Develop a Paid Search Strategy that Delivers Greater ROI

Greg Jarboe

President and co-founder of SEO-PR

Ragan’s Google for Communicators Virtual Bootcamp

May 13, 2020

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Some assembly required to develop a paid search strategy for Google Ads that delivers greater ROI

• Develop a budget for Google Ads that makes sense for your marketing goals.

• Follow a few easy steps to create and adjust a successful Search campaign.

• Employ several simple tactics to create an effective Display campaign.

• Try the free YouTube Video Builder to launch a high-quality Video campaign.

• Use Optimize for A/B testing and Performance Planner to maximize ROI.

• Learn from successes and mistakes.

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Tell Google your organization’s marketing goal and you’ll get a tailored set of campaign types and tools

• Click on what you want to achieve and an interactive Google tool will show you what’s right for your business.• Drive an increase in sales.

• Reach the right users to get qualified leads.

• Get the right people to visit your website.

• Encourage people to explore what you offer.

• Get your brand in front of new customers.

• Promote your app across Google properties.

Source: Google Ads, Explore Advanced Campaigns and Advertising Strategies 3

If brand awareness or consideration is your goal, then a subset of campaigns and tools are suggested

• Best campaign types:• Display campaigns capture attention with

compelling visual ads.

• Video campaigns bring your company’s story to life with video.

• Useful tools:• Keyword Planner offers suggested bid

estimates for each keyword.

• Reach Planner helps you target the YouTube audiences that matter most.

• YouTube Video Builder animates static assets – images, text, and logos – with free music from YouTube’s library.

Source: Google Ads, Explore Advanced Campaigns and Advertising Strategies 4

If your goal is website traffic, leads, or sales, then Google suggests using all campaign types and tools

• All campaign types can play a role:• Search campaigns can reach people who

are interested in what you offer.

• Display campaigns can retarget the people who’ve visited your site before.

• TrueView for action campaigns can add prominent calls-to-action (CTAs), headline text overlays, an end-screen, and sitelinks to your video ads.

• Helpful tools:• Keyword Planner offers suggested bid

estimates for each keyword.

• Reach Planner helps you target the YouTube audiences that matter most.

Source: Google Ads, Explore Advanced Campaigns and Advertising Strategies 5

Google Surveys asks people why they visited your site and if they successfully completed their goals

• Website satisfaction survey is free.• Overall, how satisfied are you with this

website?

• What, if anything, do you find frustrating or unappealing about this website?

• What is your main reason for visiting this website today?

• Did you successfully complete your main reason for visiting this website today?

• Custom website surveys are cheap. • You can create additional surveys with

customized questions for 1¢ per response or $5.00 for 500 responses.

Source: Google Surveys Help, Website Satisfaction 6

Get started with your first Search campaign by taking a few basic and a couple of advanced steps

• Pick the right keywords.• Choose relevant keywords for effective

targeting.

• Align your keywords with your overall business goals.

• Write great text ads.• Write ads that tell people what you offer.

• Enhance your ad with the right extensions.

• Set your budget.• Set a daily budget and cost per click.

• Use Smart Bidding to optimize for conversions or conversion value.

Source: Google Ads, Get Started with Google Ads: Create a Campaign 7

Average cost-per-click (CPC) for Google Ads is $2.69 for search and $0.63 for display across 18 industries

• Average CPC for legal services is $6.75 for search and $0.72 for display.• So, if a lawyer wanted 10 clicks a day,

then he or she would need to budget about $67.50 a day ($2,025 a month) for search ads and $7.20 a day ($216 a month) for display ads.

• Average CPC for advocacy and nonprofit groups is $1.43 for search and $0.62 for display.• So, if a nonprofit wanted 10 clicks a day,

then it would need to budget about $14.30 a day ($429 a month) for search ads and $6.20 a day ($186 a month) for display ads.

Source: Mark Irvine, The WordStream Blog, “Google Ads Benchmarks for YOUR Industry,” Aug. 27, 2019 8

Create goals from a template in Google Analytics and assign them a goal value or select Smart Goals

• Google Analytics has Goal templates to help you set actionable goals for standard organizational objectives.• The four goal categories are: Revenue,

Acquisition, Inquiry, and Engagement.

• Assign a monetary value to each goal.• This gives you a way to compare

conversions and measure changes and improvements to your site.

• Or, set up Smart Goals.• If you aren’t yet measuring conversions,

Smart Goals uses machine learning to optimize your Google Ads performance.

Source: Google Analytics Help, Create, edit, and share goals 9

The average cost-per-action (CPA) is $48.96 for search and $75.51 for display across 18 industries

• Average CPA for B2B companies is $116.13 for search and $130.36 for display.• So, if a B2B company wanted 10 leads a

day, then it would need to budget about $1,161.30 a day ($34,839 a month) for search ads and $1,303.60 a day ($39,108 a month) for display ads.

• Average CPA for autos is $33.52 for search and $23.68 for display.• So, if a car dealer wanted 10 leads a day,

then he or she would need to budget about $335.20 a day ($10,056 a month) for search ads and $236,80 a day ($7,104 a month) for display ads.

Source: Mark Irvine, The WordStream Blog, “Google Ads Benchmarks for YOUR Industry,” Aug. 27, 2019 10

Employ several simple tactics to create an effective Display campaign for the Google Display Network

• The Google Display Network reaches 90% of Internet users worldwide.• It includes 2 million websites and apps.

• Get started with several simple tactics.• Choose the right format: Select from

image or rich media ads, text-based banner ads, or image ads in mobile apps.

• Reach the right people: Connect with more potential customers with Google’s targeting options like keywords, demographics, location, and remarketing.

• Set your budget: Only pay for results, like when people click your ad to visit your website.

Source: Google Ads, Google Ads Tutorials: Building successful Display campaigns 11

Create Smart Display campaigns, which automate and then optimize your targeting, bidding, and ads

• Powered by Google’s machine learning, Smart Display campaigns combine your headlines and images to create responsive display ads. • A Smart Display campaign can

automatically find new and existing customers, set the right bids, and create engaging ads that adapt to any screen or ad space across the web and apps.

• On average, advertisers who’ve used Smart Display campaigns have seen 20% more conversions at the same cost per action (CPA) compared to their other display campaigns.

12Source: Google Ads, “Google Ads Tutorials: Creating a Smart Display campaign,” Dec. 3, 2018

If your marketing goal is lifting brand awareness or consideration, then how do you measure results?

• Before a campaign, we used Google Surveys to ask our target audience:• Are you familiar with Rutgers University?

• How likely are you to recommend Rutgers University to a friend or colleague?

• After the campaign, we asked our target audience the same questions.• Percentage of respondents who were

familiar with Rutgers increased from 13.8% pre-launch to 18.5% post-launch.

• Percentage of respondents who were very likely to recommend Rutgers to a friend or colleague increased from 16.7% pre-launch to 19.0% post-launch.

Source: The Measurement Advisor, “Rutgers Master’s Launch Boosts Enrollment,” Sept. 30, 2019

0.00%

2.00%

4.00%

6.00%

8.00%

10.00%

12.00%

14.00%

16.00%

18.00%

20.00%

Familiar with RutgersUniversity

Very likely to recommendRutgers University to a

friend or colleague

13.80%

16.70%18.50% 19.0%

Google Surveys

Pre-launch Post-launch

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Display ads can generate traffic, leads, and sales as well as boost brand awareness and consideration

• We also evaluated the new users and leads generated by our ad campaigns.• Our Search campaign generated 11% of

our new users, but 18% of the leads.

• Our Display campaign generated 81% of our new users, but 37% of the leads.

• Both ad campaigns generated 21 applications for the new program, worth up to $798,366 in tuition.• So, if you focus too narrowly on just the

ad campaign that delivered the most bang for your buck, then you may be leaving a lot of money on the table.

Source: The Measurement Advisor, “Rutgers Master’s Launch Boosts Enrollment,” Sept. 30, 2019

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Search campaign Display campaign

11%

81%

18%

37%

Google Analytics

New users Leads

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Given the current environment, many businesses are using videos to communicate with consumers

• Morning Consult is surveying consumers on ads during the COVID-19 pandemic to analyze how brands can successfully communicate with consumers during this difficult time.• They survey over 500 adults per ad.

• As an ad plays, respondents rate their reactions by moving a dial from unfavorable to favorable on a scale of 100 (favorable) to -100 (unfavorable).

• DoorDash’s video, “Open for Delivery,” has one of the highest shares of “positive impressions,” with 84%.

Source: Morning Consult, DoorDash 15

Video creation is fast, easy, and free with YouTube Video Builder, which was just launched on April 14

• For businesses who don’t have the resources to create videos from scratch, Video Builder can help.

• It’s a free beta tool that animates static assets – images, text and logos – with free music from YouTube’s library.

• You can choose from a variety of layouts based on your message and goals, customize colors and font and quickly generate a short YouTube video that’s 6 seconds or 15 seconds long.

Source: How to use Video Builder 16

Video Builder was launched just a month ago, but it’s already been used by a variety of businesses

• Different businesses have different creative needs.• Havenly, an online platform offering

interior design services, has used Video Builder to enable their small team to spin out high quality creative with increased velocity while sheltering in place.

• Which Wich Superior Sandwiches, a fast casual restaurant chain, has used Video Builder to communicate changing hours or promotions.

• Central Market, a gourmet grocery store chain, has used Video Builder to highlight new services like curbside pickup.

Source: Google Ads Blog, “Video creation is fast, easy and free with YouTube Video Builder,” April 14, 2020 17

If you’re interested in trying out the YouTube Video Builder beta, then you need to sign up for access

• You need “Owner” or “Manager” access to your YouTube channel.• If the channel is managed by someone

else, they need to give you permission.

• You should have the legal rights to use all the images or logos in the video. • These could be from your website,

display ad campaigns, social media assets, or even photos you’ve taken yourself.

• YouTube Video Builder is optimized for Google Chrome.• Use the latest version to avoid any issues.

Source: Google Ads Help, “Create a video using Video Builder (Beta)” 18

Google knows that this is a difficult time for people everywhere, including small business owners here

• To help address some of these challenges, Google has committed $800+ million to support small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and other organizations. • This includes $340 million in Google Ads credits to all SMBs with active accounts over the

past year that can be used at any point until the end of 2020 across advertising platforms.

• It includes $250 million in ad grants to help the World Health Organization (WHO) and more than 100 government agencies globally provide critical information on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

• It includes a $200 million investment fund that will support NGOs and financial institutions around the world to help provide small businesses with access to capital.

• It includes a pool of $20 million in Google Cloud credits for academic institutions and researchers to leverage our computing capabilities and infrastructure as they study potential therapies and vaccines, track critical data, and identify new ways to combat COVID-19.

• It also includes direct financial support and expertise to help increase the production capacity for personal protective equipment (PPE) and lifesaving medical devices.

19Source: Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, “A message from our CEO,” Mar 27, 2020

Google knows that this is a difficult time for people everywhere, including small business owners here

• Google has committed $800+ million to support small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and organizations.

• This includes $340 million in Google Ads credits to all SMBs with active accounts over the past year that can be used at any point until the end of 2020 across advertising platforms.

• They’ve also launched a rising retail categories tool on Think with Google that surfaces fast-growing, product-related categories in Google Search.

20Source: Think with Google, “Rising Retail Categories,” Mar 27, 2020

So, keep your customers informed, adjust your advertising, and adapt to new customer behavior

• You should update your Google Ads to keep your current and potential customers up to date.• This includes changes to your offerings,

inventory, or hours.

• You may need to adjust your budget or pause your Google Ads campaigns.• Even Google is cutting about half of its

marketing budget for H2 2020.

• How is customer behavior changing in your local market and industry?• Google Trends has unexpected insights.

21Source: Google Trends, Coronavirus daily search insights

While you work remotely, you could learn how to create a simple A/B test using Google Optimize

• An A/B test is a randomized experiment using two or more variants of the same web page. • Variant A is the original and variant B

through n each contain at least one element modified from the original.

• For your first A/B test, start small.• Test a change to a Call To Action (CTA),

change the color of a button, or remove an extraneous form field.

• Once you’re comfortable creating variants and experiments, you can expand the scope of your testing.

Source: Google Analytics, Create a new experiment in Optimize 22

While you stay at home, you should also see if you can maximize your ROI with Performance Planner

• Performance Planner lets you create plans for your advertising spend, and see how changes to campaigns might affect overall performance.• The Performance Planner tool takes into

account billions of search queries, and is usually updated every 24 hours.

• The accuracy of Performance Planner forecasts are measured against actual performance and machine learning is used to fine-tune your forecasts.

• The Performance Planner tool forecasts conversions based on the different types in your Google Ads performance reports.

Source: Google Ads Tutorials: Maximize ROI with Performance Planner 23

Winning awards is nice, and we’ve won our share, but generating results for your clients pays the rent

• In October 2019, our Rutgers case study was shortlisted in two different categories of the US Search Awards.• Our case study demonstrated that Digital

PR, SEO, display advertising, and search advertising can increase brand awareness and generate leads at the same time.

• So, the distinction between above- and below-the-line marketing is obsolete.

• But, even before we found out if we’d won, our client wanted us to deliver more bang for their bucks that fall.• Awards don’t put butts in seats.

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The same week we won one of the two awards, I had to report that we’d been victims of click fraud

• In early October, we started using ClickCease, which detects and blocks click fraud on Google Ads campaigns.

• We were surprised that Rutgers had experienced a high amount of fraud in the 6 out of 10 range.

• But, ClickCease click fraud protection software had prevented bots and competitors from clicking on our ads.

• So, it saved our Google Ads Search campaign 156 clicks at a CPC of $27.53, or $4,294.70 in just a week.

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Develop a paid search strategy that delivers greater ROI by learning from mistakes as well as successes

• Develop a budget for Google Ads that makes sense for your marketing goals.

• Follow a few easy steps to create and adjust a successful Search campaign.

• Employ several simple tactics to create an effective Display campaign.

• Try the free YouTube Video Builder to launch a high-quality Video campaign.

• Use Optimize for A/B testing and Performance Planner to maximize ROI.

• Learn from successes and mistakes.

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