Paid Search StrategyPresented by Buck Dossey

3/26/2011

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Name: Buck Dossey

Home town: Houston, Texas

Spent 3 years at Resolution Media developing paid search strategy

6 years in online media (IAC, Match.com, Yahoo!)

Total Computer Nerd: I love writing code and developing websites in my spare time. › I also love Pivot Tables.

Burnt Orange Blood

30 Second Intro

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Audience Challenge #1:

What is the earliest story you can remember in your life?

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My Favorite line I remember: "'When I was working in my laboratory,' Dr. Pasteur said, `I enjoyed the times when I believed in myself. In those days, I didn't always succeed. But even if I didn't, it always felt good to believe that I could.'"

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Remembered Without Any Help at All…

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The Point: Being a Great Storyteller Matters in Human Evolution, as well as Your Career’s Evolution

Audience Challenge #2:What’s the Best Way to Start a Fight at an Ad Agency?

Ask what the difference is between Strategy and

Tactics.

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Strategy = Why

Tactics = How

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Success in Paid Search means your client has already approved your strategy.

The key challenge is to communicate your strategy in a way that resonates with the client and will likely* deliver on client goals.

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If you want to have a good strategy, you first have to figure out what your story is.

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High Seasonality – 90% in 6 Weeks

Client undergoing a dramatic merger and looked to the agency to cut costs and provide marketing strategy

Challenge: Develop a Paid Search strategy that will not only capture the huge December volume, but will also eliminate overlap between two distinct brands

Client Challenge: Sirius XM

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Independent ResearchWhite board Findings “Idea Pen”› Good ideas stand the test of scrutiny

Develop a Visual Hook that Represents the Best of Group Ideas

Strategy Development Process

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The Resulting Strategy

Sirius XMCategory Terms

Brand Terms

“Satellite Radio”

“Sirius” “XM Radio”

“Satellite Radio”

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The Resulting Strategy

Combined Funnel

Rationale•Overlap Category Terms = Cost Savings•Brand Terms Preserved

Category Terms

Brand Terms

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Tactical Plan

•Category Terms• Forcefully drive down market CPCs by lowering bids in both accounts

•Brand Terms• Dominate Search Results pages with multiple ads and multiple domains

•Housekeeping• Clean up accounts• Implement best practices across both accounts (creative, misspellings, etc)

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Research Tools – Market

comScore qSearch

Hitwise

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Research Tools – Yahoo! Clues.Yahoo.com

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Research Tools - Microsoft

Microsoft Advertiser Intelligence

Microsoft Ad Labs

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Research Tools - Google

Insights for Search / Trends Keyword Tool

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Competitive Tools

SpyFu.com Compete.com

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5 Tips for Writing Effective Creative1.) Leverage your brand name

2.) Push value propositions

3.) Leverage Psychological cues in Display URLs

4.) Relevance to Keyword – Be careful with broad match

5.) Test and Learn – use even rotation to test which ads have the highest CTR

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Effective Creative Writing

1.) Leverage brand name

2.) Push value proposition

3.) Leverage Psychological cues in Display URLs

4.) Relevance to Keyword – Be careful with broad match

5.) Test and Learn – use even rotation to test which ads have the highest CTR

Keyword: Free Checking Account

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Tools for Efficiency

Google Adwords EditorMicrosoft Advertising adCenter Desktop

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Third-Party Tools like Dart and Kenshoo offer significant advantages to automate bidding

Unrealistic goals will kill your campaign. Use with Caution

Bid Strategies

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Dramatically lowered category CPCs Met client goal Cost Per Radio efficiency

metricHappy Client during turbulent timesEstablished Client Trust during highly turbulent

holiday season

Results

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It’s not just keywords, creative, and landing pagesThe Full media planning cycle appliesWarm up to the devil’s advocatesTell a Great Story first, the tactics will follow

Search is Media, Too

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Focus on creating a great story firstTactical plan will flow easily once your story is

solidCopy the best creative writers, then do it betterUse the tools at your disposal – most are free

and will make life easier

Parting Thoughts

Q&A

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