10 Ways To Outsmart Your PPC Competition with WordStream and Hanapin [Webinar]

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BE SMARTER! 10 WAYS TO OUTSMART YOUR PPC COMPETITION

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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%

8 Discounted by: 37.5%

7 Discounted by: 28.6%

6 Discounted by: 16.7%

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 Score

A 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 Questions

Decide which campaign you are most concerned with:

a) All campaigns

b) Just one or two

c) 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 Data

Now let’s walk through how to start looking at the data

1. Log into your AdWords account

2. Select the campaign/group that you want to analyze

3. 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 Steps

Now 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 Conquesting

Bidding 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 Expectations

Remember 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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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 Rules

I 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 Strategies

Once you have selected the ‘Bid Strategy’ you will be able to choose

from the following options:

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Automate Options

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

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#8 RLSA

Keep 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 Betas

Be 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 news

o Search Engine Journal

o Seach Engine Watch

o ClickZ

o PPC Hero

o WordStream

Participate in #ppcchat (Tuesdays at 12PM EST)

Attend SEM conferences

Keep watching webinars!

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Have more questions?

• Contact us Directly:

» Hanapin Feedback: [email protected]

Wordstream Feedback: [email protected]