For those of you who are already familiar with this information, consider it review! There are four options from which to choose when adding a new keyword to your paid campaigns: broad match, broad match modifier, phrase match, and exact match.  Below is an example using the keyword “singing lessons,” and if you were to ask my better, he would definitely admit that I need them because I can’t carry a tune in a bucket!

YES means your ad will appear. NO means it will not appear.

Broad Match: Your ad will appear if the query includes the keywords “singing” or “lessons.”
“singing lessons”
a) singing lessons instruction – YES
b) singing the blues – YES
c) skiing lessons – YES

Modified Broad Match: Your ad will only appear if the query includes the keyword (or a close variation of – e.g. plural, same root, etc.), so “singing” and a term that is closely related to lessons.
“+singing lessons”
a) singing lesson – YES
b) skiing lessons- NO
c) in home singing lessons – YES

Modified Broad Match (+before all words within the keyword): Your ad will only appear if the query includes the keywords (or a close variation of – e.g. plural, same root, etc.), so “singing” and “lessons.”
“+singing +lessons”
a) sing lessons – NO
b) singing lesson – YES
c) in home singing lessons – YES

Phrase Match: Your ad will only appear if the query includes the keywords “singing lessons” in the given order.
“singing lessons”
a) lessons singing – NO
b) singing lesson – NO
c) in home singing lessons – Yes

Exact Match: Your ad will only appear if the query includes the exact keywords in the exact order.
“[singing lessons]”
a) lessons singing – NO
b) singing lesson – NO
c) singing lessons – YES

What are you waiting for?  Stop putting all of your eggs into the traditional PPC baskets of Microsoft and Google and start entering the brave world of Affiliate Marketing Programs.

Here are reasons why:

1)      You can easily extend your marketing reach by letting others entice your market.

2)      PPC keeps getting more expensive, and money doesn’t grow on trees.

3)      Affiliate Marketing removes the need for budgeting guesswork as long as you know your margins; you set up your affiliate offers and pay a standard, set amount with each conversion.

4)      Even Google is doing it!

Affiliate Marketing rocks because you only pay when a sale occurs.  This method is a safe way to give your online marketing efforts unprecedented leverage.  Instead of just relying upon your own online marketing efforts like PPC, SEO, SMS, etc., you can have the force of an entire network of affiliate sites working to promote your products, specials, coupons, and more!  An affiliate program will help you reach hundreds, if not thousands, of targeted, affiliate websites for free impressions and clicks.  Again, you only pay when you have a conversion!

Have I convinced you yet?  I hope so.  I also just wanted to add that while Affiliate Marketing Campaigns are highly cost effective since they are the closest means to a true revenue-sharing model, don’t stop conducting your other online marketing efforts.  PPC, SEO, SMS, and the other important three-letter acronyms are still necessary. To keep you stacking the SERP results and have a presence, this way just helps you saturate the market and provide numerous incremental sales.

The best four stateside affiliate networks include the following:

1)      Commission Junction-These folks are the largest network stateside and have really innovative materials.  The fee is a bit more, so if you join them, you should probably be selling more than bags of peanuts.

2)      Linkshare-They have fantastic tracking tools and reports.

3)      Google-We all know about them.

4)      Share a Sale-Their API’s are great, and they are really pushing the envelope on video implementation. Their startup cost is low, and their customer service is great.

With the significant increase in the monthly PPC spend by the clients that we manage, Google has assigned a team to work with us directly. Our Google Account Team representatives visited our offices here in Greensboro this past Wed (Oct 20th) to discuss and collaborate on our Google Adwords strategy.  We now manage several million dollars per year in PPC budget on behalf of our clients and of course, our partnership with Google for PPC and Google Analytics is a great benefit for both us and our clients.

Some of the items discussed included:

• CTR importance
• Google Re-marketing
• PPC Landing Page Testing Strategy
• Content Network Implementation
• Brand Trademark Protection through PPC
• Category Competitive Benchmarking Results
• Quality Score Relevance
• Approval process for Enhanced Brand Channels for our YouTube clients

From left to right: Michelle Vincent(Google), ArPit Vaidya (Google), Meredith Clark (Google), Brad Henry (Beacon), Nicole Tolbert (Beacon)

Let’s say you have two types of campaigns: an Accelerated and a Standard. The Accelerated campaigns focuses on spending more budget and getting more clicks for your higher converting keywords. The Standard campaigns focus budget and clicks on all average performers, and you have made sure that there is no keyword overlap. However, you were wondering what happens when there is a search done that could trigger either Accelerated or Standard.

Case in point: “Skinny jeans” is bid on in Accelerated. “Denim skinny jeans” is bid on in Standard.

If someone searches for “Denim skinny jeans,” which campaign keyword will be triggered?

The search “denim skinny jeans” would trigger the Standard “denim skinny jeans” keyword. This is because quality score and bid price have a greater influence over matching than your ad delivery method. Ad delivery effects “rate,” not the quality or likeness of a match. So, just because you indicate to Google through ad delivery that you prefer a keyword, ad group, or campaign over another, it will not automatically give the Accelerated keywords greater weight. Ad delivery just removes any cap on impressions for a campaign.

The short way to say it is that “skinny jeans” would be triggered for the same searches in the Accelerated campaign as it would for the Standard. Now, you must also remember that ad groups work as a unit. So, there is normal keyword cannibalization within ad groups and campaigns. However, when you split a keyword out to operate on its own, while being very similar to other keywords in other campaigns, you always run into the possibility that your phrase match may be triggered by searches you don’t want. To create more “leak-proof” Accelerated campaigns, I would do one of the following things:

1.      Run a query report weekly for you Accelerated campaigns to review thequeries you have shown. Queries that are leaking in there, exclude with negatives.

2.      Run a search query report over the past 90 days just for the phrases you’re targeting in Accelerated. Bid on the best terms this report yields at the exact level.

**the use of the keyword “skinny jeans” was done with the hope of inspiring other women to jump aboard the skinny jeans, cute scrunchy boot look I have grown to love.

-NT… saving the world…one optimized campaign or trendy look at a time

Beacon Technologies has proudly worked alongside The Princeton Review since 2008. We manage search engine optimization and assist with web marketing. Last month, Beacon took on all pay-per-click advertising responsibilities. We are very excited about the opportunity and look forward to a bright future with The Princeton Review.

The Princeton Review helps students, parents, and educators achieve the best results at every stage of their educational careers. By focusing on test prep and practice, they help students improve their performance in the classroom and on standardized tests.

Check out The Princeton Review!

There are certainly different approaches to take with your pay-per-click advertising.

One of the best ways to learn ppc advertising technique is to copy what the big multinational corporations are doing online with their massive marketing budgets.

Proctor & Gamble is a favorite of mine.

Lets take a look at what P&G and some of its competitors are doing in the baby diaper category.

There are no pictures to display. No jingles here. Combined with calls to action, there are appeals that are proven to work such as:

• Save money
• Comfort
• Freedom from worry

Easy to copy ppc techniques that are simple and effective. Get yours today!

For some tips, let’s take a look at some of Google’s  paid ads and the ppc techniques Google is using. I took screenshots of a total of six ads.  The first one is for Google Docs.

Some points to take away from each ad:

-> Ad states a benefit to the customer “..from Any Computer.”

-> Call to action “Try now!”

-> Ad states a benefit to the customer “Reach Millions..”

-> Low price of $5 is emphasized.

-> First letter of every word is capitalized.

-> Exclamation mark used in last line.

-> Ad states a benefit to the customer “Boost Your Business”

-> Call to action “Use Right Now”.

->First letter of every word is capitalized.

-> First letter of every word capitalized.

-> Low cost and quickness is emphasized.

-> Ad states a benefit “Get Qualified Visitors..”

-> Call to action “Place ..Today!”

->Ad states a benefit of  ”Gain Customers in Minutes”

-> Call to action ” Sign Up”

So, in summary the main tips we can garner from Google are:
1) State a benefit to the customer.
2) Include a call to action.
3) Emphasize low cost, ease of use, and speed.
4) Start every word in your ad text with a capital letter.
5) Repeat one word from the headline into the text.
6) Try some ads using an exclamation point.

You’re setting up your Google AdWords campaign and adding your keywords.  At some point you may ask yourself, “Does the singular form or plural form of the keyword matter?”.

So you go to the Google AdWords traffic estimator and check to see which form gets the most traffic.

Let’s check out the keywords “attorney” and  ”attorneys”.

In the table above, “attorney” gets more click traffic (1,920 – 2,404) and it has a cheaper cpc ($5.92 – $8.51).  ”Attorney”  looks like the better choice between the two to add to your ad campaign.

But wait…

Doesn’t a higher cpc (cost per click) mean that the keyword “attorneys” commands a higher bid price which is a reflection of higher demand?

“Attorneys” has a higher cpc because advertisers know that the plural is a lot more likely to be typed in by people who are looking to hire an attorney.  Therefore , the bids are driven up because of the higher  demand and you pay a higher cpc to use the plural form.

But why???

The reason is that the singular form is generic and it is likely  that someone who types in “attorney” wants to know something in general about what an attorney is and what the job entails .  A singular search doesn’t always have a similar intent that a search for “attorneys” does.

Typing a search for “attorneys” is more likely to be a search looking to hire an attorney.

Now,  setting your keyword to broad match will cover both singular and plural matches. You’ve covered the potential click traffic, but you have to wonder,  how many of those keyword searches using the singular form in a broad match are costing you money?

“Make it so”

Captain Jean-Luc Picard says YOU need to do three things in three chintzy lines very quickly with your Google AdWords copy.

• Stand out & get attention  (Headline- Line 1)
• Create a desire  (Line 2)
• Incite an action  (Line 3)

-

“Make it so, Number One”!

(1)  The headline is the most important line.

There are several techniques to try.

• Dynamic  Keyword Insertion
• One word headline
• Two word headline
• Three word headline
• Have the headline ask a question
• Begin your headline with the word “How to” (see example below)

-

“Make it so, Number Two”!

(2)  On the second line after the headline, make it personal.

• Ask yourself the question,  just how can the customer benefit?

In the Google ad below, the line reads “Customers Search and Find You.”

Thats how the customer will  benefit.

-

“Make it so, Number Three”!

(3) On the third and last line, get immediate action.

People don’t need time to think it over. You will lose sales that way.

Here are some techniques to try:

• If the price is going up, say so.
• If the supply is limited, say so.
• Set a time limit.
• Use call to actions such as “Act Now”,  ”Shop Today”,  or “Don’t Delay”
• State another great benefit the visitor will get by buying your product (“Save 15%”).

See the example below:

The examples used above are actual Google sponsored ads. There is a very high probability that these Google Ads have been tested and are being displayed for a very good reason. The reason is because the chintzy ad format works.  Google’s 5.7 billion in revenue doesn’t lie.

And why listen to Picard? According to wikipedia:

Picard is deemed the ultimate delegator of authority, knowing “how to gather and use data better than any other Star Trek captain.”

Okay,  the Amish don’t know anything about pay-per-click advertising or PPC management and they probably couldn’t tell you where these heaters are actually made either (China).  But we can pick up some tips from last winter’s Amish fireplace ad campaign.

But first off, you can read at ConsumerAffairs.com about exploiting the Amish and a $300 fireplace that you could buy with  equivalent btu’s for $19.99 at Target.

Why is this ad effective?

Some ppc landing page tips from the Amish:

Long copy

Direct marketers have known about long copy for some time now. Its not there for the sake of filling space. Its used to crowd in as many sales arguments as possible.  Not everyone is going to read it, but those that do will probably convert.

from the book Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples:

Advocates of short copy say, “I don’t think anybody will read all that small print. Let’s cut the copy down to a couple of paragraphs and set it in 18-point type.”What the advocates of short copy should say, if they want to be accurate, is this: ” I don’t think everybody will read all that small print.” This is perfectly true. Everybody will not read it. But the fact is that the very people you are most interested in will read your ad. These are prospects who will buy your product or service if you tell them sufficient reasons for doing so.

Here is the solution to the problem of long copy versus short copy that should satisfy the champions of both sides of the question.  Put a brief selling message into your headline and subheadings. Put your detailed message into small print. In this way, you accomplish two things:

(1) You get  a brief message across to glancers with your headline and subheads.

(2) You give a complete message to the person who is sufficiently interested in your product to read about it.

John Caples wrote his Tested Advertising Methods in 1932. As you can see, the same technique is still used effectively in 2009.

Use headers to qualify your audience

Immediately, the problem of high heating bills is made apparent.  Hey, I have high heating bills too! Join the club. Read on reader and your problem will be solved.

Call to action keyphrases

Save! How to! These call to actions are boldfaced in the sub headings. You can read about the best call to action keywords in my previous post. Also, notice that the word FREE is used to grab attention in the ad.

Increase conversions with badges and seals

The Good House Keeping Seal of approval and the Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) certification is featured predominently in the Amish fireplace ad.  Conversion testing has shown that using security badges and seals such as the BBB Better Business Bureau on your website are an easy way to increase conversions.

Did the methods above increase sales of Amish fireplaces?

“The demand for the product was much higher than the company anticipated. They really were not properly staffed to take all the orders,” said the BBB’s Joy Bender.

Take a few tips from the Amish and increase your conversions too.