Some more and advanced Ad(vertising)s

Jim JansenCollege of Information Sciences and Technology

The Pennsylvania State University jjansen@ist.psu.edu

Daily logs and admin• Daily Logs

– Most requested topic to return to … keywords, especially matching options

– Followed by bidding and quality score• Exercises – got to do them! … 1/3 to ½ of each lesson

period is hands on• Readings – got to do them! Read the homework prior to

class and review the presentations after class and during exercises

• Thursday 18 Feb – class drop (College is taking our room – can’t find us another one). Therefore, on Tuesday 16 Feb, we’ll do both lessons

Writing Keywords Ads

• Quick review

Writing Keywords Ads

• Your ad has three goals, which are:– Generating clicks from potential customers– Discouraging clicks from unlikely customers– Setting customer expectations for the landing

page (i.e., want a positive customer experience)

Writing Keywords Ads

• Conceptually, how do we do this?

Targeting Using Personas

In archery, at the rifle range, or the dunk tank, a big target is a good thing. A big target is easier to hit.

Not so in advertising. We want the opposite. A small target is easier to hit.

To create a small target, we need a persona (a.k.a., a target audience description)

A target audience description permits you to design ads that connect with your potential customers (i.e., provides an aiming point)

A good target description includes demographics (i.e., age, income, etc.), geography (i.e., neighborhood, town, etc.), and psychographics (i.e., values, lifestyles, attitudes, etc.).

Writing Keywords Ads

• These personas can get quite detailed.• Check out an example from Omniture, a

major Web marketing research company

I’ve checked – this persona is quite accurate!

Ad groups and Personas

• For each one of your Ad groups, you should be able to spit out a one-liner that describe the potential customer that the Ad group is targeted for

• Each Ad group should target a unique potential customer (in terms of demographic, time, location, context, stage of buying funnel, etc.)

• Back to the mechanics of ad writing

Writing Key Words Ads

• You get 4 lines of 25, 35, 35, and 35 characters

• Line 1 (headline): Make the potential customer read the second and third lines

• Line 2 and 3: Set expectations for what is on the landing page and tell the customer what to do once there

• Line 4: Points to a relevant landing page and establishes trust

Think of Each Line As Having a Separate Goal/Being a ComponentThere are four components to a search marketing

ad. – The Headline: grabs the user’s attention– The Description Line: clearly defines the product or

service you have to offer, and how it will meet the need indicated by a user’s search.

– The “Call to Action”: tells the customer what to do after they click on your ad and land on your Web site. This should be related to the type of conversion you’re trying to achieve, from newsletter sign-ups to online sales.

– URL: establishes trust and is relevant

Let’s Look at Some Ad Techniques

Sample Keywords Ads: Headlines• Comparisons (example: “Cheaper Than Wal Mart”)• Divulge "secret" or cutting-edge information (example: “Wealth

Strategies Exposed”)• Be a story teller (example: “I Lost 8 Pounds in a Week”)• Give instructions (example: “How to Get a 6 Pack”)• Arouse curiosity with questions (example: “Want to Make $500

Per Hour?“)• Capitalize (example: “Want the Best Pizza in Town?”)• Stay away from "Buy“ (Use "Discount", "Sale", "Special Offer"

and "Coupon“)• Be creative and unpredictable • Dynamic Keyword Insertion (more on this later)

What are some good call to actions?

Best Call-to-Action Phrases• Book Now• Reserve• Save Now• Discover your• Sign up Today• Buy Now• Pay Less• Order now• Research• Download

Not so Good Call-to-Action Phrases• Join now• Call us• Join• Borrow• Apply Now• Try • Don’t miss• Shop Now• Subscribe

What about the URLs?Each keyword can point to a unique URL

Okay, but …

• Ideally, one wants the keyword to appear in the ad.

• Won’t this get tricky to have a targeted ad for each keyword search and situation?

• Let’s see …

Individual Exercise

• Take one of your Ad groups. Copy the key phrases and ad to a Word document.

• For your key phrases (or possible combination of that key phrase), how many ads would you need to ensure that each keyword appeared ‘exactly’ in the ad?

• You’ve got 10 minutes.

Okay, what’s the answer?

• There has got to be a better way!• Luckily, there is.

Dynamic Keyword Insertion• Dynamic Keyword Insertion is an advanced

feature• Will insert individual keywords into the same ad

text • A user sees a distinct ad for their keyword search,

if their query triggers one of your ad group keywords.

• This minimizes the work you'll need to do to manage larger ad groups and campaigns.

• Let’s see an example …

Example (Say this is an ad you create in AdWords)

Quality {KEYWORD:Bikes}Selection of {KeyWord:Bikes}in stock. Free shipping!http://www.example.com/?kw={keyword:nil}

Say the query is: mountain bikes

Quality MOUNTAIN BIKESSelection of Mountain Bikesin stock. Free shipping!http://www.example.com/?kw=mountain bikes

The user would see this ad ->

Example (Say this is an ad you create in AdWords)

Quality {KEYWORD:Bikes}Selection of {KeyWord:Bikes}in stock. Free shipping!http://www.example.com/?kw={keyword:nil}

Say the query is: cannondale Note: cannondale (like mountain bikes) would need to be a keyword in your Ad group)

Quality CANNONDALESelection of Cannondalein stock. Free shipping!http://www.example.com/?kw=cannondale

The user would see this ad ->

Dynamic Keyword Insertion

There are variations you can use to capitalize your dynamically inserted keyword as follows:

• keyword - No capitalization, all word(s) are in lower case • Keyword - The first word is capitalized • KeyWord - Every word is capitalized • KEYword - Every letter in first word is capitalized • KEYWord -Every letter in the first word AND the first letter of

the second • KEYWORD - Every letter is capitalized

How do we do it?

It is just like programming – you have variables and values

Some Good Readings and Other Things

• 10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work - http://www.copyblogger.com/10-sure-fire-headline-formulas-that-work/

• 31 Killer Writing AdWords Ads Tips - http://www.googlelady.com/416/10-killer-headline-adwords-tips/

• Google Local Business - https://www.google.com/local/add/login

• Google Checkout - https://checkout.google.com/seller/?hl=en&gl=GB

Keyword Advertising Exercise1. Read the Tutorial at

http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=74996&hl=en_US

2. Using one of the Ad groups that you are response for, design a Dynamic Keyword Insertion ad for that Ad group (include Dynamic Keyword in headline, snippet) Note: URL takes access to Web server

3. Now, test what the user would see for each keyword in your Ad group (i.e., simulate the dynamic Insertion)

4. Which keywords make sense for Dynamic Keyword Insertion? Think about putting these in a separate Ad group.

5. Once done, discuss as team what campaigns and Ad groups work for Dynamic Keyword Insertion!

6. Note: Dynamic Keyword Insertion can quickly back fire on you if you’re not careful!

Thank you!(reminder to do your daily logs)

Jim JansenCollege of Information Sciences and Technology

The Pennsylvania State University jjansen@ist.psu.edu