Competition Analysis for Ad Optimization

SMX East, New York

Lyena Solomon . @YoYoSEO . YoYoSEO.com

October, 2012

@lyena

SERPs

Stand Out, Be Awesome

@lyena #SMXBest practices make you average. Stand out by being creative.

Image credit: cbs.com

Dominate Query Space

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#SMX

Be creative when using best practices. Relate to the searcher. Test, fail fast,

improve.

Write better ads, tell a better story

Know the searcher, make them care

Test, measure, act

Analyze Your Competition

@lyena

#SMX

In competitive analysis for ads, summarize features, benefits, advantages.

Who Are You?

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#SMX

The secret to ad success lies in knowing the searcher and the ad’s ability to

speak to what they care about.

Large Selection

Free shipping

High Quality

“Think Different”

@lyena

#SMX

Make the same offer, but tell a better story. Be credible and emotional; simple

and unexpected.

Selection

“iPod. One thousand songs in your pocket.”- Steve Jobs, Oct. 23, 2001

Shipping

“When it absolutely, positively has to be there

overnight.”- FedEx, 1970’s

Quality

“A diamond is forever.”- De Beers, 1948

Be Different

@lyena

#SMX

Make your offer different, cover more benefits, compel them to click on your

ad.

Selection

“Think small.”- Volkswagen, 1959

Shipping

“You deserve a break today.”- McDonald’s, 1971

Quality

“M&Ms, melts in your mouth, not in your hands.”- Mars, 1954

Work With Feelings

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#SMX

For more effective ads, focus on feelings of fear, anxiety, curiosity. Fight

common enemies, encourage dreams, justify failures.

Fear and Anxiety

Curiosity

Suspicions

Dreams

Failures

Enemies

Make Your Ads Stand Out

@lyena

#SMX

For better CTR, make your ads stand out, be funny, unexpected, over the

top.

Learning

Uniqueness

Exclusivity

Adults + Children

Unexpected

Urgency

Landing Page

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#SMX

Landing page. Relevant to the search query? Communicates value clearly?

Calls to action?

Relevant?

Value?

Action?

SWOT

Strength Weakness

@lyena

#SMX

Perform SWOT analysis on competitors’ landing pages. Discover

opportunities.

Large selection

Free puzzles

Frequent updates

Outdated, busy design

Too many choices

Unfocused

Opportunity Threat

Modern-looking page

Focused on learning

Unique, eclectic

High volume

Low prices

Customization

Ad Optimization Process

@lyena

#SMX

Analyze competitors’ ads: what is the offer and benefits? Who are they

targeting? What action they want a searcher to take?

Our Ads

Offer Benefits

Searcher Persona

Why? Action

Competitors Ads

Offer Benefits

Takeaways

@lyena

#SMX

Learn from competition. Be different. Fail fast. Experiment, measure,

succeed.

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonofgroucho/1436844248/

Be original, unexpected,

tell a compelling story

Offer experience,

connect with emotion

Experiment, measure, act

“The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small

anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow.”- Rupert Murdoch

Lyena Solomon

Web Optimization Analyst

Yo! Yo! SEOAgency focus is Word-of-Mouth SEO,

helping clients optimize their

online conversation.

lyena@yoyoseo.com . YoYoSEO.com

@lyena . @YoYoSEO

Presentation on dominating the SERPs – http://yseo.us/smxppc @lyena

#SMX

http://yseo.us/smxppc