Knowledge is the Foundation To Success  

If you are like most other business owners in the country right now, you are likely wracking your brain wondering how you can cut costs in the face of one of the biggest financial crises of our era.  When looking to make cuts,

make sure that your Pay-Per Click (PPC) advertising budget is not on the chopping block first.  PPC advertising is unique in that, when set up and maintained properly; it provides solid data about the ROI it generates.  The back end analytics and reporting systems available through Google AdWords allows you to see where your money is being spent and what truly works to provide your business with the highest ROI possible.  Why spend valuable marketing dollars on unproven advertising mediums when search engine marketing can be easily tracked and measured?

Due to the highly competitive nature of the Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Bing (Microsoft adCenter) marketplaces, developing and maintaining a strong and effective PPC campaign has become increasingly difficult for the average business owner.  Platforms and features are changing on a weekly basis. Since most are busy expanding their client base and servicing current customers, learning the proper way to build and manage an effective PPC campaign can be low on the priority list.  The Pay-Per-Click Advertising options for business owners are minimal: either hire an in-house online marketing employee or outsource to an expert.  As I am sure you are aware, the costs associated with hiring an employee are substantial and get higher and higher each year.  Between insurance benefits, 401k/IRA contributions, Social Security payments, taxes, salary PLUS your marketing budget – outsourcing your PPC advertising is likely the most cost-effective option. Furthermore, a qualified PPC Management company will ensure that your online advertising dollars are spent wisely.

JumpFly keeps up with the latest innovations and technological advances that the PPC industry provides.  JumpFly is an award winning PPC Management Company.  While they haven’t won quite as many awards as Taylor Swift did at the CMA’s last night, they are working on it! 

So now I ask you this question:  Why not put an industry expert to work for you to see what they can do to increase your ROI and bring qualified traffic to your site?

The latest confirmation of consumers tightening spending arrived with news from comScore that online holiday sales registered the first-ever year-over-year decline since tracking holiday e-commerce sales began in 2001. The firm said online spending for the first 49 days of the critical November-December gift-buying period fell 1% to $24.03 billion compared to $24.15 billion over the same period last year. This decline is a bit alarming and may be indicative of an overall slow down in holiday sales this season.

The National Retail Federation (NRF), the industry’s largest trade group, still estimates that total holiday sales will grow 2.2% this year, which may prove optimistic and would still represent the weakest gain in six years. However, several other retail experts expect a worse performance, and are even forecasting the first-ever decline in overall retail sales. Since online sales are down, I personally fear overall sales will follow suit this holiday season. Here at JumpFly, we are hearing clients citing economic concerns with increasing regularity.

Following a strong week for online sales after Cyber Monday, driven by large discounts on consumer electronics products, comScore said sales slowed significantly in recent weeks. The softest categories included music, movies and videos (down 24%); office supplies (down 19%); jewelry and watches (down 17%); and home, garden and furniture (down 16%). Some bright spots included sport and fitness (up 31%); books and magazines (up 18%); and video games, consoles and accessories (up 17%).

A recent NPD survey conducted earlier in December indicated that 31% of consumers said they were concerned about their job security and had cut back on their spending. Fear is a powerful motivation to curb spending, as witnessed by this year’s dismal holiday sales season. Let’s hope that 2009 brings better times for our struggling economy.

Happy Holidays to all. May 2009 bring you all great health, wealth & happiness.

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About JumpFly:

JumpFly professionally develops, implements and manages Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Microsoft adCenter Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising accounts, JumpFly is a Google AdWords Qualified Company, Yahoo! Search Marketing Ambassador and Microsoft adExcellence Member. JumpFly was recently named the #1 PPC Company in the country by TopSEOs.com.

Yahoo to Partner with Microsoft on Search? 

According to regulatory filings, Billionaire investor Carl Icahn increased his position in Yahoo by 6.78 million shares between November 24-26 (at about $10 per share), raising his total to 75.58 million shares (about 5.5% of the company). I saw a recent presentation he made where he stated that he continues to believe Yahoo shares are undervalued, but admits that he also thought they were undervalued when he was last purchasing shares near $25 per share. So far, he is down about $1 billion on his investment. Ouch! He is still looking for some type of partnership with Microsoft on their search efforts which he believes could help save Yahoo a great deal of money. While there are no alleged talks going on at this time, I suspect these two will eventually work out some type of agreement. With Yang stepping down and both Icahn and Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer expressing interest in a search deal getting done, I think something will eventually develop. I would also like to mention that I very much hope that Carl Icahn is a better investor than speaker because quite honestly, listening to him speak was a little painful. Sorry Carl, but it’s the truth.

Black Friday & Cyber Monday Both Posted Impressive Increases Year Over Year

Sales during Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, saw an increase of 3% over the prior year. Last year’s sales of $10.3 billion on Black Friday increased to $10.6 billion spent this year. Though this gain appears promising for the economy, many fear that the increase in sales was at the expense of profitability. And though spending was up on this day, it may still be down for the Holiday season. One Gallup Inc. poll suggests that spending on gifts will be down 29% from a year earlier. We’ll soon know for sure.  

Online shopping saw a more dramatic increase in sales. According to data released by ComScore Inc., online sales for Cyber Monday, the Internet’s equivalent to Black Friday, jumped 15% from a year ago as Internet sites lured millions of consumers with offers of free shipping and dramatically reduced prices. Online sales increased from $733 million on Cyber Monday in 2007 to $846 million this year. Forrester Research expects 12% year-over-year growth for online holiday sales, or $44 billion in this November and December.

The US Economy Searches For Stability 

The US Economy continues to look a bit frightening and unstable. However, some good things are also taking shape. Gasoline prices are the lowest they have been in years, with prices at about $1.70 per gallon here in Illinois. That’s a far cry from the $4+ getting charged just 6 months ago. Additionally, mortgage rates are dropping and refinancing is rapidly picking up, enabling homeowners to lock in lower rates and lower monthly payments. Though we are clearly not out of the woods yet, there does seem to be shared hope that the economy will stabilize and business will pick up by the end of 2009. I suspect it’s going to be an interesting year.

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