Clix Marketing PPC Blog

My SEW column this week goes into detail about Adwords’ Placement Targeting campaigns – basically Content campaigns that let advertisers specify the sites – or site-subsections – where they want ads to appear. Powerful stuff, and a few surprises here.

Normally I don’t link to every installment of my weekly SEW Content Advertising column, but this week’s is a bit different, and I’d enjoy your comments.

Google’s thankfully opening the kimono on their Content Network advertising more and more, to the benefit of us agencies and advertisers. There’s good info in their blog post today – much of it is advice that even Search advertisers should take to heart (for example, pertinent landing pages), and I haven’t learned much readers of my SEW Content Advertising column wouldn’t already know, but in aggregate it’s great stuff:

Recently, we wrote a three part series on the Google content network. Many of you were interested in more optimization advice for the content network, and we’re sharing more of those tips today:

On the search network, ads are shown to users who are specifically searching for results using one of your keywords. On the content network, ads are shown to users as they research interests and browse sites that are related to your keywords and ad text. Users on the content network are in a different mindset than users on search, so changes to your keywords, ad text and account structure may be necessary to make the most out of your content network advertising.

• Create separate search and content campaigns.
  This will allow you to:
  
  • Optimize your ad groups and ad text specifically for content pages.
  • Target different audiences. If you sell flowers, you may want to create a content ad group to show your ads to couples by targeting pages relevant to them.
    
  • Use general keywords to strengthen the theme of your ad group, without affecting your search performance.
    

• Think about the type of user browsing a web page and write ads to catch that user’s attention.
  • It’s important for your ad text to relate to the webpage on which it appears. If your target user is going to be on pages related to flowers, mention flowers or closely related products in the ad text.
  • Test multiple creatives and ad formats (text, image, video) in all available sizes to gain better insight into what sort of ads will perform the best for you.
    

• Include call-to-action phrases.
  • Phrases like ‘Register now,” “Get a free quote,” and “Call now” can can help set expectations for the person who is about to visit your site.
    
  • Your call-to-action should be what you consider to be a conversion.
    

• Highlight special offers or features available on your site.
  • We’ve found that advertisers often get higher ROI on the content network when they include product prices in their ads. Prices and special offers can help you stand out from competitors and showcase your best deals.
    

• Link your ad to customized landing pages that match the information in your ad text.
  
  • If your ad highlights a special deal on cell phones, make sure that the ad directs users to the specific cell phone page of your site. And ensure that your landing pages are clear and easy to navigate.
    

As you implement these tips and those from the previous optimization post, we recommend that you track the performance of your campaigns and iterate to figure out what works well for you.

• Track the performance of your contextually targeted ads using Placement Performance reports.
  
  • The Placement Performance report (PPR) provides information on where your contextually targeted ads are showing up and how they are performing. You can use placement targeting (CPC or CPM) to further target the placements where your ads are performing particularly well and use site exclusion to exclude them from sites where they are not performing well. You can find more tips on how to use PPR effectively to boost campaign performance here.
    

• Let Google track and manage your campaign’s performance for you.
  • Using the Conversion Optimizer, you can specify a cost-per-acquisition (CPA), and Google will automatically adjust your CPC bids to meet your CPA goal. Learn how Bingo Card Creator used Conversion Optimizer on his content network campaigns to save time and increase his profits.
    

This just out from Google – should result in an average increase in Content click quality and better ROI:

We’re pleased to announce a change that we’ve made to the incidence of clicks on text ads on the Google content network. Previously, users could click anywhere on text ads running on the content network, including the ad’s background and any part of the ad text, for their click to be registered. Now only clicks on the title or URL of text ads will be counted.

As a result of this change, some advertisers may notice a decrease in both the number of clicks and the clickthrough rate (CTR) in content network campaigns — along with an increase in the average return on investment (ROI) of content network traffic. For insight into the ROI you receive from your AdWords ads, you can install conversion tracking or Google Analytics to measure whether the clicks your ads receive lead to valuable actions on your site. If you use a third-party tracking service, you can use ValueTrack tags to identify the traffic coming to your site from the Google search and content networks.

In past posts I’ve noted Google’s push to add better measurability and accountability to offline (non-search) advertising. This article in Mediapost caught my eye this morning – Google’s apparently working on an “uber-dashboard” that will combine search/content ad campaign data with offline (print, audio and TV) ad campaign data, and throw consumer behavior data into the mix.

I’ve pasted the article here for your convenience:

Google Prepping Big Brand Marketing Dashboard

by Tameka Kee, Thursday, Oct 25, 2007 6:00 AM ET

GOOGLE IS WORKING ON A “fully functional marketing dashboard” that will integrate data from advertisers’ search, display and offline marketing efforts, allowing them to “look across assets, metrics and user engagement cycles,” Tim Armstrong, president of advertising and commerce for North America, told analysts during an Analyst Day session.

No further details or timeline for the dashboard were given, but Armstrong said the “high velocity of interest from brand agencies and media partners” in Google’s offline solutions, as well as newer ad models like Gadget Ads and YouTube overlays, warranted the development of a robust, integrated reporting platform.

“The more measurement you can put on this type of functionality the better,” said Armstrong–noting that once the DoubleClick acquisition closed, its display metrics would add yet another layer of functionality.

Analysts got a deeper look into the key components of Google’s “Search, Ads and Apps” strategy on Wednesday, with presentations from the search giant’s top brass as well as product managers (almost all of whom were recent college graduates). The panelists and demos offered insight into advancements that have been made on all three fronts–from both a consumer and an enterprise perspective–and also gave details on future developments.

Such brands as Nissan and Global Hyatt have already made use of the search giant’s lesser-known assets like Google Trends. According to Albert Cheng, product manager for Google Trends, the feature was created to “make our search data universally accessible and useful.”

Consumers were “tapping into the wisdom of the crowd” to figure out the answers to their questions (Cheng and his wife had used Google Trends to determine the most popular way to spell their soon-to-be-born son Connor’s name), but even Global Hyatt had used the data to determine whether to dub their newest Caribbean property “Hyatt Regency Trinidad” or “Hyatt Regency Port of Spain.”

Ultimately, the hotel giant chose the former (undoubtedly after considering other factors), but said the sheer volume of searches for the keyword ‘Trinidad’ compared to the relative lack of searches for ‘Port of Spain’ was a primary reason for the decision.

Meanwhile, Nissan used Google Trends data to help determine whether the multichannel campaign (including product placement in NBC’s “Heroes”, print, TV and online ads) behind the launch of their new Rogue crossover SUV was working. The automaker compared search volume for ‘Nissan Rogue’ and ‘Honda Pilot,’ and noted that there was a definite spike in queries that coincided with the launch efforts.

At that point, “the marketing manager can ask for more money,” said Cheng, “because it’s clear that the campaign is working.”