Advertising is tactical. You figure out how to get people to your web site. Marketing is strategic. You define and decide what to do with them once they get there. Your search engine managed pay per click campaign, if chosen well, should do a good job of bringing the visitors to your site; that's what they're for and those companies aggregate billions of dollars in gross proceeds from it.



Your visitors are coming to your web site because they're looking for something. You even have some idea of what they're looking for; it's related to the search term and Pay Per Click ad you bought. However, just because they're searching for something doesn't mean that they're going to instantly decide that your offering is the best one available. They're going to hit that back button, check the search results against other companies, and try to find the offer that's best for them.

Just like you would, and, going back to our personals ads analogy, just like someone browsing personals ads.

Most likely, what happened is that you skimmed the offer, hit the back button, checked competing offers, and thought it over. Visitors to your web site are (more or less) like you. They're going to do the same thing. Now, that should put some context into the mix for you, and tells you something you should be doing. Comparison shop.

Will your prospects have questions that need answering before they can complete a purchase. What are they? Do you know? How will you find out? Shouldn't you answer these questions before you ask for the money?

Notice what it isn't asking for? Someone to put a high pressure sell tactic on them, and try to finagle their credit card out of their wallet. And yet, so many pay per click ads lead to web sites that are nothing but "buy, buy, buy" that it's kind of scary how bad the marketing acumen is for the people who set them up.

Given that they're going to hit the back button eventually, you need to find a way to build a relationship with them. Now, the best relationship is one where they bought a product from you, are happy with the product, and come back for repeat business; ultimately, you want to migrate all your contacts on your web site to this model. Before you can get there, you need to establish trust and responsibility.

The simplest way to do that is by effective use of autoresponders. Autoresponders are software systems that automatically deliver a sequence of pre-written email messages when triggered by a form or link. By offering prospects visiting your site information they consider important enough to click on a link or form and leave you contact info you can develop a relationship you might have otherwise missed. In business it's always about building customer relationships. It's the relationships that consistently make you money.