the state of ppc in 2015 and beyond

March 3rd, 2015

The State Of PPC In 2015 & Beyond

Larry Kim Founder & CTO,

WordStream

@LarryKim

searchmarketingexpo.com

@LarryKim #SMX #13B

About Larry

• Founded WordStream in 2007

• Obsessed about Quality Score

• Have a 9-Month Year Old Kid (#ppckid)


@LarryKim #SMX #13B

Actual Photos From My Commute From Boston to SMX West …


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Win This $25 Amazon Gift Card

• Award Given to BEST TIP or FUNNIEST TWEET! • Include @larrykim and #SMX in Tweet


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PPC TREND #1

Price and Inventory Headwinds in Paid

Search


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GOOGLE: SEARCH CPCs KEEP FALLING (overall)


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HOWEVER, PAID SEARCH CPCs AT ALL TIME HIGH IN ESTABLISHED MARKETS!

Source: Approx. 2000 WordStream Customers


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What About Ad Inventory Volumes in Established Markets?


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APPS ARE STEALING FROM DESKTOP SEARCHES!


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FEWER AD SPOTS ON MOBILE (which is 50% of searches in 2015)

VS.


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High CPCs & Low Growth in Search

Volume in Established Markets

(YIKES!)


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WINNING AT PAID SEARCH IN 2015 MEANS BEING MORE PICKY THAN BEFORE

Quantity of Searches

Pri

ce o

f Paid

Searc

h C

licks

Fewer, Higher Quality, more

expensive clicks


@LarryKim #SMX #13B


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NEW DEMOGRAPHIC BIDDING OPTIONS (Bing Ads)


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• Customize search ads specifically to people who recently visited your site!

• On average: • Doubles CTR, raises Quality Score

• Cuts CPC in HALF!

REMARKETING LISTS FOR SEARCH ADS


@LarryKim #SMX #13B

So Where Will Growth in PPC Come From?


@LarryKim #SMX #13B

Your audience spends 95% of its time on the web reading and engaging with news sites, blogs, general interest sites, social networks, email, etc.

95% OF TIME ONLINE IS SPENT ON CONTENT WHERE DISPLAY ADS CAN REACH USERS

Customers consider, evaluate, and advocate online.

Source: Internet Activity Index (IAI) by the Online Publishers Association (OPA); http://www.online-publishers.org/page.php/prmID/421

Everything else 95%

Search 5%


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DISPLAY CLICKS ARE CHEAPER

Industry Google Search Display Network

Finance $3.09 $1.03

Travel $0.29 $0.28

Shopping $0.25 $0.27

Jobs & Education $1.80 $0.34

Internet & Telecom $1.11 $0.40

Computers & Electronics $1.29 $0.44

Business & Industrial $1.67 $0.97

Home & Garden $0.76 $0.83

Autos & Vehicles $0.97 $1.03

Beauty & Fitness $1.11 $1.01

AVERAGE $1.23 $0.66


@LarryKim #SMX #13B

DISPLAY CLICKS CONVERT OK


Finance 6.12% 5.12%

Travel 1.45% 2.99%

Shopping 3.58% 2.19%

Jobs & Education 6.09% 2.09%

Internet & Telecom 6.27% 8.59%

Computers & Electronics 4.79% 2.96%

Business & Industrial 4.23% 4.10%

Home & Garden 2.21% 3.43%

Autos & Vehicles 4.29% 6.15%

Beauty & Fitness 4.56% 2.27%

Average 4.36% 3.99%


@LarryKim #SMX #13B

DISPLAY CPAs ARE USUALLY LOWER


Finance $50.49 $20.12

Travel $20.00 $9.36

Shopping $6.98 $12.33

Jobs & Education $29.56 $16.27

Internet & Telecom $17.70 $4.66

Computers & Electronics $29.02 $14.86

Business & Industrial $39.48 $23.66

Home & Garden $34.39 $24.20

Autos & Vehicles $22.61 $16.75

Beauty & Fitness $24.34 $44.49

Average $27.46 $18.67


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WEIRD THING ABOUT DISPLAY REMARKETING

Conversion Rates Increase With More Ad Impressions


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• CPCs from search are going up, inventory down (in established marketing) – so be pickier!

• Display ads have a much higher inventory, lower CPCs, Convert OK = Decent ROI and Scale

QUICK RECAP


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PPC TREND #2

The Rise of Identity-Based PPC Marketing


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EVOLUTION OF DISPLAY AD TARGETING OPTIONS

5. Website Targeting (e.g.: Inc. Magazine or Home & Garden Weekly)

4. Keyword Targeting (e.g.

Articles containing “Health Insurance”)

3. Interests & Market Segments (e.g. Business Services, Photography)

2. Remarketing (e.g. People who

visited the “buy” page of your website)

1. Identity (e.g. Specific Emails or

Phone Numbers)


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@LarryKim #SMX #13B

Email Marketing

• Limit # of blasts to reduce unsubscribes

• 0.5-2% unsubscribes each blast

• People need to opt into your list

• Tons if unqualified emails on the list

People-Based Marketing

• FIXED

• FIXED

• FIXED

• FIXED

PEOPLE-BASED PPC IS LIKE EMAIL MARKETING BUT WAY BETTER!


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Identity Based Marketing Opens Up a TON of New and

Exciting Advertising Use Cases!!


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How does stuff go “Viral”?


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ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON FRIDAY AT 5PM ET


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SHARED CONTENT ON MY SOCIAL MEDIA


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CREATE A CUSTOM LIST OF “INDUSTRY INFLUENCERS”


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STORY PICKED UP IN MARKETING LAND TWO HOURS LATER…


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Exponential Growth


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Key Takeaway:

You need interesting content + influential people finding your stuff


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PEOPLE WHO AREN’T JOURNALISTS CAN MAKE STUFF GO “VIRAL” TOO


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IDENTITY MARKETING TO SPECIFIC INFLUENCES INCREASES THE CHANCE OF GETTING “NOTICED”

WordStream Articles

# o

f S

ocia

l S

hares


@LarryKim #SMX #13B

WordStream Articles

# o

f S

ocia

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hares

IDENTITY MARKETING TO SPECIFIC INFLUENCES INCREASES THE CHANCE OF GETTING “NOTICED”


@LarryKim #SMX #13B

IDENTITY + USER DEMOGRAPHICS (CUSTOMER PERSONA) = $$$


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THE FUTURE OF DISPLAY ADS IS NATIVE MOBILE


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• Display ad targeting is better than ever

• Identity-based ad targeting opens up all sorts of new PPC marketing use cases!

• Identity + Behavioral/Demographic Filters = $$$

• Future of Display Ads = Native Mobile

QUICK RECAP


@LarryKim #SMX #13B

PPC TREND #3

Google Taking Away All Our

Toys!


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RIP KEYWORD MATCH TYPES

These are Pretty Much all

the Same Now!


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RIP DEVICE TARGETING


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Recently Added/Changed or In Danger:

• Keywords (seriously!)

• Dynamic Sitelinks

• Etc.

MINDLESS REPETITIVE TASKS ARE GOING EXTINCT


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So, What Do We Focus Our Efforts

On?


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Be a unicorn not a donkey!

DONKEYS VS. UNICORNS


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TOP 1% OF ADVERTISERS GET 6x AVG. CTR


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TOP 10% OF ADVERTISERS GET 3-5X AVG. CONVERSION RATES


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FIRST MOVER ADVANTAGE


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NEW AD FORMATS: YOUTUBE & GMAIL


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• Mindless repetitive optimizations = smaller gains

• Strategic marketing focus = HUGE gains

• Don’t fret loss of old features, be the FIRST to use new features

• Be a unicorn among a sea of donkeys

QUICK RECAP


@LarryKim #SMX #13B

PPC TREND #4

Convergence of Paid/Organic Teams,

Rise of “Content Remarketing”


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HELL HAS FROZEN OVER: ME DOING THE ONLY PPC MARKETING SESSION AT HUBSPOT INBOUND 2014


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SOCIAL PLATFORMS ARE KILLING OFF ORGANIC REACH


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Content Marketing + Remarketing =

Content Remarketing


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• Amplify/promote your content to the right people

• Dramatically accelerate & increase brand recall

• Generate sales and qualified leads

INTRODUCING CONTENT REMARKETING


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How Content Remarketing Works

CREATE Produce content

& share on social

AMPLIFY Selectively promote top content on social media

TAG Build remarketing

audience by tagging site visitors with a cookie

ADVERTISE Target your

audience with display & social ads promoting

offers

FILTER Apply behavioral

and demographic

filters on audience

CONVERT Capture qualified leads or sale


@LarryKim #SMX #13B

WHERE CONTENT REMARKETING FITS IN THE INBOUND MARKETING FUNNEL

Content Remarketing…

Relies on having great content Dramatically amplifies social visibility Makes this happen faster and more often

Lead Capture / Nurturing

Social Media Promotion

Blogging /Content Creation


@LarryKim #SMX #13B

Content Remarketing!

WHERE CONTENT REMARKETING FITS IN

SEO & Content Marketing

PPC Marketing

Social Media Marketing

Content Remarketing is on the intersection of social, content, and PPC marketing.


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Lets Review Some

Key Steps in Detail.


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PROBABLY WON’T END UP IN THE WALL ST. JOURNAL


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PAID SOCIAL PROMOTION TO REGULAR FANS MAKES ALL OF YOUR CONTENT DO BETTER

WordStream Articles

# o

f S

ocia

l S

hares


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How to (Cheaply) Target Fans (Regular People) on Social Media


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PAID PROMOTION YIELDS ORGANIC EXPOSURE


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TARGET USING REMARKETING


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TARGET FANS WITH POST ENGAGEMENT ADS


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TARGET FANS ON TWITTER


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TARGET FANS ON GOOGLE+ USING +POST ADS AND RETARGETING


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THE FLYWHEEL EFFECT OF SOCIAL PROMOTION

After Before


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Promoting Content on the Google Display Network Using Remarketing


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CPC VS. CTR ON GOOGLE DISPLAY NETWORK

Higher Ad CTR = Lower CPC!!

Every +0.1% CTR Yields -20% CPC.


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NOT ALL CONTENT IS EQUAL: ONLY PROMOTE YOUR BEST STUFF

Identify and Promote These Like Crazy


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PUSH DISPLAY ADS BACK TO YOUR CONTENT


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THESE EMOTIONS MAKE PEOPLE CLICK ON THINGS


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GREAT DISPLAY ADS LOOK MORE LIKE CONTENT


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• Content remarketing, social media, and PPC marketing are rapidly converging. Success will require integrated paid/organic teams.

• Content remarketing greatly amplifies content marketing and social media marketing

QUICK SUMMARY


@LarryKim #SMX #13B

the state of ppc in 2015 and beyond

Marketing

b google

smx west

b apps

b display clicks

b ppc trend

search ads

b actual photos

b fewer ad spots