How Google Can Put You Out of Business

Utter frustration.

I was talking about advertising with a friend in the newspaper business. As more and more companies advertise online, he says it’s like pulling teeth to get them to do print ads. I could see the frustration in his face.

What surprised me a bit though was when he told me about companies he’s spoken to who have fired their sales force, don’t do any offline advertising, and instead have their entire ad budget going to Google AdWords.

I can understand the thinking of the business owners in these cases. If they are doing so fantastically well with just AdWords, why fix what ain’t broken?

In reality, however, these companies are taking a huge risk.

Relying on Google (or any other marketing medium) as your sole source of bringing in new business is a very dangerous strategy. One change to Google’s algorithm has the potential to put you out of business.

And if you think I’m being a little dramatic, check out this story.

Is it true? I don’t know.

Is it plausible? Absolutely.

I firmly believe AdWords is the most powerful marketing tool to come along in a very long time. However, I would never advise any of my AdWords clients to ignore other forms of advertising.

My preferred approach:

Start with AdWords. Test. Measure. Find out exactly what messages, keywords, landing pages, etc. work. Then expand to other pay per click channels (Yahoo!, MSN), SEO, banner ads, direct mail, print ads, etc.

As in the stock market, diversity is a smart approach to use when it comes to marketing. That way if any one source of new business dries up, you still have plenty of other options for getting people in the door, to your website, on the phone, etc.

Oh, and if do incorporate print ads in your advertising mix, check out my friend’s publication. It’s a good one.