From Search Engine Watch
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Don’t Click Here! Should You Pre-Qualify Clickers?
By Patricia Hursh
January 24, 2007
With pay-per-click search advertising, the billable event is, of course, the click. For business-to-business advertisers, getting the best results from each click can be especially challenging.
What is a click worth these days? According to Marketing Sherpa’s Benchmark Report, the average click cost on Google in 2006 for a B-to-B service organization was $2.77. It’s worth noting that this is more than double the $1.36 average cost for a consumer product click.
While $2.77 might not sound unreasonably high, keep in mind it is an average. Some B-to-B firms advertise in highly-competitive sectors where click costs are in the $10 to $35 range. To further complicate matters, many of these marketers must reach a very small and very specific group of potential buyers, as they are often selling a specialized niche product or service.
Pre-Qualifying Visitors
B-to-B advertisers know that when your universe of potential buyers is limited, and when each visitor comes at a significant cost, you must ensure that the right people are clicking. They cannot be content with reaching just any curious Web surfer, but need to focus on qualified and interested customers, suppliers or partners.
This is where ad copy comes in. Many marketers have learned through experience to be very specific with their search advertising text. Using a measly 95 characters, marketers must try to explain just who should — and who shouldn’t — click on their ad.
