the web, and I think we will be seeing even more of them.

Cannabis for Addiction Treatment

Harm reduction is a known strategy for treating addiction, and it begins with acceptance. This philosophy aims to help those that would otherwise be unwilling or unable to simply quit. The intent is to progress into a less and less negative situation.

Some addiction treatment centers are now using medicinal cannabis in detox and as a maintenance protocol for severe addictions. Not all treatment centers will embrace the use of cannabis in harm reduction. But for those that do, there will be a market for those that want to maintain sobriety from a drug by using a less harsh drug, such as cannabis.

In Closing

If you work in the addiction treatment space, it’s time you took a close look at the direction this industry and going and how your brand will fit into the future of treatment. Are you ready to evolve with the changes, or, will your treatment center end up as just another rehab closing its doors?

As one of my favorite business authors, Tom Peters, says, “Evolve or die.”

Jenny Weatherall

CEO, Business Consultant, Researcher and Marketing Strategist

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This entry was posted in Addiction Treatment Marketing, Industry News & Events, Marketing Strategy and tagged Ethics, Paid Ads, Rehab Marketing.

How Long Does SEO Take and Is It Worth It?

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This entry was posted on May 17, 2018 by Jenny Weatherall.

As Google, Facebook and the other popular platforms continue to change the terms of their advertising services, many who have previously overlooked organic marketing are now asking, “Can I use SEO instead? How long does SEO take, and is it worth it?”

Let’s start by talking about what SEO is – and also, what it’s not.

What Is SEO?

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the practice of optimizing your content (website, social platforms and ads) for the search engines. We consider SEO an umbrella term for a number of different services and tactics. Primarily SEO is considered:

Keyword Research and Competitive Analysis

Before any target keywords are selected, research must be performed. If you are going to optimize your website and outrank your competition, you must understand them first. In-depth competitive and market analysis should drive the SEO strategy.

On-page SEO and Content Optimization

Each buyer type and stage of the buyer’s journey should be considered first when developing the website and content strategy. Keywords should then be incorporated into well-written content and metadata. That’s not all, though: On-page SEO is highly technical and includes everything from fast load times to internal linking.

Off-site SEO and Link Building

Link building or link earning, call it what you will, means SEO isn’t just limited to what you can control on your website. Off-site SEO is equally, if not more, important. The process of link building is very in-depth, but in a nutshell, the goal is to get other relevant and reputable websites to link to yours. Links act like votes, and how many, where and whom they come from matters.

Testing, Reporting and Analyzing

Because Google is always changing, so too is SEO. The fundamentals are the same, but the specific tactics, tools and applications are always changing.

Luckily, SEO is a data-driven marketing method, and almost every component can be tracked, tested and reported on. By analyzing the data, you can make changes based on user behavior as well as the search engines.

What Is NOT SEO?

Although SEO is a lot of things, it’s also NOT a substitute for:

High-quality website designs
Branded videos and images
Interesting content for the users
Products consumers want
Great customer service
A positive brand reputation
Trained sales professionals

All of these are needed to have a successful SEO campaign. It’s all connected.

How Long Does SEO Take to Start Working?

This is maybe the No. 1 question we have received over the last 13 years or so of doing SEO. And, the answer is always the same: It depends.

Not what you wanted to hear, right?

But, it does depend on a number of different factors, including:

Age of domain and website
Number of current pages indexed by Google
Current rankings
Existing website content and digital assets
Information architecture and blog categories
Indexed website backlinks
Social media channel following
Existing competition and their websites and digital marketing strategies
Budget

If you come to us with a new website, hardly any content indexed, very few rankings, an outdated design, no digital assets, a sloppy navigation, no blog optimization, low social channel followers and heavy competition, depending on your budget, I will tell you it’s going to take at least six months – maybe a year. SEO is a long-term strategy, and you have to put in the work. It takes time to gain authority with Google. You can’t fake that.

However, if you come to us with a decent website and some of the foundational work done, we can speed up the process and rank a site in as little as two to three months.

It all depends.

If you have very little competition, if your keywords are under-marketed, if your competition isn’t spending a lot on SEO – all of these variables work in your favor.

Real SEO Case Studies

Since it all depends, it’s best to look at some real-world examples to see what is possible.

SEO Case Study #1: Transitioning from Google Ads to an Organic SEO Strategy

In October of last year, an addiction treatment center came to us with a huge Google PPC ad budget and a cost per admit that was higher than the price of treatment. We switched them to an SEO strategy right before the big Google AdWords smackdown, and now look at the data.

This SEO traffic would have cost $200K. We saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars per month on paid ads, and their ongoing SEO campaign is a fraction of the cost with a higher conversion rate.

SEO Case Study #2: Big Gains in a Competitive Niche

This client has been with us for a few years now. He also had a Google ad budget running and wanted to slowly transition from paid ads to organic SEO. He knew SEO would take time, so he continued to run Google ads while our team worked on the website SEO.

By staying true to the course, his website now dominates for all of the top terms in his niche and he no longer has to spend any money on paid ads. His organic traffic is estimated to cost almost $100,000 dollars a month if he were still bidding on paid ads. The cost of SEO is a small fraction of what the paid ads would cost.

SEO Case Study #3: New Domain and Website and Small Budget

This client came to us as a new brand. Their goal was to get online and start producing results through digital marketing. They were open to paid ads, but their industry is very limited on what they can advertise on, driving up the cost of the terms you can bid on. Due to their budget constraints, we started with SEO only.

In only three short months of a small-scale SEO campaign, we have climbed to more than 1,000 ranking keywords, showing it is possible to get organic rankings on Google in a short period of time. Of course, the site is also beautifully designed, and we’ve implemented expert SEO.

Is SEO Worth Investing Into?

Let’s talk financial investment. All marketing costs money. The key to success is to be smart about the long-term strategy. If you simply throw all of your marketing dollars at short-term gains, you’ll miss out on an awesome opportunity to develop a marketing channel that will provide a substantially higher return on your investment in the long run.

For example, let’s say you have a set marketing budget. Over the first three to six months, you may see little monthly ROI. However, over the course of the full year, when you take your total sales and total marketing expenses, SEO generally produces anywhere from a 300 to 3,000 percent return on investment. That’s HUGE! Any investor’s dream!

Being Patient

The problem is, many new businesses didn’t plan for this, and when SEO doesn’t produce an immediate ROI, they become uneasy and turn to Google or Facebook for paid ads.

Google has been a powerful ad platform for many simply because it’s a search engine and buyers are asking for specific products or services – placing them much further along in the buyer’s journey. Problem is, some people can’t afford to pay the high cost per click, and some industries are even blocked from bidding on relevant terms unless they pass a difficult certification process.

Facebook, on the other hand, is at a higher point of the sales funnel. Prospects are simply scrolling through their social feed and minding their own business when an ad pops up. It doesn’t take an expert to guess that Facebook ads are harder to convert. They are definitely more affordable than Google ads, but unless you sell a product that has a social message, the click-to-website conversion rate can be less than desirable.

Then, there’s SEO. Just like with Google ads, the buyer is already searching for the product or service. But, unlike paid ads, when a user clicks your listing in the organic search results, it doesn’t cost you any more or less. Just one click on a paid ad can cost between $3 and $5, all the way up to $300 to $500, depending on what industry you are in. If that visitor doesn’t convert, you may have just wasted hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars!

The Long Play

SEO isn’t just about saving money on ads though. SEO is the foundation for years and years of brand visibility and website traffic. It’s the gift that keeps giving. Once you achieve a certain age and trust with Google, you can add new content to your site and rank it almost instantly.

And, another benefit? The leads are better. Just ask anyone who has run both SEO and paid campaigns which leads convert better, and they will tell you that SEO leads, every time.

Conclusion

When you really take the time to weigh the pros and cons, it’s pretty clear that SEO is a marketing channel worth investing into. Yes, it takes time…but honestly, all ad channels take time.

What sounds more strategic to you? Dumping thousands of dollars into paid ads that provide short-term gains with no residual return? Or, investing into SEO, which has proven to provide long-term value for companies through residual gains for years on end?

I know my answer.

See How We Do SEO

Jenny Weatherall

CEO, Business Consultant, Researcher and Marketing Strategist

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This entry was posted in Analytics, Search Engine Optimization and tagged Link Building, Marketing Budgets, Paid Ads, SEO.

New Addiction Treatment Certification Allows Rehabs to Bid on AdWords Again

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This entry was posted on April 18, 2018 by Jenny Weatherall.

Several of our addiction treatment center clients here at Eminent SEO, and those of our partner Addiction-Rep.com, have asked us about this news: “Exclusive: Google unveils vetting process for drug rehab ads.”

So far, there have been several direct questions that stem from this article, so here I will attempt to answer all of these questions. In addition, I will give some suggestions and professional insight, being that Eminent SEO is an agency that works with several addiction treatment centers and behavioral health care consultants.

Question 1: Does this mean we can bid on Google AdWords again?

Yes, kind of. Google did announce it will allow treatment centers to run ads after they have been vetted by Portland, Oregon firm LegitScript.

However, don’t expect this to happen overnight. In a new article posted this week, “LegitScript’s New Certification Program for Addiction Treatment Providers Will Help Those Most Vulnerable,” LegitScript included an important note:

“During the first three months, we’re going to intentionally take it slow. Irrespective of how many applications we receive, we’ll probably only certify about 20 to 30, simply so that we can make sure and get the process right. After that, we’ll ramp up the speed. (This goes into the “lessons learned” bucket from our existing healthcare merchant certification program.) This also works well with Google’s timeline, since they have indicated they will actually begin allowing these advertisers in July.”

Question 2: What does it take to get the addiction treatment certification?

The LegitScript website says the company is now accepting applications and that the evaluation includes criminal background checks as well as license and insurance verification. Rehabs will also have to provide “written policies and procedures demonstrating a commitment to best practices, effective recovery and continuous improvement.”

They will charge $995 up front and then $1,995 annually for the vetting.

You can see the full LegitScript Addiction Treatment Provider Certification Standards here. They are not messing around. If you want to get approved, better read this first.

Question 3: What does this change for rehabs?

Up until recently, treatment centers could buy Google ads without a certification. However, over the last few years, Google has been rolling out a new vetting process for certain industries that will only allow entities to bid once they get the certification.

Before this announcement, the certification process only applied to garage-door repair techs, locksmiths, pharmacies and prescription drug providers. Now you can add addiction treatment centers to that list. From the LegitScript article, it sounds like Google will also be asking for more documentation from political advertisers soon this year as well (thank God).

Question 4: Does this LegitScript company manage the ads?

No. This is a qualification process, but the company will not be managing the ads. What LegitScript does is verify you meet the criteria and then provide a legal certificate to Google as proof. You would still need to have a professional Google PPC expert run your ads.

So, this cost is in addition to the ad management, and apparently required if you want to do Google ads in the future.

Question 5: How much will Google ads cost now?

This is still yet to be determined. Before the Google rehab keyword crackdown, the ad rates were out of control. Keywords were going for $50 to $150 a click sometimes. It was crazy!

Since the rollout doesn’t come until July, all we can do is speculate. And since LegitScript is only certifying up to 30 applicants, I can’t imagine there will be a bunch of competition driving up the bid rates.

Anyone care to speculate? Please add your thoughts to the comments.

Question 6: Can my treatment center get certified?

If you are a treatment facility with a valid company website, physical address, qualified staff and think can meet all of their certification qualifications, you can definitely apply!

However, it looks like the early bird gets the worm in this case. With only 30 applicants being accepted for a trial run and more than 14,500 specialized drug treatment facilities in the U.S., it may be tough to become one of the first.

You can start the process here if you’re interested and ready to begin AdWords as soon as Google permits: LegitScript’s Drug and Alcohol Addiction Treatment Certification Application.

Maybe the bigger question here is really: Should I get certified?

A successful Google AdWords campaign now requires a significant financial investment each month:

A LegitScript fee of $995 up front, and then $1,995 annually.
A professional setup and management fee, which could run you $500 to $5000 per month, depending on who you hire and their level of skill.
Expertly written ad messages and optimized landing pages, which could run another few thousand dollars.
Google AdWords and Display ad fees, which historically have run companies anywhere from $5,000 to $500,000 per month. That’s right, I said $500 THOUSAND. These people were not messing around. I don’t know what ads will run for these 30 or so accepted applicants, but I am guessing they will need a few thousand dollars, just the same.

What Does That Total?

Conservatively speaking, you’re looking at $5,000 for the setup costs and at least $10,000 per month including ad fees, landing pages and management costs. I guess you could do it for cheaper, but if you think your ads will perform without expert management and optimized landing pages, you’re probably wasting marketing dollars.

Ads need the right strategy to get results. It’s easy to blow tons of money fast if you don’t have your campaigns set up right.

Final Take

My advice? If you’re not prepared to spend thousands of dollars, don’t bother. There are so many other channels of marketing that you can utilize to generate qualified leads without breaking the bank. I would strongly suggest you really think through all of your options and talk with a strategist before making a decision on investing into Google AdWords again. It’s a commitment.

On the other hand, if you DO have the money, this could be an opportunity for your rehab organization to come out ahead of the insanely high pre-ban bid rates.

What do you think? Worth it or naw? Weigh in below.

Jenny Weatherall

CEO, Business Consultant, Researcher and Marketing Strategist

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This entry was posted in Addiction Treatment Marketing, Industry News & Events, Paid Marketing, Reputation Management and tagged Brand Awareness, Marketing Budgets, Paid Ads, Rehab Marketing.

The ‘Pay to Play’ Era of Digital Marketing Strategies

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This entry was posted on April 11, 2018 by Team Eminent SEO.

Marketing has been transforming businesses for ages, since way back in the 1960s when advertising strategies stemmed from one simple creative idea that transformed small businesses into huge, recognizable brands today. Back then, creative advertising teams focused less on the research and more on creativity.

1960s Tide Ad:
vs. 2018:

Needless to say…things have changed. Not that marketing is no longer creative, but it’s just way more complex. And we have to educate kids on not eating Tide pods rather than selling the products. Enough said.

The Evolution of SEO and Social Media Digital Marketing Strategies

We’ve been doing search engine optimization (SEO) and digital marketing for over 12 years. Our team has been in it since Google and AOL Instant Messenger was all there was. Did I mention dial-up internet too? Yeah that used to be a thing.

Digital Marketing Platforms

When we first began doing SEO strategies, it was a hell of a lot easier than it is now. Back then, you didn’t have to worry about hundreds of different ranking factors or platforms for a website to be visible online.

Now, you have to think about Google Organic, Google Local, Google AdWords, Facebook Organic, Facebook Paid, Instagram Organic, Instagram Paid, LinkedIn Organic, LinkedIn Paid, Twitter Organic, Twitter Paid, and all their different algorithms. Each platform has a paid and organic option which requires its own strategy, since each audience is unique.

Within each platform, there are also different campaign types. With Facebook, you have a variety of options, including

Video views
Sign up for phone call
Messages
Website traffic

Devices

Platforms are just scratching the surface when it comes to how things have evolved online. When we first started, we only had to think about desktop computer users and their user behavior.

Now, online users aren’t even using their desktop. They’re on their mobile devices.

More users are searching for local services on their mobile devices than ever before. If your brand isn’t mobile-facing, then you’re falling short with your SEO.

Website User Experience

Back in the day, we didn’t take into consideration the website user experience. The entire website was focused on the keywords and getting as many of them on the site as possible to achieve top Google rankings.

Needless to say, that technique is way outdated, but we still see a lot of SEO companies doing this. A word of advice: These short-term strategies will only hurt your site in the long term.

Today’s digital marketing strategies focus heavily on website user experience and attracting user engagement. When your website content is high quality, personalized and easy to navigate, users will stay engaged with the site.

You Must Be Visible on All Platforms or Your Sales and Leads Will Suffer

In order to really grow your online leads, you need to consider all of these changes as well as all of the platforms your potential audiences live on.

“What if my audience isn’t on social media?”

We hear this so often from business owners. It’s completely inaccurate and makes me giggle every time I hear it.

Yes, your audience lives on social media. Yes, your audience is searching on Google. Why? Because EVERYONE is using social media and Google.

The Problem with Only Focusing on Organic Results

We are organic marketers, so we believe businesses should focus their marketing dollars on organic marketing first. However, with today’s algorithm shifts on Google and Facebook, you have to consider some paid ad budget.

Organic marketing alone takes time to see results. You can expect anywhere from 12 months to several years to see full results from organic marketing.

It’s not that it doesn’t work; it does work. Again, you’re only visible on the organic platforms though. Your business will not be visible in Google’s top paid ads or in Facebook’s newsfeed as often since those platforms allow paid ads to be at the top.

The Hybrid Approach: Organic Marketing Plus Paid Ads

The benefits of utilizing the hybrid paid and organic marketing approach include:

Your brand will receive visibility a lot faster.
Organic keyword rankings will increase much quicker.
Your website content will get much more visibility.
Social platforms will attract many followers within your targeted demographic.
Your content will be targeted to a specific audience and geographic area.
You’ll have the ability to test different landing pages for conversions.
You’ll increase your qualified leads much faster, since organic alone will take at least a year.

Why You Need Digital Assets for Marketing to Be Effective

Paid and organic marketing are essential to growing your brand. However, you still need to consider all of the different campaign types required in order to attract these qualified leads. That’s where quality content and digital assets come into play.

Digital assets are considered:

Videos
eBooks
Brochures
Media kits
Blog posts
Landing pages
Quizzes
Podcasts
Case studies
Email series

Your marketing won’t be as effective if you do not have engaging content to promote. Buyers today do not want to be sold. That’s why you develop assets for your ideal buyers and promote those assets through the various digital marketing channels.

Business Owners Are Focused on the Bottom Line: More Sales

If you’re a business owner, you know this is true. You don’t care what the marketing does, but you care how it impacts your business. The end goal isn’t to get more followers on Facebook; it is to achieve more sales to grow your business.

That’s a great goal to have, but where a lot of businesses fall short is considering this hybrid approach to their marketing. They don’t think they need paid ads, or they don’t think they need a high-quality website. Hate to break the news to you all, but that couldn’t be more untrue.

Think quality over quantity. You need to have a quality website with quality content to attract each buyer type within the various stages of the buyer’s journey. Otherwise, your marketing strategy is flawed and you won’t get the results you want.

Final Thoughts on the ‘Pay to Play’ Era

Your business has a huge opportunity to succeed with today’s digital marketing strategies. The tools are literally at your fingertips.

The landscape has changed dramatically throughout the years, and it requires a team of professionals to accomplish this task. It isn’t something to push aside or consider as a small tool for your business; it is the primary driving source of leads today.

Get on board with the changes, or risk not growing your business. It’s up to you, but it’s really that simple.

Stop Spending Money on Marketing That Doesn’t Work

Team Eminent SEO

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This entry was posted in Marketing Strategy, Paid Marketing and tagged Content Marketing, Paid Ads, SEO, Social Media Strategy.

The Rising Costs of Paid Advertising

Trends in Ad Budgets Across Industries

A Costly Mistake: Solely Relying on Ads

The Problem with Relying Solely on Paid Ads

Why Ad Budgets Fail

Industries Hit Hard by Ineffective Ad Spend

How to Audit Paid Ad Campaigns to Minimize Waste

Real-World Example:

The Smarter Approach: Paid Ads + Organic Marketing for Sustainable Growth

1. SEO That Drives High-Intent Leads

Tools and Processes to Drive SEO Success

Finding High-Intent Long-Tail Keywords

Elevating Your E-E-A-T

Additional SEO Insights:

2. Content Marketing That Builds Trust & Engagement

Industry-Specific Content Types

Tips for Repurposing Content

Content Promotion Strategies

3. Conversion-Focused Website & Lead Nurturing

Successful Landing Pages: What Works

User Experience (UX) Optimizations

Tracking Conversion Metrics

Key Metrics to Track:

4. Multi-Channel Marketing: What Happens After the Click?

Example Customer Journey

Remarketing Strategies

Leveraging Social Proof for Repeat Engagement

Why Invest in a Holistic Marketing Approach?

Benefits of a Holistic Approach:

Real-World Success Stories:

Case Study: A Law Firm’s SEO Transformation

Case Study: Healthcare Provider’s Organic Growth

Let’s Build a Sustainable Growth Plan

Why Should You Use Pinterest Ads?

Getting Started with Pinterest Ads

Creating Pinterest Ads

Advanced Options

Setting Your Pinterest Ad Budget

Adding Pins to Ad Groups

Promoted App and Video Pins

Selecting Images on Pinterest

Pinterest Analytics

Pinterest Advertising Tips for B2B Companies

Focus on Trends

Don’t Forget to Test Your Pinterest Ads

Succeed with PPC

Get More Details on These Tips and See Additional Ones:

More Advice on Effective PPC Campaigns from Our CEO

Featured Resources

The ‘Pay to Play’ Era of Digital Marketing Strategies

8 Tips for Effective PPC Landing Pages

Dear Rehab Owners: Beware of Shady Marketers and Lead Generators

Can You Legally Market Your Addiction Treatment Center?

Defining Ethical Addiction Treatment Marketing

Can You Refer Addiction Treatment Leads Legally?

Generating Addiction Treatment Leads the Ethical Way Isn’t Easy

Viable Marketing Alternatives to Paid Ads for Rehabs

#1: More of What’s Already Working

#2: Test Other Ad Platforms

#3: Get Listed on Relevant Sites

#4: Everything Else I Already Said Before

In Closing

Most Advertising Platforms Will NOT Accept Cannabis Ads

Facebook and Instagram Shut Down Cannabis Accounts

A Long Way to Go – Another Example

10 Cannabis Advertising and Marketing Strategies

1. Play by the Rules

2. Use Engagement and Outreach

3. Brand Your Business

4. Buy Media on Relevant Sites

5. SEO Your Website

6. Tap into Local

7. Share High-Quality Content

8. Leverage Email Campaigns

9. Try Text Messaging

10. Traditional Marketing

Final Tip to Overcome Cannabis Marketing Challenges

Organic Search Can Be a Top Lead-Generating Channel

How Do Websites Compete Organically on Google?

Cannabis SEO Is Your Best Bet for ROI