I was asked by the Search Engine Strategies programming team to deliver this 1 hour intro to paid search for the many attendees who are new to search engine marketing. As well as covering the key areas important to success it also introduces some of the latest developments in paid search
9. Agenda – 8 areas of Paid Search strategy 2 1 4 3 6 5 8 7 Introduction to paid search. Your search network options. Goals and tracking. Keyphrase research. Getting Started: structure. Targeting: Match types. Bidding and bid management. Ad creative and copywriting.
11. Q. Where does paid search fit within the digital marketing mix? Start with your website goals and how to create value for your customers Research your online Marketplace to define the most appropriate marketing mix for your digital strategy Integrate web analytics, on and offline conversion tracking and optimization so that campaign performance can be tracked and optimized. Implement the tactics that fit your goals best. Be flexible. Be agile! 1 2 3 4
12. Q. Why paid search, not ‘PPC’ 1 2 Two main options for paid search marketing to be aware of when media buying within search engines. Advertising in search engines (direct search) = CPC. Contextual or content matched advertising on the content network, e.g. Google Adsense: CPC = Cost per Click (default) CPM = Cost per 1000 impressions – an option for ‘placement targeting’ Pay per Click options now common in display ad network Each of the main search engines has it’s own ad programme: Google Adwords (http://adwords.google.com) Yahoo! Search Marketing (http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com, formerly Overture) Microsoft adCenter (http://adcenter.microsoft.com) Two main options for paid search marketing to be aware of when media buying within search engines. Each of the main search engines has it’s own ad programme:
13. Understanding influence of Quality Score is ESSENTIAL Glossary: CTR = Clickthrough rate Ad text relevance = Match of headline and description to search term Keyword relevance = Match of triggering keyword to search term Landing page relevance = Match <title>, <h1..n> headings, copy c. 2006 – formula no longer published. For latest see: https://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?answer=10215 Tip: Check a selection of your Quality scores and relevance for keywords within AdWords Ad Groups
19. Volume doesn’t give the whole story For Eurostar “the click-to-sale ratio was 35% higher on Bing than the other engines, and the cost-of-sale rate was 16% lower. In addition, the click-through rate grew to nearly 5 times the average from all search advertising”
21. Beware of the content network? Options Ignore (default) Switch off Treat separately Own Campaigns Isolate best QS Different bids Special brand copy Use during campaigns only Placement targeting Position Impressions Clicks CTR Avg. CPC 6 Direct Keyword Search 50,000 2,500 5% £0.60 2 Content network 10,000,000 6,000 0.06% £0.30 2.5 Overall 10,050,000 8,500 0.08% £0.35 An example of the difference in paid search metrics for content network and direct search ads
23. Google placement targeting options on content network With Google placement targeting (formerly site targeting), agencies can: Select sites for CPM or CPC ads Find sites to exclude Determine performance of third party sites Use Pay Per Action (soon)
34. Targeted segments4 Showcase range of products (cross-sell) 5Reinforce key brand messages (99% won’t convert in single session) 6 Attract visitors = SEO Prominent Unique phone number for tracking 2 Incentivised Lead generation form Key brand messages 3 Conversion goals+ OVP SEO Relevance headings0 4 Answer customers’ concerns 5 6
35. Identifying potential from in-depth analysis Using Excel VLOOKUP() to integrate data sources Learn from conversion rates, CPA and ROI stats. Identifying customer demand
40. Q. How do search and display integrate? 30-40% of all conversions arriving from a display impression, or click, are preceded with a paid search click. 10-15% of conversions that had a prior display impression had the last event as a paid search click. Source: Efficient Frontier Insights, http://tinyurl.com/search-display
41. Example of an integrated media campaign leveraging search behaviour
42. Integrating with offline campaigns 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ensure continuous SEM activities are updated to reflect marketing campaign activity. 2. Consider increasing bid prices during offline campaigns to ensure you achieve visibility and reinforcement of offline campaigns. Consider using dayparting to coincide with your offline TV campaigns. Include campaign messages within Ad headline and body copy. Include specific details on promotions such as discounts, prices and closing dates. Advertise on phrases specific to the campaign, for example, if the campaign is ‘Quote Me Happy’ or ‘Sleep Tomorrow’. Include reference to campaign in creative for brand searches.
46. Q. Are we taking advantage of the reliable insight tools?
47. Use the Google Keyword tool & traffic estimator This gives the cost and volume of clicks on top position ad. Multiply by 20 to give approximate number of searches. Free search toolswww.davechaffey.com/seo-keyword-tools
48. How good is your keyphrase-level gap analysis reporting? Should show: Potential performance from keyphrase estimators Your actual performance (position, clicks, conversion, sales, value): Paid – absolute and relative Natural – absolute and relative
49. Identifying common qualifiers – how long is tail? <Product name> or <category name> or <brand> What is your strategy for targeting: Generic: <category name> + synonyms Qualifiers: compare + <product name> review + <product name> cheap + <product name> Brand + <category name>This is called “Navigational search” <category name> + UK Tip: Use difference between broad or phrase match and exact match in Traffic Estimator to estimate how long the tail is.
51. Q. Which terms are really driving success? Tip: Use a weighted attribution model
52. Q. How important are brand searches? 362 362 Brand Conversions Single Brand Click 447 Multiple Brand Click 389 447 Brand Click 58 User 58 1017 Generic Click 1017 959 Multiple Generic Click Generic conversion Single Generic Click 805 805 Source: Agency.com presented at AdTech London
53. New Google Ad Extensions > Ad Site Links Navigational / Brand search ad examples Navigational / Brand search ad examples Examples: Pure brand, Brand plus, Misspellings, URLs
59. How is an Ad Group Structured? Q. What are my controls? Daily budget Where, when ads displayed Google Network Triggering keywords Keyword match type Max CPC bids Copy https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6106
76. Determining optimal position Tip: Use Google Analytics Position Reporting to test effectiveness of different positions. Source: Google UK
77. Budgeting and bidding Am I missing out due to insufficient budgets? “Impression Share (IS): The percentage of times your ads were shown out of the total available impressions in the market you were targeting. This metric is available at the campaign and account level for search. Lost IS (Rank): The percentage of impressions lost due to low Ad Rank (cost-per-click bid x Quality Score). Lost IS (Budget): The percentage of impressions lost due to daily budget constraints.” Things to remember: Highest positions not always best, e.g. Target position 4-8. Higher positions cost more (of course) and conversion quality tends to be lower Working hard on quality score will reduce fees Using match types gives you more control Am I missing out due to insufficient budgets? Things to remember:
78. Bid management tools = Central place to manage keywords across engines Examples: Searchware, Atlas One point, Makemetop, Efficient Frontier, Omniture, etc. Google conversion optimiser
79. 8 Creative and copywriting Including landing page tips http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXaDKSC_qKw http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-search-ad-formats.html
81. Ad creative – techniques for achieving standout 1. Deliver relevance - include search term keywords in headline and body. 2. Be specific. 3. Include specific benefits e.g. Free delivery, costs. 4. Differentiate – what is unique? 5. Numbers are scannable. 6. Use CAPS (sensibly). 7. Space can be good. 8. Use characters (sensibly): !, ?, :, & 9. Be quirky! 10. Use distinctive words. See: www.google.com/adpreview
82. Ad creative techniques - Headlines Site doesn’t haveseparate Ad Group for different terms Ad Headlines: Include main search terms (+ benefit?) Use capitals for each main word in your headline? Include brand name? Restrict low-intent clickers? Use dynamic headlines? E.g. {Keyword:Bottled Gas} Delivery
83. Other ad creative technique tips Descriptions: Include the most common keywords in the ad group which triggers ad Emphasise your proposition inc key benefits Other key benefits Use synonyms – good for quality score Try to squeeze in a call-to-action Display URLs: Use directories Capitalise Show benefits
84. Automated insertion of price info using Google AdWords API Use of APIto insert latest prices 68
85. B2C and B2B Landing page examplesGoals = Engagement, Direct response, branding http://www.norgrencatalogue.com/uk/
86. Not landing pages but conversion pathways! Segmented landing pages Practical Tip – Scent Trails and Conversion Pathways Consider options for providing alternative “conversion pathways” for different audiences Source: http://tinyurl.com/two-step-landing-pages and http://tinyurl.com/landing-page-myths |70
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88. Pay Per Click Marketing: Best Practice Book At the end of March ClickThrough will be publishing our second Marketers Checklist book. This will explore current best practice in PPC, and address the most recent changes to the AdWords interface. If you are interested in receiving a copy of this book then please speak to me afterwards.