eOffice found 40 percent of its customers with Google AdWords.
“This year’s sales and number of active clients have grown 400 percent over last year, and that’s an indicator we are spending the bulk of our online marketing budget in the right place – with Google AdWords.” Paolo Mucelli Founder and CEO, eOffice
In a world of consultants, freelancers, startups, and incessant business travel, the virtual office has evolved from being an avant-garde trend to being a staple of business life. Since its launch in 2002, London-based eOffice (www.eoffice.net) has recognized this evolution as the need for flexible business and office solutions. Based in a central Soho location, eOffice provides an extensive menu of services ranging from startup office facilities to meeting rooms to “hotdesks,” providing workstations available on demand. More traditional office services (messengers, printing, postal handing, voicemail and teleconferencing) are also available from the company. Approach
ABOUT GOOGLE ADVERTISING Google AdWords is the world’s largest search advertising programme, currently used by more than 150,000 businesses to gain new customers costeffectively. AdWords uses keywords to precisely target ad delivery to web users seeking information about a particular product or service. The program is based on cost-per-click (CPC) pricing, so advertisers only pay when an ad is clicked on. Advertisers can take advantage of an extremely broad distribution network, and choose the level of support and spending appropriate for their business. For more information, go to www.google.co.uk/ads
Well suited to today’s demand for office amenities without the overhead, eOffice relies on a marketing mix of promotions, PR, and advertising. Its online marketing activities include directory listings, portals, email, banner ads, and pay-per-click services. The purpose of all this activity, says Pier Paolo Mucelli, the founder and CEO of eOffice, is to achieve several imperatives: reach a greater number of qualified prospects; gain more international exposure; and convert more prospects into paying customers. “As a young company, the only way we can meet these ambitious goals is through very targeted programmes. Traditional advertising would have been prohibitive to our young organization. That’s why we started a Google AdWords campaign in July 2002.” Mucelli adds that as a Google user himself, he “was attracted to the easy setup of the programme, and the fact that there are no minimum fees.” As a test, eOffice first ran ads based on 20 or 30 keywords, and probably spent about £20 the first month. Results It was a successful test. Within three months, Mucelli says, “We had built up some 4,000 keywords. In the last four months of 2002, we saw nearly 13,500 clickthroughs to our site – far more than we’d seen using other programmes. And in the year since, that number of clickthroughs has actually tripled. These are viable and interested prospects we are reaching that we did not see before.” Mucelli notes that, “Google users tend to be technology savvy, and that means they quickly recognise the value of our services, and are ready to act on them. They are seeking what we offer. And since AdWords ads are so relevant, we are receiving more business from international clients who have need of Londonbased office services – companies we would not have been able to reach any other way that was as cost-effective.” Mucelli also cites the higher conversion rate of AdWords ads as more proof that Google users are responsive. In fact, he says, “We know that 25 percent of our current customers have come through Google AdWords, and this lot are generating at least £250,000 annually.”
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“We had built up some 4,000 keywords. And in the last four months of 2002, we saw nearly 13,500 clickthroughs to our site – far more than we’d seen using other programmes.”
The indirect benefits of Google keyword advertising are also invaluable, Mucelli says. “The ads themselves give us new visibility, which in turn leads to greater PR exposure. Even the sorts of businesses who are looking to become suppliers or partners see these ads. We’ve gotten very targeted leads, proposals for collaboration, not to mention leads for our own staff recruiting.” In summary, says Mucelli, “This year’s sales and number of active clients have grown 400 percent over last year,” and that’s an indicator, he says, that “we are spending the bulk of our online marketing budget in the right place – with Google AdWords. eOffice will continue to use digital marketing activities, and in particular, collaborate with Google to actively promote our services. Simply put, Google is the most effective avenue we have among all that we use.”
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