Agile Search Strategy - Let the Data Decide!

Agile Search Strategy
Let the Data Decide!

@simmonet #AdvancedSearchSummit
Grant Simmons
VP, Performance Marketing

Who is this guy?
• Homes.com performance marketing
• Agency background
• Not the GEICO gecko

Grant Simmons
VP of Search Marketing
@simmonet

Grant Simmons
Originally a print company
Not uber-sophisticated (yet)

Grant Simmons
More like…
But WAY smarter!

We’re big: 110M pages
We’re smart.
We’re sometimes slow.

Homes.com

Homes.com -> Performance Marketing
•We were traditionally focused on traffic
•Found leads a great retention tool
•Pivoted focus to traffic + leads
•Needed new perspective on lead-gen
•Needed speed to market
•Started in February 2019

That’s the Bit ‘o Background
Homes.com

Yes. There Will Be a Few
Star Wars References^

Agile Search Strategy
What are we gonna learn?

How to Use the Force – A Tease

How to Use the Force – All T’s
•Target
•Tactics
•Tools
•Time
•Test
•Track
A framework for
agile search strategy,
based on homes.com
and search agency
experience.

Pre T: Goals
What is Measure of Success?

One Thematic Goal
Biggest challenge is
knowing where we
need to get to!

One Thematic Goal
We built a very simple
model that everyone
could buy into.

One Thematic Goal
K.I.S.S. Ahem. You
Do know I’m
right here?

One Thematic Goal - Agreed
TRAFFIC

TRAFFIC PAGEVIEWS

TRAFFIC PAGEVIEWS LEADS

CUSTOMER
RETENTION

CUSTOMER
RETENTION REVENUE

One Thematic Goal = #Winning
CUSTOMER
RETENTION REVENUE
HAPPY
BOSS

Performance Marketing: Goals
Drive incremental traffic
Drive incremental leads
(leads: on / off the site, but we don’t CRO homes.com)
[can we drive more leads @ same budget = lower CPA]

T2: Target Your Audience(s)
Define Audience(s), Availability,
& Identify Opportunities

Even if They’re a Little Crazy

Ahem. ALL Star Wars Fans Are Fanatics!

Target An Audience(s)
•Most obvious first. duh
•Test others
•Let the data decide
Ahem. These are Star Wars fans.

Audience(s)
• Google In-Market
• Amazon custom retargeting
• Look-alikes
• Intent-based
• Time / Query / Geo segments
• Lots of other types…

“A Crap Ton of Testing”
Result: Dynamic Search Ad Targeting
With intent-based location modifiers

DSA Helped Us Define /
Refine Audience
•What locations, queries work
•What audience query-demo works best
•What intent works best

In the Winter… Canadians Look for Homes in Florida

DSA Helped Us Define /
Refine Audience
•What locations, queries work
•What audience query-demo works best
•What intent works best
Question We Asked Ourselves:
How can we best target
those audiences & intents?

T3: Tactics
What Are We *Actually*
Going To Do?

Like Looking for a Panda in a Stormtrooper Haystack

Tactics
• Tactics start with strategy
• Strategy (simply) based on:
• Budgets
• Competition
• Budgets
• Our Performance Marketing strategy:
• Test everything
• Feedback loop lets the data decide
• Optimize to CPA (more leads for our budget)

Tips O’ The Day
(to identify your tactics)

1.
Remember this Scene?

1.
Remember this Scene?
“I sense great fear in you,
Skywalker. You have hate. You have
anger. But you don’t use them.”

#1. Don’t Use Emotions! – Let the Data Decide!

#1. Don’t Use Your Gut(s). Let the Data Decide!

“We tried that before
and it didn’t work”
2. Never Say…

“Failure IS an option”
3. Remember…
Test. You may crash, but you won’t burn!

Tactics | Channels
What Did We Decide to Focus On?

Nope. We Need Google!

Slice & Dice w/ Google DSA
Currently about 50 different campaigns

Yay For Google!
•Physical location
vs Location of Interest
•Day parting geo
PST vs EST etc.
•GEOs themselves
State vs DMA vs City
•Optimize to CPA
•Mine / omit negatives

+ As Challenger Brand, How Can We Do It Differently?

Tactics | Microsites
Based on research / query mapping / opportunity

Why Would Someone Give Us PII?
How can we nurture?

Let’s try Home Trends
(neighborhoods / regional)

Microsites | Results
(If I Say So Myself. A Brilliant Idea!)

Many Quiz Completes
Against nominal social spend
No Signups = Sucks
Learning:

“Well, you said you
wanted to be
around when I
made a mistake.”
“…I take it back!”

Tactics | Microsite / Language
Language / Lingua / La langue / Sprache

Microsite / Language | Results

Handful of Leads
Nominal social spend
Building Organic Traffic
Still to be Determined 

Handful of Leads
Against nominal social spend
While building organic traffic
Learning:

Tactics | “Re-Lead”

Re-Lead Email
•Sent to all leads
•Tested 1-7 days post sub
•A / B tested subject lines
•Iteration eleventy-billion +
•Simple works best

Agents Don’t Always Follow Up.

Agents Don’t Always Follow Up. We Do 

Re-Lead | Results

Only Okay… But Good Enough to Automate 

Tactics | Display

DV 360 Display / Facebook Display
•Can display be used for Leadgen?
•2 agency test
(test the tests)

Display | Results

For Brand Good. For Lead Gen Not Good. 

Not a Leadgen Opp
Spend where it counts
Learning:

Tactics | Partnerships

Remote Search Form Distributing to >100 sites

Partnerships | Results

Lots of Traffic. Not so Many Conversions. 

Multiples of Target CPA
Ouch = Sucks
Learning:

Tactics | Facebook Lead Ads

Facebook Targeting for Real Estate
Is like…^

…Stormtrooper Shot Accuracy. Why?

Facebook Lead Ads Audience Filters
•Changed based on HUD discrimination concerns
•“Fair Housing Act” covers:
• Race, color, religion, national origin
• Gender, disability and family status

Kinda Destroyed Our Preferred Targeting Options

But… We Tweaked Targeting & Ads

Facebook Ads | Results

Expanded to More Markets 

One of Our Better CPA
Continuing to Test & Expand

Tactics | Next Up

Next Up: Leveraging Initial Learnings
•Email – Small time window
•Organic – Build on current
•Contests – Lower funnel
•Surveys – Qualifiers / data hooks
•Anyone want to pitch me something?*
*Buy me a beer

T4: Tools
Find. Rent. Build. Buy.

Tools Strategy
•Don’t make it too complicated
•Balance of need vs cost vs time
•YMMV

Our Tools Strategy
•Subscribe first / scale second
• Consumer tools can work for testing
•Build if speedy
• Offshore partners + internal dev
•Partner where necessary
• Leverage their licenses
•Elbow grease
• Roll your sleeves up
Don’t have to be
enterprise tools!

Trends Generator w/ Email Integration: Built

Cool Rent vs Buy Calculator: Built

Embeddable Listing Carousel: Built

Tools: Rented / Borrowed

T5: Time
Everything Has Limits
Budgets, Seasonality, My Patience.

T5: Time
Everything Has Limits
Budgets, Seasonality, My Patience.
This Presentation 

Speed to Launch (Test + Variations) Key Factor

Speed to Launch
“I assure you, Lord Vader.
My men are working as
fast as they can.”
“…Perhaps I can find new
ways to motivate them.”

Defined MVP = Working + Data Collection (okay for testing)

Quick Tests = Quick Failures = Quick Learnings

T6: Test / Track
Always Be Testing

T6: Test / Track
Always Be Testing
And When You’re Not. Keep Testing.
And when you do. Track your tests!

Remember: Quick Tests = Quick Failures = Quick Learnings

Testing is Like Scary Dark Side
•Pretty scary to keep failing
•Pretty scary asking for more $$
•Pretty scary waiting for results
•Pretty scary to report failure

Testing Recs
•Limit exposure (cost)
•Limit time
•Define ideal outcomes
•Define next steps
•Be upfront (to everyone)
•Let the data decide what’s
next, what’s outta here

Keep It Fun
Celebrate successes
(however small)

Tracking – “The Light is Right”
Metrics that Matter
•Single point of truth
•Transparency
•‘What’ is less than ‘why’
•Trends are friends
•Act quickly on opps / risks
•Don’t be distracted

Distraction? “These are not the metrics you’re looking for.”

T-Bonus: Agile Search Truth
Can You Handle the Truth?

Agile Search Truth
“Half the money I spend on
advertising is wasted; the trouble
is I don't know which half.”
Who Said This?

Agile Search Truth
“Half the money I spend on
advertising is wasted; the trouble
is I don't know which half.”
John Wanamaker

If You’re Lucky…
Half the stuff you try won’t work

If You’re Lucky…
Half the stuff you try won’t work
Keep trying! Enough will work!

Fools! They’ll Never Destroy the Death Star!

Agile Framework
•Target – Define / Refine Audience
•Tactics – Discover Channels / Execute
•Tools – Find, Rent, Build or Buy
•Time – Set Time Limits & Stick To Them
•Test / Track – Always Be Testing & Testing
•Truth – (At Least) Half of What You Do
Won’t Work – Cull Quickly

“Try not.
Do… or do not.
There is no try.”
Agile Framework

Top Secret Strategy
That Will Kill It!
First time I’ve ever shared

“DrruurRRP
tanaNDuh
BeeYoop
BeeDeepBoom
Weeop DEEpaEEya”
You’re welcome

Grant Simmons
Thank you!

Grant Simmons
Questions?

Cool Star Wars characters by Derek Laufman @laufman www.dereklaufman.com

Agile Search Strategy - Let the Data Decide!

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