There has been a lot written and blogged and podcasted and vlogged about social media marketing.  Certainly any business with a heartbeat is at least aware of the trend towards using more internet based promotions.  And it is probably pretty obvious to you, dear electronic reader, that Renaissance Bicycles has gone “all in” with our online based marketing.  Besides our blog, Flickr group, Twittering, and Facebook page, you have probably seen some of our Ads online:

• Ecovelo
• Bicycle Design
• Lovely Bicycle!
• Adventure Cycling Association (and especially their blog)

But what you may not realize is that we no longer advertise with Google AdWords.  Plainly speaking, that means if you search on “lugged steel” or “Rivendell Bicycles” we no longer pop-up in the search results.  This was less a “business decision” as it was a “long term goal”.

In terms of online advertising for a new business, AdWords is very very effective.  It is a well designed system to place ads in search results, participating websites, and Google affiliated apps (like Gmail).  Futhermore, AdWords allows you to set a budget, so you can control the amount of money allocated.  In other words, in terms of “getting your name out there to the masses” AdWords is simple and effective.

Through the use of Google Analytics, we were able to see where our site traffic originated.  And sure enough, we noticed that certain websites, like Ecovelo and Bicycle Design, generated more web traffic and users who visited longer.  It also had the added bonus of giving us a better idea of our target demographic.  After about two years of good data, we decided to migrate our advertising dollars to those keys sites.

So … we encourage you to patronize those websites.  Like the products we sell, we can confidently endorse their quality and value.  And like ourselves, it is their passion for cycling that drives their involvement.  If nothing else, the sites we help sponsor are a nice daily affirmation that there lots of like-minded people who enjoy cycling for more than the competitive aspect.

We are always open to suggestions, so if you know of other worthwhile websites that fit into our niche, please let us know.