David Rodnitzky's (CEO & Founder @ PPC Associates) presentation at SMASH Summit on 7/26 in NYC

1. The Good and Bad
SEM News for Startups
David Rodnitzky

2. The 80/20 Rule for Startups and SEM
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3. Search Engine Marketing Myths v. Reality
Reality
Innovative companies
are the WORST fit for
SEM
SEM is highly
competitive = hard
SEM is efficient = ROI
not guaranteed
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 – promise!
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5. Reason #1: No Demand for Your Product or Service

6. SEM is the “Database of Intentions”
 People search for
EXISTING products
and services
 Search is about
fulfillment of
demand, not
creation
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7. Innovative Products and Solutions = Bad for
SEM
 Which keywords would you buy:
 In 1997 for Tivo? “VCR Alternative”?
 In 2004 for Facebook? “Share with Friends”?
 In 2012 for Lytro? “Focus 1000X Camera”?
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8. Reason #2: Uncompetitive Economics

9. SEM is an Increasingly “Efficient” 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

10. Search for “Cloud Computing”
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11. Search for “low cost cloud computing that runs
on multiple servers in linux”
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12. Search is Popular (Expensive), But Not Cool
2002 2004 2012
Red = Spend
Blue = Interest
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13. Reason #3: A Lack of SEM Chops

14. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective SEM
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Source: http://ppcassociates.com/7habits-guide.html

15. Reason #4: An Average or Bad Conversion Funnel

16. Great SEM without a Great Conversion Funnel
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17. Reason #5: Lack of a Compelling Offer

18. “The Competition is a Click Away”
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19. And Now for Some Good News

20. Solve All Five Issues = $$$$$
• AdWords is Marketing to
hand raisers – it works!
• Your competitors may not
know their true economics –
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 don’t 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

22. Keywords vs. Queries - A Crucial Distinction
Keyword
Queries
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23. Creating & Analyzing The Beta Campaign
Step One: Create the Beta
campaign “The Bait”
 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
 SKAGs = Single Keyword Ad
Groups
 Put all Alpha queries on Exact
Match
 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  -[free dragon tattoo poster]

25. The Air-Tight Account Secret
Step Six: Add all Alpha queries to
your Beta campaign as Exact
Match Negatives!
 This prevents Google from
matching a bait keywords to
your profitable Alpha query
 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 – The “Gatekeeper”
• Call to action
• Four human emotions
 Fear
 Greed
 Exclusivity
 Vanity
• Targeted to specific ad group
• Test, test, test – CTR X Conv. Rate
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Source: http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Mail-Copy-That-Sells

27. Landing Pages – The “Closer”
• 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 – 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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29. Thank You!
david@ppcassociates.com
www.ppcassociates.com
@rodnitzky