#SMX #33B1 @bgTheoryUsing Data & Creativity Together

How Brands Test PPC Ads

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What Brands Need to Know

What ad is best for my brand

name?

What ads are best for my

brand products?

What ads are best for

returning specific

audiences?

What ads are best for generic

terms?

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Brand Testing ConsiderationsScale:• Are you testing

100,000 ads or 2?

Are there brand

guidelines/legal

considerations for brand terms?

Are there brand/legal

guidelines for generic terms?

Are we aligning tests/ads with

other initiatives?

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What is ‘Best’?

What do you want to do? The metric you should useIncrease conversions Conversion per Impression (CPI)Increase visitors Click Through Rate (CTR)Increase engaged visitors Conversion per Impression (CPI)Get the most revenue possible Revenue per Impression (RPI)Improve quality scores Click Through Rate (CTR)

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Metrics for Most Brands

Brand Terms• CPI• CTR

Brand product /service terms:• CPI / RPI

Generic Terms:• CPI / RPI• ROAS

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Confidence Factors by Term Type

Term Type Minimum ConfidenceLong Tail Keywords 90%Mid data terms 90% – 95%3rd Party Brands you Sell 90% (small brands) to 95% (large

brands)Top Keywords (the ones you watch daily)

95% - 99%

Your Brand Terms 99%

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Testing Types

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Single Ad Group Tests

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Multi-Ad Group Testing

Idea 1Idea 2Idea 3Idea 4Idea 5

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Example: Free & Rush Shipping Vs 24 Hour Rush Available

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That Simple Test Resulted in 115 More Conversions/Month for a Small Account.

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Which Testing Type Should You Use?

Single Ad Group Testing

Insights within an ad group

• Best for high traffic ad groups

• Best for Brand ad groups• Good for other ad groups

after you’ve done some multi-ad group testing for global insights

Multi-Ad Group Testing

Insights across a segment

• Best for template created ads

• Best for small data accounts

• Best for market research

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Before You Start

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What Are You Trying to Learn?

Are consumers price sensitive?

(discounts, prices in ads)

Does Location matter? (use

geographies in ads)

Does shipping matter? (Free or Rush shipping)

Is selection important?

(large, exclusive,

variety, etc)

How much does quality matter? (cheap, luxury)

What’s your best CTA? (Call,

Shop, Find, Discover, etc)

Should your display URL be products, geo,

CTAs, or something else?

Do we need to pre-qualify

clicks? (b2b vs b2c)

etc…

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How Will You Segment the Data?

Brand Terms

• By ad type (DSA, ETA, Responsive, etc)

• By ad group

Brand Services/Product

Terms• By ad type• By campaign or

ad group (based upon scale)

Generic Terms

• By ad type• By campaign

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Create Your Testing Spreadsheet

TestTerm Type Where Ad TypeMetrics Coordination

Hypothesis

StartDate

EndDate Conclusion

What is the test name?

What term types are being tested?

Where will the test be conducted?

What ad formats are included?

What is the winning metric and minimum data?

Do we need to coordinate with other dpts?

What is the hypothesis we’re trying to test?

What did you learn?

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ExampleTest

•Generic test to understand the impact of geographies in ads.

Term Type•Generic

Where•Campaigns marked generic/service region

Ad Type•ETAs

Metrics•90% confidence•Minimum 25,000 impressions/ad set

Coordination•Design to create matching geographies on page headline

Hypothesis•Our users are looking for insurance that is local to them. While our ads currently use the state per our regulations, we believe that by moving to individual city level, we can increase our interactions with searchers

How•We will create two headline 2s in all the ad groups for the test.•First test: Current ads (state name)•Second Test: Include ad customizers for city names

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Setup You Tests

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Launching Your Test

Write the adsPass ads to

any legal/brand

review teams

Coordinate with any

other design departments

Create the ads in your

PPC accountLaunch your

test

Make note of the start date

in your spreadsheet

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Watch Your Test Results for Action

If below minimum data, wait.

• If below minimum confidence – wait• If above minimum confidence – take action

If above minimum, calculate confidence factors

If above maximum data and a test has no results, take action

• In the case of multi-ad group testing: Replace entire string with a new pattern to test

• (optional): Use insight in other areas, such as email, landing pages, etc

Action = Pausing loser OR pausing loser & creating new challenger

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Once You Have Winners

What is the insight?Where else can the insight be used?

Landing pages

Email CTAs or Subject

LinesSEO Title

Tags

Images for other

networksEtc…

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Recap

What do you want to know?

Where do you need that info?

What is the scale of the test?

What type of test

should you run?

Define your

testing criteria

Coordinate with other channel

Setup & Run the

test

Make notes of insights

& investigate where else

you can use that

data.

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Brad Geddes Serious about Ads & Data?Co-Founder, AdalysisTwitter: @bgTheory

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