Jul 30, 2018 - Greenlight is a multiple award-winning digital and commerce agency that ... achieving dramatic growth for
June 2018 Paid Search
PAID SEARCH STRATEGY delivering value and maximising potential
Greenlight is a multiple award-winning digital and commerce agency that designs, builds, consults, trains and implements transformational strategies across: paid search & Shopping, programmatic display, SEO, content marketing, digital PR, creative, site design & build, analytics, eCommerce systems integration, conversion rate optimisation, user experience, affiliate marketing, and data & audience insights. With the consistent objective of achieving dramatic growth for its clients, Greenlight delivers innovative work for brands such as ghd, Dixons Carphone, Superdry, The British Home Store, and eBay in over 30 countries.
Ready to grow? Call us on +44(0)20 7253 7000 or go to www.greenlightdigital.com/contact
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Contents
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How To Unearth The True Value Of Paid Search Angela Knibb, Head of Paid Search
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Crafting The Perfect Account Ian Oh, Paid Media Manager
10
How to Run Effective Testing in Paid Search Lewis Williamson, Paid Media Analyst
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Focusing On Account Optimisation And Bid Strategies Natasha Hole, Paid Media Analyst
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Cheat Sheet To Shopping And Feed Management Andy Hunt, Paid Media Manager
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Using Audiences To Find Your Customers Jonathan Kelterer, Senior Paid Media Analyst
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Understanding Value And Impact Through Attribution Analysis Ewelina Ledo, Paid Media Performance Director
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Integrating Paid and Organic Search Dan Walker, Paid Media Manager
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Introduction
Introduction Angela Knibb Head of Paid Search —
How To Unearth The True Value Of Paid Search Maximising potential
We’re operating in challenging
While I’m confident of my team’s
times; the push to maximise
phenomenal skills (… and my own,
return on investment (ROI) in
if I say so myself!), and of their
These are really the absolute
an increasingly saturated and
many capabilities (which extend
basics when it comes to paid
competitive landscape – while
to making the perfect, and I do
search, and while the basics are
spending less – has never been
mean perfect, cup of tea), I’m afraid
crucial for success, in today’s
greater. Above all, paid search is
stellar results don’t come so easily.
saturated landscape they’re
known for being transparent and visible, which is what I love the most about my discipline and, at
Building the perfect foundations
simply not enough. To build on the foundations, Andy Hunt, Paid Media Manager, explains how to
times, what I hate the most about it! Getting paid search right means
get Google Shopping, an important weapon in any retailer’s artillery,
I love the fact that all data is 100%
devoting time, effort, and energy
transparent: it makes the impact
from day one. Ian Oh, Senior Paid
and cause-and-effect identifiable
Media Analyst, discusses what this
and measurable. I love being able
means in the build-out phase, and
to sift through data to understand
how to lay the right foundations for
the what, why, when, and how, and
growth and evolution in his article.
to evaluate what we can do better
But once the account is built, there’s
with this information. However,
far more work to be done! Lewis
Something that’s key to note at
this can lead to the misconception
Williamson, Paid Media Analyst,
this stage is that we simply cannot
that paid search is ‘easy’. Perhaps
goes on to explain the necessity of
operate alone anymore. There’s an
that’s because we pay for the traffic
constant testing, which alongside
adage that’s been heard throughout
and can see the results, which often
the ongoing optimisation processes
history: “we’re stronger together”.
leads to the misconception that
discussed by Natasha Hole, Paid
We’ve heard it in referendums,
paid search is ‘easy’, as if there was
Media Analyst, are how we push
wars, and civil unrest throughout
a ‘perform now’ button which will
the boundaries and move our
history. It holds true for politics,
take us from nothing to a full blown,
accounts from ‘good’, to ‘great’, to
and it also holds true for digital
target-smashing account in just
‘awesome’!
marketing too.
minutes.
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in tip top shape. Jonathan Kelterer, Paid Media Analyst, moves on to explain why all advertisers must apply an audience-based approach, and how to make the most of this opportunity.
Introduction
To that note, Ewelina Ledo, Paid
It all comes down to
it focuses your efforts, it finds your
Media Performance Director, talks
strategy
customers when they’re ready to
through how attribution can help
buy. It tells your customer what you
uncover the cross-channel impact
As a final point, as Head of Paid
sell, introducing new lines, testing
of our activity, and how it can
Search, I spend a lot of my time
new products, and highlighting
improve our strategies by driving
making sure that we’re running our
the benefits. It does a multitude of
cost efficiencies and highlighting
teams and accounts as efficiently
things, and is proven to increase
key opportunities for growth. When
and effectively as possible.
revenue, but it must be done right.
working in silo, this simply isn’t
Regardless of whether the budget
While this magazine won’t build
possible, but when we join forces,
is big or small, every single penny
your strategy, it will tell you how
our efforts are unstoppable. Dan
counts, and is counted. Believe
to execute your strategy brilliantly,
Walker, Senior Paid Media Analyst,
me. So, the question of ‘is it worth
and give you the tools for excellence
discusses the most obvious starting
investing in paid search?’ or ‘why
and growth.
point for an integrated approach,
should I have to pay for my traffic,
explaining how we can integrate
when I can get it for free through
paid and organic search. The two
SEO?’ comes up. And to those who
channels sit side by side for the
have asked that question: it’s not
user, so we need to reflect that in
about whether the channel is right,
how we develop our strategies and
it’s about whether your strategy is
approaches.
right. Paid search captures demand,
Getting paid search right means devoting time, effort, and energy from day one.
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Paid Search
Crafting The Perfect Account As Paid Search Analysts at Greenlight, we continually strive to perfect our PPC accounts. We find ourselves constantly tweaking the campaign’s structure, continuously adding or removing keywords, and testing to find the perfect ad copy – it’s a constant battle to achieve perfection. However, this can only be Ian Oh
achieved by laying a solid foundation. We know we need to focus on getting the
Paid Media Manager
basics right when we build our accounts, so that future tests, expansions, and
—
innovations fit seamlessly.
Back to basics
Granularity is at the base of a solid account build; get it right, and future additions and updates will be easy to manage. These are a few ground rules that I recommend sticking to:
ö ö Keep brand keywords and
ö ö Use the website’s category
generic keywords in different
structure as a guide when
campaigns
building out campaigns and ad groups
ö ö Ensure keywords are split out as granularly as possible
ö ö Ensure each campaign has
across ad groups so that
only one type of keyword
ad copy is tailored for the
match type (we generally use
keywords within each ad
Exact match and Broad Match
group
Modified)
If the account structure has been built out well, it’s easier to add in new keywords on the fly. But beware of going too granular as this can lead to inefficiencies.
Compelling ad copy
So, you now have a solid foundation of campaigns, ad groups, and keywords. Next, you need to create the ads that complement the keywords; ads that are too generic and don’t synergise with keywords can lead to a poor Quality Score 1 which will lower its ad rank. This, in turn, can increase cost-per-clicks (CPCs) because it costs more to be in the top positions with a low Quality Score.
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Paid Search
There are no hard and fast rules to creating ad copy, but here are my top tips:
ö ö Try to include the keyword in your ad copy – if too long,
such as ‘shop now’ or ‘get a quote’
make sure to include the core word in the ad copy
ö ö Include discounts where possible and test the impact
ö ö Include your unique selling point (USP) to differentiate
of a monetary discount vs a percentage discount
the ad from the competition, by including value-added factors such as ‘free shipping’, ‘10 year guarantee’ or ‘90 day money back guarantee’, for example
ö ö Make sure to include some
ö ö It’s best practice to have at least three different ads per ad group
ö ö Lastly, testing and rotating ad copy is crucial to improving performance
form of call to action (CTA)
Granularity is at the base of a solid account build; get it right, and future additions and updates will be easy to manage.
Dynamic search ads
Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs) are a campaign type that use your website to decide ad headline copy and scan landing pages to target keywords that may not be in your account. They can be really helpful to capture new and rising search queries, as well as highlighting new opportunities for expansion. It’s a safe way to ensure you’re visible when your target audience is conducting searches, and I highly recommended you implement one of these campaigns to fill any gaps in keyword coverage. Finally, make sure you add existing keywords as ‘Negatives’ to prevent cross-bidding on existing keywords. Keeping in mind AdWords has now changed its interface, DSAs are now created at Ad Group level rather Campaign level.
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Paid Search
Extensions
Extensions are a useful way to expand your ad real estate within the SERPs (search engine results pages) – with the right combination of extensions, your ad could cover 50% more viewable ad space. Overall, there are 11 extensions available on AdWords and eight on Bing, but it’s worth noting that not all extensions are suitable for all businesses, but there are a few must-haves for any account:
Sitelinks
Callout extensions
Promo extensions
These are the mainstay of ad
These are short bodies of text
These are a newer extension,
extensions, and are a shorter ad
made up of 25 characters or less
only available in the new
text which consist of a headline
that appear below an ad. The text
AdWords interface. Promo
and a description that appear
doesn’t have a link incorporated,
extensions are used to highlight
below the ad and enable the user
however they’re useful for
discounts currently active on
to be directed to specific site
highlighting a product’s USP.
your site.
My recommendation:
My recommendation:
My recommendation:
Have four callouts to maximise
Include any available discounts
Include four sitelinks per
visibility and provide sufficient
on offer, as our tests have shown
account or campaign.
information.
higher click-through rates
pages.
(CTRs) when promo extensions appear alongside an ad.
Structured snippets
Price extensions
Location extensions
Structured Snippets showcase
Price extensions enable you to
These work by linking your
your list of product types sold,
display product or service prices
Google Business account to your
services rendered, brands sold,
of key items alongside an ad.
AdWords account, and allows
and much more.
My recommendation:
My recommendation:
Include at least one price
Include at least one structured
extension per account.
users to automatically view the nearest store location to them during a search.
snippet per account to maximise
My recommendation:
user relevancy when searching.
This extension is a must for any business with physical stores that a customer can visit.
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Paid Search
I can’t emphasise enough the importance of getting account basics right; this phase creates a solid foundation to build upon for future growth and, as such, it’s key to put in place a robust and granular account structure which allows for highly tailored and relevant ad copies. Furthermore, it’s important to take advantage of the available ad extensions to give users a reason to come to your site (and push your competitors further down the search results!). Focusing your attention on the basics now will set the scene for growth and expansion, and will futureproof accounts for upcoming innovations too. It also makes your accounts and budgets easier to manage, which ultimately means more time for the fun stuff in paid search!
1.
https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/140351?hl=en-GB
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Paid Search
Lewis Williamson Paid Media Analyst —
How to Run Effective Testing in Paid Search Within the Paid Search team at Greenlight, we have something of a mantra: test, test, and test again. As such, it’s important to make decisions based on what data from testing tells us, and not our opinions. Landing page and ad copy testing are two examples which are essential for PPC marketing success. The main goal of ad copy testing is to increase the click-through rate (CTR) and relevancy of ads as well as the likelihood of a conversion, while the objective behind landing page testing is to increase conversion rates (CVR) and conversions too. A higher CTR combined with a relevant and better-quality landing page will result in a higher Quality Score 1 which, in turn, will decrease the cost-per-click (CPC) and result in your ad appearing higher up the search page, while also saving you money! So, it’s clear to see the value of this approach and, in this article, I’ll explain the main tests you can run, including IF functions ads, countdown ads, ad copy tests, and landing page tests.
Best practice
Before getting started, what will be
‘Ad Variations’, which sets up tests
tested and over what duration (which
for you, and can be found within the
will be dependent on the volume
‘Drafts & Experiments’ tab (new
your campaigns receive) will need
interface only). Ad Variations rotate
to be decided, as this will be a key
ads evenly and apply a variation
factor when getting set up. Once
that you pre-set, e.g. ‘Shop now’
that’s clear, testing can begin.
is replaced with ‘Order now’ in the description line.
There are numerous ways to set up a test; you can add multiple ads to an
When analysing the results, it’s
ad group (which vary slightly) and
important to remember that each
set the campaign settings to rotate
result will vary from campaign to
indefinitely (this will make sure that
campaign, therefore, it’s crucial
the ads within each ad group are
to be as granular as possible when
shown an equal number of times,
analysing the outcome; for instance,
ensuring a fair test); or you can make
by analysing the results for brand
use of an AdWords tool, known as
and generic campaigns separately.
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Paid Search
Landing page tests
‘IF’ function ads
Landing page tests can be set up
page, or an informative page vs a
using AdWords Experiments. The
page with lots of call to actions. The
test consists of alternating between
outcome of the test is measured
a control page and a test page,
by analysing the bounce rates and
whereby the experiment will evenly
conversion rates. A page that’s
alternate the landing page each
more relevant to a searcher and is
time an ad is clicked. There are lots
of greater perceived quality will
of different landing page tests that
improve your Quality Score, so it’s
you can run, e.g. homepage vs a sale
important to land searchers on the
page, category page vs all products
best page possible.
IF function ads are a very powerful
The former example uses IF ads
tool which allow for many different
to display certain text depending
variations to be tested. IF ads are
on the type of device used to carry
a logical operator, meaning that
out the search. In this case, you
a certain condition must be met,
may have carried out an analysis
e.g. do this, if not, do that. In this
piece on device performance and
case, when a searcher meets a set
noticed that mobile searchers have
condition, it will replace text and
the largest number of clicks, but
if not, it will show the original ad.
the fewest number of conversions
IF ads are a type of ad customiser,
when compared to desktop and
requiring for at least two ads to be
tablet performance. It may then be
active within the ad group running
interesting to use IF Function ads
IF ads. Two example conditions are
to switch headline two with “Shop
device and Audience Lists.
On Your Mobile Now” for mobile searchers, as shown in the below example:
Mobile IF Function
Desktop Searcher
Mobile Searcher
Bob’s Furniture - Shop Now Ad
www.furniture.com
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Bob’s Furniture - Shop On Your Mobile Now Ad
www.furniture.com
Paid Search
Another example is using Audience
moved on to carry out another
Lists within the IF function. In this
search, you can swap the text
example, you may want to target
in headline two and part of the
basket abandoners (visitors who
description line with different
have added an item to their basket,
messaging. If they’re not a basket
but not completed the purchase).
abandoner, the IF function will show
In this case, when a searcher has
the original text. Here’s an example
abandoned their basket and then
of what this looks like:
Mobile IF Function
Normal Search
Basket Abandoner
Bob’s Furniture - Shop Now Ad
www.furniture.com
It’s important to make decisions based on what data from testing tells us, and not our opinions.
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Bob’s Furniture - Don’t Forget To Check Out Ad
www.furniture.com
Paid Search
Countdown ads
Another test that can be
customiser, and work by displaying
implemented is countdown ads.
the number of days remaining for
These work by adding urgency to
the offer, for example, and on the
ad copy by displaying an active
final day, the remaining hours and
countdown within the messaging.
minutes are displayed instead.
These are another type of ad
Ad copy tests
When it comes to ad copy testing,
one with headline two, using
there are quite a few tests that you
different call to actions, using
can start running by just varying the
different USPs, using different
ad copy message. Some examples of
number of paths or adding different
variations are: switching headline
levels of detail in the description.
Bob’s Furniture Sale - New Seasonal Range Ad
www.furniture.com/new_collection/sale
Gather unique
Whatever you decide to test, make sure it’s in line with your business
insights about your
objectives, and that it’s a fair test, by following these simple guidelines:
audiences ö ö Run one test at a time so you
ö ö Make sure you run tests for
know which variable has
long enough to take into
impacted performance
account seasonal changes (e.g. if your conversion rate
ö ö Ensure impressions are reasonably similar – you
naturally drops towards the end of the month)
can’t compare the CTR of an ad with five impressions to an ad with 50,000 impressions!
Ultimately, testing, collecting, and analysing the data helps us understand how our campaigns and customers are evolving, so we can continue to service their needs in the most effective way. There are so many different ways to do this, so it doesn’t matter if it’s automated or manual, as long as you test, tweak, test, repeat!
1.
https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/140351?hl=en-GB
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Paid Search
Natasha Hole Paid Media Analyst —
Focusing On Account Optimisation And Bid Strategies
A key facet of a Paid Media Analyst’s
KPIs across evolving and growing
other work that needs to be done,
job is to optimise accounts to ensure
accounts is becoming increasingly
so help was needed. The rise of
they’re performing at their best
challenging and time-consuming,
artificial intelligence (AI) driven
while maximising efficiencies.
but one of the key tools to help
optimisation tools, such as bid
As part of the fast-paced and
combat this is bidding. While it’s
strategies, offer the opportunity to
everchanging landscape of the
a basic point, this determines
automate some of the manual day-
industry, we need to consider a
how much we pay for the traffic
to-day bid changes beyond basic
larger number of variables when
we drive and, of course, we all
keyword level, giving Analysts the
optimising bids, budgets, landing
want to pay as little as possible!
time they need to focus on driving
pages, and ad copy towards a wide
Historically, bidding has been one
strategy and growth.
range of KPIs. And all the while,
of the main tasks in an Analyst’s
keeping on top of all these tasks and
day, however, there’s so much
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Paid Search
What are bid
Bid strategies automate processes
When the learning phase is completed,
strategies?
involved in optimising accounts,
the strategies can be left to run and
such as adjusting keyword bids and
manage the daily optimisations of the
location, device, and audience bid
account with minimal changes required
modifiers. They take learnings from
by Analysts. Changes shouldn’t be made
previous campaign and keyword data
more than once a week though, as the
within the bid strategy, and factor in
algorithm will need to relearn following
many influences that we can’t always
changes to ensure it can work towards
see or consider when making manual
the new goal.
optimisations. The more data within a bid strategy, They reprocess and modify keyword
the quicker the algorithm can learn and
bids and demographic bid modifiers
optimisations can be made with more
up to four times a day to ensure
efficiency and accuracy. Likewise, the
performance is maximised and
more conversions which come through
efficiencies are being met. Considering
the bid strategy, the more accurately
the number of keywords which can be
the algorithm can predict when a
processed, the number of data points
conversion will happen, and bids can be
considered and the frequency of the bid
adjusted accordingly.
changes, it’s nearly impossible for an Analyst to do this manually every day.
With bid strategies automating optimisations, Analysts have more time
When the algorithm has gone through
to grow their accounts by developing
its learning phase (approximately
the overall strategy and researching
10 days), it will learn which times of
and implementing new features.
day or week are more likely to drive conversions, and will adjust bids during these times to maximise performance.
We all use the automations at our disposal to improve performance and speed in our accounts, however it’s important to intervene when needed.
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Paid Search
Different types
There are several different targeting options available through bid strategies; which option you use depends on the overall KPI of an account or the set of campaigns and keywords.
Ad position This strategy will adjust bids on your keyword sets so that ads appear in the specific position you wish to target. This is a good goal to have for brand campaigns where top position and high visibility are a priority. Number of clicks This strategy will find the optimum bids for driving the most traffic to site. It doesn’t take into account what actions are taken once a user has clicked on the ad, and instead only focuses on driving traffic through to site. ROI bid strategies These strategies find the optimal bids for maximising the number of conversions or revenue generated on-site while maintaining a target cost per ad (CPA), effective revenue share (ERS) or return on ad spend (ROAS). Monthly spend strategies These will spend a specified amount within a month; the algorithm adjusts to spend your budget evenly and exactly throughout the month while maximising conversions or revenue. This works best when monthly budgets are fixed and don’t vary considerably month-to-month.
The capabilities of bid strategies are constantly growing and evolving, with the learnings becoming increasingly accurate. Once you have bid strategies working correctly and are happy with their performance, you can then look to expand them to consider different attribution models as part of the optimisations.
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Paid Search
What’s important to note is that you can’t just ‘set and forget’. We all use the automations at our disposal to improve performance and speed in our accounts, however it’s important to intervene when needed. Ensure you keep a close eye on your campaigns and manually adjust when necessary, rather than completely relying on the algorithms. While bid strategies are key to optimising accounts, they’re not the only tool at our disposal. There are plenty of other tools available to ensure the success of our accounts, including:
ö ö Search Query Reports (SQRs),
ö ö Breaking out high-
which allow us to identify
performing keywords into
search terms which are
their own campaign can help
wasting spend and exclude
focus budgets
them from the account, as well as picking up new, relevant search terms to add as keywords
ö ö Budget management, which allows us to control where and when we focus our investment; this can be done
ö ö Adjusting and optimising various campaign settings and rotations
ö ö Using modifiers to adjust bids based on device, audience, demographic, and geolocation
on an individual campaign level, or shared across multiple campaigns as you see fit for your activity
With all this in mind, it’s clear that optimising on a daily basis is vital for campaign health, efficiency, and efficacy. From bid strategies to SQRs, we have the tools and techniques to not only meet our business objectives, but also exceed them, and what’s key is to strike that balance between technology and human intervention, ensuring that you’re always maximising the potential of your account. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some optimising to do...
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Paid Search
Andy Hunt Paid Media Manager —
Cheat Sheet To Shopping And Feed Management Google Shopping is a key tool in any retailer’s arsenal; it offers so many opportunities to capture users at a key point when they want to buy your product in a highly cost-effective way in terms of driving revenue. It’s developed a lot over the years, so I want to highlight some focal areas that digital marketers need to get right to get the most out of it.
The feed
There are various elements to a
your customers actually search for
successful Google Shopping strategy,
your products, and ensure you use
but at the crux of it all is a well-
their language in the feed itself. The
optimised feed. The content of a
feed is at the core of any Shopping
Shopping feed should be thought
strategy and integral to the success
of in the same way as building out
of your campaigns. It’s safe to say
keywords in a search campaign, and
that your overarching strategy is
the content submitted here is crucial
redundant without a keyword-rich
in allowing your products to find the
product feed.
right audiences. Think about how
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Paid Search
Accuracy
While the importance of an
combat this would be to automate
optimised data feed can’t be
stock and pricing fluctuations to
undervalued, it’s equally important
ensure that the feed is being fetched
to make sure the feed is then updated
and processed through the Google
regularly; some of the most common
Merchandise store at the same time
pitfalls in Shopping stem from an out
each day in order to keep the feed
of date feed containing inaccurate
healthy.
pricing and stock levels. One way to
There are various elements to a successful Google Shopping strategy, but at the crux of it all is a well-optimised feed.
Custom labels
Label up your feed so you can group
be used to segment your products
products by priority and category
in whatever way makes sense for
in your Shopping campaigns, and
your business, but you may want to
to manage performance, it’s best
consider top-sellers, margin, sale
practice to distribute your budget to
items, and price competitiveness for
increase efficiencies and return on
starters.
investment (ROI). Custom labels can
Campaign
Build:
Automation:
management
Let your custom labels guide your
Use machine learning to break out
campaign setup. Think about the
product groups by performance and
goal for your campaign and break
campaigns by location and audience,
out product groups based on your
then apply bid strategies with your
labelling system and set different
business goals in mind.
levels of priority.
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Bid strategies work hand-in-hand
users interact with your campaigns
with Google Shopping, and with
and allow you to maximise
some retailers having thousands
efficiencies, stretch your budget, and
of products to manage, automation
shape your strategy.
is the best way to oversee this as effectively as possible. A simple bid strategy can react a lot faster to manually calculate effective bid
It’s also important to think mobile, as it’s the main source of traffic in Google Shopping, and is due to make up over 60% of overall searches1,
multipliers.
so it’s important to prioritise this It’s important to ensure your KPIs
channel to get the most out of your
are aligned with your bidding
Shopping campaigns.
strategy, with the aim of maximising your return on ad spend (ROAS) targets by focusing on your best performing devices and campaigns. Be aware that your strategy could pull down bids and reduce traffic on a device that isn’t delivering on your
Consumers are becoming increasingly savvy in their Shopping habits, and it’s likely they’ll see various ads from a variety of different channels and follow different paths to ultimately complete a purchase. This means
target.
that looking at your campaign purely Having a bigger ad presence will
from a last-click basis will show
help to ensure potential customers
the true value of your Shopping
visit your site over competitors’, and
activity. When doing so, take into
you can use machine learning and
consideration cross-channel and
audiences to capture higher purchase
cross-device metrics, and consider
intent traffic and be visible when it
adjusting your KPIs to improve
really matters. This will ensure you
attribution.
have a better understanding of how
Recap
Ultimately, none of this is possible without a healthy product feed. Identify any problems and resolve them as a top priority, then look to build your strategy from the foundation of a strong product feed. Once you have a robust and relevant feed in place, ensure you manage it to keep the details accurate. Get the right campaign set up in place to service this feed, and you’ll see all your hard work pay dividends.
1. https://searchengineland.com/data-google-monthly-search-volume-dwarfs-rivals-mobile-advantage-269120
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Paid Search
Jonathan Kelterer Senior Paid Media Analyst —
Using Audiences To Find Your Customers Audiences, and audience-centred targeting methods, have been the centrepiece of every successful paid search campaign in recent years. Thanks to their ability to serve valuable customer insights to advertisers and help narrow down targeting to the most likely potential customer, audiencetargeting considerably increases efficiencies across campaigns and channels, while also maximising relevancy and perceived user value.
Maximising
With targeting options becoming
users similar in behaviour, as well
targeting potential
more plentiful and more
as pre-defined in-market, interest,
sophisticated, advertisers can enjoy
or affinity audiences. Campaigns
many more options when it comes
can be targeted individually to
to audience targeting. This includes
these audiences or spending can be
the ability to target previous website
upweighted accordingly.
users, various email lists, and other
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Paid Search
Using audiences to
In order to service the paid media
Rather than broadly seeding a
fulfil each stage of the
funnel in the most optimal way, a
branding message through a channel
marketing funnel
different set of audiences can be
which might only potentially be
used at every stage – from pulling
seen or used by the target audience,
people in at the initial awareness
audiences in paid search allow us to
stage, through to consideration and
narrow down the awareness pool in a
right to the point of conversion.
focused way.
As such, these audiences’ value to advertisers is huge given the hyperfocused targeting they allow for, and it will also have a positive knock-on effect when it comes to audience relevancy and value later on.
Google – perhaps the biggest data warehouse in the world – collects a diverse pool of information about users, including their interests, what they’re shopping for and at what point in their life they are. All
In order to service the paid media funnel
this information is anonymised and
in the most optimal way, a different set of
the form of an audience pool which
audiences can be used at every stage.
prospecting.
made available to advertisers in
then allows for highly targeted
These pre-defined audiences can be As awareness is created through introducing a set of potential customers to the brand, it’s key to ensure you’re talking to the right
further narrowed down by applying bid modifiers, which make it possible to upweight activity towards a desired target demographic, ensuring that your brand is heard by
people.
its most likely potential customer. Once initial awareness touchpoints are in place and have been engaged with, the consideration phase can begin. You can then retarget the initial awareness pool of users who have visited your site or been exposed to a video or display ad. It’s at this stage when more specialised audiences come into play, consisting of users who have been to your site, visited a specific website category, or even abandoned a basket. At this point, value is placed on customers who have been closest to the point of conversion.
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Paid Search
The growing role
Finally, it’s important to note that
In theory, this is a very simple and
of technology and
users will most likely convert
straightforward concept: the closer
innovation
through a specific brand or product
a user is to the point of conversion,
search. With that in mind, it’s
the higher the value of that user.
crucial to ensure full visibility for
Consequently, budgets and efforts
the prospective customer at that
need to be stacked accordingly,
search stage. It’s here, at the top
and value needs to be placed on
of the funnel, where sophisticated
pulling users down the funnel and
audience targeting pays off.
keeping them engaged while they’re
Modern attribution methods make
evaluating options, in order to
it possible to measure a user’s
place full weight behind a purchase
journey throughout the funnel
decision.
across different touchpoints, while at the same time highlighting the effectiveness of each audience at
The very recent rise of artificial intelligence-powered tools, which constantly adapt and evolve to help
various stages.
find the right customer, has made this process that little bit easier too. With all of this in mind, adopting a full-funnel, data-driven, holistic customer view requires a healthy understanding of the marketplace, target audiences, and potential opportunities. All of this needs to translate into repeated testing, constant analysis, and thorough optimisation throughout the campaign. Adopting this mindset and understanding the true value of using audiences to maximise your campaign’s potential is a sure-fire way to help your products or services be visible at the right moments and to the right people, enabling you to fulfil your marketing goals with ease, from start to finish.
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Paid Search
Ewelina Ledo Paid Media Performance Director —
Attribution
Understanding Value And Impact Through Attribution Analysis
ever before. This shift in consumer
Currently, there are five rule-based
behaviour, coupled with the
attribution models for advertisers
As a team of experts with an
current pace of change, presents
to choose from. Each has its merits
in-depth understanding of paid
a big challenge to marketers
and disadvantages, and is better or
search who service clients across
who are looking to understand
worse suited to different marketing
multiple verticals and platforms,
the true success of their paid
needs and objectives. To give some
we recognise that the consumer
search campaigns. This is where
clarity on this, here’s my overview
journey is far from being clear cut.
attribution, a complex process
of all the available attribution
Nowadays, consumers not only
of identifying a sequence of user
models alongside the best and worst
use multiple devices to search, but
actions that contribute to a desired
uses for each of them.
they also tend to spend more time
outcome (such as purchase) and
online interacting with brands
then assigning a credit to each of
via numerous marketing channels
these events, comes into play.
before they make a purchase than
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Paid Search
Last click attribution
Although the last click attribution
What I can say about this model
model is still quite prevalent
is that it caters to the needs of
Last click attribution allocates all
among marketers, we’ve learned
businesses with longer than usual
the credit to the last interaction a
that relying solely on this model
buying cycles, where research and
user had while de-emphasising all
can lead to an oversight of some
comparison are an important step in
other interactions that preceded
important generic terms that
the consumer acquisition journey,
it. This means that if the last
introduce consumers to advertisers’
and where sales are largely closed
converting click was on a brand ad,
brands, which mistakenly leads to
by the brand keywords. An example
but the user first learned about the
all advertising efforts being focused
of when first click attribution plays
advertiser’s business by previously
on the areas that tend to be the last
a strong role is for retailers selling
searching and clicking a generic
marketing touchpoint.
high-ticket items such as expensive
ad, all credit still goes to the brand keyword and the non-branded term gets none.
First click attribution
pieces of furniture and insurance companies operating within a very busy vertical where consumer
First click attribution is the opposite
While the model works just fine
of last click attribution, in that the
for FMCG retailers selling cheaper
full credit goes to the first keyword
items that don’t require too much
in the path that led to a conversion.
consideration, we’ve found it to be
Similar to last click attribution,
less suited to businesses with more
this model, which undervalues all
complex consumer journeys with
the subsequent touchpoints on the
multiple keyword touchpoints.
path to purchase, has drawbacks
research and education play an integral part in the decisionmaking process. However, at the same time, the model ignores the keywords that progressed a lead through the conversion funnel, making it very difficult to optimise activity at the bottom of the funnel.
in accurately representing the consumer journey.
Nowadays, consumers not only use multiple devices to search, they tend to spend more time online interacting with brands via numerous marketing channels before they make a purchase than ever before.
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Paid Search
Linear attribution
While we wouldn’t recommend
than the ones that first introduced
using linear attribution as a basis
the consumer to an advertiser’s
In linear attribution, every channel
for optimisation and strategic
brand.
and keyword is given equal credit
decisions, we opt into it for the
for the final conversion. The
purpose of gathering conversion
main advantage of this model is
data and distributing credit across
that it takes into consideration
all keywords before switching to
all of the marketing touchpoints
a much more robust data-driven
throughout the sales funnel,
model.
providing marketers with a more comprehensive view of allocated advertising budgets.
The key problem we’ve found with this attribution model is that it overvalues the final conversion touchpoints and undervalues the top-of-funnel ones, farther from the final conversion. While this
Time decay attribution
makes it appropriate for low-ticket retail items or FMCGs, the model
In time decay attribution, the
is not very suitable for products
However, the model fails to account
touchpoints closer to the conversion
or services that require a lot of
for bigger or lesser impact of each
receive the most credit, while the
research and consumer nurturing
individual channel, and downplays
earlier interactions are of less
before buying, which is especially
the fact that, for instance, a display
value. As the name suggests, the
important for those operating in the
impression may be of a different
time decay model is based on the
B2B industry or lead generation.
value when influencing consumers’
assumption that channels and
purchase decision than paid or
keywords that are closer to the
organic clicks.
conversion play a much bigger role
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Position-based attribution
Data-driven attribution
guesswork out of crediting and evaluating the performance of
The position-based attribution
What we’ve found is that each of
different keywords from start
model gives the first and last clicks
the rule-based models have their
to finish without overvaluing or
40% of the total credit each, while
advantages and disadvantages.
devaluing some of them, enabling
distributing the final 20% evenly
However, the main limitation
purely data-driven decisions to be
among the other touchpoints in the
to all of them is that they’re all
made.
middle of the consumer journey.
fixed and based on static rules,
As the model prioritises the first
which prohibits them from being
and last interactions as key stages
personalised to your own data.
during which the consumer begins to interact with the brand and becomes a lead, it’s best suited to advertisers whose objectives are geared towards lead generation and who rely on display advertising to get their brand in front of potential consumers. It is, however, deemed to be less useful for eCommerce businesses.
By employing data-driven attribution in our automatic bidding strategies which is geared towards
Recently introduced, data-driven
optimising performance for target
attribution has been a game changer
return on ad spend (ROAS), we’ve
for paid search specialists as it’s
consistently seen a positive uplift in
the first and only model that is
this metric ranging from 2% to 10%,
100% personalised to advertisers’
and a decrease in cost-per-click
own data, learns over time, and
(CPC) of up to 5% across a number
automatically assigns credit to all
of our retail clients we’ve tested the
marketing touchpoints.
model on.
Unlike rule-based attribution
Of all the models, we’ve found
models, data-driven attribution
data-driven attribution to be the
leverages unique data signals
best and most robust one, having
such as user location, time, or
helped us discover which keywords
device, and takes into account both
and campaign types (e.g. Shopping
converting and non-converting
vs search) play the biggest role
paths to determine how the
in helping our clients reach their
presence and positioning of
business goals.
particular marketing touchpoints in a conversion path influence the likelihood of a conversion. The value of a conversion credit for each touchpoint is then based on a comparison of all the different variations of touchpoints, which means that, for instance, display preceding paid search is modelled and credited differently to paid search preceding display. Opting into data-driven attribution has really allowed us to take the
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While I personally believe this is definitely the model to go for, the current conversion and traffic requirements are quite high, and both have to be hit consistently every month. We can, however, assume that as more and more advertisers switch over to datadriven attribution models, the threshold is likely to become lower over time, allowing smaller accounts to tap into it as well.
Dan Walker Paid Media Manager —
Integrating Paid and Organic Search
I’m often challenged by clients on how to do more with less. Particularly, how to grow their brand and performance online while spending less money. While we’re always looking for efficiencies within paid search – dropping the CPCs over here, improving the ads over there – to drive true efficiency, organic and paid channels need to be integrated. We find step changes in efficiency by working together, not against each other. So how can two channels that should work hand in hand, but often don’t – paid search and organic search – work together to drive efficiencies and performance improvements?
So different, yet so alike
While there are differing factors
revenue, or whether it’s simply
to determine rank for PPC ads and
cannibalising your organic revenue.
SEO listings, both share the same
Key tactics to do this include trade-
space. When both channels are at
off analysis, PPC bid adjustments
the top of the page, it makes sense to
based on organic rankings, and
consider whether your investment
using PPC ad copy testing to inform
in paid search is driving incremental
metadata and page titles.
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Getting the channels to
Trade-off involves testing PPC
cannibalising organic traffic. When
work together
ads in different positions (such as
pushing bids on a keyword, this can
position 1, 2, 3, etc.), and measuring
allow you to estimate how much of
the holistic sales and revenue driven
the traffic increase is incremental
through paid and organic search.
and how much of it would have been
I recommend linking your Google
picked up by organic.
AdWords account to your Google Search Console, as this will allow you to effectively run a Search Query Report (SQR) across paid and organic, to see the impressions, average position, and clicks for both channels – all segmented by search query. This then allows you to analyse the effect of a specific search term’s average paid position on organic click-through rate (this will only work if the term’s organic position doesn’t fluctuate). Once enough data has been gathered, you can start to paint a picture of how much that particular keyword is
As an example, a client wanted to know how much additional spend would be required to push a specific head search term to position one, and how much additional traffic this would drive. When this was estimated solely using historic paid search data, it looked as though the gain in traffic could be worth the extra spend but when taking into account the loss in organic clickthrough rate that was observed when this position was tested, the actual cost per incremental click was roughly 50% higher.
There are, however, certain limiting factors to take into account:
ö ö The organic data from the
weighted correlation needs to
paid search query may not be
be used (in the same way that
100% reliable
you need to weight average position by impression before
ö ö As we can’t look at data on an individual impression level,
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you find the average across multiple keywords)
This leads nicely to my next point. While in almost all cases other metrics will take precedence over this, it can be useful to take organic average position into account before pushing bids on a keyword that is competing against high position organic results. This can be done in a few ways:
ö ö Opening the report on a keyword-by-keyword basis
ö ö If you have a paid SEMrush subscription, you can use a script to label keywords
ö ö Using AdWords Scripts to
pulled from its API
label keywords with the average organic position pulled using the paid organic query API call
A final way I’ve seen success in
engine results page (SERP) results to
aligning paid and organic search to
the website will help increase click-
holistically drive better performance
through rate across the site. We’ve
is to use PPC ad copy testing to
seen this approach deliver great
inform wording for metadata and
results across multiple clients to
page titles. The theory is that
help drive customers through to the
keywords which drive users to click
next stage of the marketing funnel.
through from ads in the search
Integration as a driver
So, if you’re looking to drive
organic position when optimising
for efficiencies
efficiency, you should really be
PPC bids. You should also look to
looking to integrate your channels,
use winning messaging from PPC
and to follow a methodology of
ads to inform metadata and page
letting them work together to
title wording. While you might have
achieve more with less. Key ways of
differing goals for paid and organic
approaching this are to test different
search, when both appear in the
positions for the PPC ad, and
same space, it’s worth measuring
measure the paid and organic sales
both channels together to ensure
and revenue holistically to consider
spend isn’t wasted.
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