Putting the Brand Bidding
Debate to Bed
Arianne DonoghueP a i d M e d i a M a n a ge r | i c e l o l l y. c o m | @ a r i a nne dono ghue
A bit about me
• 10 years in paid media• Client and agency side
LOVES• Cats!• Marmite• Making stuff• Cycling
A bit about icelolly.com
As seen on TV!
Let’s talk about…
Hands up…
Are you…
Agency? In-House?
Are you…
Pure Paid
Media?
Both PPC
& SEO?
Do you bid on your brand?
Ever tested not doing it?
What were the results?
Tell me…
It’s a contentious issue
So…… why do we keep pushing it?
• Incremental gains
• Competitor protection
• Tactical messaging
• Testing potential
But honestly?
Higher conversions
Lower CPAs
It makes us look good!
So, is it right for you?
… it depends!
Go nuclear!
NO!
So then what?
We’re on a journey
Our story so far
Bidding on all Brand, except for some very broad KWs which had no competitor activity
Previous testing (the nuclear option) had delivered mixed results
Our story so far - Google strangeness!
• We thought we’d excluded some terms
• Navigational keyword we felt PPC added no value to
• Excluded in July 2015• Organic CTR still only 17%• Nothing in the SQRs for this
keyword• Google treats “ “ and “.” as the same
& matched traffic to a similar KW instead
Our story so far
Bidding on all Brand, except for some very broad KWs which had no competitor activity
Previous testing (the nuclear option) had delivered mixed results
Organic converted better than Branded PPC
We knew we had
to keep testing
How do we handle…
Seasonality? Competitors? Incrementality?
Google Weirdness?
Measurement?
Change ONE
thing at a time
Where to start?
Keywords!
cat in tent
User Intent
How do we decide what
keywords to test and in what
order?
User Intent
Where does paid search add
the most value?
Determining intent & valueDividing keywords into segments
Exact
• thomas cook
• expedia
Navigational
• thomson.com
• onthebeachcom
• icelolly website
Destinations
• sunmastertenerife
• icelolly from glasgow
Holiday Types
• icelolly cruise
• icelolly ski
• icelolly all inclusive
NOT OFFERED
• icelolly flights only
Our plan this timeWe had a theory
• Intent-dependent, brand should be a mixof paid and organic
• Broadly put, if a keyword goes to:
Homepage/other easily crawled page:
SEOSearch results/customised page:
PPC
Our plan this timeHypothesised outcome
Exact
Navigational
Destinations
Holiday Types
NOT OFFERED
Don’t Bid
Don’t Bid
BID
Don’t Bid
Don’t Bid
Caveats:
1. Competitor activity
2. No TV advertising or sponsorship
3. Organic rankings
Other considerations
Competitor Presence
Tactical Messaging
Message Testing
Incrementality Device
And above all…
User intent!
Challenges
• [not provided]
• GA SEO/Direct reporting issue
• Adwords “close variant” matching
• Account structure
• Competitor bidding
• Tying up calls and traffic
• Device differences
Systematic – create our list of KWs and work through it
1 keyword at a time, engine at a time
Monitor impressions, clicks, CTR
Nail down Adwords negative keywords & restructure
Competitor intelligence – monitor & adjust
Process
Building your hitlist of
keywords
Hitlist of keywords
1. Check GSC2. High impressions + low
CTR = high potential!3. Check against PPC4. Check competitor
bidding5. Create a hitlist of terms
to test6. Keep checking this as it
can change!
Beware!
Body text
Putting it into practice
Organic traffic went up!
Visible in GSC & AdwordsTraffic appeared to migrate to organic
Interesting side effects
• Other terms benefited• Organic Brand terms we weren’t testing showed
increases in:
Listings per query
CTR – up by 10% points
What about calls?
• Definitively, no way to know• Either flat, or minimal loss• Any missing calls at a very high incremental cost
What we did
Our hypothesis was being borne out
Move on to the next!
Each keyword monitored & analysed, across devices
Over the course of several months
Several keywords tested in this way
Pressing Pause
We paused testingWith a view to resuming
• We went back on TV• Activated more keywords• Difficult summer trading
• Lowcostholiday• Terrorism• Turkey coup• Euro 2016
• Outstanding challenges• Competitors• Call tracking/YoY data• Devices
Testing againTime for Round 2
Could we:
1. Save money?2. Minimise loss of
clicks?3. Maintain call
volumes?
Testing againTerms tested
• Exact• Navigational• Holiday Types• Faux Brand –
“lollipop” keywords
Uptick in OrganicOvernight differences
Uptick in OrganicOvernight differences
Desktop
Mobile
Tablet
MeasurementGoing beyond CTR
What about calls?
MeasurementGoing beyond CTR
• YoY analysis proved tricky
• SEO/PPC Brand/Direct grouping
• Compared performance vs the site average
• Did the proportion of traffic change?
• Look at relative vs absolute numbers
MeasurementGoing beyond CTR
No loss in call volumes
Where we’re at right now
• Brand terms back on
• Competitors present
• Maximising trading performance
• Analysing PPC Brand/Organic/Direct together
• Faux Brand terms will remain live
• Brand campaigns being restructured
Where we’re at right now
• Broad conclusions for turning off Paid Brand terms:
• Minimal traffic loss
• No loss in calls
• Savings can be reinvested into other paid channels
• Big differences in performance by device
• Moving to a mobile base bid
Device differencesActivation &
deactivation of brand keywords
• Organic traffic profile differed by device• Desktop profile less pronounced – less gained by running
Brand PPC
Competitors
Competitors – how to monitor
£-£££Fancy Software
•Automated Alerts
•Ad copy tracking
•Other benefits
FreeAuction Insights
•Easy-to-get device data
•Accuracy
•Not automated – manual
•Harder to react
•Google & Bing
Competitors – how to actConsiderations
DeviceAutomated
RulesScripts
Automated RulesHow can you react quickly?
• Rather than pause all keywords, set 1 core term at a low bid• 2 variable to monitor
• Average position• Impression share
• Increase bids and/or activate keywords
• Runs max once per day• Device agnostic• Only amends base bid
Adwords ScriptsWhat else can you do?
• Take Automated Rules a step further• Increase frequency & complexity
• IDEA• Combine scripts with screen-scraping tech• Monitor the SERPs for changes• Reactivate keywords if competitors present• Pause when no competitors present
What’s next for us?
Paid search is a living,
breathing, organic thing
It’s changing all the time
So our campaigns should
change too
What’s next for us?
• Keep testing
• Keep monitoring ALL THE THINGS
• Adjust as required
• Start applying the learnings to generic keywords
• Be prepared to change and make big changes!
Next steps for you
Running your own test
1. Review current paid keywords, negatives & structure
2. Pull an SQR – categorise them & assign intent/value
3. Review competitor landscape
4. What’s your hypothesis/ideal outcome?
5. Create your target test list
6. Devise methods to validate your results
7. Test one-by-one and move on!
Remember…
1. Don’t worry if you have to pause the test
2. Keep a very close eye on your SQRs
3. Be prepared to revisit your account structure
4. Get ready to play whack-a-mole!
5. Keep checking GSC in case of changes
Last but not least
There’s no one right answer
Only the right answer for your business
It might be fluid and change over time!
Thank you!
Arianne DonoghueP a i d M e d i a M a n a ge r | i c e l o l l y. c o m | @ a r i a nne dono ghue
A n d h e l l o t o J a s o n I s a a c s