5 Ways to Increase Your PPC/SEM Performance

[DevBasu]

This is going to be a short and simple post, but I can guarantee you'll have better PPC performance if you implement them. What does better PPC performance mean?

1. Better conversions
2. Lower Cost Per Click's
3. Higher Quality Scores
4. Less Wasted Clicks

If you have a 3rd party already working on your campaigns, I'm assuming they've taken care of basic best practices such as campaign structure, creating tight ad groups, and split testing ad copy. That being said, here are some cardinal sins I see in dealer marketing all the time:

1. Sending visitors to irrelevant landing pages (specifically inventory pages).

BAD AD and Landing Page Combo:

Dodge Caravan Toronto
Huge Selection New & Used Dodges.
Come for a Test Drive. Scarborough.
www.craighindchrylser.ca

LP: Craig Hind Chrysler (Scarborough,ON) (A ReachLocal hosted home page).

GOOD Ad and Landing Page Combo:

2009 Grand Caravan $18995
View Photos/Specs, Book a TestDrive
Your Local Authorized Dodge Dealer.
ParkwayChrysler.com/Dodge

URL:http://inventory.parkwaychrysler.com/english/Used-inventory/listing/All-Types/All-Years/Dodge/GRAND CARAVAN/

2. Not Employing Negative Keywords


Bad Example: I search 1979 dodge challenger Toronto and I find all of these dealer ads coming up. They should be employing model years into their negative keywords.

TechSmith | Screencast.com, online video sharing, 2010-08-16_1122


Bad Example 2: I search "2008 dodge challenger aftermarket parts" and I see a Toronto dealer come up. I'm pretty sure they only carry Dodge approved parts.

TechSmith | Screencast.com, online video sharing, 2010-08-16_1126

3. Not Tracking Keyword Driven Conversions


You review your total search engine marketing spend and then look at total SEM driven internet leads. You then calculate your average cost per lead based on the total spend divided by the number of phone calls. What you're missing out on are the keywords that are actually generating leads versus one's that you are spending money on, but aren't converting.

3. Not Geo-Targeting Properly


Make sure your ads are only showing to audiences that are actually going to be willing to drive to your dealership or have a good chance of doing business with you.

4. Not Using Adwords Site Links


Most dealers aren't using this newly launched feature yet, but we've confirmed with our clients that it has boosted click through rates and offer redemptions. Refer to this post to understand how you can add specific links to your paid ad to include specials and call to actions.

5. Including Phone #'s in your Ad Text


While including phone #'s in your ad text may get you calls in the short term at no cost (since the customer doesn't need to click), your Adwords campaign will suffer greatly because of huge drops in Quality Score. Essentially, if a lot of people see your ad (accruing impressions) but very few click it, then the CTR (click thru rate) drops dramatically and Google slaps your campaign for having poor Quality Score. Ignore this at your own peril, because lower quality scores = more cost per click. Additionally, if you have a quality score of 1/10 on any of your keywords, your campaign will stop displaying ads all together.

 

[Ryan Thompson]

Great insight Dev. I'm sure the Refresh nation will see some great value with your recommendations.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Thanks for the info Dev - I have to admit, I used phone number in the ad copy of my campaigns when I was doing it myself.

I wasn't going after the actual call to save money on the click but rather as more of a call to action to increase the click. PLUS - many times as you search for a vehicle online, the results are filled with such generic ad copy from 3rd party sites. I was hoping the phone number would bring validity to the ad itself. I also would use a persons/ILM real name in the add

"Call Jeff or Emily at XXX-XXX-XXXX"

This was over 3 years ago and I didn't have the software to run A/B test but at the time I was getting a little over 4 1/2 percent CTR.

I'm just now looking at getting back into paid search with the new gig. I need to refresh my skill.

So again, thanks for the post.

Let me know when you would like to post an article over on the blog!! DM me.

 

[DevBasu]

Hey Jeff - Glad you liked the article. I'll email you with a couple of blog post ideas.

 

[ChristianFerrer]

Hi - I am new to the forum, but not new to the industry. I think search is a powerful tool, especially when done properly, which the original post explains nicely.

I think a dealer can allow their SEM campaigns to perform even better when they couple it with a targeted display/BT/SRT campaign. Here is an article (a little old) that validates that...

MediaPost Publications Display Ads Stimulate Search, Confirms Eyeblaster Study 02/24/2010

Open a browser window and type in a URL. It's simple enough, but more often than not, people rely on search engines to find exactly what they need. And the keyword search terms tell the paid-search ad-serving platform the type of targeted advertisement to present.

But typing a Web site address into the browser and landing on a page might not make the searcher's intent as apparent as typing a search term into the keyword query box. So, both search and display campaigns must work together to provide marketers the biggest return on investment.

Marketers know this, but apparently most don't bother to tap into agencies and technologies that allow them to not only measure the benefits, but also connect media allocation to unify campaigns, according to Didit Chief Executive Officer Kevin Lee.

"A marketer should remain agnostic to the channel, search or display, or even offline media," he says. "They should use an agency, vendor or technology that allows them to effectively take advantage of all digital media."

An Eyeblaster study released Tuesday "confirms" that display ads stimulate search by increasing the speed at which people searching enter the purchase funnel.

The research across more than 1,300 integrated search and display campaigns shows 72% of conversions result from display advertising, while 23% of the conversions were a direct result of the search channel and 5% were the result of display ads that were followed by a search.

This suggests that when marketers execute search and display campaigns, the display advertising increases audience reach, driving more consumers to search and move throughout the purchasing funnel faster.

The study examined 207 advertisers in 21 verticals across search and display campaigns between June 2008 and August 2009. Nearly one in five people who convert after using search viewed at least one display ad prior to typing the keyword, according to the study.

When the campaign needs to scale beyond the number of prospective customers that search can reach, display comes into play, according to Eyeblaster Principal Analyst Ariel Geifman. "Since search is down the funnel, you need more prospects in the intent-to-purchase phase," he says.
Geifman says advertisers can scale a display campaign much more easily than search, but each channel offers benefits.

Typing "car insurance" into Google's search box makes the topic obvious, compared with going to an automotive Web site and seeing a display ad, Geifman says. The act of typing in the keyword "car insurance" tells the search engine to serve up car insurance-related ads. But landing on an automotive Web site doesn't give the ad server much to go on. "You might be looking for auto insurance, but it's not explicit," he says. "That's what makes search much more targeted then display advertising."

In search campaigns, only potential customers who have shown an active interest in the product by typing a keyword are served the ad, while display advertising gets pushed to all of the target demographics.

Search works on the lower parts of the funnel by targeting prospective customers in the consideration stage or in the intent-to-purchase stage and pushes them to complete their purchase. Display works on all stages of the funnel, bringing prospective customers into the funnel by generating awareness for the products or the services.

Small businesses have several challenges with display advertising, but there are options for those who want to combine both. Didit's Lee serves up the following advice. Marketers should put their money first into retargeting people who have already visited the Web site through search or direct navigation, which Lee calls the "most effective use of display dollars on a marginal basis." Companies need 50,000 unique visitors a month to even consider retargeting.

Lee also says buying display advertising without the benefit of behavioral segments, such as retargeting or other cookie pools, becomes less effective. And the cost of producing good banners creates a challenge. While there are wizard-based banner creators, generally they don't perform as well. "Without search retargeting as a viable option to build scale in a media campaign it is often better to simply invest more in search as a small business because user intent is strongest for searchers," Lee says.

The findings suggest that each channel plays a unique role in a campaign. Display increases reach by soliciting as many customers as possible and moving them into the funnel. The role of each is not exclusive onto itself. Conversions make it evident that marketers need a combination of search and display.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Hey Jeff - Glad you liked the article. I'll email you with a couple of blog post ideas.

Looking forward to it!