From Zero to Hero: Measuring PPC’s Impact On Brand Awareness

Using Search

 The first and most apparent way to use PPC for branding is to use branded keywords. You might also consider bidding high for non-branded keywords that are most important to your brand. For example, if I sell ping-pong balls I might want to bid on “best ping-pong balls” just to get my brand name out there. It’s important to remember that these keywords may be expensive, depending on your vertical.

Another method of using search is to bid on competitor terms and have a solid strategy in place for your ad copy. Be sure to include your value proposition and clear call to action.

Using Display

 There are many different ways of targeting your ads on the Display Network that can be taken advantage of for branding specific campaigns. Display advertising can be moretop-of-funnel approach because users aren’t specifically searching for your product or service. However, Display makes a good platform to increase your brand’s presence. Try targeting sites you know your demographic visits (assuming it allows GDN ads) or targeting interest groups.

Custom Affinity Audiences

 

Affinity audiences allow you to find sites on the Display Network that people who might be interested in your product or service visit. Taken to the next step, Google now allows you to create custom affinity audiences, which allows you to personally define an audience. To do this, you simply add a list of URLs that your target audience visits. Be sure to use sites that contain a lot of text relevant to your audience, as well as pages that would allow you to clearly describe the desired audience from significant phrases on the page.

Remarketing

 Remarketing can also be used to periodically remind visitors of your brand. There are countless ways to set up a remarketing strategy, especially with Google Analytics remarketing lists, which allow you to create audiences with more specific site behaviors. Using this approach will help increase the likelihood that your brand is “top of mind” for your targeted audience of potential customers.

YouTube

 Visual can be a key element to any sort of branding effort, and videos do a great job of providing sight, sound, and movement that users will associate with your brand. WithAdWords Video campaigns you can measure traditional direct response metrics such as clicks and conversions, but also how many users viewed your entire video. Google also tracks any shares and likes you get from your video ad.

YouTube also gives you some great targeting options, including interests and keywords. In the above example, Remarketing audiences were used, as well as keywords. Users who searched one of the keywords was less likely to convert, but were more likely to watch the entire video.

Consider using YouTube ads if you already have (or are capable of creating) high quality videos. You should also expect to see a low conversion rate, and high CPL here if you are looking at hard conversion metrics as well as branding.

8 Things Wrong with Your Google AdWords Campaign

Google AdWords campaign errors that can literally cost you thousands of dollars if left unchecked.

1.  Choosing the Wrong Keywords

Many advertisers think there's no harm in having countless keywords in their campaigns just to cover their bases, but this is false logic. First of all, having too many non-performing keywords in your campaign can actually bring your overall campaign down, which in turn can lead to increased expenses to generate the same results.

Second of all, if you focus on only choosing keywords that generate clicks but no conversions, you're helping Google make a tidy sum off of you without helping yourself.

Lastly, certain words with multiple meanings might also bring down your campaign performance if the ad is served a lot but not clicked or could lead to wasted expense. Take for example the word "windows." In the example below, an ad for Microsoft Windows (software) appears among all other ads for glass windows for a building. Perhaps this ad is appropriately located (and if you have the advertising budget of Microsoft, you probably don't care), but also considering that Microsoft Windows has the No. 1 free organic search ranking on Google, perhaps it's an unnecessary placement.

2. Writing Bad or Boring Ad Copy

You might be surprised at how artful writing only 95 characters of ad copy can be. Unlike the below example, make sure you give the searcher a compelling reason to click your ad.

Some AdWords copywriting tips include:

• a headline with specific content, messaging or an offer
• use of your keyword somewhere in the ad copy
• a persuasive call to action like "Save now," "Buy our..." or "Register here"

3. Not Fully Understanding or Using All Campaign Set-up Options

Google makes basic campaign set-up easy, but they don't necessarily expose all the different ways you can configure and manipulate your campaign to help improve results. Educate yourself on the use of these features to get more results for the same or less money:

• AdGroups--the grouping of like or objective-related keywords into a group so you can impose campaign controls at the Group level
• Ad targeting--there are so many fabulous ways to target better through AdWords--by keyword (of course), by geography, by time of day ("day-parting"), by content, by mobile users--take time to become familiar with all of the targeting methods so you can optimize your campaign and maximize your budget
• Match types--match types tell Google under what conditions of a search query to serve your ad. There are five main types of match types: Broad, Broad Modifier, Phrase, Exact, and Negative. Get familiar with how each type works to improve your campaign.
• Keyword insertion--with keyword insertion, Google inserts your select keyword into your ad text on-the-fly to try to make it more relevant for the user. You typically see this with big box retailer ads, for example:

• Ad Extensions--Don't be limited by 95 characters any longer! With Ad Extensions you can get more links and expose more about your advertised product or service to your prospective buyer.

4. Not Implementing Conversion Tracking

Without conversion tracking, you probably don't have a clear sense of which keywords are generating desired actions for campaign success. Google providesconversion tracking code for free.

5. Not Tying Your Conversion Tracking Into Your Google Analytics

Speaking of free, Google Analytics is one of the most powerful marketing tools out there, and it too is free. As a bonus, if you connect your AdWords conversion trackingto your Google Analytics, you can see all kinds of data your campaign is generating.

6. Unnecessarily Over-paying for Positioning

Most Google advertisers understand that AdWords is a live, 24/7 auction by keyword--the cost of your click is influenced by what all advertisers bidding on it are willing to pay. When you have a well-optimized campaign, chances are you don't have to pay top dollar to capture the first ad position...and nor does the number one position always suit you, the advertiser, best. You need to understand how the entire AdWords marketplace works, including Google's Quality Score, and how to best manage your campaign by keyword or goal.

7. Sending All the Traffic to Your Website's Homepage

Most campaigns benefit from driving traffic to unique "landing pages" where the searcher can more easily connect with the information they seek, rather than dumping them onto the homepage of your website and hoping they find what they came to your site for.

8. Not Conducting A/B Split Tests

Split testing allows you to serve two different versions of ad copy for the same keyword, or to take visitors to two different landing pages, all so you can test if one version of ad copy or landing page clearly outperforms another.

If you're managing your AdWords campaign yourself, it will be easier for you to tackle these fixes one at a time than all at once. Along the way, see how they improve your campaign performance...but don't forget to capture baseline performance metrics so you have something to judge against!

Use Trademark™ and Registered® Symbols in Your Ads to Increase Click-Through Rates

Do you or one of your clients have a registered or trademarked company name? If so, try putting the trademarked or registered symbol in your PPC ads to help increase click-through rates.

The reasoning behind this strategy and how it may help increase your click-through rates is two-fold:

1. It will help your PPC ad stand apart from other competitor ads in the SERPs.

2. It will help ensure confidence in consumers that you are a professional business.

I tried this as a test in my clients’ ads and I saw click-through rates as high as 4%.

Please note that not just anyone can insert the registered or trademarked logos in their ads, unless of course you are officially trademarked or registered with the state and/or federal government.

Trademark: A trademark is a way of protecting words, sounds, logos, names, symbols or colors that distinguish goods or services.  Some examples of trademarks are the “I” in ipod for Apple, the shape of a Coke bottle for Coka Cola or Mickey Mouse for Disney.

According to About.com, you can use the symbols TM for trademark or SM for service mark to indicate that you are claiming rights to the marks without having federal registration. However, use of the TM and SM symbols may be governed by different local, state, or foreign laws.

Registered: The federal registration symbol® can only be used after the mark is actually registered in the USPTO. Even though an application may be pending, the registration symbol may not be used before the mark has actually become registered.

How to add the trademark or registered symbol to your ads:

The quickest way I have found to add these symbols to your PPC ads is to simply find another company who has used the symbol and copy and paste. As a matter of fact, you can copy and paste the symbols I have used here in this article and use them!

My theory in paid search is to try everything. What works for one may not work for another, but at least you’ll know whether or not it works if you just try it.  To try it in your PPC ads make sure the name of your company is trademarked or actually registered.  Put the name of the company or trademarked verbiage in the title of your description with the symbol.  Wait at least a week or until the ads gets at least 100 clicks, then determine if it was successful. Remember, the higher your click-through rates are the better your quality scores are.  So keep testing those ads!

How to Make AdWords Paid Search Work for You – 7 Important Steps

PPC can be very hard at times. You're balancing accounts, budgets, tasks – it's a constant effort to keep up.

At the same time, you have to keep the customer at the forefront of all you do – because at the end of the day, you're managing their money. It's also important to set time aside to do things outside of the normal day to day routine to make your AdWords PPC accounts work better for you – as well as your client. Below are some key steps for you to follow:

1. Be Proactive

There's nothing worse than when a client brings something to your attention that you should have caught. You have to stay on top of your campaigns at all times.

Use filters to do quick views of the data, such as keywords below the first page bid. Check your Dimensions tab – did things change from the previous day?

Staying on top of your PPC game is key to being successful. Are there other AdWords functions that you can be taking advantage of, such as remarketing or site links?

2. Develop Checklists

Creating daily, weekly, and monthly checklists can be invaluable, especially for keeping a check on key metrics such as budget pacing, performance, and identifying issues.

Consulting my daily PPC checklist is the first thing I do when I come in after I make my cup of tea. It has helped me not only be more proactive, but stay on the pulse of what's going on with my accounts.

3. Know Your Client's Business

This is very important to ensure the success of your PPC campaign. Knowing your customer's business allows you to create more effective ad copy, better targeted keywords, and more effective landing pages.

Take the time to really understand what your client does, who their target audience is, and what their pain points are.

4. Check Out the Competition

Learning what your customer's competition is doing can be very helpful in crafting your PPC campaign. Several tools can provide what your keywords your competitors are bidding on, as well as their ad copy.

You can also get an idea of what they are spending for paid search, so you can determine how much or how little they are playing in the space. This can be very useful if you're looking at budget changes or new campaign launches.

5. Network Internally and Externally

PPC is always about learning. If you work in a larger company that has various people working on paid search, do a lunch get together and share experiences.

One company I worked for used to have everyone bring a "problem" client to the meeting, and everyone would provide feedback and ideas on how to improve the performance. Everyone has different levels of experience, and everyone brings something unique to the table.

Capitalize on sharing the knowledge. If you work for a smaller company and don't have others you can mentor with in-house, network outside of your company through meet-up groups and community activities.

6. Keep up With Industry News

With AdWords changing almost daily, it's critical to keep up with the news. This should be part of your daily task list.

The AdWords Blog provides up to the minute product changes in AdWords. In addition, there are a lot of great industry sites such as Search Engine Watch.

Knowing the latest industry news is also important to share with your client as well – it shows you are taking an active role in their account, and providing them with new insights.

7. Look Beyond Paid Search

Being in paid search doesn't mean that we always have to be wearing that hat. Look for other opportunities with your client outside of PPC, such as social or SEO. Providing marketing expertise in other areas establishes you as a true partner with your customer – not just the person who manages their paid search.

Think AdWords Doesn’t Work? Here’s What You’re Doing Wrong

Here are the top four areas of PPC that need the most improvement – and what you can do to fix the problems.

Problem #1: Not Spending Enough Time in Your Account

The number 1 reason that most AdWords advertisers fail is that they don’t log in enough. It’s straight-up laziness. If you want to get ROI from AdWords, you have to actually log in and do work in your account!

In our survey, we found that:

• Only 1% of small business advertisers work on their account every week
• Over half (53%) of SMBs only optimize their ads once per quarter
• Over 40% of advertisers haven’t added a single negative keyword in the past month

This is pretty abysmal.

How to fix it:

Commit to logging into your AdWords account at least once per week. Even 30 minutes to an hour an day will make a huge difference. Put out any major fires, then spend some time making optimizations, such as:

• Testing new ad copy
• Adding extensions to your ads
• Creating a new landing page
• Setting new negative keywords
• Etc.

Problem #2: Bad Landing Pages, and Not Enough of Them

The landing page is your last chance to turn a click into a conversion. Even if you get everything else right in your campaigns, dropping the ball on your landing pages will kill your ROI. The small businesses we looked at need a lot of help in this area:

• More than 1 in 4 AdWords accounts send all their PPC traffic to the same landing page.
• 1 in 5 small businesses send all their PPC clicks to the home page.
• Less than half of small businesses have conversion tracking installed.

How to fix it:

• Try to create a unique landing page for every ad group. Make sure the messaging is relevant to your ads. Don’t send all your traffic to one generic page!
• A/B test your landing pages to optimize conversion rates. Try changing your headline or call to action, moving the location of the form or color of the button, or adding visual cues that “show” visitors where to go on the page.

Problem #3: Poor Mobile Optimization

Google has pulled out all the stops lately when it comes to mobile advertising, launching new mobile ad types and generally making it much easier for advertisers to target mobile traffic and make the most of their mobile spending. But most small businesses aren’t taking advantage of the opportunity:

• Only 5% of SMB accounts have call extensions in all their mobile campaigns. (Call extensions increase mobile CTR by 10%!)
• Fewer than 20% of AdWords accounts have mobile-preferred ads.

Now that all accounts have been auto-upgraded to Enhanced Campaigns, you’re advertising on mobile whether you want to or not. The least you can do is make sure your mobile clicks count.

How to fix it:

• Write mobile-preferred ads – Context matters. Mobile users need a tailored ad experience. For example, you might want to use a different call to action, since mobile users are often closer to the end of the conversion funnel.
• Enable call extensions – Most mobile conversion are initiated by a phone call, so make it as easy as possible for users to call you.
• Analyze your mobile CPA – For some businesses, mobile clicks are actually worth more, so allocate your budget accordingly.

Problem #4: Low Relevancy, Low Quality Scores

Quality Score is Google’s way of measuring how relevant your ads are – to the keywords you’re bidding on, to the users who see them, to your landing pages, and to whatever it is you’re actually selling. If everything is relevant across the board, you get more clicks, and that leads to higher Quality Scores.

Low Quality Scores are a sign of low relevance. For example, if you have an ad for high-heel pumps that shows up when someone is looking for pool pumps, your ad is irrelevant to what they really want. Unfortunately, “sort of relevant” isn’t really good enough – if someone is looking for high-heel pumps and you send them to the home page of your giant online shoe store, they’re going to click away and not convert.

The average Quality Score for small business AdWords accounts is 5. That could be worse, but it could be a lot better – for every point that you can raise your Quality Score above a 5, you save more and more money. With a QS of 10, you save 50% on your cost per click and 80% on your cost per conversion.

How to fix it:

• Regularly incorporate new keywords into your account. As you do so, break down larger keyword groups into smaller, more targeted clusters.
• Run multiple versions of your ads, then keep the best performing version.
• Enable ad extensions. They reliably increase click-through rate and Quality Score.
• Bid on brand terms. These high-CTR ads lift the average Quality Score of your whole account.