Be Smarter! 10 Ways To Outsmart Your PPC Competition

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&HOSTED BY:

BE SMARTER! 10 WAYS TO OUTSMART YOUR PPC

COMPETITION

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Presenters

• Erin Sagin– Customer Success Manager

at Wordstream

• Hayley Cummings– Associate Director of Paid

Search at Hanapin Marketing.

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Join the conversation

• Include the hashtag #thinkppc in your Twitter tweets.

Or use the webinar question box to send us questions.

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Live Poll Question #1

How long have you been in PPC?#thinkppc

A. Less than 1 yearB. 1-3 yearsC. 3-5 yearsD. 5+ years

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How do you manage your account(s)?#thinkppc

a) I manage it myself.b) I’m part of a team that manages it.c) I outsource my account management.d) I’m rethinking how my account is managed.

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The Agenda!

#1 Focus on Quality Scores#2 Implement Ad Extensions#3 Auction Insights#4 Conquesting#5 Identify new opps through your search query report #6 Re-build & Restructure#7 Utilize Bid Rules#8 RLSA#9 Participate in Betas#10 Keep Up With The Experts

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#1 Get Your Quality Score Discount

Google wants you to create relevant, engaging ad contentQuality Score discounts give advertisers an incentive to develop good content

Quality Score Your CPC vs. QS = 5

10 Discounted by: 50%

9 Discounted by: 44.4%




5 -------------------------------

4 Increased by: 25%

3 Increased by: 67%

2 Increased by: 150%

1 Increased by: 400%

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QS Impact on Actual CPC

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Components of Quality ScoreA few reminders on Quality Score:

It can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to see updates to QS

Google periodically renormalizes the average WS to 5

Average QS fluctuates by industry

New keywords’ QS is impacted by the performance of existing, related keywords

Device DOES matter for QS calculations

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#2 Implement Ad Extensions

Ad Extensions are a critical component of PPC campaigns

Simple, quick set-up No additional costs Variety of format (Call, Sitelink, Location, etc.) and

scheduling options In-depth reporting available through AdWords

Benefits? Higher Ad Rank More SERP Real Estate Increased CTRs

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Improve Ad Rank

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Boost Visibility and CTRs

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What I was looking for was right in front of me all along …

#3 Auction Insights

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Preliminary QuestionsDecide which campaign you are most concerned with:

a) All campaignsb) Just one or twoc) One specific keyword theme or group

Once you know what to focus on, check out where you stand!

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How to Pull the DataNow let’s walk through how to start looking at the data1. Log into your AdWords account2. Select the campaign/group that you want to analyze3. Select the ‘Details’ button (below)4. Then select ‘All’

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What Does This Data Show Us?From here you can see where you stand compared to your competition for the following metrics:• Impressions share• Avg position• Overlap rate• Position above rate• Top of page rate

Make sure you are looking at competitors that are closely related to your brand.

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Next StepsNow that you know where you stand, what can be done about this?

Impression Share Loss Metrics:• Build your share by increasing you daily budget• Build your share by increasing you bids

• Make sure you are on the first page or, if you choose to be more aggressive, top of page

Revisit in 3 months and set a quarterly reminder moving forward.

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#4 ConquestingBidding on your competition’s brand terms: When is this OK? First things first, are they bidding on your terms?

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How Do You Know if You Should Conquest?After looking into your Auction Insights data, you can now revisit this looking at your branded terms only.

Answer these questions to qualify a Conquesting campaign:1. How much impression share are they gaining from your brand?2. Has your branded CPC increased over the past 3 – 6 months?3. How has that CPC increase effected your ability to garner the same

number of clicks/conversions?

Once you have made a good case for bidding on a competitor’s brand terms, you will be ready to move forward. Let’s be sure to set some realistic expectations…

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Be Sure to Set Some ExpectationsRemember this audience is already telling us what brand they are loyal to and(or) done the research on. What does this mean for us?

• They will not likely click on our ads – CTR will be low• However, if they do, you should see that they are much more engaged

and likely to purchase – Conversion Rate should be higher

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How Should You Set Up Your Campaigns?How do you ensure you are setting your campaign up for the MOST success possible?

• Utilize a strong call to action and research what your competition is offering and beat it / meet it.

• This will draw their eye to your ad and entice the click• Focus on your strengths

• How are you better than your competition? Put it in the ads!• Be selective about your keywords

• Focus on tightly themed, exact match terms to avoid bidding on even less relevant traffic

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#5 Mine Your Search Terms Report

Your Search Terms Report is a gold mine just waiting to be tapped into…

Utilize this report regularly to: Develop a better understanding of what searches are triggering your

PPC Ads Discover new keyword opportunities with high potential Identify and weed out negative keywords

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Where can I find my Search Terms Report?

1. Head to the Campaigns tab in AdWords

2. View Keywords

3. Click the details button above the statistics table

4. Select “All” from the dropdown menu

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PPC Advisor QueryStream

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Do you currently segment your match types by ad group?#thinkppc

A. Yes

B. No

C. In some cases

D. I don’t know

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Don’t let your competitors outsmart you when it comes to the simplest of tasks. Your account structure and content determines everything…so DO IT RIGHT!!

#6 Rebuild & Restructure

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Why is it Important to Segment Your Match Types?

If you cannot be sure you are prioritizing the most valuable terms, then you risk your competitor stealing share of voice.

• If you have a higher bid set at the broad match level than the exact match level, the algorithm could prioritize the broad keyword

• Segment by group so you can prioritize your most valuable, exact match terms first

• Negative the exact match versions of those terms in the broad (and phrase) match groups

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What Could Happen if You Don’t?

Here is what you will be risking:• Running through your budget on a less relevant audience • Showing less relevant ad copy because we can’t be 100% sure what

the broad match query will be • Landing your potential buyers on a less than specific page

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#7 Utilize Bid RulesI know you’re busy so let’s take advantage of some of those free tools available to use right in AdWords.

Use Bid Rules

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Where Can I Find This Option?Setting up bid rules can be as simple or complicated as you make it. Determine what you really desire and make it so!

• Start by logging into AdWords and navigating to your high priority campaigns/group/terms

• Once there you can select the keywords or ad group tab (if not already there)

• You will see a ‘Bid Strategy’ button (below)

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Bid StrategiesOnce you have selected the ‘Bid Strategy’ you will be able to choose from the following options:

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Automate OptionsOr you can select ‘Automate’ which will provide the following options:

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#8 RLSAKeep your audience aware, engaged and motivated by prioritizing them EVERY time they search. Don’t let your competition steal potential buyers whom you have already informed.

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What is RLSA?RLSA, also known (at Hanapin) as RFS, means Remarketing For Search. This means you can remarket to those who have been to your site as they continue to search right within the SERP.

What can you do?• Prioritize certain audiences with higher bids• You can customize ads to those who have previously visited your site

and(or) taken a specific or high value action

This will allow you to:• Set a separate budget for those who are searching for related terms and

are already brand conscious

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Why Should We Focus on This?This audience should be the HIGHEST priority as they are;

• Raising their hands and asking for MORE information (unlike remarketing within a Display Network)

• They are previously qualified as being brand aware (which will lower your risk)

• They are telling us they are still ‘in-market’ by continuing to search (also lowering your risk)o Exclude your converters!

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#9 Participate In AdWords BetasBe on the cutting edge for new features

Many marketers assume that they must be invited to join a new beta program. Don’t wait for an invite—be proactive! 9 times out of 10, all you have to do is ask.

Keep an eye out for Betas that you may want to participate in Contact your AdWords Rep/Certified Partner for application details Be sure to comply with all AdWords requirements

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Betas We’ve Seen Success With

Gmail Sponsored Promotions Rather than using Managed Placements to show

ads on the Gmail platform, use advanced options to target Gmail ads by email address, subject line, job title and product category

• 80% decrease in CPA• 11% CTR

Google Merchant Promotions Append special offers to Shopping Ads to

distinguish ads from competitors and encourage more clicks

• 25% decrease in CPA • 36% increase in conversions• 16% increase in revenue• 13% increase in ROAS

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#10 Keep Up With the Experts

There’s no shortage of PPC content online, keep on top of it!

Use a news aggregator to follow industry newso Search Engine Journalo Seach Engine Watcho ClickZo PPC Heroo WordStream

Participate in #ppcchat (Tuesdays at 12PM EST)

Attend SEM conferences

Keep watching webinars!

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a.) FREE Account Assessment from Hanapin (for accounts spending more than 20K/mo)

b.) FREE WordStream AdWords Performance Grader Plus & Landing Page Grader Walkthrough

c.) No Thanksd.) Both

Would you like help with your PPC accounts and management? I’m interested in:

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Live Q&A Time!

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Have more questions?

Thank you for attending our webinar! #thinkppc

• Contact us Directly:

» Hanapin Feedback: [email protected]

Wordstream Feedback: [email protected]

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