3. Search Engine Marketing Myths v. Reality
Reality
ď§Innovative companies
are the WORST fit for
SEM
ď§SEM is highly
competitive = hard
ď§SEM is efficient = ROI
not guaranteed
ď§The long tail is . . .
DEAD
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4. Five Reasons You Should Avoid SEM
1. No demand for your product/service
2. Uncompetitive economics
3. Lack of SEM chops
4. Average or bad conversion funnel
5. Uncompetitive offer
Note: There will be some good news at the end of the
presentation â promise!
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6. SEM is the âDatabase of Intentionsâ
ď§ People search for
EXISTING products
and services
ď§ Search is about
fulfillment of
demand, not
creation
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7. Innovative Products and Solutions = Bad for
SEM
ď§ Which keywords would you buy:
ď In 1997 for Tivo? âVCR Alternativeâ?
ď In 2004 for Facebook? âShare with Friendsâ?
ď In 2012 for Lytro? âFocus 1000X Cameraâ?
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9. SEM is an Increasingly âEfficientâ Market
⢠The long tail is DEAD
= Fewer keywords
with more auction
participants
⢠SEM is a staple of
most established
businesses
⢠Auction-based
economics favor
companies with
strongest finances
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Source: http://wallstreetwit.blogspot.com/2008/05/efficient-market-
hypothesis.html
20. Solve All Five Issues = $$$$$
⢠AdWords is Marketing to
hand raisers â it works!
⢠Your competitors may not
know their true economics â
LTV, ROAS, can give you an
advantage
⢠Many (most?) AdWords
campaigns are poorly
managed = opportunity
⢠You can start with $5!
⢠Iterative testing of conversion
funnel is relatively easy
(Optimizely, Unbounce, etc)
⢠Offer testing is also easy and
most people donât do it!
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21. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective SEM (Again)
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Source: http://ppcassociates.com/7habits-guide.html
23. Creating & Analyzing The Beta Campaign
Step One: Create the Beta
campaign âThe Baitâ
ď§ All keywords should be on
broad match modified
(+broad +match +modified)
Step Two: Run raw search
query analysis on Beta
campaign
Step Three: Identify winning
queries and losing queries
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24. Creating the Alpha Campaign, Refining the Beta
Step Four: Create an Alpha
campaign. Move winning queries
into SKAGs in the Alpha
ď§ SKAGs = Single Keyword Ad
Groups
ď§ Put all Alpha queries on Exact
Match
ď§ Create targeted ad text and
landing pages for each SKAG
Step Five: Add all losing queries to
the Beta campaign as Negative
Exact Match
24 ď§ -[free dragon tattoo poster]
25. The Air-Tight Account Secret
Step Six: Add all Alpha queries to
your Beta campaign as Exact
Match Negatives!
ď§ This prevents Google from
matching a bait keywords to
your profitable Alpha query
ď§ You control bid, ad text, and
landing page for winners!
Step Seven: Continue to identify
winners and losers in the Beta
campaign. Move winners into
the Alpha
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26. Ad Text â The âGatekeeperâ
⢠Call to action
⢠Four human emotions
ď§ Fear
ď§ Greed
ď§ Exclusivity
ď§ Vanity
⢠Targeted to specific ad group
⢠Test, test, test â CTR X Conv. Rate
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Source: http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Mail-Copy-That-Sells
27. Landing Pages â The âCloserâ
⢠Clear call to action
⢠Important data above the
fold
⢠Establish credibility
⢠Highly targeted to your
keyword & ad text
⢠Function over form (limit
flash, sound, etc)
⢠Multiple methods of
communication
⢠Test, test, test
⢠Quality score: contact us,
privacy policy, about us, site
map, load time
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28. Your Next Steps
⢠Ask yourself â are you in the 20%?
⢠Assess your SEM chops or hire an
expert
⢠Work tirelessly on your
conversion funnel
⢠Start testing SEM - slowly
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