Post on 12-Jul-2015
How to Beat the Odds in AdWords with Competitive
Intelligence
#PPCcompetition
Join the conversation on Twitter
#PPCcompetition
@SEMrush
@WordStream
#PPCcompetition
Today’s Presenters
Navah HopkinsCustomer Success Specialist,
WordStream
@navahf
Michael StrickerMarketing Director,
SEMrush
@RadioMS
Headshot
#PPCcompetition
What is your PPC budget in 2015?
a. Less than $999 per month
b. $1,000 - $2,499 per month
c. $2,500 - $9,999 per month
d. $10,000 - $19,999 per month
e. $20,000+ per month
#PPCcompetition
How long does your average campaign run?
a. Up to one month
b. Up to three months
c. Up to six months
d. At least six months
#PPCcompetition
Do you manage your own PPC?
a. I direct the PPC manager
b. I am the PPC manager
c. I direct the PPC agency
d. An automated platform manages my PPC
#PPCcompetition
Sleuthing for Data
What does it take to pass
a PPC audit?(and can I?)
Account AuditsBenchmarking Success
and Avoiding Set-Backs
Focused Analysis - Audit Campaigns Regularly!
• Campaign Health
• Ad Group Size and Focus
• Keywords, Match-types, and Bidding
#PPCcompetition
Audit Competitors – Early and Often!
• SWOT Analysis
• what to avoid
• what to emulate
• GOAL: Data-based decisions
#PPCcompetition
Audit Competitors – Budget Allocation
• Audit your Competitors, too!
• SWOT Analysis
• what to avoid
• what to emulate
• GOAL: Data-based decisions
#PPCcompetition
Audit Competitors – Traffic VS Traffic Price
• Audit your Competitors, too!
• SWOT Analysis
• what to avoid
• what to emulate
• GOAL: Data-based decisions
#PPCcompetition
Audit Competitors – Keywords and Traffic Cost
• Keywords and Traffic Cost
Domains’ Total AdWords Keywords and Traffic Cost
#PPCcompetition
0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
1,400,000
1,600,000
1,800,000
Cars.com Edmunds.com AutoTrader.com CarGurus.com KBB.com
Keywords
Traffic Cost
• Traffic and Traffic Cost
Competitor Domains’ Traffic and Cost for that Traffic
#PPCcompetition
0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
1,400,000
1,600,000
1,800,000
Cars.com Edmunds.com AutoTrader.com CarGurus.com KBB.com
Traffic
Traffic Cost
Audit Competitors – Traffic and Traffic Cost
• Cost / Keyword and Cost / Traffic
Competitors Cost / Keyword and Cost / Unit of Traffic
#PPCcompetition
Audit Competitors – Cost per Traffic Unit
$0.00
$2.00
$4.00
$6.00
$8.00
$10.00
$12.00
$14.00
Cars.com Edmunds.com AutoTrader.com CarGurus.com KBB.com
Cost/Keyword
Cost/Unit of Traffic
How much time/money
should I spend on PPC?
Time is MoneySpend Both, Wisely
How Much Time Should I Spend on PPC?
• How much time are you spending on PPC?
• How much time is ideal?
#PPCcompetition
How Much Time Should I Spend on PPC?
• Save Time to Go Beyond AdWords Dashboard:
• Prepare Reports
• Check competition’s budgets and efficiencies
• Total Spend
• Spend per Keywords
• Spend per Unit of Traffic
• Research new Keywords that Work!
#PPCcompetition
How Much Time Should I Spend on PPC?
• Can I get good results with 20 minutes per day?
#PPCcompetition
Spend Your Budget Wisely – Including Time!
• 20 minute PPC work week = work smart, not hard
• Know your industry and optimize for transactions
• Leverage Targeting and Auto-bidding
• Invest in a robust negative keyword list
• Chase tail (long-tail that is!)
#PPCcompetition
Where should my PPC
focus be, and am I
focused enough?
AdWords vs. BingWhich is For Me?
Is there a Place for Both?
• Cons of AdWords-only approach?
• Pros of an integrated approach?
• Trade-offs? Time? Return?
• How will you know when you need more network?
#PPCcompetition
How do I generate action
items from data?
Turn Data
into Action
How Do I Keep From Drowning in Data?
• Think ROIs, KPIs (CPA) VS ‘noisy’ metrics
• Automate data reports
• Leverage competitor dataResearch Paid KWs that perform – for others! Save time, effort, money. Emulate winners; shun losers
• Triple Witching ▲ Ads Traffic rising ▲ Ads Keywords rising▼ while Ads Traffic Price falls
• Cost / Keyword instead of number of Keywords
• Cost / Traffic Unit (CPC) instead of bid rates
#PPCcompetition
• Ad A• 2,423 Impressions
• 453 clicks (1.4% CTR)
• Average Position: 2.8
• Ad B• 36,223 Impressions
• 760 clicks (2.1% CTR)
• Average Position: 3.0
Pick the Winner
#PPCcompetition
•
• SEMrush new PLA Tool with rapid updates on popular items prices, images, appearance in SERPs.
Metrics That Move You – Google Shopping
#PPCcompetition
Metrics That Move You
• Google Trends
• The case of the disappearing skirt
• The case of the changing lexicon
• Extensions give you more real estate and more user interaction data
#PPCcompetition
Turning Data into Action Items
• Focus on transactional users VS aspirational users
Go beyond “money words” to detect transactional intent with “buy”
words. (See the Ebook for a list!)
• ID winners; steal KWs; steal Ads text; counter offers; price check
• High impressions + low CTR = Negative Keywords are needed!
• CPA tinkering based on event and device trends
#PPCcompetition
I got got the click –
now what?
Highway to the
Danger ZoneWhen Landing Pages Don’t Convert
Bad-News Bears Landing Pages
#PPCcompetition
Strong Landing Pages…
Deliver on the ad’s promise.
Adding keywords from the PPC campaign led to 144% increase in conversions for a marketing solutions company.
Are conversion focused – across all devices!
Mobile optimized landing pages led to 153% increase in conversions for Deluxe.
Aren’t one size fits all.
Companies with 40+ landing pages get 12X more leads than those with 5 or less.
#PPCcompetition
Examples of Strong Landing Pages
#PPCcompetition
Headshot
#PPCcompetition
Thanks for Joining Us!
Keep Learning!(It’s free!)
EBook: How to Beat the Odds in AdWords with Competitive Intelligence
Article: The Great Debate: Google AdWords vs. Bing Ads
Infographic: Google AdWords Vs Yahoo Bing Network
Infographic: 18 Mind-Blowing Landing Page Stats
Worksheet: The 20- Minute PPC Work Week Checklist
AdWords Performance Grader
AdWords Landing Page Grader
#PPCcompetition
Special Offers
I would like…
A. FREE 1-on-1 AdWords & Landing Page Audit
B. WordStream Advisor: 20 Minute Work Week Demo
C. SEMrush FREE Trial 30-Day Guru: http://bit.ly/Free30SEMrush
D. I don’t need any help with my PPC
#PPCcompetition
Questions?
Headshot
#PPCcompetition
We’d love to hear from you!
marketingteam@wordstream.com
michael.stricker@semrush.com