99% Perspiration: PPC Tactics We’re Trying Now, & Others We’re Pretty Sure of After 14 Years of Breaking Stuff

#SMX #11B @Andrew_Goodman

Mad Scientists of Paid Search: Seattle 2015

99% PERSPIRATION: PPC tactics we’re trying now, & others we’re pretty sure of after 14 years of breaking stuff.

Andrew Goodman, Page Zero Media


Small Agency, Big Clients


§  “Enhanced CPC could be described as an ‘ROI

turbocharge’ setting for your existing Max CPC campaigns.” – Google help file

Enhanced CPC: ‘Frosted Flakes’?


§ Turned Enhanced CPC off § Turned it back on a short time later § 5 small to midsized campaigns § One very large campaign (100’s of

brands) § Result… (wait for it)…

Recent Experiments: Enhanced CPC


§ Client in a mass market B2B area § Fall 2014: massive increase in CPA § To chase, or not to chase? § Chose to buckle down, focus on profit § Was it just our imagination? Was everyone

in a bidding war, plus new entrants?

Auction Insights: Bursts of Competition?


Auction insights: Nov. 2014


Recent data. Aggressive, but low-budget, competitors persist, but with less success.


§  Interesting use case in remarketing campaign §  Conversion rates tallied with client’s “target customer” persona

Demographic Bidding: Worth It?


§  All this data. Is there a valid strategy? Should we micromanage

time and day or loosen up? §  Are all nonperforming segments poor, or just “holes” that occur,

inevitably but randomly due to distribution pattern?

Dayparting: Worth It?


§  Ignoring these numbers would lead to worse results. But over-interpreting every number would be managing to shadows.

Dayparting: Taking the Long View


§  Many foreign orders in travel & tourism may be large group orders. For years we may have been missing out on international opportunities, bidding too low overall. Use the right KPI’s!

Illuminating Combo of Geo Data, Plus a New Focus on Revenue (New Site, New Cart)


§  10x growth in quarterly conversions account-wide over 9 years – “from a high

base.” Bottom: DSA’s 3 year history. §  Now makes up 5.8% of all conv. Low CPC = margin of safety; optimize to

avoid unproductive cannibalization. CPA 40% below account average.

Power of the Tail: Can DSA Work?


§ David J. Hand §  In sports, “streakiness” is a

non-phenomenon that is generally reduced to pure randomness in bunching.

§  Looking for any anomaly is less valid when you look for it after it’s happened.

The Law of Inevitability


§  Too much ad testing? §  Strong discoveries are wins §  Most ‘discoveries’ will revert to the mean, aren’t “wins.”

§  Chasing huge numbers of small segments with weak attribution – mobile CPA’s at the ad group level

§  The naughty keyword syndrome §  Plugging all holes is impossible – if ad groups are

properly built and proportioned, there’s no need to overreact to a bunch of zeroes and ones.

§  Aggregate, within reason!

The Law of Inevitability: Applications in a PPC Management Context


Context Complications: Ad Creative Environment Is Volatile


Bah. Maybe I’ll just reformulate my query.


What influences a conversion? It’s not just “the words you wrote”


Does moving stuff around help? Consider the ins & outs of account structure.


In this case, moving stuff around… did not help.

New agency takes over, moves stuff

around


Jenga PPC: Will your next move improve the account, or…?


§ As always, PPC is powerful growth engine… but:

§ Pick your battles § Curb your

enthusiasm!

Conclusion


THANK YOU!

Join us @SMX East NEW YORK CITY

Sept. 29th – Oct. 1st 2015

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99% Perspiration: PPC Tactics We’re Trying Now, & Others We’re Pretty Sure of After 14 Years of Breaking Stuff