the 7 deadly sins of small business pay-per-click marketing
TRANSCRIPT
Internet Marketing Services & Tools
James OmdahlDirector of Online Marketing at Kutenda
The 7 Deadly Sins of
Small Business Pay-
Per-Click Marketing
and How to Avoid an
Eternity in PPC
Purgatory (Can I Get an
Amen!?).
Agenda
The 7 Deadly Sins of PPC:
• Lust
• Gluttony
• Greed
• Envy
• Sloth
• Wrath
• Pride
Why Sinners aren’t
Winners
Starting a new PPC
account is too easy.
Yet most small
business PPC
accounts fail…why?
They Fail By…
• Not creating leads at all
• Not generating qualified leads
• Not generating qualified leads at a viable price
• Not optimizing the account to maximize the dollars that are spent
Starting a
successful PPC
account is easy but
takes
knowledge&skill.
Google’s not much
of a help…Ease of Account Creation
# of Accounts Opened
Inevitable
Sinning
7 Deadly Sins of
PPC
Sin #1:
LUST
Lust:
Starting your
account without a
PLAN
Why a Plan is Important
• Creates an overall strategy for the account
• Makes you think about your targeting
• Makes you prioritize your offerings
• Makes you think beyond your PPC account
• Helps you really think about your budget
• Creates clarity on conversion and tracking
What’s in a PPC Plan
• Products & Services
– What products do you want to market?
– Which ones are your highest priority?
• Geographic Targeting
– What geographic areas do you want to sell to?
– What are your highest priority areas?
What’s in a PPC Plan
• Conversion Points
– What is your primary conversion goal?
– What is your secondary conversion goal?
– Do you need to create anything to give away as a low-commitment conversion point?
• Tracking
– How will you track conversions?
– How will you track after your conversion point?
What’s in a PPC Plan
• Cost Metrics
– What is the lifetime value of a client?
– What is your target cost-per-sale?
– What is your target lead to sale conversion rate?
– What is your target lead cost?
• Budgeting
– How much is your overall monthly budget?
– What is your tolerance for testing/learning?
What’s in a PPC Plan
• Website Considerations
– Do you need to create landing pages?
– How many landing pages will you need?
• Timing & Execution
– What is your target goal to have campaign live?
– Are there any barriers to getting this done?
– Do you have all needed resources and tools to execute?
The Point:The more thought and planning you do on the front end, the less time
you will spend correcting on the back end.
Can I Get an
AMEN?!
Sin #2:
Gluttony
Gluttony:
Too many keywords
in a single AdGroup
Why Keyword Gluttony is a Sin
By having too many keywords in one AdGroup you:
• Reduce the relevancy of your ads
• Decrease your overall click-through-rate
• Decrease your on-page conversion rate
• Lower your quality score
• Increase your cost-per-click
Proper AdGroup Structure is Key
AdGroups should:
• Contain no more than 10 keywords
• Have ads that use the keywords specifically
• Point to landing pages that are highly related to the keywords being used
• Use dozens, if not hundreds of negative keywords to improve targeting
AdGroup Structure Example
AdGroup #1
• IT support
• IT support company
• IT support companies
• company IT support
• companies IT support
• IT support services
AdGroup #2
• IT services
• IT service
• IT services company
• IT service company
• IT services companies
• IT service companies
• Company IT services
Negative Keyword Examples
• Don’t pay for clicks from people looking for jobs
Jobs and Careers
• If you can’t deliver on the pricing being searched for, add the word as a negative
Free or Other Pricing
• Block terms that might be triggered in the earliest stages of the purchasing process
Early in the Buying Process
• If there is a popular brand or model you don’t sell, block your bidding
Unsupported Products and Brands
The Point:Gluttonous keyword usage
in your AdGroups will wreck your results. Keep your AdGroups thin and
targeted.
Can I Get an
AMEN?!
Sin #3:
Greed
Greed:
Being too stingy
with your account
budget or CPC.
Why Greed is Not Good
Being too frugal with your PPC account can cause:
• Zero impressions or click-throughs
• Poor positioning in the search results
• Avoidance of profitable keywords
• Unwillingness to test and learn
How to Look at Budget/CPC
Lead
LeadLead
Sales Process
LifetimeValue
What is one lead worth?
The Big Question:Are you making
money?
The Point:Don’t be overly sensitive
to per-click costs and having a set budget –
focus on the bottom line result instead.
Can I Get an
AMEN?!
Sin #4:
Envy
Envy:
Copying your
competitors without
verifying what you
are doing is working.
Why Envy Ain’t Purdy
Copying your competitors is OK except:
• They may not have any idea what they are doing
• They could be using products as loss-leaders
• They might have better margins that you do
• They might be missing a lot of good keywords and tactics
Competitive Research & Testing
• Services like SEM Rush will show you what keywords competitors are bidding on and what ads they are running
Run a Competitive Report
• Look at the offers that compete with yours, analyze landing pages and conversion points
Dig Deeper into Competitor’s Offers
• Focus on keywords that look like they will work, and do what you can to improve upon ads and offers
Use Your Research to Improve
• Test and make sure any campaign you run is profitable for you
TEST, ANALYZE, and TEST AGAIN
The Point:Even if your most web
savvy competitor is running PPC accounts, it
does not mean that copying what they do will
work.
Can I Get an
AMEN?!
Sin #5:
Sloth
Sloth:
Not testing, tracking
or using features
like geo-targeting
and negative
keywords
Why Sloth Will Slow You Down
Being lazy with your PPC can cause:
• Bad keywords and bad ads to eat up your budget
• Overspending on clicks
• No visibility into what is working and what isn’t
• Payment for non-targeted traffic that you can’t sell to
Avoiding Sloth
Testing• Create multiple ad types
• Try out keywords and track results
• Try multiple landing page variations
• Use tools like Google Website Optimizer
Avoiding Sloth
Tracking• Track your leads and sales down to the
AdGroup or keyword level
• Focus on your ROI – not your spend or lead count whenever possible
• Create automated reports
• Set up regular reviews of the data and make sure you do it!
Avoiding Sloth
Geo-Targeting• Create different campaigns for different
geographic areas if it makes sense
• Exclude areas that do not work well for you
• Get hyper-local – focus on office parks, shopping areas, demographic zones, etc.
Avoiding Sloth
Use Negative Keywords• Focus on getting negative keywords into your
account monthly if not weekly
• Find negative keyword ideas using the search query report in AdWords
• Realize that negative keywords are the easiest way to target only the customers you want
The Point:PPC accounts should never be treated as a “set it and
forget it” marketing channel. The more work you put in, the better the
results.
Can I Get an
AMEN?!
Sin #6:
Wrath
Wrath:
Getting frustrated
and giving up.
Don’t Market Angry
Making emotional decisions with your PPC will:
• Reduce the effectiveness of your campaigns
• Prevent you from doing proper testing
• Often leads to a premature shut down of a PPC account
• Can lead to a complete distrust in PPC marketing
Staying Cool Like the Fonz
Ways to keep a cool head with your PPC:
• Realize that testing and failing is a part of learning
• Only use money that you can survive without
• Have a plan and stick to it
• Base decisions on data, not feeling
• Admit that if you failed in the past, it was probably your fault, not PPC marketing's
The Point:PPC marketing is a data driven channel that lets
you have extreme visibility. Let the numbers
drive your actions.
Can I Get an
AMEN?!
Sin #7:
Pride
Pride:
Not asking for
assistance, self-
educating or hiring
someone with
experience to help.
Why Pride is Gonna Bite Ya
Being too proud to get help will:
• Cause you to dig a deeper and deeper hole
• Make you fall behind the information curve
• Lead to increased frustration and confusion
• End up costing you more money for fewer results
Where to Turn for Help
• Sites include Search Engine Land, PPC Hero, Kutenda Quick Tips, Search Engine Watch, Andrew Goodman, and many more
Industry Websites, Blogs, Podcasts & eBooks
• There are some great resources out there such as “Dummies” books and “Mastering Search Advertising” by Richard Stokes
Books and Magazines
• Go to search engine marketing meet-ups and big conferences like SMX, Search Engine Strategies, Affiliate Summit, etc.
Conferences and Meet-Ups
• If you don’t have the time to do this stuff well, hire someone who does
Hire an Expert
The Point:The PPC world is
extremely open – making good connections and
learning from other people’s tests will save you time and money
Can I Get an
AMEN?!
In Summary…
The 7 Deadly Sins of PPC:
• Lust
• Gluttony
• Greed
• Envy
• Sloth
• Wrath
• Pride
7 Deadly Sins of
PPC
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