Get More From Your Google Clicks

The reason post-click marketing works is that it focuses on what happens after someone clicks. What good is a click, after all? Wouldn’t you prefer to have a customer? Or a conversion? If you’re like most people, you use Google. Nearly half of all U.S. Internet searches happen on Google, and there were 3.3 billion search queries in February alone.

No wonder online marketers love it. Buying Google ads is a smart move.

But how successful are those ad buys? How many people who click on your ad actually convert? On average, 3 in 100.

What about the other 97 percent? Who are they? Are they valuable to you? If so, why did they leave? How can you hold their attention? You got them to click, but they landed and left. Why? Chances are, you’re in the dark.

The solution is smart post-click marketing. Abbey Klaassen of Advertising Age called it “how to finish a Web sale.” Post-click marketing results in much higher conversion rates, higher quality conversions and satisfied customers.

The reason post-click marketing works is that it focuses on what happens after someone clicks. What good is a click, after all? Wouldn’t you prefer to have a customer? Or a conversion?

Too many marketers depend on microsites and landing pages to convert respondents. Success rates are slim. To understand why, imagine you’re the respondent. You see an ad and make an impulse decision to click. Suddenly, you’re presented with a page that requires a five-minute commitment. Furthermore (horror of horrors) it requires you to think. The result? Too much, too soon. And you abandon.

Post-click marketing has a simple precept: “Click here, get this.” You present the respondent with a series of easy choices. We call it pre-conversion segmentation. Here’s an example:

Citrix wants to target one of its products to large hospitals. It buys a Google ad that promises a white paper on HIPAA compliance. When respondents click the ad, they are taken to a simple page that asks whether they want a solution for a large or a small hospital. It’s one simple click. One split-second impulse. And you, the marketer, get valuable data—large or small hospital?—even if the person ultimately abandons. You paid for the click. Might as well learn what you can.

It’s important to approach your segmentation strategy from the user’s point of view. Respondents should make selfish choices that will pre-segment them in the background.

You lead the respondent down a conversion path. Every page on your path keeps the promise made in the ad. Citrix’s ad promised the white paper. It paid off the click by speaking to the needs of the various segments.

The results of Citrix’s campaign were staggering. By replacing its microsite with post-click conversion paths, the company increased its conversions by 556 percent. From our experience, smart post-click marketing with conversion paths will at least double the effectiveness of an online marketing campaign.

Bottom line, post-click marketing gives you conversion rates you never thought possible. You’ll convert a higher quantity of higher quality people. And by boosting conversions and learning more about those who don’t even convert, you dramatically improve your ROI.

Pre-conversion segmentation. Good for your user, good for your conversion rate—good for you.