AdWords Account Evaluation

An Assessment of Digital Reach and Optimization Opportunities

4/14/2014
Margaret Ullmo

Margaret Ullmo






CLIENT LOGO
HERE

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CONTENTS
METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................................................................................................2
EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW ...............................................................................................................................................3
ADWORDS STRATEGIES OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................4
Developing a Solid Strategy ...................................................................................................................................5
CLIENT ADWORDS EVALUATION ................................................................................................................................6
Audience Targeting ................................................................................................................................................6
Message Development...........................................................................................................................................7
Messaging and Ad Copy .....................................................................................................................................7
Landing Pages ....................................................................................................................................................8
Funnel Structure Tactics .........................................................................................................................................9
NEXT STEPS .............................................................................................................................................................. 10



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METHODOLOGY
The following report examines the performance of the CLIENTS AdWords Account over the period from January
5
th
, 2014 through April 5
th
, 2014. Best Practices indicate that an acceptable AdWords data set for analysis over
time should not be shorter than a 3 month period. Here, the decision was made to begin with January 5
th
to
avoid the inherent fluctuations in user behaviors that occur around the New Years holiday.

Only currently active Campaigns and Ad Groups are included in the data set for the evaluation. Campaigns and
Ad Groups that are currently paused were a part of the optimization efforts of another party, and the purpose
behind those changes is unknown. The account performance that Fathom analyzes is based off the snapshot of
the campaigns and ad groups that are currently representing the client in the digital space.

Search campaign refers to a campaign running in the Google Search Network, for which keyword is the primary
targeting method. Display campaign refers to a campaign running in the Google Display Network (GDN) which is
not using Remarketing Audiences as a targeting method. Remarketing campaign refers to a campaign for which
Remarketing Audiences are being used as a targeting method. Remarketing campaigns can run on the Google
Search, Google Search Partners, or Google Display Network.

This audit was completed on April 14
th
, 2014 by certified Google AdWords specialist Margaret Ullmo.


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EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
CLIENT has significant opportunities for improvement in the AdWords account, including updates to the best
practices for the most current Google algorithms, relevancy considerations to optimize the return on ad spend,
and an opportunity to begin generating conversions.

The target of these recommendations is to improve conversion volume, reduce cost per conversion, and
improve the impression share for the allocated budget spend. The key to all of these is to improve relevancy of
the marketing pathways.

Following are the key areas of improvement required to gain increase returns:

Realign Every Campaign with the Quality Score/Relevancy Focus of the current Google Algorithm
Advertise to the Lead Conversion Funnel Phases
Develop Marketing Messages that Resonate with the Target Audience for Ad Copy
Develop Specific PPC Landing Pages that Match the Ad Copy and have a Singular Path Option
(Conversion)

Essentially, in order to improve the performance of the CLIENT AdWords Account the strategic foundation
behind this advertising method needs to be built from the ground up.

Before any re-structure work is completed on the account, a general roadmap for purpose behind each
campaign needs to be built. Once this work is completed, a prioritization of the individual campaign work is the
next step identifying the quickest returns on ad spend.

The following details provide guidance into the correct methods and approaches for improving the performance
of the CLIENT account.



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ADWORDS STRATEGIES OVERVIEW
Everything about a well performing AdWords Account Strategy centers on relevancy. Relevancy is a term used
to correlate the advertising message with the targeted audience, and the interest of that audience in the landing
page offering.

In 2013, Google AdWords algorithms went through a few changes, which pushed the importance of relevancy to
the forefront. The current algorithm for determining ad rank is as follows:

Ad Rank = CPC Bid x Quality Score

This formula centers around the Quality Score metric the grade given to each ads performance based on
historical data for Cost per Click (CPC) and Conversion Rate, and for search campaigns the presence of the
bidding keyword in ad copy and on landing pages. Poor results on these factors remove the potential to reach 1
st

place ad positioning this is no longer a pay for rank situation.



Therefore, high Ad Ranking, low CPCs and Cost per Leads (CPLs), and the best return on ad spend (ROAS)
performance are all centered around relevancy.



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Developing a Solid Strategy
To succeed with AdWords advertising for lead generation, a target audience must be identified for every ad
group, and the advertising message must connect with that audience and provide content on the landing page
that is compelling enough for the visitor to complete the form.

The different tactics available in the AdWords interface all work together to provide a complete marketing
experience for a potential customer. Every lead is not a one-click-close; most visitors will follow a typical lead
generation conversion pathway awareness, consideration, and then lead form completion.

Margaret Ullmo 2014




Search and Display campaigns both target the top awareness level bringing new visitors into the funnel of
potential customers. Then, remarketing tactics across search and display provide additional information that
sets the advertised product apart from others in the market. Finally, paths to allow the visitor to connect when
they have made their decision, via a lead form completion, need to be easily accessible. These are also typically
delivered using a remarketing tactic, and also as a landing page for the Branded search campaigns.

This is the recommended method for establishing a winning strategy, which provides a solid structure for future
growth and segments marketing paths for maximum optimization potential.





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CLIENT ADWORDS EVALUATION
Over the analysis period, the currently active Ad Groups AdWords account spent $15,880 with zero conversions.

This audit of the CLIENT AdWords account reveals significant opportunities for improvement, focusing on three
primary factors for success:

1. Audience Targeting
2. Messaging Pathways
3. Funnel Structure Tactics

These three factors apply to every currently active campaign in the CLIENT AdWords account. Additional tactical
opportunities for improvement will be addressed throughout the evaluation, including campaign and ad delivery
settings, remarketing audience segmentations, keyword optimizations, and others.

Audience Targeting

Every campaign in the account is targeting an audience that is too broad and spreading already low daily
budgets too thin.

Search campaigns have over keywords each, targeting most of the country for only $170 daily and with CPCs of
over $15. In order to improve their ad ranking from 4
th
position to 1
st
position, the reach for the search
campaigns either needs to be scaled back, or the budget needs to be increased.

Display campaigns are targeting placements by topic however exclusions are not adequately present to
remove non-relevant placements such as mobile app banners, picture sharing placements, games, and others. It
is important to keep the ads visible on sites the audience visits at work for this awareness function of the
conversion funnel.

Remarketing campaigns are not removing visitors who have already completed a form or purchased a class. This
segment should be removed so that media spend is not going towards remarketing current customers.

Across all the campaigns, the Regional Targeting should also be reviewed to ensure the correct areas are being
targeted. There are some odd combinations that do not necessarily match the campaign names.

Once the adjustments outlined in this audit are performed, and the campaigns begin generating conversion data
for optimization, it is recommended that the following campaign settings be evaluated for additional targeting
segmentation: Ad Scheduling, Device behaviors, and Ad Frequency. Currently, all settings should be returned to
standard, even ad delivery to acquire the best optimization data sets.


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Message Development

This success factor is the most important part of a well-performing AdWords account. Ad copy should be
attention grabbing and resonate with the true needs and concerns of the target audience. The landing page
should continue to build on this message with copy that further connects with the audience, compelling them to
complete the lead form on the landing page.

The lead generation conversion funnel indicates that different messaging experiences should exist for the
various stages:
1) Awareness Who is CLIENT, how CLIENT is different, what CLIENT offers HIGH LEVEL
2) Consideration Comparisons with other vendors, Certification success rates, Ease of Use, etc. May
use a whitepaper, webinar, or other deliverable as the CTA for the form completion (Nurture
Program)
3) Decision Sign Up for a Class (Direct Conversion), Sign Up for Email (Nurture Program)

These stages should be addressed separately for partner program classes and individual certification classes.

Messaging and Ad Copy

There are currently two different messages being delivered to the TARGET training audiences:
1) Certified Engineers Make More Money Make More Money, Get Certified
2) There is a 2-Day or 3-Day BootCamp Happening (in your area soon, if regionally targeted) Check
Availability

The first message is excellent it grabs the visitors attention. These are the types of messages that will need to
be developed for the remaining funnel steps.

It is recommended that the target audiences be clearly identified for each different group and phase of the lead
generation funnel. The needs of each segment will be integrated into the marketing messaging to be most
relevant to the target group and focus on the most relevant training package (partner/individual).

In addition, multiple marketing messages should always be tested to find the ad copy that resonates best with
the target audience. The current CLIENT account structure only has one ad version, or a second with a very
slight variation, running on all the ad groups. Best practices indicate that testing should be ongoing.



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Landing Pages

Across the Google AdWords account, there appear to be only two
landing pages:

http://online.CLIENT.com/training-gift-card-request?wspapp={creative}
http://training.CLIENT.com/?wspapp={creative}

The second page, the training main page on the website, is the
primary page in use across all the campaigns, and does not meet the
best practices for a PPC Landing Page, such as:
1) A Singular Click Path, including
a. A Singular Call-To-Action (CTA)
b. A Lead Form to be completed
2) A Header line which links the ad copy to the marketing message of the landing page
3) Copy which resonates with the target audience quickly

New landing pages will need to be built in line with the marketing messaging established for each target
audience at each stage of the lead generation conversion funnel. A template will need to be created for these
pages and their thank you pages once the form has been completed.

The development of these templates will be discussed in the upcoming weeks.


$200 Gift Card Offer

Based on previous client conversations,
it appears that the gift card page is not
supposed to be receiving any traffic,
however this audit indicates that the
GDN w/Business IP Addresses
campaign is still using this landing
page.


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Funnel Structure Tactics
The campaign structure outlines how the audience targeting and marketing messaging fit together into several
high performing initiatives with each initiative targeting a particular audience segment.

The intent of the CLIENT AdWords program appears to 3 separate initiatives:



Each initiative should a campaign structure built around the following funnel targets:
1) Awareness Non-Branded Search and Display Campaigns
2) Consideration Remarketing Search and Remarketing Display Campaigns
3) Decision Remarketing Display and Branded Search Campaigns

The current campaign structure has all non-branded search campaigns only targeting regional segments for
specific TARGET classes. This campaign has had zero conversions because it is targeting the wrong phase of the
funnel and has poor quality scores (how Google grades relevancy). Developing targeting messaging for the
audience during the awareness stage should correct this issue.

The current Display campaign also has yielded no conversions, however the landing page does not match the
salary increase CTA in the ad copy. Developing a landing page specific to this message should improve the
campaigns performance. In addition, testing other ad copy against this messaging is best practice, to identify
which messages resonate the most with the target audience.

All Individual
Certification
Programs
Regionally
Targeted for
Specific Classes
All Partner
Certification
Programs

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NEXT STEPS
With the volume of work to be completed on the CLIENT account, following are the next steps to being
improving the return on ad spend. These steps identify the work to be completed over the next 8 12 months
to restore this advertising channel to profitable returns.

1) Identify the primary goals of the AdWords initiative
It is important to decide if AdWords is gaining seats or leads for a nurture program. It is unlikely
that a $2,500 class will be purchased directly from a PPC ad. Contributing leads to the existing
lead nurture funnel is the best opportunity for success.
2) Prioritize the target markets
Recommendation:
i. Individual Certifications
ii. Individual - Regionally Targeted Specific Class Advertising
iii. Partner Certifications
3) Develop a funnel campaign structure for the first market, including awareness, consideration, and
decision funnel phases
4) Identify 2 or 3 marketing messages for the market that will catch the visitors attention and resonate
with their interests/needs
5) Begin re-development of the campaigns structure, building on the existing data when possible.
a. Includes new marketing messaging (ad copy) and landing page development
b. Also includes identification of opportunities for CLIENT Content Development for the
consideration phase of the lead generation funnel
6) Optimize the new campaigns for the first market
7) Continue building the second and third markets