I Just Reduced Head Term CPCs by 93%
TweetI work in one of the most competitive PPC markets. (period) While Education paid search may get less attention than Insurance or Banking for cutthroat tactics and out of this world CPCs, it truly is one of the most expensive and competitive markets out there. Moving from B2B, then to Retail Electronics, and now to Education has truly been an eye opener in the world of cost per click. CPCs range from the mid teens up into the $50 range on a normal day. Certain head terms can easily reach the $60 mark with bids to even get an impression at over $100. So how did I reduce a HEAD TERM CPC by over 90%?! Easy. I found a corner of the Internet that no one was standing in; Google Image Search! That’s right, Image Search for head terms. Until recently, your standard AdWords campaign would display within most properties in Google; Search, News, Images, etc. Google introduced a new Image Search layout a short time ago, and with that came a new image search ad format. This left and extreme amount of companies and agencies in the AdWords marketplace NOT bidding on terms in Image Search! Thanks for the private auction, Google. In a space where very few people are playing, until this article is read, competition is almost nonexistent. I managed to create a few campaigns to cover brand and some very expensive head terms. WAIT…now before you say, “C’mon man, image search ads were tested in 2008!”, realize that this rolled out somewhat recently. Tests are always happening, but this is now out there for everyone. And I do realize some retailers are already doing this, but No One in the edu space has touched it…until now. Have you checked the competition in your vertical? WAIT AGAIN…what does this do for leads or conversions? Not a lot, but the incremental leads gained are just that. It’s a space where we were not present and now we are. It’s also very good visibility (think display) to our brand. For the price, you can’t beat it. (until it gets more competitive) OK Proceed… The head terms in which I am getting traffic for from Image Search is extremely valuable from a branding and upper-funnel standpoint. After a few days of trafficking, I realized a 93% reduction in CPCs for head terms. It was truly an amazing outcome. Google...
Read MoreQualities of a SEM
TweetInterested in Everything I’ve marketed hard hats, concert wristbands, trophies, gas station nozzles, ear plugs, plasma TVs and water pumps. I now know way too much about every single one of those things. To write truly effective ad copy and target the best keywords, you need to know about the product you’re trying to sell. Obsessed with Numbers Maybe it’s a bit of the OCD kicking in. Maybe it’s a hidden need to stare at numbers all day. Whatever it is, I love to analyze everything SEM. Click through rates, bounce rate, open rates, return on investment, and conversion rate – they’re all exciting to track and improve. You won’t be able to measure and improve your campaigns if you aren’t addicted to the numbers. Plus, numbers will never lie to you. They are a trustworthy group. Thinks Charts and Graphs are Sexy Is that a data point on your line graph, or are you just happy to see me? Sure, you already love numbers and your brain is practically a virtual pie chart. What about your clients or your boss? They do not want to see a spreadsheet full of numbers. Dress it up! People love to see their numbers in chart form; it’s a scientific fact. Intelligently Competitive I grew up in a house with 4 brothers and 2 sisters, and played varsity sports all through high school. I know a little something about competition. It’s great to have a competitive nature in SEM. That’s what makes you want to have a higher CTR and Conversion Rate every month. It will help you succeed. However, you have to control it and pick your battles. You never want to get into a bidding war in order to be in a number one ad position. You will lose the ROI game. And that’s no good. More on emotional bidding. Best Friend is a Thesaurus Webster and I have had some amazing wonderful fantastic times! In addition to learning everything you can about the product, a thesaurus or the PPC equivalent Keyword Tool, is essential to finding more keywords and writing ad variations. You can never have enough keyword synonyms in an ad campaign. Customers use the craziest words to find your products. Make sure you’re bidding on those crazy words! Good Enough is Not an Option Wow, I have a 14% conversion rate! I look like a hero to...
Read MoreI Raised the Flag of PPC Fraud
TweetA client recently contacted me because they were concerned that their former PPC bid management company overcharged them for their services and inflated bid costs. Since I’ve been managing their PPC accounts over the past 6 months, they have reduced costs by over 45%, increased their clickthrough rate by 30%, and increased their conversion rate by over 4 times – all while growing revenue by 37%. Before I took over the account, I was able to get a keyword report from the company that I stole the business from. Their report was full of over-priced and under-performing keywords. It was a classic case of a PPC management company just paying for position and not worrying about ROI. They carelessly spent 10’s of thousands of dollars of my client’s money on poor keywords. By focusing on conversion and ROI, I have made such huge improvements to their PPC accounts that my client is actually auditing their former PPC manager. They feel that the company must have been inflating bid cost and passing the cost along to them. I really hope that they don’t find fraud, because the poor bidding job they did in the past was bad enough. What’s the takeaway? Make sure you hire someone that will care about your profitability. Also make sure they are open with their information. No one should be denying you access to your own AdWords account; that’s where bid inflation can easily be hidden. Finally, the number one easiest way to avoid bid inflation is to use your own credit card and don’t let the company invoice you for the click spend. There is nothing more legit than a charge straight from Google. Happy...
Read MoreEmotional PPC Bidding
TweetEmotions tend to run high when involved with any type of bidding. Be it a fine piece of art, classic car, or a keyword. Many people cannot let go of the human emotion when they are trying to outbid the person next to them. All common sense is out of the door. They turn the bidding into a full out competition. Winning is the only option their ego will allow. This is a very well known phenomenon in the auction house and eBay setting. How many advertising professionals realize that they are partaking in the same type of competition? The advertiser is not always the one to blame. If you have the luxury of working in an organization with a big online marketing team, then perhaps the individual is responsible for her own accounts. Blame away! But, in many cases there is one person in the company who controls all PPC and online marketing. If this person was in control 100% of the time, emotional bidding could be blamed on him as well. However, in many of my experiences there is an outside influence…coming from the inside…from behind a nice desk….in the largest office in the building. Yes, it is our beloved CEO / business owner. This woman built the company from scratch and knows the product inside out. When she searches Google for a product that she sells, she wants (needs) her company to show up before all of her competitors. She’s invested too much time and energy to be “beat” by her competitors in the PPC game. It’s purely an emotional ad position competition. Fact: An ad in the number one position does not necessarily mean it’s the number one performing ad. The next step our CEO takes is walking down to the one man team that manages her company’s PPC bids. She will demand that her company is in the number one position for all of her favorite keywords. Some PPC managers will listen and do whatever their boss says and blindly raise bids; others may put up a fight. I’m telling you now, put up a fight. How to fight the CEO and not lose your job: Bidding for position is important. And testing the number one position should be part of your everyday practice. Sometimes it pays off and sometimes it’s a hole in your wallet. You won’t know what works if you don’t...
Read MoreRed Monday
TweetLet’s take a break from counting our money, Retailers. Do we realize what we have just done? This past weekend we encouraged the same type of spending habits that wiped out our economy a short time ago. We dazzled, wooed and begged the American people to spend their money so they could ‘save’ X percent on something they didn’t need. It feels good doesn’t it? It feels great to be deep in the black for a month out of the year. Who cares about Joe Samson, who just spent $800 on a flat screen instead of saving that money for his mortgage? I’m sure he’ll be fine when he loses his job next month. Americans are great at holding grudges on all sorts of things. But why is it that we have such a short memory of a financial crisis? Terrorists touch a few thousand of us and we are angry at them forever. It is justified. But why are we not irate towards retailers and financial institutions that extend infinite credit to individuals who cannot afford it? They are ruining tens of thousands of lives. Overall, consumers had an average of 5.4 retail cards with a total of over $900 billion in outstanding debt. (Source: Nielsen Report, April 2009) That is ridiculous. I’m not suggesting that American’s do not spend anything this holiday season. I am simply saying that we overdo it every year. We need to stop accumulating debt. If we learn to balance our checkbooks (debit cards) then retailers and financial institutions can learn to balance their finances as well. Try to be frugal this year. Look like a cheapskate for once. It’s not that embarrassing. Try to make something that has more sentimental value than a plastic-wrapped gadget. Happy holidays. Try to stay out of the red this year! Background: I have worked in the eCommerce industry for over 4 years. I advertise online for a number of clients that spend thousands of dollars every week in search marketing. I am in the belly of the...
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