Every retailer has a database of products for sale, commonly referred to as a product catalog. Not every retailer, however, is using their product catalog to the fullest extent possible to maximize their retail PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns.

1. 10 Ways to Use Your Product
Catalog to Maximize Retail
PPC Campaigns
A Digital Marketing Depot Research Report

2. 10 Ways to Use Your Product Catalog to Maximize Retail PPC Campaigns
E very retailer has a database of products
for sale, commonly referred to as a
product catalog. Not every retailer, however,
is using their product catalog to the fullest
extent possible to maximize their retail PPC
(pay-per-click) campaigns.
Without employing a product catalog, retailers cannot truly
leverage all that search advertising has to offer. Furthermore, they
cannot gain a solid picture of how their products and advertising
perform in the current e-commerce landscape. Unleashing the
resources of the product catalog in a PPC advertising campaign
offers opportunities for keyword expansion, data management,
robust analytics and ad structure.
This E-Book examines 10 tips to take advantage of these
opportunities and outlines the value a product catalog has in
amplifying a retailer’s existing PPC program.
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3. 10 Ways to Use Your Product Catalog to Maximize Retail PPC Campaigns
1
Feed product catalogs into Google Merchant Center and Bing
Shopping, and get listed on Google Shopping and Bing Shopping.
As the name implies, Google Shopping (previously known as Google Product Search) is a search engine
dedicated to online shopping. Along with the name change, a change in inclusion rules was implemented.
Whereas Google Product Search accepted free submissions, Google Shopping is built on paid inclusion.
Bing Shopping remains free for product catalog submissions. However, Microsoft encourages retailers to pay for inclusion at
Shopping.com, which will help retailers gain better visibility in Bing Shopping, as the two maintain a partnership.
Product catalog feeds should follow the specifications set out by the search engine it is being submitted to. Additionally, a
feed should provide the types of information that consumers include in their search queries, as0this will make a difference in
PPC ads.
2
Turn on Google Product Listing Ads and
Google Product Extensions.
Google’s experiments with including rich media (such as maps, videos and images) into organic search results
spurred similar experiments with paid search advertising. The result was Product Listing Ads, which offer retailers
the opportunity to advertise specific products in the sponsored ad listings section of Google’s search results. Product Listing
Ads include images, prices, titles, and store names. This information is pulled from product catalog feeds retailers send to
their Google Merchant Center accounts, which must be connected to the advertiser’s AdWords account.
Example of Google’s Product Listing Ad
Typically, product listing ads are displayed for more specific searches. This enables Google to display an advertiser’s
products when intent is more clear. Product listing ads are limited to retailers in the United States, France, Germany and the
U.K.
If an advertiser has existing text ads within AdWords, linking accounts will also make a retailer eligible for Product
Extensions. This feature allows specific product information to be displayed along with an AdWords ad. Product Extensions
differ from Product Listing ads in that they are available as an expansion from an advertiser’s text ad whereas Product Listing
Ads are displayed in a separate section from the text ads. Select advertisers will be eligible to bid on a cost-per-acquisition
(CPA) basis, which is an AdWords payment system based on a commission of sales.
Bing has begun experimenting with its own version of Product Listing Ads. Some searchers have begun to see images
appearing next to paid ads. Microsoft has only commented that they are testing ad product initiatives, but it’s a space for
savvy search marketers to watch.
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4. 10 Ways to Use Your Product Catalog to Maximize Retail PPC Campaigns
3
Explore product catalogs for keyword expansion.
A retailer’s product catalog offers a wealth of valuable insight for profitable keyword expansion. You should be
marketing all the brands, products, and models that you carry.
Incorporating a product catalog into search marketing can help automate the process of covering keywords for
your entire product inventory. Instead of manual entry or brainstorming, product catalog feeds insure that every product
keyword can be considered.
The information provided in an inventory feed includes features and data that consumers are searching for, such as brand
and model number. Every facet is an opportunity for an advertiser to reach consumers. These features can be targeted at a
more fundamental level by combining possible keyword combinations. The result is a more agile keyword portfolio reaching
a broader consumer base.
4
Employ a long tail strategy to populate a keyword portfolio.
Keyword expansion should not be limited to brand and model numbers.
Utilizing just a few hundred keywords to promote a product catalog with
thousands of items is an insufficient strategy. Instead, advertisers can use
features that are commonly searched for like color, size, amount of memory, While some
etc. to target audiences and build compelling campaigns. advertisers choose to
This has traditionally been referred to as a long tail strategy, meaning search queries with manually cull through
low volume but a valuable source of conversions. Such a strategy allows advertisers to keyword and search
employ a more targeted ad with better copy. As a result, ads often enjoy a higher click
through rate and Quality Score. query lists, others
choose to employ an
While some advertisers choose to manually cull through keyword and search query automated method
lists, others choose to employ an automated method using broad match and negative
keywords. Either way, integration with a product catalog feed will make the job easier. using broad match and
negative keywords.
When done successfully, a long tail strategy can be a resourceful propeller of keyword
expansion. Since there is usually less competition for these keyword phrases, these
campaigns can offer a lower cost-per-action than more generic terms.
5
Build structure into data management and ad campaigns.
When a product catalog could provide millions of keyword combinations, manually editing every single ad is
impossible. Thankfully, automated solutions exist to manage these large swaths of data. Such solutions rely on
clean data feeds in order to maximize a keyword portfolio and optimize ad spend and budget.
Product catalog feeds should be well-structured with the data sets originating from a reliable source. Have a check system
in place to avoid including data that could lead to ad rejection such as0special characters0or terms that break character
limits. These pitfalls can also affect quality score, another reason why clean data is so important.
When organizing ad campaigns, products should be arranged into ad groups according to category. Structure within ad
groups allows for more targeted ad copy, aligned with an expanded keyword strategy. To make this task easier, technology
exists to generate traffic-producing combinations of almost every keyword related to long tail search phrases and then
group them by similarity.
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5. 10 Ways to Use Your Product Catalog to Maximize Retail PPC Campaigns
6
Understand and target consumer intent.
Whenever a search is conducted, a consumer is asking a question. That question
reveals the consumer’s intent. Sometimes the intent is vague or could have While product
several possible meanings. Other times, search queries are very specific. feeds do include
Meanwhile, a retailer’s product catalog only represents marketer intent, or what the
keywords that
company want to sell. Combining marketer intent with consumer intent helps advertisers are attractive to
better target what consumers often search for. Modifiers such as “cheap”, “on sale,” and consumers, not
“online” are commonly searched, but are not generally found within a product catalog.
Adding them manually can aid a search marketer in finding more relevant keyword bidding all intent can be
opportunities. gleaned from a
While product feeds do include keywords that are attractive to consumers, not all intent can
retailer’s catalog.
be gleaned from a retailer’s catalog. To better understand consumer search sentiment, a
review of the search logs in an e-commerce site’s analytics system is in order.
If a retailer’s product pages are not yet optimized for long tail terms, search logs may yield nothing. Query reports from
AdWords and adCenter may offer up additional insight into consumer intent. Also, this brings back the importance of the
point of delivering product catalog feeds to Google and Bing. The more robust a product catalog data feed is, the more
robust search logs will be for Google Shopping and Bing Shopping. From there, keyword portfolios can be expanded and
more targeted search marketing strategies can be employed.
Consumer intent must also be understood in order to avoid advertising for poorly performing and irrelevant terms. Utilizing
the negative keywords feature in paid search campaigns enables retailers to prevent spending valuable advertising dollars
on keywords that will not convert.
7
Engage in competitor keyword bidding.
While a product catalog represents all the products a retailer sells, there are inevitably specific brand items
within a niche or industry that a retailer simply does not carry. Pursuing a long tail strategy may leave an
advertiser inadvertently ignoring consumers with strong purchasing intent. In this case, e-commerce advertisers
can employ a competitor keyword bidding strategy to extend their long tail.
For example, if a retailer does not sell a specific brand of running shoe but sells very comparable brands, they could buy
ads on the brand they don’t sell and advertise their alternative. Retailers should test offers such as lower prices and free
shipping to see if this will customers to consider an option other than the one they originally searched for. Testing is also
crucial to determine which products will convert with a competitor keyword bidding strategy.
8
Updated product catalog feeds with new products.
Retailers should implement a process to update catalog feeds with new products and add relevant keywords
to promote the additions. This process keeps long tail keyword strategies current and provides an accurate
picture of overall product performance. Careful consideration should be given to maintaining feed and ad group
structure to keep established operations in order.
Seasonality and promotional calendars must also be taken into consideration when managing PPC campaigns for product
catalogs. Knowing when to increase bids and budgets for certain products during certain times of the year can maximize
the potential of the ad campaign while managing the realities of an ad budget. Automation tools exist to assist search
marketers in engaging holiday and promotional paid search strategies.
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6. 10 Ways to Use Your Product Catalog to Maximize Retail PPC Campaigns
9
Manage retired and out of stock products.
From time to time, products are retired from a product catalog or they sell out an inventory. Map out which
keywords drove traffic to products that are no longer carried, and redirect landing pages to a legitimate
alternative. Monitor the redirects to determine if conversions are occurring for keywords of the retired product. If
not, they keyword may also need to be retired.
Examine options for automatically pausing or bidding down on keywords when necessary. Out of stock products may need
a temporary pause while seasonality may warrant bidding down during an off-season.
10
Evaluate costs and manage budgets efficiently and creatively.
Every search marketer’s challenge is maximize the budget to get the most conversions from as little spend
as possible. With PPC, the goal is to bid high enough to bring in quality traffic but low enough to remain
profitable.
Keywords which drive positive margins should be leveraged as much as possible. Reviewing top performing campaigns on
a regular basis is a good practice in order to make sure that volume is not being impeded by budget-limiting impressions.
Unexpected earned and social media and other unplanned-for traffic can send costs soaring. However, this traffic is not
often sustained and does not necessarily convert well. In this scenario, budget settings can keep ad campaigns within a
predetermined spend are a welcome solution.
Budget considerations go beyond ad spend and paid inclusion. Software and data management also must be factored into
the overall cost of running paid search advertising. Understanding the true cost of PPC advertising is crucial to knowing the
true profit margins of a product catalog.
Conclusion
With the constant changes occurring in an ever-changing search landscape, retailers must maximize every opportunity that
exists for promotion. Taking advantage of the opportunities that exist with shopping search and product catalog feeds are a
must for any advertisers wishing to create an effective presence on the web.
While the tasks these opportunities generate may seem monumental, tools and strategies exist to assist search marketers in
keyword expansion, data management, campaign administration and budgeting. n
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7. 10 Ways to Use Your Product Catalog to Maximize Retail PPC Campaigns
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