The
Kent’s Camera Castle: Paid Search Marketing Paper
Websites want to
generate traffic to increase company or brand awareness. There are three types
of traffic that most websites get: direct traffic, referral traffic and search
traffic (Larson & Draper, 2020). Direct traffic comes from visitors trying
in the URL or clicking on a link saved to their favorites. Referral traffic
comes from paid ads or unpaid links and off-site SEO. Search traffic is the
result of paid search engine result pages (SERP) or unpaid search results.
Search engine advertising allows users to search for products, services, or
information that they are interesting in locating and companies want to be
accurately matched to these searches (Larson & Draper, 2020). There are
many variables to consider when creating a search ad such as the intent of the
searcher and searched keywords (Fishkin, 2016). A/B testing and maximizing ad
budgets are ways that marketers can draw the most meaningful traffic to a
landing page.
Part
1: A/B Testing
Effective ad copy
contains relevant keywords, a unique value proposition (UVP) and a call to
action. Relevant keywords improve the click-through rate since the ads will
show up in search results for users looking for those specific terms (Larson
& Draper, 2020). A UVP sets the ad apart from competing ads by including
what makes the website different. The call to action informs the searcher what to
do next if they are interested such as “click here to learn more” or “buy now.”
A/B testing is a way
that marketers can test the ad copy against other variations of the ad. Marketers
can create different ad versions by changing the headline, description, or call
to action and test it against another version of the ad. A/B testing allows ad
to continuously improve the click-through rate (Larson & Draper, 2020). Stukent
expert Matt Umbro advises marketers to constantly A/B test two ads and replace
the lower-performing ad with another version to assure the most effective ad is
always running (2015).
Kent’s Camera Castle Ad Versions
The first ad version
highlights the rugged features whereas the second ad focuses on the LiveBurst
mode feature. Both ads go to the same website, but will have different landing
pages that go into more detail of the rugged and LiveBurst features. Headline one
is the same for both ads, however, headline two recognizes the different
features. These are good ads to test to what features attract searchers and get
them to engage with the ad, sign up for the website, or purchase the product.
Part
2: Keywords
Google Ads accounts allows
users to quickly and efficiently organize and manage various ads and campaigns.
The account level is where a company or advertiser enters payment information to
pay for the ad clicks or conversions as previously selected. An account can
have multiple ad campaigns running. Each campaign can be selected and different
settings edited (Larson & Draper, 2020). This campaign is likely titled
“Kent’s Camera Castle – GoPro HERO 8.” There may be several campaigns for the
different version of currently available GoPro models and future product
releases.
Keywords are used to
help searchers find accurate search results and for companies that match those
keywords to pull up in the search results. Advertisers also keep track of
keywords that are specific to each ad or campaign. If advertisers use brackets
around any of these terms, then only searches with the exact term will pull the
GoPro ad up in the search engine results. If the keyword or set of keywords
include quotation marks then the ad will only show up on the search engine
results page if the exact keyword phrase matches the search. Using a plus sound
before any keywords allows the Google search engine to include any variation of
the terms in a modified broad match (Larson & Draper, 2020). According to
the chart in the assignment, Gopro has 550,000 average monthly searches and go
pro has 246,000 monthly searches so these are both great keywords, but the
competition is high for these terms. Kent’s Camera Castle has 50,000 monthly
searches and low competition. Therefore, recommended keywords for both ads in
the HERO8 campaign are:
Kent’s Camera Castle,
“HERO8,”
+GoPro + HERO,
+GoPro + HERO8,
+GoPro + HERO8+ Black
Additional keywords for ad one are:
+GoPro + Rugged,
+GoPro + Waterproof,
+GoPro + Moments, and variations
of these keywords combined.
Additional keywords for the second ad are:
“LiveBurst,”
+GoPro + LiveBurst,
+GoPro + LiveBurst,
+GoPro +Live + Burst +
Mode,
+GoPro + Shutter,
+GoPro + Shutter +
Speed, and variations of these terms.
Part
3: Purchasing Display Ad Space
Budgeting is an
essential part of any form of advertising. Companies that advertise on
billboards agree to pay a monthly rate (Larson & Draper, 2020). Advertisers
may pay a certain amount to run an ad in a printed magazine according to page
size. However, paid search advertising is dynamic meaning the price per keyword
can frequently change. To rank high for certain search terms or get the best ad
placement for the term, companies place bids to in an auction and the ad
position goes to the highest bidder (Larson & Draper, 2020). Advertisers
can choose to bid in a few ways, but the company has to decide how to bid to
get the highest traffic for the budget. One way a company can pay is through
CPC bidding in which the company pays a chosen amount per click on the ad. Through
Google Ads second-price auction model, the company who bids the highest may not
pay their actual bid, but will pay one penny more than the second-highest
bidder. Cost-per-acquisition (CPA) bidding allows companies to pay the
company-selected amount per conversion (Larson & Draper, 2020).
Ad Budgeting Examples
·
For example
if an advertiser has a budget of $1,000 and an average cost per click (CPC) of
$2.50, how many clicks can the advertiser receive before their budget is
exhausted? The answer is 400 clicks.
This is calculated by dividing $1000 by $2.50
since each click will cost the advertiser $2.50.
·
If an
advertiser has an unlimited budget, an average CPC of $1.00, a CTR of 1.8%, and
60,000 impressions, how much will the advertiser spend?
The answer is $1,080.
The amount owed for advertising equals the
number of impressions multiplied by the click through rate and then multiplied
by the CPC, so 60,000 x 1.8% = 1,080 x $1.00 = $1,080.
·
If the
advertiser has a $3,000 budget, her average CPC is $0.50, and her conversion
rate is 5%, what is her current cost per action (CPA)? How many conversions can
she get for $3,000?
The CPA is $10 and the number of conversions
possible with a $3000 budget is 300.
This is because at a 5 percent conversion rate,
the average clicks per conversion are 5 per 100 clicks or reduced to 1 sell per
20 clicks. 20 clicks times the CPC of $0.50, so the CPA equals $10.
Since the budget is $3000 and the CPA is $10,
then $3000 divided by $10 equals 300 conversions.
Part 4: Keyword Data
·
According
to the keyword chart included in the assignment, does a high CPC mean the
advertiser should not bid?
Not necessarily. The advertiser is only charged
for each click. This depends on the budget allotted for the campaign and the
number of search result clicks.
·
How much
should the advertiser bid? Higher than the average CPC? Lower? To obtain the
best ad placement for the keyword search, the advertiser must bid higher than
the suggested bid to win it.
·
Should the
advertiser shy away from high search volumes or are those a good thing? High search volumes are a good thing because
more search traffic means a greater potential for webpage traffic and
conversions.
·
Do you get
more traffic when you have campaigns for lots of different cameras? Potentially
yes. For example, if the company runs a campaign for the GoPro Hero 4 and Go
Pro Hero 3, then the search numbers could be around 195,500 search results.
That is a large volume of webpage traffic.
·
What seems
to be the searcher’s intent when he or she types in a keyword like [Go Pro
reviews]? What about if the search is for [digital cameras]? Is the searcher
just as likely to buy? What if the search is for [Go Pro Hero 4]?
When the searcher places the search term in
brackets, then the searcher wants to pull up exact results for the search term.
If the searcher is looking up generic terms like reviews and digital cameras,
then the searcher is likely still in the research and information stage.
Whereas, the searcher who looks up the exact term GoPro Hero 4 is more likely
to purchase because they are searching for the specific product.
Conclusion
To
create an effective paid search ad campaign, advertisers must consider several
factors. First, advertisers must understand what their searchers are looking
for and try to work the keywords organically into ads that the searchers will
use. Next, the advertiser chooses the best way to bid on keywords for the best
search result placement which is sometimes highly competitive and costly. An
advertiser must make good decisions and continually to monitor the campaign
through Google Ads and AB testing to assure the ads are leading the correct
users to the landing pages.
References
Fishkin,
R. (2016, December 9). The 10 types of content that work best for
SEO—Whiteboard Friday [Blog post]. https://moz.com/blog/the-ten-types-of-content-that-work-best-for-seo-whiteboard-friday
Larson,
J., & Draper, S. (2020). Digital
marketing essentials. https://www.stukent.com/
Stukent
[Stukent, Inc.]. (2015, September 9). Introduction to remarketing with Matt
Umbro - Stukent expert session [Video file]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/uqSPKzoyGHc
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