If you are reading this you are probably a digital marketer, and that too one in the Search space. Have you made any resolutions for your PPC campaigns yet? Have you committed to doing something different from what you did last year?

At Position² we have compiled a list of 7 PPC resolutions to abide by this year. We strongly believe that you will benefit from this information, a compilation of our focus areas, driven by our experiences, learning, strategies and best practices.

Wishing you the best for a fantastic and a profitable 2012! Let’s get started with the PPC’s 7 key Areas of Focus in 2012.

Get Critiqued:

Kick start 2012 with a audit of your PPC campaigns. Identify if your campaigns are hitting target metrics, measure your ROI – is it what you or your clients expected, study the pitfalls and evaluate things you have not done in a while (may be testing or adding negatives). Identify opportunities right from keywords to ads to landing pages.

PPC accounts can be audited on a variety of parameters. At Position² we use a 40 point benchmark checklist that is built on industry and Position² best practices. Our in-house experts audit across Campaign Structures, Competition, Keywords, Bid Management and Ads to name a few. At the end of the audit your campaigns receives a Best Practices Benchmark Score that tells you how effective your campaigns are.

Cut that Fat:

Evaluate your keywords thoroughly. Identify “the budget hogs”, those that eat-up your budget but do not convert or convert at a high cost per acquisition. Weed them out. Analyze your search query reports and think wisely about keywords that do not make sense for your business- add them as negatives. Dump keywords you should not be bidding on to start with.

Search space will likely get expensive by the day, so focus on common misspellings and long tail keywords for efficiency. Put yourself in the searchers shoes. What would they think of when they need your product or a service? Do they search in short phrases or long or do they search in questions?

This is not limited to just search, target content as well. Look at placement reports, find sites that are working for you and those that are not. Add negative sites. Select sites manually if that is what if required.

Be Relentless:

Conduct tests regularly in 2012 and learn from both success and failure. The flexibility to conduct tests frequently is the beauty of PPC. Testing is one sure way to improve your campaign performance. Start testing keyword positions, ads and landing pages. Test keywords in different match types.

Tests can be as simple as bumping your keywords to top positions for a day or longer and observing the impact or trying new ad messaging (text and images). Eventually you want to get to more detailed tests such as launching large MVTs or SEO VS. PPC testing for example.

Make Friends:

With SEO and Analytics that is. Do not forget, valuable learnings can be drawn from anywhere. So keep evaluating SEO and Analytics performance and reports regularly – at least once a month in our opinion.

You can get significant learnings from SEO and Analytics. For example organic headlines, title tags etc. can be tested in PPC. PPC’s quick customizability and turnaround time could benefit SEO, i.e. if you identify a winner from text ads testing, you could test that message on the site. You can also test landing pages with different designs, layout and content by drawing learnings from PPC and SEO.

It goes without saying that everything you do in digital should be measured and fed right into a robust analytics platform. Study the user behavior, do they stay on your pages once there, if so for how long, where do they go from landing pages, what is the bounce rate, time spent, depth etc.. All this information will help you optimize your PPC campaigns down to a keyword level. There are many benefits of capturing keyword level data within analytics tools, so go ahead and do that.

Improve Your Communication:

Marketing is all about communication. Paid search is no different. In PPC you have a governing principle of Quality Score (QS) that plays a major role in your visibility or lack thereof, therefore the overall performance.

Regularly monitor your QS this year. Analyze why the QS is low or high. Develop appropriate communication strategies to counter low QS. Always look for relevancy across your keywords, ads and landing pages. Modify messaging in your ads and the content on the destination pages to increase relevancy. The higher the relevancy, the higher the QS and better the performance- which means happy customers and a happy you in 2012!

Try Something New:

Go beyond regular Adowrds or MSN. Try Youtube, Linkedin, Facebook, and social and PPC integration with features like Google+ Project. Use Click-to-Call Extension, Communication Extensions and Social Extensions. All these could help you reach targeted audience and some of these, depending on your business, could be more useful than expected. Test these new features and always watch out for latest industry developments and case studies to learn what worked. Be sure to track and measure!

Train your Teams:

All of the above that you plan to accomplish this year is possible only if you have disciplined, subject matter expert, motivated and dedicated PPC professionals. So, make sure you train your employees and team members effectively. Take time out for formal education, set-up casual sessions and most importantly ensure they get enough practical exposure to PPC. If you are a single man/woman team, motivate yourself to learn. Teach yourself and learn from others.

In the spirit of learning and teaching, here are a few great sources to follow: ClickZ, SearchEngineLand, Adwords Blog, Hubspot and Sempo.

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This week’s hot news, events and videos from the online marketing and social media world.

From the Position² Blog This Week: E-Commerce and the Social Consumer – Making Online Shopping Hassle-Free Part One: Insufficient Information and Abandoned Shopping Carts. Part Two: Special Offers, After-Sales and Customer Support.

DLD 2012 – @Jack Dorsey: “Twitter Has A Business Model That Works”. “Don’t Be Evil” Tool – Backed By Facebook & Twitter – Shows Google’s “Search Plus Your World” Can Go Beyond Google+. Survey: Marketers Follow Users to More Social Sites. Social Monitoring: Listen To Social Media And Find Out What’s Trending. Infographic: How to Get More Clicks on Twitter. Paid Search: Seven Changes Search Plus Your World Brings To PPC. Data Consolidation: Google To Merge User Data Across Its Services. Enterprise SEM: What The Holidays Tell Search Marketers. Google Algorithm Update: Understanding Google’s New Page Layout Algorithm. Google Analytics Update: Update To Search Engine Optimization Reports.

Video of the Week Social Media Trends for Small Businesses. Anita Campbell, founder of Small Business Trends and BizSugar shares how social media impacts small businesses. You’ll discover which small businesses are slow to adopt social media and where social media brings the best results.

Position² Brand Monitor™ is Now Free to use! Social Media Monitoring Just Got a Whole Lot Easier With Brand Monitor™, you can: Monitor social media conversations in real-time Track brands across social media, blogs, news, discussion forums, video and photo sharing sites Get detailed analytics and in-depth reports on the entire process Sign Up for Position² Brand Monitor™!

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The Position² team was very excited when we announced the formal release of our in-house Bid Management platform late last year, and we have been seeing tremendous success in its adoption across companies. We have been developing and using it for the last four years for our existing customer base. And yes, there are still a few skeptics out there who do not realize the importance or need for automated bid management. Would you really want to use a scissor to mow your lawn?

Building A Case For Automated Bid Management

If you manage PPC campaigns with a budget of more than $50,000 per month, you will relate to the facts that we present in this graphic. There is always more competition, so you need to keep looking out for them as they affect the performance of your campaigns.

You have less time to respond: you need to be quick to take advantage of market driven changes and developments, or your competitors will. Newer technologies: search engines are constantly upgrading and modifying their systems, you need to ensure it is leveraged in the best possible way. Then there are scalability challenges associated with higher spends. More keywords, more ads, more landing pages, whew!

To top it all, everyone in your organization, including the CEO in most cases, is involved in how your search marketing is performing.

The Challenge

It is all about coverage and optimization. Coverage is about how you can reach more of your potential audience, and optimization refers to reaching them at the best possible return on investment. Let me share this example of a hypothetical book store that sells one book. The book I use in this example is ‘The Lost Symbol’ by Dan Brown, and your challenge is to reach out to all potential buyers in the most cost effective way. Two dimensions as explained below;

1. Increasing Coverage
   
   Discovery of additional keywords, so you start with a core set and keep expanding that set, hypothetically as much as you possibly can efficiently manage.
   
   What’s really important is that you need to have a fast and efficient way to discover keywords, we are dealing in the “hundred thousands of keywords” range here and you will agree that automation is the only way out.
   
   An automated system could run each keyword through a process of discovery, day in and day out without coffee breaks!
2. Increasing Returns
   
   This is the other dimension. Among the keywords that you have identified, how do you maximize your returns? As shown below, the only way is to manage each keyword individually, as each one has a unique bid-value point at which it provides the best returns. Imagine doing it manually for thousands of keywords on a daily basis.
   
   

Statistical Methods Have Evolved Too!

There were simple rules that were executed using spreadsheet based tools. This was followed by model based systems, and now complex portfolio based systems allow for more accurate bid management. So while skeptics questioned the initial inefficient methods, technology has caught up and Auto Bid Management seems to be a no brainer.



To sum it up, In a situation like this, manual bid management, and rule based systems with long campaign cycles is a sure shot recipe for diminishing returns. You need to embrace automated bid management that can provide improved performance and better returns for investments.

The Position² AutoBid Recommendation Engine



Here is a quick peek into our AutoBid Recommendation Engine. The system takes input via APIs from major search engines (it supports Google, Yahoo, Bing at this point in time). Campaign managers can configure parameters, which are primarily the target values of CPL, CPCs etc. The platform then takes over, and can make bid changes automatically or we also have provision for manual intervention. Since we provide services, we have seen this as a must have feature for nearly all our clients.

Bid Management Methodology

The engine uses complex algorithms and curve fitting programs to model the search engine bid environment and identify optimum bids. To explain it in simple words, take a look at the charts below.

Model Based Bidding:



The engine predicts expected clicks for all possible bid values, using the data collected on a minimum of 2 clicks.

If you were doing it manually, it would mean trying out all possible bid values (which is actually infinite!)

This data is then used to model a conversion rate. The model looks at how similar keywords and keywords in the same cluster have performed.

This data is used to identify the optimum CPA value for each keyword, yes each keyword. And this is done on a regular basis. If you ask why, we are operating in a dynamic environment, to get the best results you need to do it regularly.

Portfolio Based Bidding:



Extending the above, graphs are plotted for each keyword, and the optimum bids across keywords for budgets are plotted.

Does It Really Work?

We would like to share 2 case examples where we were able to improve performance significantly.

Case I – Online Books Retailer:

Like any other online books retailer, we were dealing with over 5 million titles, so it was a very complex account structure. High seasonality and event based activities, needing fast turnarounds. A significant variation in profit per unit, as prices of books had a wide range.

Here is a summary of activities across 3 key parameters: Coverage, optimization and speed.



The results are there to see – 9x increase in sales and CPA reduced by 80%



Case II – Online University:

The challenge was to get 20,000 applications for the courses in a period of 5 weeks. We were dealing with over 30 different courses and local region preferences.

Summary of activities:



Results:



Conclusion

As you can see, there’s no magic, it is a simple common sense driven approach aided by some cool technology that can help improve the performance of PPC campaigns. While there are many automated bid management systems out there, what is key is to understand whether they operate on simple rules or portfolio optimization. The performance you need will come from systems that are based on portfolio optimization.

As a simple way to see how or whether the AutoBid engine can really improve performance, you can test it out on a single use basis. We offer an online Search Marketing Efficiency scoring interface, where you can upload your data, and let our engine analyze it to come up with a report on the ideal metrics your campaign should be giving you. A sample report snapshot is below.

In case your score is less than 6, you can get substantial improvement in performance. Go ahead, it’s free and has no strings attached.

Contributed by Vinod Nambiar, Director of Global Delivery, Position²

This article is based on a webinar that was delivered by us as part of the formal launch of the AutoBid Recommendations Engine.

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Keywords are an integral part of any online advertising campaign; however what is sometimes overlooked is the equal importance of negative keywords which are word filters that disqualify ads being triggered by users search query. For instance if “iPhone” is one of your keyword, each time somebody runs a search for that keyword your ad will be displayed. If someone were to run a search for the term “iPhone problems” your ad will also be displayed, since the main keyword “iPhone” is present in the search query. To avoid bloating total impressions, with irrelevant searches it’s important to add “Problem” as your negative keyword, so that “ iPhone Problem” query wont trigger your ad.

Every search engine advertiser should be using negative keywords in their Pay Per Click (PPC) account. Having a comprehensive and well built negative keyword list will ensure targeted visits which can significantly improve not only your CTR, but your conversion rate too. However, not using negative keywords can mean that your ads show to users who aren’t interested in your business or service. This untargeted traffic can lower your keywords’ ‘Quality Scores’ and hurt your return on investment. With quality score mechanism being executed on all major PPC platforms, click through rate (CTR) is even more important now than it ever was.

It’s important to remember that over-using negative keywords can result in a very limited advertising audience. Consider all your potential keywords carefully, including negative keywords, before you add them to your account.

How to find negative keywords idea:

1.Google Keyword Tool : Place your keywords in the keyword tool box and make sure to click “synonyms” checkbox. Google shows keywords it thinks are related to your product or service. Check the Keyword column for any search queries that are irrelevant to your product or business and that you wouldn’t want triggering your ads. Click the downward-pointing arrow in the Match Type column for each keyword that you want to add as a negative match. Also, paste your URL into the “Website Content” box to see what the Google thinks what your site/pages may be about. Check the “Include other pages on my site…” checkbox to get a rounded view.

2. Search Query Report : Pull a search query report at regular intervals on your PPC account to make sure your ads are not being triggered by terms you don’t want them to appear. The new Google interface has a new feature which is somewhat hidden. It  helps you run a search query report at the ad group level without actually running a full-blown report to find additional keywords or negative keywords. Under the keywords tab, click the ‘see search terms’ drop down and click ‘all’ or ’selected’ You will see the actual search queries that displayed your ads, just like running a search query report for a particular ad group. Search queries that are not relevant to your product/services can be added as a negative keywords right from this window.  Just click the box next to that particular keyword and click ‘Add as negative keyword’.

3. Analytics : It can be an amazing source of negative keywords. Look at your organic data and not just your PPC data. If you are unsure of any terms, do a simple search for the keyword and see what results pop up. You might be surprised.

4. Use A Thesaurus: Run your main keywords through a thesaurus. There is no way you could possibly know every single synonym of your main keywords. Thesaurus not only helps in expanding your negative keyword list but also your main keyword list.

5. Industry Related: Use product and industry knowledge. Words that are similar or spelled similar to your product or service name? Terms you are certain people will be searching which are not related to your product or service or that are related and you do not offer. Remember that there are products released every day, so set up Google Alert for your keywords.

Once you’re done with adding negatives at your campaign or adgroup level, check for account performance, whether it has made any difference in terms of CTR , quality score and conversions. This is definitely not an exhaustive list on how to create a negative keyword list but it sure is a good start.

Contributed by Shweta Gaonkar

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The following post is an excerpt from an internal workshop on writing effective ads. It builds up a case to look at both “relational relevance” and “necessity relevance” when writing ads for PPC campaigns.

Introduction
How does one write ad copy that goes beyond keywords and gets to the intent and motivation of the searcher? I have used case examples of tests done by a leading marketing research site. The goal was to determine ad performance based on two types of “relevance” parameters, defined later in this post.

Relational relevance
This is identified by search engines through algorithms, matching search terms against ad content. It considers relevance of search terms to ads when making placements (assign quality score in Google Adwords jargon). But is the importance of relevance limited only to ad placement? Here we define necessity relevance.

In the study, when the ad title included the keyword it generated 147% more clicks than those that did not, with CTR almost two and a half times that of the next-highest treatment.

Necessity Relevance
This is primarily relevance of the ad in the minds of the user based on what they are searching for and the benefit the product or service provides to address the need. The study results showed that indirectly related keyword terms yielded an average CTR of 2.23%. However, the conversion rate decreased from an average of 0.8% for directly related terms to less than 0.01%. So, despite increased CTR, the indirect key terms did NOT drive subscriptions.

The real battle is not on the search results page, but in the minds of the user. What is she looking for? What does she want? You may have relational relevance wherein the terms in your headline, the search engine, and the ensuing pages all relate to one another and you receive favorable ad placement and get click-through. But, unless your offer recognizably satisfies the needs of searchers, though, these clicks will not translate to conversions. 

Takeaway tip: Ensure you have a mix of ads that satisfy both the relevance parameters defined above.
Reference: Marketing Experiments

Contributed by Deepalatha Chetty

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To the uninitiated, PPC appears very simple: buy a few keywords, serve up a few ads and close a few deals. The reality is that professionally managed and optimized keyword campaigns are actually very complex business processes that touch many facets of an organization and require many skill sets to execute properly.

The following are recommended steps for initiating, managing and optimizing PPC campaigns:

• Narrowly define product and/or service offerings

• Define market(s) for each offering

• Set measurable objectives (KPIs) for each service/market combination

• Use empathy with your prospects
  • By service/market combination, to determine keywords prospects will use when searching for your solution

• Generate keywords: thousands of them

• Cluster keywords into campaigns

• You need at least several campaigns

• Write multiple ads per campaign
  • You need at least two ads/campaign
  • Ongoing: Optimize ads to campaigns
    • Cancel the weak ones
    • Create new ones
• Create multiple landing pages
  • You need at least two landing pages/campaign
  • Ongoing: Optimize landing pages to ads
  • Perform multivariate testing of each landing page

• Determine how conversions from each campaign are defined in terms of your sales funnel

• Interface to CRM system

• Ongoing: perform advanced analytics to lower acquisition costs and increase conversion rates

• Ongoing: Perform bid management to ensure that your ad budget is used optimally

Generally speaking, the more transactional the product/service the more quickly one may correlate ad spend to success. Therefore, particularly in terms of enterprise sales, it is critical to have a CRM system in place to serve as a repository of all leads brought in through PPC. One may then determine the success or failure of campaigns from not only closed deals but pipeline analysis as well.

While one can expect an immediate increase in traffic through PPC, it typically takes about 4 to 6 months to optimize campaigns. The typical timelines for a PPC campaign are:
1. Strategy, including setting budgets and determining KPIs – 2 weeks
2. Setup and launch – 2 to 4 weeks, includes

• Keyword generation
• Campaign creation
• Ad writing
• Landing page creation
• Interface to CRM
• Analytics and bid management configuration

3. Initial results – Immediate upon launch
4. Optimization – 4 to 6 months, depending upon:

It is almost impossible to find one person capable of handling all facets of a professional managed PPC campaign. And if you did, there probably isn’t enough time in the day for this one person to handle all of the tasks required to continually update, manage and optimize. For example, you need:

1. Someone intimately knowledgeable of your product/service in terms of features/functions/benefits, as well as those of the main competitors

2. Someone familiar with how to translate this information into keywords

3. Someone who understands the nuances of the major search engines that can cluster these keywords logically into campaigns

4. An ad copy writer

5. A web designer to design landing pages

6. An html programmer to create the landing pages

7. An IT representative to interface your campaigns to your CRM system

8. Someone trained, skilled and knowledgeable about advanced web analytics

9. Someone trained, skilled and knowledgeable about bid management

10. And last but not least, you need a very senior person that can coordinate and project-manage all of these individuals

Here’s where things get even more interesting: the demand for this talent far exceeds the supply of competent resources. The end result is that you are either over-paying for talent or you are hiring unqualified personnel. It gets worse. The supply/demand situation is such that even when you hire a superstar, in all likelihood that person will leave for a better paying position in less than 12 months.

If your monthly PPC spend is less than $50,000, your chances of recruiting and retaining a truly qualified person is almost zero. Simply put, the really good people will either work directly for a company that has a large budget, or will work for an agency where they get to handle multiple accounts. For PPC professionals, if you do not have a large budget the job isn’t very interesting for them. If you try to develop raw talent, they will likely leave you as soon as they’re trained.

There is an excellent alternative: retain Position2.

Position2 can deliver comprehensive PPC (and SEO and Social Media Marketing) services with a complete team, for about what it would cost you for one full time employee. No recruiting. No training. No tools to buy. No vacations. No sick time. No problem employees. Just predictable, cost-effective search marketing services with none of the headaches.

For the vast majority of companies it simply does not make sense to build an in-house team to perform search marketing. Position2 has the most comprehensive and cost-effective search marketing services available anywhere. Contact us.

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