October 9, 2024 • 24 mins
Getting your brand's website ranked in Google's search results is no easy task...but, it can get fast-tracked with the successful setup and implementation of a Google Ads campaign.
In today's episode of 10 Minute Marketing, Sonja Crystal Williams sits down with Ankit Patel, CEO and Owner of K3 Marketing, to share his wealth of knowledge on crafting highly effective Google Ads campaigns, specifically for Google Search.
Throughout the episode, Ankit delivers expert tips on leveraging key tactics like Google Analytics integration and landing pages to measure ROI accurately. Whether you're debating between hiring an agency or managing ads in-house for your brand, Sonja and Ankit cover how the right expert can manage your campaigns.
Listen to this episode to learn why search campaigns are the ultimate tool for the home services industry, if Google Ads plays well with AI, critical behind-the-scenes components are that any business needs for campaign success, and more.
About Ankit Patel and K3 Marketing
For Ankit "Andy" Patel, digital marketing, creative solutions, and Bollywood performances are in his DNA. Since starting K3 Marketing in May of 2005, he and the team have grown leaps and bounds, crushing client goals one campaign at a time. His passion for digital marketing knows no bounds, and because of this relentless ambition, K3 Marketing is among the elite PPC agencies, as a recognized Google Premier Partner.
What separates Andy from most is not just his technical know-how and digital chops, but his passion for helping clients. Where others look for cross-sell opportunities in every client phone call, Andy is looking to learn more about their organization, who they want to reach, and identifies the best strategy to make it happen so they get the best ROI. Common sense solutions are what drive Andy and the entire team at K3 Marketing.
In his free time, you can find Andy doing everything from hanging out with his wife, his son, and his dog, or turning up the tunes with his music band Jashn. Not only does Andy know how to produce effective results out of a Google Ads campaign, but he knows how to play the keyboard and traditional Indian oboe, the Shehnai, and sing beautiful songs as well, when he and his band grace the stage. Hit them up if you have a wedding coming up!
The future is bright for Andy and the rest of the team at K3 Marketing, with successful clients and growing budgets. If you’d like to take a new approach towards search engine marketing for your Pest Control company, and finally get more return on your ad spend, get in touch with Andy.
Learn more about K3 Marketing and follow them on LinkedIn. You can also follow Ankit's Pest Control Internet Marketing Podcast on Instagram, X (Twitter), and Facebook.
Plus, check out Surya Ensemble's show dates here!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sonja Crystal Williams (00:04):
Hi everyone, welcome to today's
episode of 10 Minute Marketing.
I'm your host, sona CrystalWilliams.
Well, joining me.
Today.
I have Ankit, or Andy, patel,and he is a digital marketing.
Creative solutions andBollywood performances are just
in his DNA.
He is the founder of K3Marketing.
Hey, welcome to the show, ankit.
Ankit Patel (00:25):
Hey Sonja, Thanks for having me.
Sonja Crystal Willia (00:27):
Absolutely .
So I'm going to just jump rightinto what K3 Marketing does and
just really the topic for today, which is around Google Ads,
because you all at K3 are aGoogle Premier provider when it
comes to running ad campaigns inGoogle.
You specifically focus on pestcontrol industry.
(00:48):
So for you all, just kind of inthe world of Google Ads, what
are the two, like two of thetypes of campaigns that you feel
like?
And I know you're in the pestcontrol industry and those of
you listening, you might be inmultiple industries, but a lot
to be learned from just hearingAnkit's expertise, even just
related to that specific field.
So what are some of the typesof ads?
(01:08):
Because Google has a lot ofdifferent types of ads people
could run.
If someone is in a, let's justsay, a service-based industry
like that, what are some goodtypes of ads people could run?
Ankit Patel (01:19):
Sure, good question .
So essentially, being in thepest control industry or pest
control space really means I'min the home service contractor
space and a lot of the nuancesand marketing strategies that
you use in the home servicesspace is virtually identical.
Nine times out of 10, when ahomeowner is looking for
(01:40):
something or searching for aservice related to their home,
for something to be repaired,they're just going to Google it
or search it and life goes on.
Very rarely are they going onFacebook or Instagram or TikTok
seeing what a plumbing companyis up to or a pest control
company is up to.
So in my experience, reallyjust getting the information
quickly and effectively is mostbeneficial and, to answer your
(02:02):
question, really searchcampaigns is the go-to.
Sonja Crystal Williams (02:07):
Okay, so search campaigns define that.
Some people aren't familiarwhen they hear the word search.
What does that mean?
Versus, like, maybe, othertypes of things Google does?
Ankit Patel (02:16):
Sure.
So Google is a behemoth of acompany and they offer so many
different marketing solutions.
Many of you know that Googleowns YouTube.
So essentially when you runYouTube ads, those are what you
call the video ads.
Within the Google Ads platformyou can also have display ads,
where I'm sure you've been on ablog or on some website and
you've seen an ad up there.
(02:36):
You can run remarketingcampaigns, where you can target
people who've already been toyour site and retarget them back
.
There's also shopping campaigns, which comes up on the shopping
list, up on top.
Search campaigns means peoplewho have searched specifically
on Google.
com.
So if you go to Google.
com and you search, you know,plumber near me or pest control
(02:59):
company near me, that's a searchand that search will show you
search results listings andthat's really what I manage.
Sonja Crystal Williams (03:08):
So search is originating at google.
com?
What about the other searchengines, like why would someone
go to Google Ads versus some ofthe other ad platforms that
exist that could do, like maybesearch type of campaigns?
Ankit Patel (03:22):
Well, it's just pure demand.
Google is king and they know it.
People are going to Yahoo.
I think DuckDuckGo had a littlebit of a surge a few years back
.
I'm not sure where they are now.
I know people like DuckDuckGobecause they promise not to
track you and collect your data,which is enticing.
(03:45):
But really from my data thatI've seen Microsoft or Yahoo or
DuckDuckGo or what have you,Google just dominates,
absolutely dominates.
Sonja Crystal Williams (03:56):
Still number one search engine in the
world, absolutely.
All right.
So you're going in to launch acampaign with a home services
type company.
What are the typical thingsthat you see when you're going
to work with clients that youfeel like here's something like
they don't have these thingswhen I come to the table, or
this is like the stuff they needto have, whether they do or
(04:18):
don't when you're meeting withthem, these are the things that,
like, a company needs to havein order to launch into running
search campaigns on Google Ads.
Ankit Patel (04:26):
I think the important thing to note here as
a business owner especially as ahome services business owner is
that you need to be able totrack and, truth be told, in my
experience, Google Ads is one ofthe only services if not
possibly the only service wherethere's no gray line between how
much money you put in and howmuch money you got out your ROI.
(04:48):
So you need to set upconversion tracking.
You need to have separatelanding pages or specific
landing pages for your differenttypes of campaigns, call
tracking numbers and things likethat, so you know exactly
what's working and what's notworking.
A big mistake you can makereally in any type of campaign
not just in this industry eitheris they just run Google Ads and
(05:11):
send everyone to their homepage.
And with Facebook Ads you'rerunning, you'd have word of
mouth marketing.
You have SEO.
You're not really trackingwhat's working and what's not
working, and Google Ads can getexpensive.
You want to know what clicksare working, which ones are not
working, which ads are working,which ones are not working, and
things like that.
So to be able to optimize,really just setting up overall
(05:32):
tracking and some sort oflogical structure is crucial.
Sonja Crystal Williams (05:37):
How should a company determine
budget?
I know it's a broad questionbut how do you get at it and
help them?
Ankit Patel (05:46):
Remember, Google primarily makes its income
through Google Ads.
So if you ask Google how muchshould I spend, they're going to
say a lot.
Sonja Crystal Williams (05:53):
Yeah.
Ankit Patel (05:55):
So I never really looked at Google's data
recommendation.
ecommendation never looked atthat.
I basically get my feet wet.
I'll start off with areasonable budget and I'll kind
of see what's happening.
What's my average cost perclick?
What's my return on investment?
Is everything working forward,working in the right direction?
Because I think most businessowners will agree, it's all
(06:15):
about ROI, right?
If I'm making 10x of what I'mspending, I don't care how much
I'm spending.
I'm making 10x, you know.
So it's really a matter of justgetting that sweet spot.
Sonja Crystal Williams (06:31):
So I would start off with something
somewhat healthy that'scomfortable for you, and then
really building it from there.
Ok so, a business should reallymake their own decision and
they might have a budget, andthen you might say, hey, that's
good starting point, or, youknow, let's see.
Ankit Patel (06:41):
Yeah, well, it also adds up.
You know?
Yeah, well, it also adds up.
You know, for example, we liketo start clients during a free
trial, form of free trial periodthat we offer specifically for
our pest control clients at a$2,000 a month minimum.
Okay, and some, you know that'susually that's fairly
reasonable.
Some mom and pop pest controlcompanies may be like well, it's
a lot.
(07:01):
Well, if you think about it, ifyou run your ad 24/7 that's
only $70 a day.
Yeah, If you're, if you'regetting $7 a click, that's only
10 clicks a day.
That's just clicks, that's notleads.
So this thing it can add upfast if you don't know what
you're doing.
So, but having some sort ofhealthy budget is going to be
crucial If you're going to berunning Google Ads.
Google is king, Google Ads isking.
(07:23):
Google Ads is the first thingyou see in a search result,
above the map, above the SEO.
That's for a reason.
So you got to pay to play.
Sonja Crystal Williams (07:31):
Okay, so I'm going to divert a little
just on your opinion of adsversus SEO, because I get this
question sometimes when I'mworking with clients and them
trying to figure out should Iinvest more in ads?
Should I hire a firm to do mySEO?
Do you think these should bedone together?
Should one take precedent overthe other?
(07:52):
What are your thoughts on that?
Ankit Patel (07:54):
Sure.
Well, I think if you wantimmediate results, then paid ads
is the way to go Because, again, you pay to play to be up there
.
I think, ideally, having awell-structured marketing plan
which includes SEO andpay-per-click is is the best
approach.
A lot of people skipped throughthe ads because they know that
(08:15):
they're paid, especiallybusiness owners, right, but
majority of the of thepopulation doesn't even
understand how it works.
They just see, and alsoGoogle's gotten better.
First I used to have a bigbanner that these are ads.
Now it's just a small littlesponsored section or something.
I forgot what it says now, butyou know they, they keep
changing it around to, you know,to kind of keep one flow of
(08:37):
search results.
But also keep in mind a lot ofbusiness owners are like oh, I
just skipped that section, Idon't want to be on ads, I'm not
going to get any clicks.
Well, guess what?
It's pay per click.
So if nobody clicks, you don'tpay.
So it can't hurt to be up there.
It can never hurt to be upthere.
Obviously, results page and howthat shifted.
I've definitely noticed that.
Sonja Crystal Williams (09:05):
Like one time it was green and it was a
little ad box in the corner.
Then it said sponsored.
I don't know what it says todayeither.
Ankit Patel (09:12):
I'm about to search it right now, actually, right,
I don't know what it looks like.
It says sponsored.
Sponsored.
It says sponsored.
Sonja Crystal Williams (09:19):
Okay, I'm like, and you see it every
day, but you don't think aboutit because it just kind of
blends right in, you know.
But what, speaking of thechanges that Google keeps making
, how, if at all, are some ofthese technological advances
starting to impact campaigns?
You're running simple one,being AI and where that is now
(09:43):
fitting in.
Ankit Patel (09:44):
AI is a huge initiative with Google, you know
.
Even if you purchase a newGoogle pixel, which is one which
one I have all day yes, youknow it's.
It's heavily integrated with AIand and Google's Gemini
platform, and that's.
There's no different with AIand Google's Gemini platform and
(10:05):
there's no different withGoogle Ads as well.
Now you have to kind of takethat with a grain of salt.
Do you just trust Google's AIto just spend all your money and
hopefully the leads come in, ordo you want to really keep
Google on a tight leash?
I'm of the opinion of thelatter.
But you know Google does havedifferent types of campaigns.
Ai is not a new concept forGoogle.
(10:29):
They used to have those smartcampaigns back in the day.
If you remember internally a lotof their bidding strategies,
you know.
So there's a strategy calledtarget CPA, target cost per
acquisition, where I want to tryto keep my leads within fifty
(10:49):
dollars a lead, for example, mycost per lead at fifty dollars
lead.
And Google's going to look atthe data.
They're going to see what, whatkeywords are bringing in those
cost per leads and and what timeof day are people searching and
what area they're in, whathousehold, household income,
what demographic and audience dothey fit.
It looks at all that data andkind of adjusts and gives you
the best results.
So those things work well andhave different types of
campaigns as well, such as aperformance max campaigns, which
(11:12):
I'm sure we'll probably getinto a little bit later if you
wanted to, and I think that newone called Demand Gen out there,
so that they have differenttypes of campaigns out there
that are really just like hey,just tell me your website and
I'll do the rest.
And yeah, it can work if youknow what you're doing.
Sonja Crystal Williams (11:30):
I like how you put it you decide how
much you want to keep Google ona leash, because that's the
thing with as you brought upearlier, like this is how Google
makes money.
So you've got to be careful andI'm with you, like you got to
be careful in what you allowthem to do.
I think, yeah, some of that AIstuff is great and plays a big
role, but you've got to monitorit.
Ankit Patel (11:54):
The way I kind of compartmentalize it is the
search campaign or your lowfunnel.
Those are the people who haveidentified that they want to
hire someone for a servicethey're looking for it by
looking okay.
And then the high funnel isreally where you can use some of
these, these AI drivencampaigns such as, you know,
Performance Max, where theyhaven't really, you know they've
(12:16):
identified the issue, but youknow we know that they have a
pest control issue that may beinterested in pest control
services and we'll just kind ofcontinuously be on their radar.
And typically the cost perclick between search and
performance max is huge.
I mean, we're talking penniesversus dollars.
Sonja Crystal Williams (12:36):
Pennies on the performance max side
because it's more top of funnel.
Yeah.
Ankit Patel (12:40):
Yeah, it's display, it's video, it's random
searches that probably don'tmake sense.
Does baking soda get rid ofants, that type of stuff?
So?
Sonja Crystal Williams (12:51):
I was going to ask you can you define
it a little more, because it'sstill a new concept.
Even when I'm talking tomarketing managers and people
who manage ad campaigns, somepeople are a little nervous
about dipping their toe inPerformance Max.
So, like, what is it to you?
And then elaborate a little bitmore on, like, when you're
setting it up, like, how do youmake one, I guess, in a sense
(13:13):
effective to some degree?
Ankit Patel (13:15):
Yeah, I mean you essentially just need to have a
website or a landing page.
So let's just say, for example,let's stick in the realm of
pest control.
You have a pest control pagewhere you offer your services
and you have your pricing andyou have your coupon.
You have everything you need onthat page, maybe some videos
explaining your services and youknow whole about a section or
(13:38):
whatnot.
Sonja Crystal Williams (13:39):
Right.
Ankit Patel (13:39):
And you essentially give that page to Google on
your Performance Max.
Here's my page and it will pickthe keywords for you.
Now you can essentially, youknow, put in some headlines and
some descriptions and uploadsome images and things like that
, but it will sort of just pickthe best.
It's kind of like a responsivead design.
(14:01):
Just pick the best.
It's kind of like a responsivead design.
Um, and, and it would just pickthe best um ad.
I guess variant uh, for thatuser and that search, and it
won't only just be search, itwill be over, um, all of
Google's ecosystem, even Gmailads you could show up.
You know, remember, Googleknows everything about you if
you're logged in.
(14:21):
So yeah, and if you have aGoogle Home, you know you have
to say that word.
I'm not gonna say it right nowbecause of mine will trigger,
but essentially you have to.
You know it has to be listeningfor that to happen.
So if you say, if you'retalking to you, I'm talking to
my wife saying, honey, we needto uh update our uh pest control
company, uh, you know we havesome.
Maybe I may see an ant video ad, you never know.
(14:44):
So it kind of all just flows intogether.
But setting it up, really justhaving some sort of landing page
, you know, giving Google allthe information it needs and
then just letting it do itsthing.
Sonja Crystal Williams (14:56):
Okay, For the people listening who are
into conversions.
You brought up conversiontracking earlier and the
importance of ROI.
How do you look at that?
Are there certain metrics thatyou're tracking when it comes to
measuring that?
Just what does that look likein your world when you're
(15:16):
monitoring that for clients?
Ankit Patel (15:29):
Sure, the easiest and simplest way of doing it and
the most effective way of doingit is to create landing pages
specifically for your Google Adscampaigns.
So let's say you have differentcampaigns.
Let's take plumbing as anexample.
You have general plumbing, youhave hot water heater, you have
drains, you have sewage, youhave different types of plumbing
services.
So let's just say drains.
You have, you know, somebodysearching drain related issues.
So you want a page specificallyfor drains and that page is
(15:54):
only accessible through a GoogleAds click.
Okay, essentially, you tell SEOand everyone to get out.
It can be a separate domainactually, it could be a net of
your domain or subdomain orwhatnot and on that page it's
again, that page is onlyaccessible through google ads
clicks.
Every visitor you get on thatpage is essentially from google
ads one.
And then on that page you put acall tracking number on.
Okay, we use a third party toolcalled call tracking metrics.
(16:17):
They're pretty good.
There's another one out therecalled call rail, but
essentially it's pretty easy toset up call tracking number.
Just a local number that ringsdirectly to your cell phone or
your office.
Okay, and that's clear.
That's like okay, I spent$2,000 in Google and I got these
leads and I can see how muchmoney that generated and I can
you can measure it all and maybethey've got, like Google
(16:39):
Analytics or something else,attached.
Yes, yes, you want to put GoogleAnalytics on your landing page
as well as your website.
You also can set up Googleconversion tracking within
Google Ads, and that's importantbecause Google needs to know
what data is working, what's notworking, and you can feed that
stuff back into Google and youknow.
Then it will continue tooptimize.
So that's crucial as well.
But essentially in a create,having a separate landing page
(17:03):
for Google ads and having a calltracking number would mean
everything is very clear, cutand dry.
Sonja Crystal Williams (17:09):
Okay, one more question comes to mind,
Ankit, which is for a team thatis approaching Google Ads.
Well gosh, this is kind ofmaybe.
There's maybe there's twoquestions I have, right, because
I want to approach this frombeginners and people who are
already doing it.
So one team is "I want to tryGoogle Ads.
(17:30):
We've been doing other stuffand now we want to go here From
a staff standpoint.
Do they need staff?
Do they go straight to anagency?
Who are the players?
Do they need someone creatingvideo?
Do they need someone doing thecopywriting?
What's needed in terms of howthey position themselves to win?
Ankit Patel (17:52):
I guess it depends on the industry.
Google Ads yes, it requiresoptimization, ongoing
optimization, looking at thesearch terms, looking at the
data and things like that.
In my world, in the pest controlworld, you know it's a lot
easier for companies just tohire an agency that sort of
specializes in this space andgets them a good, decent rate
(18:13):
and you know it's not too muchin terms of optimization.
It's not too much in terms ofoptimization.
But if I was a salon, forexample, then maybe I want to
have different coupons andspecials during certain times of
the year and seasonality thingsand things like that where I'd
be a little bit more involved.
But I would say it depends onthe industry.
Sonja Crystal Williams (18:46):
Okay, and then two parts.
Second part to that question isfor an organization that's
already running ads and they areturning it over to an agency.
Just from your point of view onthe agency side, as an agency
owner.
Just if you were to say (18:54):
this is what I like in working with
my client, this is what I want,this is what I like in working
with my client, this is what Iwant, this is what I hope for.
If it were just the perfect orideal relationship, what do you
like to have or see that eitherthey have in place, or how that
working relationship would work,even if it's just person- to-
person who you're working withon that team?
Ankit Patel (19:14):
Yeah, I guess, really, really, this is sort of
a general answer for anybusiness owner, but it's
important that business ownersstay in their lane.
I think you know I'm not goingto tell a pest control owner how
to kill a bug.
I don't know.
You know, or at least what tospray, you know.
So, in the same sense, you knowI would love for my clients, or
(19:37):
I'm sure you would love foryour clients, but hey, this is
what I do.
Give me some time and we'llmake it happen again.
My world is a little differentbecause I already have a product
that works in the pest controlspace.
So it's just a matter of memaking some changes and flipping
the switch and it pretty muchworks.
Yeah, um, but you know, if Iwas to, if I was to bring on a
(20:07):
new client, then yeah,essentially, just you know,
letting them run their businessand letting me understand how
essentially their business worksin the marketing world and
building the campaignaccordingly.
Sonja Crystal Williams (20:13):
Okay, trust, I mean that's what it is.
Trust is important on bothsides.
Ankit Patel (20:19):
And again they are hiring you for a reason right.
Sonja Crystal Williams (20:21):
Yeah.
Ankit Patel (20:22):
So trust should have already been there, but
yeah, it happens.
Sonja Crystal Williams (20:27):
Okay, all right so, and thank you so
much for just sharing, like yourinsights about Google Ads, how
it works, search campaignsspecifically.
I always like to wrap up thisshow with a couple of lightning
round questions.
And the first one I kind ofjust want you to talk about this
because I am fascinated with it, which is, I don't know if I
(20:48):
should call it your hobby, yourother business, but your
performances.
I want you to talk a little bitabout that, especially those of
you listening in Atlanta.
I want you to hear about whatelse Ankit does, as, I don't
know, maybe a passion project.
Ankit Patel (21:05):
Yeah, it's a passion project that probably
takes more time of mine than itshould.
But essentially, long storyshort, I consider myself, I
guess, a professional Indianmusician.
So I've been playing keys mostof my life and about 12 or 15
(21:25):
years ago I started a Bollywoodband where we would travel all
over the nation and sometimes,you know, sometimes around the
world and just playing at Indianweddings.
And then, about 10 or so yearsago I picked up an instrument, a
traditional Indian oboe.
It's called a Shehnai, so Shehmeans king and Nai means flute,
(21:48):
and it's an instrument that'ssynonymous with Hindu weddings,
indian weddings.
So I've created this channel.
During COVID, I mean, Ipracticed for a good you know,
five, six years and then Ifinally felt a little
comfortable to start performingin the last two or three years,
and during COVID I started achannel called Shainai Guy and
it just really kind of took offbecause it's a.
(22:11):
It's an ancient instrumentthat's, quite frankly, a little
bit boring in the Indiancommunity, very droney, very
classical, and I kind of didlike a modern take on it and
people really appreciated it.
And, yeah, almost every weekendI'm somewhere in the nation
playing this instrument at anIndian wedding.
And then, about a year ago orso I made the decision.
(22:37):
I really wanted to sort ofbring this instrument and other
world musicians together andhave some sort of state and some
sort of platform for us toshowcase our talent and put on a
show.
So I started a ensemble calledSurya, S-U-R-Y-A, Surya Ensemble
(22:57):
.
We host monthly shows in thecity of Atlanta.
I have a violin player, a violaplayer, classical guitarist, I
play the shenai, we have adancer and I have this Persian
percussionist.
So it's a pure East meets Westsort of experience.
It's a show that I produced Iproduced the music, produced the
(23:17):
whole concept and things likethat and it's an hour-long show
called I produced, I producedthe music, produced the whole
concept and things like that.
It's an hour-long show calledElements At least that's the
first debut show where we takeyou through a journey of the
four elements of the world Earth, wind, water and fire through
music and art and culture anddance and lights and stuff like
that and narration.
It's a pretty cool concept andsomething I'm really passionate
(23:38):
about and looking to take you tothe next level.
Sonja Crystal Williams (23:40):
It's an experience.
You're being modest.
It's an awesome show, everyonelistening, and what I'll do is
I'll drop the link to wherepeople can see more about the
show and what upcoming eventsand what dates are coming up so
you can get tickets.
So everyone be on the lookoutfor that also.
Ankit Patel (24:00):
Yeah, thank you for coming to one of my first shows
as well, by the way.
Sonja Crystal Williams (24:02):
Yeah, absolutely no, it really it was
an experience and also from theGoogle Ads marketing side of
things, K3 Marketing, soeveryone we'll drop the link to
that too.
If you're in the home servicesindustry, you offer is it a one
month trial?
If you're in the home servicesindustry, you offer is it a one
month trial?
Ankit Patel (24:19):
I offer a one month free trial for pest control
companies.
For other home services we'lltalk if you're interested.
Sonja Crystal Williams (24:27):
Pest control is the niche that Ankit
focuses on, so everyone be onthe lookout for that.
Thank you so much, Ankit, forbeing here today and look
forward to talking to you again.
Ankit Patel (24:39):
Thanks everyone, everyone for listening.
Thank you so much, all right.
Hi everyone, welcome to today's
episode of 10 Minute Marketing.
I'm your host, sona CrystalWilliams.
Well, joining me.
Today.
I have Ankit, or Andy, patel,and he is a digital marketing.
Creative solutions andBollywood performances are just
in his DNA.
He is the founder of K3Marketing.
Hey, welcome to the show, ankit.
Ankit Patel (00:25):
Hey Sonja, Thanks for having me.
Sonja Crystal Willia (00:27):
Absolutely .
So I'm going to just jump rightinto what K3 Marketing does and
just really the topic for today, which is around Google Ads,
because you all at K3 are aGoogle Premier provider when it
comes to running ad campaigns inGoogle.
You specifically focus on pestcontrol industry.
(00:48):
So for you all, just kind of inthe world of Google Ads, what
are the two, like two of thetypes of campaigns that you feel
like?
And I know you're in the pestcontrol industry and those of
you listening, you might be inmultiple industries, but a lot
to be learned from just hearingAnkit's expertise, even just
related to that specific field.
So what are some of the typesof ads?
(01:08):
Because Google has a lot ofdifferent types of ads people
could run.
If someone is in a, let's justsay, a service-based industry
like that, what are some goodtypes of ads people could run?
Ankit Patel (01:19):
Sure, good question .
So essentially, being in thepest control industry or pest
control space really means I'min the home service contractor
space and a lot of the nuancesand marketing strategies that
you use in the home servicesspace is virtually identical.
Nine times out of 10, when ahomeowner is looking for
(01:40):
something or searching for aservice related to their home,
for something to be repaired,they're just going to Google it
or search it and life goes on.
Very rarely are they going onFacebook or Instagram or TikTok
seeing what a plumbing companyis up to or a pest control
company is up to.
So in my experience, reallyjust getting the information
quickly and effectively is mostbeneficial and, to answer your
(02:02):
question, really searchcampaigns is the go-to.
Sonja Crystal Williams (02:07):
Okay, so search campaigns define that.
Some people aren't familiarwhen they hear the word search.
What does that mean?
Versus, like, maybe, othertypes of things Google does?
Ankit Patel (02:16):
Sure.
So Google is a behemoth of acompany and they offer so many
different marketing solutions.
Many of you know that Googleowns YouTube.
So essentially when you runYouTube ads, those are what you
call the video ads.
Within the Google Ads platformyou can also have display ads,
where I'm sure you've been on ablog or on some website and
you've seen an ad up there.
(02:36):
You can run remarketingcampaigns, where you can target
people who've already been toyour site and retarget them back
.
There's also shopping campaigns, which comes up on the shopping
list, up on top.
Search campaigns means peoplewho have searched specifically
on Google.
com.
So if you go to Google.
com and you search, you know,plumber near me or pest control
(02:59):
company near me, that's a searchand that search will show you
search results listings andthat's really what I manage.
Sonja Crystal Williams (03:08):
So search is originating at google.
com?
What about the other searchengines, like why would someone
go to Google Ads versus some ofthe other ad platforms that
exist that could do, like maybesearch type of campaigns?
Ankit Patel (03:22):
Well, it's just pure demand.
Google is king and they know it.
People are going to Yahoo.
I think DuckDuckGo had a littlebit of a surge a few years back
.
I'm not sure where they are now.
I know people like DuckDuckGobecause they promise not to
track you and collect your data,which is enticing.
(03:45):
But really from my data thatI've seen Microsoft or Yahoo or
DuckDuckGo or what have you,Google just dominates,
absolutely dominates.
Sonja Crystal Williams (03:56):
Still number one search engine in the
world, absolutely.
All right.
So you're going in to launch acampaign with a home services
type company.
What are the typical thingsthat you see when you're going
to work with clients that youfeel like here's something like
they don't have these thingswhen I come to the table, or
this is like the stuff they needto have, whether they do or
(04:18):
don't when you're meeting withthem, these are the things that,
like, a company needs to havein order to launch into running
search campaigns on Google Ads.
Ankit Patel (04:26):
I think the important thing to note here as
a business owner especially as ahome services business owner is
that you need to be able totrack and, truth be told, in my
experience, Google Ads is one ofthe only services if not
possibly the only service wherethere's no gray line between how
much money you put in and howmuch money you got out your ROI.
(04:48):
So you need to set upconversion tracking.
You need to have separatelanding pages or specific
landing pages for your differenttypes of campaigns, call
tracking numbers and things likethat, so you know exactly
what's working and what's notworking.
A big mistake you can makereally in any type of campaign
not just in this industry eitheris they just run Google Ads and
(05:11):
send everyone to their homepage.
And with Facebook Ads you'rerunning, you'd have word of
mouth marketing.
You have SEO.
You're not really trackingwhat's working and what's not
working, and Google Ads can getexpensive.
You want to know what clicksare working, which ones are not
working, which ads are working,which ones are not working, and
things like that.
So to be able to optimize,really just setting up overall
(05:32):
tracking and some sort oflogical structure is crucial.
Sonja Crystal Williams (05:37):
How should a company determine
budget?
I know it's a broad questionbut how do you get at it and
help them?
Ankit Patel (05:46):
Remember, Google primarily makes its income
through Google Ads.
So if you ask Google how muchshould I spend, they're going to
say a lot.
Sonja Crystal Williams (05:53):
Yeah.
Ankit Patel (05:55):
So I never really looked at Google's data
recommendation.
ecommendation never looked atthat.
I basically get my feet wet.
I'll start off with areasonable budget and I'll kind
of see what's happening.
What's my average cost perclick?
What's my return on investment?
Is everything working forward,working in the right direction?
Because I think most businessowners will agree, it's all
(06:15):
about ROI, right?
If I'm making 10x of what I'mspending, I don't care how much
I'm spending.
I'm making 10x, you know.
So it's really a matter of justgetting that sweet spot.
Sonja Crystal Williams (06:31):
So I would start off with something
somewhat healthy that'scomfortable for you, and then
really building it from there.
Ok so, a business should reallymake their own decision and
they might have a budget, andthen you might say, hey, that's
good starting point, or, youknow, let's see.
Ankit Patel (06:41):
Yeah, well, it also adds up.
You know?
Yeah, well, it also adds up.
You know, for example, we liketo start clients during a free
trial, form of free trial periodthat we offer specifically for
our pest control clients at a$2,000 a month minimum.
Okay, and some, you know that'susually that's fairly
reasonable.
Some mom and pop pest controlcompanies may be like well, it's
a lot.
(07:01):
Well, if you think about it, ifyou run your ad 24/7 that's
only $70 a day.
Yeah, If you're, if you'regetting $7 a click, that's only
10 clicks a day.
That's just clicks, that's notleads.
So this thing it can add upfast if you don't know what
you're doing.
So, but having some sort ofhealthy budget is going to be
crucial If you're going to berunning Google Ads.
Google is king, Google Ads isking.
(07:23):
Google Ads is the first thingyou see in a search result,
above the map, above the SEO.
That's for a reason.
So you got to pay to play.
Sonja Crystal Williams (07:31):
Okay, so I'm going to divert a little
just on your opinion of adsversus SEO, because I get this
question sometimes when I'mworking with clients and them
trying to figure out should Iinvest more in ads?
Should I hire a firm to do mySEO?
Do you think these should bedone together?
Should one take precedent overthe other?
(07:52):
What are your thoughts on that?
Ankit Patel (07:54):
Sure.
Well, I think if you wantimmediate results, then paid ads
is the way to go Because, again, you pay to play to be up there
.
I think, ideally, having awell-structured marketing plan
which includes SEO andpay-per-click is is the best
approach.
A lot of people skipped throughthe ads because they know that
(08:15):
they're paid, especiallybusiness owners, right, but
majority of the of thepopulation doesn't even
understand how it works.
They just see, and alsoGoogle's gotten better.
First I used to have a bigbanner that these are ads.
Now it's just a small littlesponsored section or something.
I forgot what it says now, butyou know they, they keep
changing it around to, you know,to kind of keep one flow of
(08:37):
search results.
But also keep in mind a lot ofbusiness owners are like oh, I
just skipped that section, Idon't want to be on ads, I'm not
going to get any clicks.
Well, guess what?
It's pay per click.
So if nobody clicks, you don'tpay.
So it can't hurt to be up there.
It can never hurt to be upthere.
Obviously, results page and howthat shifted.
I've definitely noticed that.
Sonja Crystal Williams (09:05):
Like one time it was green and it was a
little ad box in the corner.
Then it said sponsored.
I don't know what it says todayeither.
Ankit Patel (09:12):
I'm about to search it right now, actually, right,
I don't know what it looks like.
It says sponsored.
Sponsored.
It says sponsored.
Sonja Crystal Williams (09:19):
Okay, I'm like, and you see it every
day, but you don't think aboutit because it just kind of
blends right in, you know.
But what, speaking of thechanges that Google keeps making
, how, if at all, are some ofthese technological advances
starting to impact campaigns?
You're running simple one,being AI and where that is now
(09:43):
fitting in.
Ankit Patel (09:44):
AI is a huge initiative with Google, you know
.
Even if you purchase a newGoogle pixel, which is one which
one I have all day yes, youknow it's.
It's heavily integrated with AIand and Google's Gemini
platform, and that's.
There's no different with AIand Google's Gemini platform and
(10:05):
there's no different withGoogle Ads as well.
Now you have to kind of takethat with a grain of salt.
Do you just trust Google's AIto just spend all your money and
hopefully the leads come in, ordo you want to really keep
Google on a tight leash?
I'm of the opinion of thelatter.
But you know Google does havedifferent types of campaigns.
Ai is not a new concept forGoogle.
(10:29):
They used to have those smartcampaigns back in the day.
If you remember internally a lotof their bidding strategies,
you know.
So there's a strategy calledtarget CPA, target cost per
acquisition, where I want to tryto keep my leads within fifty
(10:49):
dollars a lead, for example, mycost per lead at fifty dollars
lead.
And Google's going to look atthe data.
They're going to see what, whatkeywords are bringing in those
cost per leads and and what timeof day are people searching and
what area they're in, whathousehold, household income,
what demographic and audience dothey fit.
It looks at all that data andkind of adjusts and gives you
the best results.
So those things work well andhave different types of
campaigns as well, such as aperformance max campaigns, which
(11:12):
I'm sure we'll probably getinto a little bit later if you
wanted to, and I think that newone called Demand Gen out there,
so that they have differenttypes of campaigns out there
that are really just like hey,just tell me your website and
I'll do the rest.
And yeah, it can work if youknow what you're doing.
Sonja Crystal Williams (11:30):
I like how you put it you decide how
much you want to keep Google ona leash, because that's the
thing with as you brought upearlier, like this is how Google
makes money.
So you've got to be careful andI'm with you, like you got to
be careful in what you allowthem to do.
I think, yeah, some of that AIstuff is great and plays a big
role, but you've got to monitorit.
Ankit Patel (11:54):
The way I kind of compartmentalize it is the
search campaign or your lowfunnel.
Those are the people who haveidentified that they want to
hire someone for a servicethey're looking for it by
looking okay.
And then the high funnel isreally where you can use some of
these, these AI drivencampaigns such as, you know,
Performance Max, where theyhaven't really, you know they've
(12:16):
identified the issue, but youknow we know that they have a
pest control issue that may beinterested in pest control
services and we'll just kind ofcontinuously be on their radar.
And typically the cost perclick between search and
performance max is huge.
I mean, we're talking penniesversus dollars.
Sonja Crystal Williams (12:36):
Pennies on the performance max side
because it's more top of funnel.
Yeah.
Ankit Patel (12:40):
Yeah, it's display, it's video, it's random
searches that probably don'tmake sense.
Does baking soda get rid ofants, that type of stuff?
So?
Sonja Crystal Williams (12:51):
I was going to ask you can you define
it a little more, because it'sstill a new concept.
Even when I'm talking tomarketing managers and people
who manage ad campaigns, somepeople are a little nervous
about dipping their toe inPerformance Max.
So, like, what is it to you?
And then elaborate a little bitmore on, like, when you're
setting it up, like, how do youmake one, I guess, in a sense
(13:13):
effective to some degree?
Ankit Patel (13:15):
Yeah, I mean you essentially just need to have a
website or a landing page.
So let's just say, for example,let's stick in the realm of
pest control.
You have a pest control pagewhere you offer your services
and you have your pricing andyou have your coupon.
You have everything you need onthat page, maybe some videos
explaining your services and youknow whole about a section or
(13:38):
whatnot.
Sonja Crystal Williams (13:39):
Right.
Ankit Patel (13:39):
And you essentially give that page to Google on
your Performance Max.
Here's my page and it will pickthe keywords for you.
Now you can essentially, youknow, put in some headlines and
some descriptions and uploadsome images and things like that
, but it will sort of just pickthe best.
It's kind of like a responsivead design.
(14:01):
Just pick the best.
It's kind of like a responsivead design.
Um, and, and it would just pickthe best um ad.
I guess variant uh, for thatuser and that search, and it
won't only just be search, itwill be over, um, all of
Google's ecosystem, even Gmailads you could show up.
You know, remember, Googleknows everything about you if
you're logged in.
(14:21):
So yeah, and if you have aGoogle Home, you know you have
to say that word.
I'm not gonna say it right nowbecause of mine will trigger,
but essentially you have to.
You know it has to be listeningfor that to happen.
So if you say, if you'retalking to you, I'm talking to
my wife saying, honey, we needto uh update our uh pest control
company, uh, you know we havesome.
Maybe I may see an ant video ad, you never know.
(14:44):
So it kind of all just flows intogether.
But setting it up, really justhaving some sort of landing page
, you know, giving Google allthe information it needs and
then just letting it do itsthing.
Sonja Crystal Williams (14:56):
Okay, For the people listening who are
into conversions.
You brought up conversiontracking earlier and the
importance of ROI.
How do you look at that?
Are there certain metrics thatyou're tracking when it comes to
measuring that?
Just what does that look likein your world when you're
(15:16):
monitoring that for clients?
Ankit Patel (15:29):
Sure, the easiest and simplest way of doing it and
the most effective way of doingit is to create landing pages
specifically for your Google Adscampaigns.
So let's say you have differentcampaigns.
Let's take plumbing as anexample.
You have general plumbing, youhave hot water heater, you have
drains, you have sewage, youhave different types of plumbing
services.
So let's just say drains.
You have, you know, somebodysearching drain related issues.
So you want a page specificallyfor drains and that page is
(15:54):
only accessible through a GoogleAds click.
Okay, essentially, you tell SEOand everyone to get out.
It can be a separate domainactually, it could be a net of
your domain or subdomain orwhatnot and on that page it's
again, that page is onlyaccessible through google ads
clicks.
Every visitor you get on thatpage is essentially from google
ads one.
And then on that page you put acall tracking number on.
Okay, we use a third party toolcalled call tracking metrics.
(16:17):
They're pretty good.
There's another one out therecalled call rail, but
essentially it's pretty easy toset up call tracking number.
Just a local number that ringsdirectly to your cell phone or
your office.
Okay, and that's clear.
That's like okay, I spent$2,000 in Google and I got these
leads and I can see how muchmoney that generated and I can
you can measure it all and maybethey've got, like Google
(16:39):
Analytics or something else,attached.
Yes, yes, you want to put GoogleAnalytics on your landing page
as well as your website.
You also can set up Googleconversion tracking within
Google Ads, and that's importantbecause Google needs to know
what data is working, what's notworking, and you can feed that
stuff back into Google and youknow.
Then it will continue tooptimize.
So that's crucial as well.
But essentially in a create,having a separate landing page
(17:03):
for Google ads and having a calltracking number would mean
everything is very clear, cutand dry.
Sonja Crystal Williams (17:09):
Okay, one more question comes to mind,
Ankit, which is for a team thatis approaching Google Ads.
Well gosh, this is kind ofmaybe.
There's maybe there's twoquestions I have, right, because
I want to approach this frombeginners and people who are
already doing it.
So one team is "I want to tryGoogle Ads.
(17:30):
We've been doing other stuffand now we want to go here From
a staff standpoint.
Do they need staff?
Do they go straight to anagency?
Who are the players?
Do they need someone creatingvideo?
Do they need someone doing thecopywriting?
What's needed in terms of howthey position themselves to win?
Ankit Patel (17:52):
I guess it depends on the industry.
Google Ads yes, it requiresoptimization, ongoing
optimization, looking at thesearch terms, looking at the
data and things like that.
In my world, in the pest controlworld, you know it's a lot
easier for companies just tohire an agency that sort of
specializes in this space andgets them a good, decent rate
(18:13):
and you know it's not too muchin terms of optimization.
It's not too much in terms ofoptimization.
But if I was a salon, forexample, then maybe I want to
have different coupons andspecials during certain times of
the year and seasonality thingsand things like that where I'd
be a little bit more involved.
But I would say it depends onthe industry.
Sonja Crystal Williams (18:46):
Okay, and then two parts.
Second part to that question isfor an organization that's
already running ads and they areturning it over to an agency.
Just from your point of view onthe agency side, as an agency
owner.
Just if you were to say (18:54):
this is what I like in working with
my client, this is what I want,this is what I like in working
with my client, this is what Iwant, this is what I hope for.
If it were just the perfect orideal relationship, what do you
like to have or see that eitherthey have in place, or how that
working relationship would work,even if it's just person- to-
person who you're working withon that team?
Ankit Patel (19:14):
Yeah, I guess, really, really, this is sort of
a general answer for anybusiness owner, but it's
important that business ownersstay in their lane.
I think you know I'm not goingto tell a pest control owner how
to kill a bug.
I don't know.
You know, or at least what tospray, you know.
So, in the same sense, you knowI would love for my clients, or
(19:37):
I'm sure you would love foryour clients, but hey, this is
what I do.
Give me some time and we'llmake it happen again.
My world is a little differentbecause I already have a product
that works in the pest controlspace.
So it's just a matter of memaking some changes and flipping
the switch and it pretty muchworks.
Yeah, um, but you know, if Iwas to, if I was to bring on a
(20:07):
new client, then yeah,essentially, just you know,
letting them run their businessand letting me understand how
essentially their business worksin the marketing world and
building the campaignaccordingly.
Sonja Crystal Williams (20:13):
Okay, trust, I mean that's what it is.
Trust is important on bothsides.
Ankit Patel (20:19):
And again they are hiring you for a reason right.
Sonja Crystal Williams (20:21):
Yeah.
Ankit Patel (20:22):
So trust should have already been there, but
yeah, it happens.
Sonja Crystal Williams (20:27):
Okay, all right so, and thank you so
much for just sharing, like yourinsights about Google Ads, how
it works, search campaignsspecifically.
I always like to wrap up thisshow with a couple of lightning
round questions.
And the first one I kind ofjust want you to talk about this
because I am fascinated with it, which is, I don't know if I
(20:48):
should call it your hobby, yourother business, but your
performances.
I want you to talk a little bitabout that, especially those of
you listening in Atlanta.
I want you to hear about whatelse Ankit does, as, I don't
know, maybe a passion project.
Ankit Patel (21:05):
Yeah, it's a passion project that probably
takes more time of mine than itshould.
But essentially, long storyshort, I consider myself, I
guess, a professional Indianmusician.
So I've been playing keys mostof my life and about 12 or 15
(21:25):
years ago I started a Bollywoodband where we would travel all
over the nation and sometimes,you know, sometimes around the
world and just playing at Indianweddings.
And then, about 10 or so yearsago I picked up an instrument, a
traditional Indian oboe.
It's called a Shehnai, so Shehmeans king and Nai means flute,
(21:48):
and it's an instrument that'ssynonymous with Hindu weddings,
indian weddings.
So I've created this channel.
During COVID, I mean, Ipracticed for a good you know,
five, six years and then Ifinally felt a little
comfortable to start performingin the last two or three years,
and during COVID I started achannel called Shainai Guy and
it just really kind of took offbecause it's a.
(22:11):
It's an ancient instrumentthat's, quite frankly, a little
bit boring in the Indiancommunity, very droney, very
classical, and I kind of didlike a modern take on it and
people really appreciated it.
And, yeah, almost every weekendI'm somewhere in the nation
playing this instrument at anIndian wedding.
And then, about a year ago orso I made the decision.
(22:37):
I really wanted to sort ofbring this instrument and other
world musicians together andhave some sort of state and some
sort of platform for us toshowcase our talent and put on a
show.
So I started a ensemble calledSurya, S-U-R-Y-A, Surya Ensemble
(22:57):
.
We host monthly shows in thecity of Atlanta.
I have a violin player, a violaplayer, classical guitarist, I
play the shenai, we have adancer and I have this Persian
percussionist.
So it's a pure East meets Westsort of experience.
It's a show that I produced Iproduced the music, produced the
(23:17):
whole concept and things likethat and it's an hour-long show
called I produced, I producedthe music, produced the whole
concept and things like that.
It's an hour-long show calledElements At least that's the
first debut show where we takeyou through a journey of the
four elements of the world Earth, wind, water and fire through
music and art and culture anddance and lights and stuff like
that and narration.
It's a pretty cool concept andsomething I'm really passionate
(23:38):
about and looking to take you tothe next level.
Sonja Crystal Williams (23:40):
It's an experience.
You're being modest.
It's an awesome show, everyonelistening, and what I'll do is
I'll drop the link to wherepeople can see more about the
show and what upcoming eventsand what dates are coming up so
you can get tickets.
So everyone be on the lookoutfor that also.
Ankit Patel (24:00):
Yeah, thank you for coming to one of my first shows
as well, by the way.
Sonja Crystal Williams (24:02):
Yeah, absolutely no, it really it was
an experience and also from theGoogle Ads marketing side of
things, K3 Marketing, soeveryone we'll drop the link to
that too.
If you're in the home servicesindustry, you offer is it a one
month trial?
If you're in the home servicesindustry, you offer is it a one
month trial?
Ankit Patel (24:19):
I offer a one month free trial for pest control
companies.
For other home services we'lltalk if you're interested.
Sonja Crystal Williams (24:27):
Pest control is the niche that Ankit
focuses on, so everyone be onthe lookout for that.
Thank you so much, Ankit, forbeing here today and look
forward to talking to you again.
Ankit Patel (24:39):
Thanks everyone, everyone for listening.
Thank you so much, all right.
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