The Science of Ad Testing By Brad Geddes
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Transcript of The Science of Ad Testing By Brad Geddes
#SMX #11b @bgTheory
Brad Geddes, Co-Founder AdAlysis
The Science of Ad Testing
#SMX #11b @bgTheory
Ad Testing is about Improvement and/or insights
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Single Ad Group Testing
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Multi Ad Group Testing
Idea 1Idea 2Idea 3Idea 4Idea 5
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List Your Themes Create a label per theme Examine how each theme performs Pick your winning theme and continue
Image Ad Testing Can be Single or Multi-Ad Group
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Use Cases
Single Ad Group TestingInsights 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 TestingInsights across a segment- Best for template created ads
- Best for small data accounts
- Best for market research
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Some Quick Examples
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Ask the Big Questions First• 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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Should You Use Customizers?
Testing Problem:• 804 ads in test 1• 75 ads in test 2Solution: Use same ad groups for your test
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Static Ad is Higher Conversion Rate, Lower in CPACustomizer is Higher in CTR & CPIWhat metrics are important to you?
Exact Same Ad Groups in Test
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Lead Gen Company 1: GEOs are Clear Winners
Next Step: Change a few campaigns to only target singe region with non-geo keywords and rerun test to see if there’s a difference. Then decide account organization.
Should You Localize Your Ads?
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Ideas from presenters are Ideas to Test: Not absolute facts for you to implement!Desktop
Mobile
Company 2: Is the data consistent across devices?
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Think Through Your ResultsIn this case, ads were localized – landing pages were not.GEO increased CTR, but nothing else. Is that the market or the website?Solution: Redo test with localized pages
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First Test, it appears that the brand is so strong that you should use the brand name in non-branded ad groups.
It’s a good idea to test your results to ensure they are consistent.
Should You Use Your Brand in Non-Brand Ad Groups?
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Results aren’t 100% in yet…However, non-brand ad 1 is an ‘incentive’ ad. • This is for a travel company. Problem with many bookings is people are afraid that
the price will drop and they will overpay.• Ad 1 talks to that issue with a coupon if the price drops
Don’t Just Do One TestSame test: different results
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How to Start Testing
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Determine Your Segments
Basic Segments: • Your brand• 3rd party brands • Products• Informational • Long tail• By buying cycle entrance• Etc…
Ad Type: • Text ads• DSAs• Image ads• Call only ads• HSAs• etc…
Devices:• Mobile• Desktops• All
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Targeting Method is a Segment with Rich Media Ads
Basic Segments: • Your brand• 3rd party brands • Products• Informational • Long tail• By buying cycle entrance• Etc…
Targeting Type:• Remarketing• Topic• Placement• Interest• Affinity• etc
Devices:• Mobile• Desktops• All
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Define Your Testing Metrics
Metric Best UsageCTR: Click Through Rate Max Traffic (note: CPI is usually still better)
Conversion rate Most conversions from landing pageCPI: Conversion per Impression Most conversions possible
CPA: Cost per Conversion Lowering cost per conversionROAS: Return on Ad Spend Hitting ROAS goalsRPI: Revenue per Impression Maximizing revenue
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What Minimum Data To Define
Metric Impressions Clicks Conversions Timeframe
CTR Yes Optional YesCPA Yes YesConversion rate Optional Yes YesCPI Yes Optional YesROAS Yes YesRPI Yes Optional Yes
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Minimum Data Guidelines
Impressions Clicks Conversions
Low Traffic 350 300 7Mid Traffic 750 500 13High Traffic 1000 1000 20Well known brand terms 100,000 10,000 100 - 1000
The MINIMUM Data – It’s OK to have HIGHER Minimums|
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Define Minimum Confidence Levels
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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Option 1: 3 months
Option 2: Define maximums for each metric Define timeframes
Define Maximum Data
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Test by Device (if appropriate)
Count of AdRow Labels Mobile All Effective Device
Ad Group 1 2 AllAd Group 2 NoneAd Group 3 1 2 Mobile/DesktopAd Group 4 3 1 Mobile/DesktopAd Group 5 10 AllAd Group 6 2 6 Mobile/DesktopAd Group 7 1 7 Mobile/DesktopAd Group 8 1 6 Mobile/DesktopAd Group 9 7 All
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If below minimum data, wait. If above minimum, calculate confidence factors If below minimum confidence – wait If above minimum confidence – take action
If above maximum data and a test has no results, take action
Action = Pausing loser OR pausing loser & creating new challenger 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
Actions
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For Remarketing: Use at Least 3 Offersad clicks impressions CTR conversions conversion rate1 4075 613621 0.66% 132 3.24%2 6725 835389 0.81% 321 4.77%3 4399 565363 0.78% 197 4.48%4 1610 672062 0.24% 27 1.68%5 8547 939540 0.91% 41 0.48%
Total 25,356 3,625,975 0.70% 718 2.83%
ad clicks impressions CTR conversions conversion rate2 19,294 3,720,132 0.52% 443 2.30%
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Determine what you want to test: Single ad group Multi-ad group
Define: Testing metrics Minimum data Maximum data Segments
Confidence levels per segment
Run Your test When you reach minimum data:
Run confidence calculations If winners & losers – take action If no winners – wait
When you reach max data Pause test and reset
When you have winners in Multi-Ad Group testing:
Apply that data to other channels
Recap
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THANK YOU!
SEE YOU @SMX WEST
SAN JOSE, CAMARCH 1-3, 2016