Digital Dealer 18: An Intro to Paid Search & Managing an Agency Relationship

Christi Olson | Point It | Director of SEM@ChristiJOlson #DD18 Christi Olson | Point It | Director of SEM@ChristiJOlson #DD18

Tips for managing paid search:how to tell if your agency is taking you for a ride

•CHRISTI OLSON

Christi Olson | Point It | Director of Search Marketing | [email protected]

@ChristiJOlson

Christi Olson | Point It | Director of SEM@ChristiJOlson #DD18 Christi Olson | Point It | Director of SEM@ChristiJOlson #DD18 Christi Olson | Point It | Director of SEM@ChristiJOlson #DD18

WHAT I DO FOR FUN…FAMILY…WORK…

a little bit about me…

10+ years experience

managed $100M+/year

Worlds...

• Best Husband• Cutest Pug• Largest Mini-Schnauzer

Crossfit

Run crazy distances• (5k’s – 50 Miles)

Christi Olson | Point It | Director of SEM@ChristiJOlson #DD18

Fundamentals of Search

10 pitfalls uncovered in an audit

Is your agency taking you for a ride?


SEM isn’t sexy….


it’s not shiny and new…

PPC ads aren’t the sexiest looking ads


It’s full on nerdy, but…

what’s behind the basic ad is so much more…• targeting• layering tactics & strategies


5.1 billion monthly mobile searches

and that is sexy!

…what it is: 17 billion monthly desktop searches*

that is a lot of customers searching for your products

*comScore February 2015


Lets start at the beginning, and build a solid foundation… then we can move to the fun stuff.


What’s in a SERP (search engine results page)

Paid Search

Org

anic

Searc

h

Pa

id S

earc

h

Main Line Search Results

Right RailSearch Results


60 - 80% clicks happen on 1st page of the SRP

30-50% Paid

50-70% Organic

http://bit.ly.ctrstudy2014


no bull….The basics are what trip up even the most

advanced professionals


Before you start identify your goals.

Account and campaigns should be aligned to your KPIs and goals.


What action do you want the consumer to

take?


• Get information about specials / deals / offers

• Get directions to your dealership

• Get financing information

• Contact you directly

• Buy a Car


Set-up your hierarchy to align with your goals


building your search foundation

Account

Campaign

Ad Group

Keywords

Bid Landing Page

Ads

Ad Copy Landing Page

google - bing

budget & targeting settings

groups of similar keywords

what is being searched

What consumers see on the SRP

targeting targeting


why the foundation is important

Account

Campaign

Ad Group

Keywords

Bid Landing Page

Ads


Structure (Account Hierarchy)

o Is your dealership local, regional or national?

o One location – Use campaign settings for targeting

o Regional – Use campaigns to geo-target each individual location

o National – Depending on the #, use either Accounts or Campaigns to target each location

o Does your dealership sell multiple Brands of vehicles?

o Single to Few Makes of Auto:

o Use Campaigns for Make & Models

o Use Ad Groups for each Modifier sub-set

o Many Brands of Autos:

o If budget is controlled at the Make, use individual accounts

o If budget isn’t a concern, use Make+Model combined at the Campaign


Within your account structure

create unique campaigns specifically for Brand

(Dealership & Manufacturer)



Account

Campaign

Ad Group

Keywords

Bid Landing Page

Ads


Structure Ad Groups

o Ad Groups should contain “like” terms and phrases

o Best Practices:

oKeep Ad Groups to <=50 keywords

oHave keywords across match types

oUse negative keywords to force match ad copy & content


how to choose the right keywords

• Start by brainstorming relevant keywords for products & services

• Review search term details (aka search query reports - SQR’s) frequently

CORE IDEA

• Tighter keyword organization = higher keyword relevancy

Keyword

Organization• Higher Quality Score

• Increased Relevancy

• Lower CPCs

• Higher Ad Rank


keyword match types

default match type

adds additionallevel of control

includes close variations & plurals

prevent ads from showing

match type

special symbol

examplekeyword ads may show on searches that… example searches

broad none ford f150include misspellings, synonyms, related searches, and other relevant variations

used f150 ford pickup

modifiedbroad

+keyword +ford +f150contains the modified term (or close variants, but not synonyms), in any order

ford f 150

phrase “keyword” “ford f150”appear together as a phrase, work order matters, and close variations of the phrase

preowned ford f150

exact [keyword] [ford f150]are an exact term and close variation of that exact term

ford f150fjord f150

negative -keyword -preowned are searches without the termnew ford pickupsused ford pickups


what are “stop words” ?

2

2

• Look at your Search Query Reports to see if there are queries with “Stop Words”.

• Add those queries as unique keywords


ring fencing with negative keywords

-preowned

-used

-2013

-2012

-2011

- …

“ford focus”

ford focus

2015 ford focus

ford focus financing

ford focus vs impreza

2016 ford focus

Keyword NegativesSearch Queries



Account

Campaign

Ad Group

Keywords

Bid Landing Page

Ads


Structure: Ad Copy & Landing Pages

o Keep Ad Copy and Landing Pages relevant to the keywords.

o Don’t drive all traffic to the homepage. Drive the traffic to the most relevant page based on the keyword.

o Use the Keyword in the Title or Description Line 1

o Find ways to differentiate from other dealerships. Be different from your competition. If all ads look the same why should a user clicks on yours?


Do your ads stand out OR do they all look the same?


an example of what the architecture could be:

Google

AdWords

Brand

Dealership Name

+Lithia Motors

+Lithia

+Lithia +Medford

Dealership Name

[Exact]

[Lithia]

[Lithia Motors]

-”mobile home”

-”lithia florida”

-florida

Make

Honda

Make [Exact]

[honda]

-motorcycle

-financial

-marine

-parts

Make/Model

Honda Civic

Model

honda civic

“honda civic”

-accord

-parts

-repair

-”sell my”

Model [Exact]

[honda civic]

[civic]

-new

-preowned

-used

New Model

“new honda civic”

“new civic si”

-preowned

-used

-2013

Pre-Owned Model

preowned honda civic”

“preowned civic”

-new

-2015

Year Model

2015 honda civic

2014 honda civic

2013 honda civic

2012 honda civic

…

Make/Model

…

Make/Model

…

Ads

Landing Page

Lithia Motors [City Name]

Your Trusted Hometown Dealer.

Great Service & Selection. Lowest Prices.

Lithia Honda in Medford

April Honda Civic Sales Event! Great

Deals on 2015 Honda Civics. Ends 4/22!

Build Your Honda See Current Offers

0% APR Financing Certified Preowned

Dealership

Homepage

Honda Civic

Cat Page

Lithia Honda

Homepage

2016 Civic

Cat Page

PreOwned

Civic Page

… …


Yes! We get the basics… but why does it matter?




What you should get from an agency


In 3 out of 5 audits I find issues

with the basics elements of paid

search.



1) Inconsistency with Campaign Settings

Campaigns are haphazardly set across the account.

Theory: Instead of creating new campaigns, old ones were copied and pasted, but the settings weren’t updated.


1b) Not Following Best Practices

Campaign Settings Issues:

a) Network Settings – Targeting Search & Display together

• Best Practice: Break apart Search & Display!

b) Search Campaign Features – “Search Network – All Features”

• Missing opportunities if you are not targeting all features

c) Not evaluating if Google Search Partners works for you.


2) Location Targeting

Geo-Targeting settings for the Entire US

Recommended Settings for Location Targeting:

• Include: "People in my targeted location"

• Exclude: "People in my excluded location"

… but your business has set physical locations

Recommended strategy: Target geo’s where you business is located


3) Language Targeting

What happens when you target English only?

A user with Spanish as their default browser language searches for:

“Ford F150 Leasing Incentives”

The user person wouldn’t see your ad, even though they searched in English.

It’s based off of their default language settings (not the language your keyword and ad copy is written in.)


3) Language Targeting

Issue: In the US Targeting only English language

Why? Search Engines use computer & browser language settings to determine language

20-30% of the US population speak a 2nd language at home


4) Delivery Method

• If there are limited budgets, recommend setting to “Set to Standard – Show Evenly Over Time”

• This will reduce how many impressions you are eligible for and will have your budget last through the day.

Daily Budget $1000, CTR 10% , CPC $1

Eligible for 10,000 Impressions per day

~417 impressions each hour for 24 hours


4) Delivery Method

• If there are limited budgets, recommend setting to “Set to Standard – Show Evenly Over Time”

Google takes your budget,

and estimates based on

your CTR how many

impressions you should

get each hour

With accelerated, you get

more impressions, but you

can run out of budget

during the day.

Recommendation:

Accelerated + day parting

Increased impressions during

the hours you convert


5) Mobile Bid Modifier either 0% or -100%

~30% of searches are done on a mobile device

• If you don’t have a mobile optimized site, move to -100%

• If you have a mobile optimized site, target somewhere between -20% and -80%

• Look at mobile device performance and adjust the bids!


6) Ad Copy: # of Ads

• # Active Ads: Minimum of 2, Maximum of 4-6• If you are using dynamic ad copy or ad customizers always have a standard default ad


6) Ad Copy: Ad Rotation Settings

Scenario: You ran an ad copy test, found a winner. Paused the “losing” ad copy…. BUT you forgot to update the ad rotation settings.

• Ad Rotation: • Rotate Evenly

• Optimize to Clicks

• Optimize to Conversions

Use when testing

Then optimize

against your

KPIs


7) Ad Copy is missing Ad Extensions

• Ad Extensions can boost CTR between 5%-50%

• Utilize the extra ad space to own the SERP!

•

Seller Rating

Review

Callout

Social

Annotation

Sitelinks

Location

Bing RAIS

Google “Mega” Ad

Mobile Click-to-Call


7) Ad Extensions Cheat Sheet

bit.ly/PI-adextensions


8) Issues with Keywords

• Too Many Keywords per Ad Group • More than 50 keywords

• Too Few Keywords per Ad Group• # of Ad Groups with 2 or fewer keywords


8) Issues with Keywords

Lack of diversity in keyword match types.

• Want a mix of Broad, Phrase & Exact

Broad

Phrase

Exact


8) Issues with Negative Keywords

• Negative Keywords Blocking Actual Keywords

• Shared Library: Negative Keyword List• Issue: Implemented once and then forgotten


8) Issues with Negative Keywords

• Search Query Reports haven’t been mined for negative (or regular) keywords.

• Not having a negative keyword strategy:


9) Remarketing

If you have 100 visitors to your site and 3

convert…97 didn’t.

It’s easier to get 1 more of those 97 to

convert than it is find 33 more potentially

qualified customers.-Katy Tonkin (@katytonkin) doing amazing math!


9) Issues with Remarketing

• Remarketing lists not created

• Lists are created but not gathering cookies

• Remarketing Lists for Search are not activated


10) Google Display Network

• Wasting ad spend on mobile app advertising!

• Exclude “adsenseformobileapps.com”

• Not diving into your display placements to monitor what is performing and what is not

• Go beyond the site, and look at specific placements on each site.




What you should get from an agency


How to tell if you’re getting taken for a ride..


First and Foremost: Share knowledge and insights.

You know your business better than most agencies ever will.


Understand what you are signing up for when you sign an agency

contract.


what type of service do you get from an agency?

“Click / Starter” Package

“Small Business” Package

Full Service


how agencies typically structure fee’s

Set Monthly Fee

% of Media Spend

Some combination of both


how agencies typically structure fee’s

If you are pure % of ad spend basis:

Think about how you can add in performance incentives

The concern: You ask me to spend more, but doesn’t that just mean I give you more $$

For example: If you drive X conversions/sales, we’ll pay an extra n% or $n


I’m going to let you in on a little secret.


How do agencies determine how much time to spend on an account?

Billable rates can range from:

$50 - $100 / hour

Agency Fee = $1K/month

10 – 20 hours of work

What you also get is:• Knowledge & insights from

managing across clients

• Multiple people working on your

account

• Access to tools & betas


When a “Corporation” sponsors an agency…

• Sometimes an auto manufacturer will have an agency relationship

It might mean that for a discounted fee they dictate:

• Keywords

• Ad Copy

• Promotional Materials

• Reach / Targeting

What you get?

• Discounts on PPC services, but many times it’s templatized


So.. What should you be getting from an agency?


As the agency to use your AdWords Account. (They can add it to their agency managed MCC.)

Then you “OWN” your data and performance information.

It’s not proprietary, it’s not theirs. It is yours!

If you choose to move to a new agency, you take it all with you.

You should get access to your data


If the agency won’t give you access…

ask for “Reporting Level Access”


Do you have a contact you can talk to or email?


• Regular reporting that shows performance metrics

Evaluate what you are getting for your $$


“I should get more than just a monthly report?”


What you should be getting from your agency

• Recommendations and Performance Review

• Regular Reporting Overall Performance

Campaign / Ad Group Performance

Top Keywords

• Initiatives / Expansions / Testing

• 30/60/90 days roadmap



what should you be discussing with an agency?

• Performance • What is working and what is not

• Changes to goals, optimization targets and initiatives

• Changes to budget

• Promotions and Inventory Changes• Sales for specific inventory

• Updates on Used/Pre-Owned inventory

• Offers / Deals

• New Incentive Programs coming


If you aren’t sure what your agency is

doing… ask them

Ask Questions:

• What is the roadmap for the next 30/60/90 days?• What are you testing?• Are there more opportunities to increase conversions?

• Ask for a quarterly, bi-annual or annual review!


THANK YOU

ANY QUESTIONS?


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engage in the PPC community on Twitter!

#ppcchat

Hundreds of PPC Professionals on Twitter!

• Ask questions

• Get insights

• Learn more about PPC


Contact Info

Full Name:

Company:

Job Title :

Email:

Christi Olson

Point It, http://www.pointit.com

Director of Search Marketing

[email protected]

Share an important takeaway you received from this session

using hashtag #DD18 for a chance to win an iPad.

Date post:	16-Jul-2015
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