You may have recently seen the announcement of the opening of AdWords PPC... where we offer set-up and 30-days of optimization for just $1...
And, upon seeing this... you may have wondered how we are able to both create highly optimized campaigns and do this so cheaply.
Well, a big part of the answer is a unique process to build and optimize your campaigns.
It's the same process I use on new campaigns for major clients... and the ones that Google kept track of for years before awarding a team of their employees (paid on their dime) to help manage top clients campaigns.
To my knowledge, only a handful of others have the same arrangement.
So, what did Google see in my process that they liked so much?
You see, most advertisers use the "set-it-and-forget-it" model when creating their campaigns.
They build their campaigns in order to minimize on-going optimization efforts.
Many management firms even take this model to the extreme. They set-up your campaigns and never touch your campaigns again... only to collect your monthly fees.
Google HATES this.
They want to see you logging into your campaigns and optimizing on a regular basis.
Why?
Just like they do... they want you to continually optimize to provide a better user experience.
They don't want you to attempt to get it all right from the get-go. But, adjust based on the data that comes in.
You see, there's fallacy many advertisers believe.
They think... If only I had the same exact campaign as the top advertiser... I'd be made.
This is not the case... because every account and product is different.
Each account has different account history stored up... and the market reacts to each advertiser differently.
As a result... every account must be treated differently.
Copying and pasting only gets you so far... without the human element.
You need someone there to make decisions based on hard data.
So, what should you do instead?
Well, let me reveal to you my 4 step process for creating new campaigns.
Here's how it works:
1. Keyword research
For the content network, before we even look at the Google keyword tool, we try to find 10 core keywords. Each of these keywords are ones prospects type in when looking to BUY the product or brand.
These are typcially found in the client's questionnaire or on their landing pages.
For instance, a core keyword of AdWords PPC might be "AdWords Management Service."
THEN, after these keywords have been identified, they're inputted into the Google keyword tool. Up to 20 of the top keywords are selected for inclusion in the core keyword's ad group.
The reason we do it like is to cast a WIDE NET. Through the placement report, we can see which sites should be excluded and which ones are potential winners (those with high conversions) that can be targeted through placement campaigns.
By targeting a site using placement targeting, then we can give the site its own ad group and create custom ads for it.
For the search network, we also want to cast a wide net. However, we do things a little differently.
Instead of themes... we create ad groups with just 1 broad based keyword (phrase and exact matches are not included YET). After the campaign runs for a bit, you then see what people are typing-in using the search query report.
Generally, we start with 50-100 targeted core keywords using the Google keyword tool.
We like to see a max of 2 words per keyword.
They are then labeled as being in one of 3 groups:
1. HSV (High search volume) – More than 50,000 searches
2. MSV (Medium search volume)- Between 10,000 and 50,000 searches
3. LSV (low search volume) – Less than 10,000 searches
The purpose of this is simply to help tell us which lower traffic ad groups need more time for data to come-in than others with high traffic.
When the data finally does come-in, then we take the targeted keywords that are getting impressions and put them in their own ad groups with exact match.
2. Ad creation
Next, we create a minimum of 2 ads for each ad group. To create ads we take the winning ad formulas already proven to work.
We go in-depth into how to do this over in this post: http://www.adwordsbuzz.com/2009/05/how-to-get-killer-ad-ideas-by-swiping-those-in-other-markets.html
This is our starting point.
For the content network we create both a campaign for text ads... and a campaign for image ads (we are sure to include all sizes allowed).
3. Discover
After your campaign has launched... it's then time to analyze your data.
Data comes-in through reports, conversion data, and analytics.
The key reports to look at on an on-going basis are the:
- Keyword Report
- Search Query Report -- You want to see the unique search queries triggered by your broad keywords.
- Placement Performance Report -- You want to see what sites your ads appear on from your keyword-based content campaigns.
4. Optimize & Expand
Finally, based on what data comes-in, we optimize and expand the campaigns.
For the search network, I look at the reports and start deleting keywords and ad variations. I also add keywords to the negative list and I re-organize my ad group where I feel it is necssary with either proven adtext or new adtext altogether. I evaluate if keywords with great CTR have enough impressions and clicks to require a new landing page to test if it does not already have enough conversions.
For the content network, I look at the placement reports and start excluding websites that are not relevant or does not convert well. I place those that do convert well into a managed placement program to monitor seperately.
The bottom-line is we approach things as if we owned our end-clients business and we constantly tweak in favor of the data. Give the searchers what they want, realizing that what their habits and desires are ever-changing.
More information on our process can be found in these posts:
