How To Get Started With The Content Network The Right Way

At first glance, it seems like the best option to create content campaigns is to start with placement campaigns.  

This is because you get to pick the exact sites your ads appear on.   However, it's important not to ignore keyword-based campaigns.

In fact, I almost always start with keyword-based content campaigns. Each keyword (usually around 50 and at the most 100) goes into its own ad group.  The keywords shouldn't just be taken from search, but should be double-checked to make sure they describe the theme of your site.

After you've done this, let your new campaign run.  Then, every so often, check the placement performance report.  It tells you what sites Google has decided were relevant and ran your ads on.

I try to do this every 100-200 clicks, depending on the market.  So, this might be checking your placement report every other day, depending on your budget.

The reason this is so important is that the content network is massive and if you only use placement targeteting, then countless opportunities get overlooked.

Once inside the placement report, I then go through the sites with clicks and if one is relevant, I place it under a new placement targeted campaign.  At the same time, I add it as a negative in the keyword-targeted campaign.  In addition, if a site has clicks and is NOT relevant, then I also add that as a negative site.

When looking at the Placement report, prioritize sites first by the number of conversions... followed by clicks... and finally impressions.  This means your conversion code needs to be installed when you begin.

By doing the optimization process this way, over time, you will have built-out a detailed placement campaign with winning sites and have tested ads from the keyword-based campaign and early site targeted campaigns you can use in future ad groups.

To summarize, the key take away is this... The content network is HUGE... and to get a handle on it and make sure you don't overlook opportunities... you cast a wide net initially and then optimize it frequently.

For more tips on using the content network, check-out this post here.

The Case For Content Network Advertising...

Last week, I gave the prediction that "2010 will be the year of the content network."

A big part of the reason for this is the addition of re-targeting... a major addition Google's adding in 2010... to almost "follow around" interested prospects as they browse the web.

You can read more about it here.

However, this innovation is just the tip of the iceberg of why the content network is so exciting...

The main reason the content network is so profitable is that there is a massive amount of low-hanging fruit -- dirt-cheap ad space few are tapping into.

You see, as a manager, I've had the opportunity to look into a lot of campaigns and have seen what advertisers are and are not doing.

Usually, when it comes to the content network, advertisers either are not using it at all... or are using it all wrong. 

Common mistakes include:

• Using the same campaign used for search advertising to advertise on the content network.  

• Using the same ads used on search for the content network. Content is a whole different animal than search. You've got to stop your prospects dead in their tracks and get them to click on your ad and buy.  This requires different ad text.

• Not using image ads and only using text ads.  With just text ads, you may be only reaching 5% of potential customers.

• Not tracking conversions so you have no idea what kind of results you're getting from the content network.  Without conversion data, you have no idea where to allocate the bulk of your budget.

• Not running the placement performance report to see which sites to include as negatives (where you don't want your ads to appear).

• Only spending a tiny fraction of your ad budget on the content advertising.  Measure your numbers before you decide where to spend your budget.  Often conversions are MUCH cheaper on the content network.

In addition, Google recently talked about test results in a video here... where they measured an increase in search campaign results for an advertiser BECAUSE of their content display ad campaign.  Their search traffic rose by 51%... and the amount of searchers for their keywords by 87%.

In other words, a solid content campaign can give you an edge in the search battle.  You're getting to prospects first.

Alright, so what's the right way to do it instead?

Here's are 5 key steps:

1.  Create two keyword-based content campaigns (separate from your search campaign).   The first one is for your text ads and the second is for image ads only.

2.  Inside the campaigns, separate your keywords in tight ad groups just like you do on search. 

3.  Create at least 2 text ads for each ad group for one of the campaigns... and at least 16 image ads (2 for each of the 8 image sizes) for each of your ad groups in the second campaign.

4.  Let everything run for a while.  Then, run a report to find-out what sites your ads appeared on... and which ones converted the best for you.

5.  Set-up placement campaigns for these top sites once you see which ones are converting from the placement report.  Create custom ads just for each site.

As you can see, this takes a lot of work... likely DAYS to get it all set-up (and lot's of money to pay the graphic designer)...However, the results are worth it.  You unlock cheap content network ad space your competition overlooks.

Plus, there's also a shortcut... AdText Image Creator 2.0, my latest soon to be released tool.  It generates killer market dominating content campaigns... with just a few clicks of your mouse. 

You can find-out more at:  http://www.AdTextImageCreator.com

No matter what, the content network is here to stay.  If you're not already taking advantage of it, now is the time to learn the ropes before the competition beats you to the punch.

Duplicating Your Success By Translating Your Ad Campaigns

Google recently announced (here) a new tool to help you translate your campaigns.  All you do is upload your AdWords Editor campaign files (download AdWords Editor here) and the translation tool does the rest. 

You can access the tool at:

http://translate.google.com/toolkit/

This is a noteworthy development because the world search market is growing rapidly.  If you have a product or service you're promoting that is making you a lot of money in English, then you might generate even higher profits if you translate it into another language.  

This is because while there may be several others using effective marketing techniques written in English, there may be nobody else targeting the Spanish speaking market.  So, even though the market may be smaller, you're the biggest fish in the pond.

Of course, translated campaigns may not do you any good if folks can't read your or understand your landing page well.  And, when you're doing a lot of translation, automated tools don't cut it.

To overcome this, you need the help of someone who understands all of the nuances.  This is why it is important that you have a native speaker to help you with your campaigns.  

Even better than a native speaker is someone who also understands marketing on Google AdWords.  It isn't enough to translate for someone to understand.  You want somebody who can help identify winning keywords and create ads that boost your response.

Finding this type of person to do this for you might mean partnering with another marketer who speaks the language you're targeting fluently.  This is opposed to only looking for a translator.

Market Research Secrets For AdWords: Online Conversations

Last week, we talked about using surveys to get your customers to tell you what they want (here).  However, you don't always have to ask them.  They're likely already telling you.  All you have to do is look at the online conversations they're engaging in.  In forums, social media sites, and thousands of sites around the web. 

Let's go through an example and say we have a product that helps relieve migraines.  We want how our prospects talk about their migraines so we can incorporate their language into our ads and landing pages.

The first stop is Search.Twitter.com.    Here, you can see what people are talking about on the popular social networking site, Twitter.com.  Simply enter either "headache" or "migraines" below:

Here's what appears for "Migraines:"

From these posts, we can get a pretty good picture of what it's like to have migraines.

We might then use the following copy in our ads:

• "Never wake up with a migraine again"
• "Make migraines disappear without drugs.  No more trips to the drug store."
• "Finally enjoy full 7 day weeks where you're full energy and life."

Do you see how the reader can relate to this?  You're not just making claims, but tying the claims back to his or her life.

In addition, the Twitter results are getting updated all of the time.  If a news story or new product comes-out, you're the first to knew.  You can adjust your message based on what's happening in the marketplace.

A great idea is to subscribe to the RSS feed for your keywords found in the upper right corner of the results:  

Next stop: Amazon.com.   First, just type-in your search query at the top of the page:

We then see various products:

Next, under each product you see information about reviews:  

Go-ahead and click on the number to check them out.

Here's just a sample of what appears:

Here, the comments go much deeper than on Twitter.  People tell their exact stories.  You find-out what they've tried in the past, what failed, what showed promised, and so much more.

If the product actually works, then people will tell what it's like to no longer have to worry about their problems.   In your copy, you then know exactly how to paint a picture of what it's like owning your product or service.

Next up:  Forums and message boards.    To find forums your customers are on, simply do a Google search:

The main advantage of forums is that people get very personal.  They often share their worries or problems that they may not even tell their significant others or closest friends.

More often on Amazon, people are trying to create stories designed for other people.  On forums, people tell their stories for their own self-therapy.  Their worries, problems, and desires you must address in your ads and landing pages become clear.

Finally, one more site is Answers.Yahoo.com.  Yahoo Answers is a site where people submit questions on a wide range of issues and people can then respond.  Get started simply by inputting your search query:

 

You can then see every question that's been asked about migraines:

The advantage Yahoo Answers offers is that people get very specific in their symptoms or why they're asking the question.  For a migraines product, this is useful because we can quickly see everything our customer experiences, such as how often the migraines occur, when they are occur, and other symptoms that go alongside them.

The bottom-line is that there is a wealth of information to create winning ads and positive user experiences at your finger tips.  All you have to do is spend 30 minutes to an hour every so often looking.

Market Research Secrets For AdWords: Surveys

Last week, we talked about how you can figure-out what keywords, ads, landing pages, and other marketing material you should use (here).  One of key way to do this is with effective market research.  You must figure-out what your customers are likely to respond to.  

There are a number of ways to do this. However, today, we're going to focus on just one, surveys. 

Surveys are great because they get feedback from your customers.  You let them tell you what goes into your ads or the products you create.  You don't have to guess.

The only problem is that most people do them all wrong -- limiting results.. or even sending them off in losing directions.

There are two keys to getting the most from your surveys:

    1.  First, make sure to ask the right questions.  It's easy to come-up with questions on the fly.  However, you will often find that the responses you get don't always give you the information you really wanted to know.

When you're one-on-one this is fine.  You can quickly adjust your question.  In a survey, you're stuck with what you started with.

For instance, a common question asked on surveys is, "How much would you pay for my product?"

A better alternative might be, "What do you think is a fair price for this product and why?"  You might then follow-up this up with "What else would you like to see the product offer?"

The latter questions helps prevent the low-ball responses "free" or "$1" and gets more at what people's true feelings are.

Here are some more tips to asking good questions:

• Ask mostly open-ended questions (not simple or "Yes" or "No" responses).  You want to get at the rational the responder is using. Get at their true feelings, worries, or concerns.
• Think about potential responses from each question.  This helps you rephrase your question to help get the information you want to know.
• Keep the question easy to understand and answer.  If you make the customer think too much, the amount of responses and information you get goes way down.  You want to ask questions that the respondent can answer quickly, such as "What are you struggling most with in your business?"  You do not want him or her to think there is a right or wrong answer.
• If you don't have an incentive to answer lots of detailed questions, then be sure to keep your survey short and to the point.  Without an incentive, then maybe 5 questions is at the high end of what you should be asking.

    2.  Listen to what's really being communicated.  Don't take responses at face value.

Let me give you an example.  Let's say you ask, "What do you think a fair price for my product is and why?"

The response is then "$17 because this is all I can afford."

This response could be the customer telling you a lot of things.  It might be that your customers really can't afford much at this time.  They're in deep financial pain where they don't have enough money for the next month.  So, $17 is giving-up a lot for him or her.

But, more likely, this is not going to be the case.  Instead, the response is just how this person feels at this moment.  He or she does not see the value in the product to justify spending more.  Spending more would mean giving up something he or she values more.

However, would presenting it another way make the customer see things differently?  Or, is there a problem with the product or service that just isn't what he or she is looking for?

Simply put, don't be reactionary to every response.  Look at the big picture of the responses.  This might mean that you don't always get clear-cut answers.  But, what you will get is potential warning signs or signs of potential.

In other words, don't look at surveys as a crystal ball.  They're not.  What they do instead is point you in the right direction.

Alright, so how can you get started with a survey?

The quickest and easiest way is to set-up a web form with your questions.  You might create just a basic web form or use a service like Surveymonkey.com. You can then email your prospects or even use AdWords to drive traffic to your survey.  

If you use AdWords, be sure your landing page is written for those that are not familiar with you, but are still in your market.  For email, you may need to send multiple emails about the survey.  Remember, your readers are busy.  They're happy to help you out, but you may need to ask in different ways.

In addition, keeping it simple helps a lot.  If you want to have a longer survey, then you can offer a valuable incentive, such as free access to the product when it's completed or another bonus you come up with.

Hitting The AdWords Profit Bullseye.

How do you normally go about creating your campaigns?

Do you sit down and just put down anything that comes to mind?

Or, do you ask the tough questions needed to get results?   Questions, such as:

• Which keywords are going to attract buying customers?
• Which words are most effective to use in your ads?
• Which words are most effective in your landing page?
• How much copy do you need in your landing page?
• How are you unique from your competition?
• And much more

If you don't have answers for these questions, it's like throwing a dart in the dark.

Your chances of hitting the profit bullseye are minimal.

To up your chances and turn the light on, you've got to come-up with the right answers.

There are 3 ways to do this:

1.  Guess based on opinion.  This is what most advertisers do. They make these decisions based on what they think they would do themselves.

There's just one huge problem with this... You're NOT your customer.  What you like may not be the same as your customers.  For instance, you may not like video salespages, but that doesn't mean your customers don't respond to it. 

2.  Attempt to research what's really going on in the market.  You might do this with surveys, customer interviews, and spying on what your competitors are doing effectively.  

Who are the dominant players in your market and why are they at the top?  What are your customers having a hard time with?  What do they appear to be buying the most of?

This is better than guessing and should be done, but it's not perfect.

3.  Put your best answers from research to the test.  Finally, listening to what your customers say is great.  But, far more revealing than what your customers say is what they end-up doing when all of the cards are on the table.

For instance, you may do a survey and customers say they like one website design over others.  Yet, when you do a split test to see which one produces the best results, you often find that what people say they liked isn't what they buy from.

In other words, it often pays to force yourself to be a contrarian... and then putting your differing ideas to the test.

This can be scary because we all want to be right all of the time.  However, would you rather have a hurt ego or a fatter wallet?  Looking bad (if you really do) is temporary.  But, moving forward with something that is ineffective causes a lot of long-term financial pain.

Simply put, testing and failing quickly can be great.  It tells you a certain approach is not effective that you may have otherwise used for a long period of time.  Instead, you find-out what really works.

Developing Your Content Creation Strategy.

The message is clear to advertisers.  Ignore it at your own peril.  Google wants you to provide unique value to your visitors.

How do you do this?

One way is with killer content.   Words that make visitors stick... rather than flee.

The most visible example of this is simply your favorite television shows.  Consider:  What makes you prefer one Television channel over the other?  Or, one magazine or newspaper over the other?

What about one website over another?

In the end, the key ingredient is the content.  The information you offer and how relatable it is to readers.

Clever names and marketing only get you so far if there's no meat.

Quality content doesn't just help you with AdWords by making Google happy, but it also:

*  Boosts your credibility where people see you as the expert

*  Keeps visitors coming back,

*  Differentiates you from similar competitors in your market,

*  Drives free traffic from others linking to you,

*  Helps you claim free listings in Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

Simply put, it's a long-term asset.

However, not all content is the same.  There are a lot of shortcuts out there to beef up your website.

A common "Grey" or "Blackhat" tactic is to use software to swipe existing junk content from Google search results, low-quality blog feeds, or wikipedia.  

However, if Google has not already caught on to the junk content, it won't be long before they do.

That is not to say you can't profit from it in the short term.  Just that it's not going to last long.

Of course, there's a reason folks are looking for short-term solutions.

Creating quality content takes work.  You may not be a pro writer or world class expert... and you may be in 5 different markets at a time.

So what are you to do?

Here are 5 strategies to generate quick and easy quality content:

1.  Get users to help generate content.  You might do this by creating a forum or encouraging readers to post in your blog.  To get them to post, you might have contests, answer questions (Q & A), or ask questions about controversial topics.  

2.  Give your take on the latest news stories in your market.  For example, if you run a health and fitness blog, then you can write about what you think of the latest studies that come-out. News sites or Digg.com are great places to check on a regular basis.

3.  Re-publish public domain material with your explanation of why it's still relevant today.  There's loads of old books that are free to take.  Just head over to a site like Gutenberg.org to get started.  There's loads of great stuff on topics like, self-improvement, public speaking, marketing, and much more.

4.  Interview experts.  This is a great way to learn about your market (which helps you sell) and beef-up your site at the same time.  Hire someone to transcribe your audio interviews so you can get content for the search engines.  Remember, Google can't read the words in video or audio files.

5. Selectively re-publish other people's content.  You can do this without getting additional permission from article directories, such as EzineArticles.com or IdeaMarketers.com.  You also might really like a blog or e-newsletter article and ask the author if you can re-publish it on your site.  Typically, others are happy to let you do this for free if you include their resource box after the article with a link to their sites.

Finally, you should also consider using video.  If you can't write or you really shine through video, then get a video camera and record.  Focus your attention on your talents.  

 

Simply put. there's a lot of great ways to deliver value, while keeping your workload manageable. It does take work, but you have to keep in mind that you're building a long-term asset.

If you only plan to be in a market for a short time, then possibly consider identifying a market you want to stay-in for the long-term.

Is Google AdWords Worth The Time and Effort?

If you browse much on search marketing forums, you may notice that there often a lot of angry posts aimed at Google.  Users get fed-up with the latest changes and how Google communicates about them.

It may seem as if the little (or even sometimes larger) size AdWords advertiser does not have a voice.  Google sometimes seems to treat them like they are dispensable.

The result is these advertisers may get discouraged from using AdWords.  Why go through all of the time and effort involved in setting-up a detailed campaign?

The short answer is it can be difficult to do without.  You may be leaving a fortune on the table or go out of business if you kick it to the curb.

This is because Google provides the largest supply of actual search traffic.  When somebody is actively looking for something, around 60% head to Google.  Most of the rest go to MSN or Yahoo.  

In many markets, these searchers are your bread and butter.  They're looking to buy.  For instance, let's say you sell a guide in the niche, "How to speed-up your computer."  With this type of product, there may not be too many other places you can go to get affordable traffic.  

When people want to learn how to do this, they search on Google for information.  

Free rankings might be your other best bet, but, again, you're relying on Google for traffic and this requires work and time as well to obtain.

In addition to dominating search, Google is also moving rapidly into content.  To get prime placements around the web, Google is a very valuable tool.  At this point, it may not be required, but that may change in the future.

The bottom-line is Google makes life a lot easier when you get along.  Moreover, it may be very difficult to give up on it because they dominate so much of all web traffic.

With this said, in most markets, there are plenty of other models you can use.

Other big sources besides search engines might be:

• Doing offline events, either speaking or presenting and funneling those you meet toward your website.
• Teleseminars and webinars.  Partner with others and offer to do a free online event for their customers.
• Getting others to email or mail their list of customers for a commission.
• Article marketing where you submit to directories, magazines, and get other publications to run your content.
• Direct-mail to targeted lists. 
• Social media traffic from Twitter, Facebook, Digg, and so on. 

What works best for you, depends on your skills, resources, your product, and the market you're selling to.  Even if you're currently just using AdWords now, you can begin thinking about other ways of doing things so your business is not dependent on Google.

The Content Network Mindset.

When it comes to AdWords, most of the focus is usually on search. Often little is said about the role of the content network.

As a result, many may view it as being a lot like search.  You use similar text ads and keywords.  The only difference is that you view it as producing lower quality visitors because fewer visitors from it buy.

The problem with this view is that it misses most of the opportunity the content network has to offer.

Instead of viewing it as simply "search-lite," you can view it as a different animal.

This is because in the search network, visitors are actively looking for what you have to offer.

It can be easier to stop them in their tracks and get them to click on your ad over others.  

On the content network, visitors see your ads while they are reading some type of content.  Your ads might be beside an article, discussion, review, video, audio, press release, or other information relevant to your product or service.

This means that the visitors that see your ad are at a different stage in the buying process than in search.

Let's look at an example and say you're interested in buying a television.

You have little idea of what you want or need.

So, you head over to Cnet.com to get reviews.

Alongside the reviews are Google ads.

Here's what two actual ads generally say:

"Shop Layaway To Get What You Want.  Get  A Discount Coupon.".

"Check out our new line of plasma & LCD HDTV Models."

Do you see what the goal of these ads is?

Each ad's job here is to convince the visitor to leave the cnet reviews and go elsewhere. Continue shopping.  Not stop and buy a specific product.  The ads are general.

Now, compare this to search for the term, "buy television:"

Many of the ads look like this on Google:

TV Sale
Save On TVs
Free Shipping
Website.com

The searcher typing in this term has likely already decided to buy.  Thus, the ads want the visitor to choose them as their retailer.  All they have to do is get the visitor to click on their ad over the rest.

In the content network, this is not likely the case.  The customer wants to buy, but has not made-up his or her mind on what to get.  This is why he or she is looking at reviews.

Telling this person about your Television sale is not as effective as helping him or her continue the shopping process.

In addition, this also means that many of the same people looking at Cnet reviews might be the same ones who eventually end-up going to Google and typing-in, "Buy television" when they are ready to do so.

In this example, advertising on content is your opportunity to capture these prospects before they ever get to search or walk into a store. You tap into a much larger audience.

In essence, content is not necessarily less effective than search.  The mindset is just different.  It can be more effective if you tap into it the right way.

Your job is to continue the conversation going on in your prospect's mind.  On search, the conversation may be, "Where can I get the best deal?" and on content it may be, "What is the best deal for my wants and needs?"

How To Figure-Out Why Your Quality Score Tanked

One of the most baffling parts of AdWords for new advertisers (or even established ones) is the quality score.  This number (1-10) determines how much you pay.  The higher it is, your costs go down and your ad goes-up on the page.  

It's vital to know.

At first, this number is easy to be overlooked by new advertisers.

That is, until you get hit with a "Google Slap" where the quality score is lowered to 1 and your ads stop showing as a result.  You're then left to figure-out why you aren't generating anymore clicks.

Where can you find-out what your quality score is?

It's accessed by checking the "status" column inside each ad group and hovering your mouse over the dialog box:

If you're quality score is on the low end, then you've got work to do.

It it's on the higher end, then you still may have room for improvement, but there is no need for immediate worry.

Here's what it looks like if you've been hit:

In the above example, you can see three areas of evaluation:

1.  Keyword relevance -- Your keyword should be relevant to your ads.  If you get hit by this, then first ask yourself if the keyword really is likely to produce buyers for you.  If not, delete it.  Otherwise, you may improve relevance with the right ads.  Isolate your hit keyword and put it into its own ad group with customized ads that speak directly to searchers.

2.  Landing page quality -- There's something about your landing page Google doesn't like. 

The challenge is then doing detective work to find-out what the problem is.  It might be a technical problem with your site (as described here), a quality issue, or just anything that they deem as creating a bad user experience.

You can begin by reading Google's landing page and site quality guidelines at:  https://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?answer=46675

If you're still not sure and you likely will not be, then you can contact Google for more information.  They usually do not give clear answers and you may have to do some testing. 

If you're an affiliate marketer, then you need to make sure you spend time building a valuable site.  Read more about what to do as an affiliate here as well as the webmaster guidelines.

3.  Landing page load time --  This is how fast your page loads.  If it's not loading fast enough, then it likely is loaded with graphics, video, or there is too much you're trying to load.  You need to reduce the size of your landing page.  Google gives basic ideas on how to do this here.

Typically, long load times significantly impacts your response rates anyway.

Alright, you now know where to go if you've been hit.  It can be a frustrating experience to get your site going again, but worth it once you've gotten it all straightened out.