Concept Reserve Post-Campaign Summary

1. 4/29/2009
GOOGLE
ADWORDS
CONCEPT RESERVE POST-CAMPAIGN SUMMARY
| Kelsey Highland
Justine Brado

2. Executive Summary. In preparing for the Google AdWords campaign strategy for
ConceptReserve, our group considered various goals and objectives in order to achieve
maximum benefit for the client. These goals and objectives were developed after discussion
with a member of ConceptReserve, and included converting website visitors to into
registrations for workshops in Chicago and San Diego, enrollments in free online seminars,
or webinars, and generating leads for the company‟s nation-wide corporate training
workshops.
The two-hundred dollar ($200) budget was initially allocated evenly between four
campaigns; however after close monitoring of the campaigns‟ performance, the funds were
re-distributed in order to reach the maximum click through rate (CTR) possible. Other
changes were also made in order to reduce the average cost per click (CPC) and improve
relevance of keywords to the ConceptReserve website. The final results of the
ConceptReserve campaign are as follows:
73 clicks
76,485 impressions
overall click-through rate (CTR) of 0.10%
average cost per click (CPC) $2.73
Most notable key results of the three week campaign include:
The Chicago campaign receiving the highest click through rate (CTR), in both the
search and content networks.
The Webinar campaign receiving the greatest number of clicks and impressions,
and had the lowest average cost per click (CPC).
In all three campaigns which receiving clicks, the search network achieved greater
click through rates (CTR) than did the content network.
Recommendations for ConceptReserve‟s future online marketing include waiting to
run campaigns for specific regional workshops until closer to their scheduled dates, and
focusing on the search network, as opposed to the content network. Another consideration is
looking into search engine optimization for their website, in order to improve their ranking in
the natural search results. This could include the addition of related content to
ConceptReserve.com to allow for more relevant traffic to be directed to the website.

3. Industry Component. During the course of the three week campaign, we were able
to gain valuable insight into the world of search engine marketing. The industry component
section of this post-campaign strategy outlines the key quantitative results of the campaign.
These include the following metrics: clicks, impressions, click through rate (CTR), average
cost per click (CPC), and cost. Budgetary and strategic decisions and results are also
analyzed.
ConceptReserve set a number of goals for the Google AdWords campaign. Of these,
the most important was generating leads for sales of their corporate workshops. In order to
obtain these leads, the client wished to achieve a quality click-through rate (CTR). Specific
goals for each campaign were as follows:
Campaign Goal
Convert website visitors to registrations for
the May 13-14, 2009 workshops taking place
Chicago Workshop
in Chicago, Illinois
Convert website visitors to registrations for
San Diego Workshop the June 17-18, 2009 workshops taking place
in San Diego, California
Convert website visitors to enrollments for
Webinars ConceptReserve‟s ongoing live online
seminars
Generate interest in workshops taking place
Nation-Wide Workshop
across the United States
As a means of accomplishing the preceding goals, we worked with ConceptReserve to
optimize the content of their website to ensure its relevance to keywords chosen for each
respective campaign. This enabled us to receive the maximum amount of clicks for dollars
spent.
The timeframe for the campaign was set for Tuesday, March 31, 2009 through
Tuesday, April 21, 2009. Of the two-hundred dollar ($200) budget, we were able to utilize
one-hundred, ninety-nine dollars and forty-three cents ($199.43).
Methods for monitoring the campaign included periodically examining the Google
AdWords campaign summary, paying close attention to key performance indicators including
the number of impressions, clicks, and most importantly, the ratio of the two (click through
rate, or CTR).

4. The first major change in the campaign was made during the first week, to the San
Diego workshops campaign. The keywords for the San Diego campaign generated
impressions early in the campaign, but no clicks were received. We believe the reason for this
campaign‟s struggles was a result of the longer time-lag between the time it was run and the
actual occurrence of the workshops. ConceptReserve indicated to us that they usually see the
most registrations no more than a month prior to the actual event; the San Diego campaign
began more than two months before the workshop. Because of this, the decision was made
(after consultation with the client) to pause this campaign in order to free up funds for the
remaining campaigns. These funds were initially allocated equally between the four
campaigns; however during the course of the campaign we altered the budget according to
the performance of each respective campaign.
Another significant change made to the overall campaign was the addition of more ad
variations, in order to more accurately reflect the content of the client‟s website. This was
done by taking the top keyword clicks and implementing them into the headline of the ads.
For example, we discovered that „leadership skills,‟ and „leadership development,‟ were
among our most searched keywords; we then took these keywords and included them as part
of the first line of copy, or the headline, in the ads, which enabled us to decrease the cost per
click for the same keywords. As a result, we were able to stretch the budget even further and
obtain more clicks at a lower cost.
Minor changes to the campaign included fine-tuning keywords which were receiving
low impression or click through numbers. Examples of this include changing „leadership
effectiveness,‟ to „leadership training,‟ and „manager productivity,‟ to „management training.‟
The campaign as a whole ultimately received seventy-three (73) clicks, and seventy-
six thousand, four hundred eighty-five (76,485) impressions, for an overall click-through rate
(CTR) of one tenth of one percent (0.10%). The average cost per click (CPC) was two dollars
and seventy-three cents ($2.73).

5. The chart above depicts the cost of our campaign over the course of three weeks. It is
interesting to point out the cost of $0.00 during the weekend (when the entire campaign was
paused, because of our business-to-business targeting) and the spikes during the week, which
indicate that employees who seek out ConceptReserve‟s services are searching most heavily.
Our client explained this most eloquently, “People are more productive at the beginning of
the week.”
Campaign Clicks Impressions CTR Avg CPC Cost
Chicago 4 1,954 0.20% $3.36 $13.43
Search 3 936 0.32% $3.26 $9.77
Content 1 1,018 0.10% $3.66 $3.66
San Diego 0 729 0.00% $0.00 $0.00
Search 0 461 0.00% $0.00 $0.00
Content 0 268 0.00% $0.00 $0.00
Webinar 45 33,109 0.14% $2.49 $111.84
Search 33 11,921 0.28% $2.33 $77.00
Content 12 21,188 0.06% $2.90 $34.84
Nation-Wide 24 40,693 0.06% $3.09 $74.16
Search 1 699 0.14% $2.95 $2.95
Content 23 39,994 0.06% $3.10 $71.21

6. The figure above illustrates the key results of our campaign. Among the most notable
results are:
The Chicago campaign received the highest click through rate (CTR), in both the
search and content networks.
The Webinar campaign received the greatest number of clicks and impressions,
and had the lowest average cost per click (CPC).
In all three campaigns which received clicks, the search network achieved greater
click through rates (CTR) than did the content network.
The only campaign which utilized different AdGroups was the Webinar campaign;
four AdGroups were used. The most successful of these AdGroups was targeted employees
who were looking for help in becoming better leaders. This AdGroup achieved the highest
click through rate (CTR) of the entire campaign, 0.54% overall, and it attained an
exceptionally high CTR of 0.84% on the search network.
In summary, we are pleased that nearly the entire budget was utilized. We believe
campaigns for specific regional workshops will achieve the highest click through rates (CTR)
within a month of the workshop‟s occurrence. It is evident that targeting individual
employees, rather than human resources representatives, returns superior click through rates
(CTR). It is also clear that ads run on the search network return higher click through rates,
and placing the most searched keywords within the headline of ads helps to lower the cost per
click (CPC).
Recommendations for ConceptReserve‟s future online marketing include waiting to
run campaigns for specific regional workshops until closer to their scheduled dates, and
focusing on the search network, as opposed to the content network. An additional
consideration is looking into search engine optimization for their website, in order to improve
their ranking in the natural search results.

7. Learning Component. In entering the Google AdWords competition, we hoped to
learn more about the mechanics of Google‟s advertising programs, but throughout
participation also leaned lessons about teamwork and collaboration with professional clients
working in the field. Key outcomes that will be remembered and referred back to during our
future professional careers are those unexpected pearls of wisdom gained, regarding joint
effort and client relations.
Much was learned concerning group dynamics. Though the group was initially
comprised of four members, by the time the campaign was launched, only two remained.
Issues with miscommunication, meeting attendance, and effort and contribution levels led us
to terminate two members of the group, leaving the remaining two with the task of fulfilling
commitments to the client and meeting client expectations for the campaign.
Miscommunication and meeting attendance were directly correlated in this case. E-
mails, phone calls, SMS text messages, and verbal agreements arranging meeting times were
apparently inadequate means of confirming the terminated member‟s presence at meetings. In
many cases, meetings were also begun late while waiting for these members to arrive after no
communication alerting us that they were unable to attend.
Lack of attendance and tardiness of group members also occurred within the client‟s
view. During the initial meeting with the client, one member was absent altogether. On the
agenda for the second meeting with the client was a conference call with the president of
ConceptReserve; at this meeting the same group member came in late, making excessive
noise with his book bag and causing a distraction for the rest of the group, as well as the
client. Needless to say, this was a fairly embarrassing display of his lack of professionalism.
Numerous attempts were made to delegate tasks among all team members and
accommodate each member‟s schedule of other obligations, however no change was seen.
The group‟s faculty advisor was made aware of the issues at hand; when he tried to contact
the offending member multiple times though e-mail he received no response and was forced
to resort to one-on-one discussion after class. During this conversation, the group member
was warned of his unstable position within the group, and was disingenuous in his offering to
contribute more.

8. The ultimate cause for two group members‟ dismissal from the group occurred when
the agreement was made for an early Saturday morning meeting to pull together the pre-
campaign strategy before it was due to the faculty advisor. At this meeting, the two members
in question failed to arrive on time, and after multiple attempts to contact them, the remaining
members were left with no option other than to complete the work alone and „fire‟ the others.
Since the elimination of these non-compatible associates, the remaining group
members have collaborated exceedingly well with one another, agreeing on respective
assignments and having those assignments completed for meetings so that work can continue,
making each meeting enjoyable and productive.
Working with a professional client was also a valuable learning experience. Despite
the mishaps with former group members, the remaining members were able to remain in
good esteem with the client and successfully complete the task at hand. Our relationship with
the client also grew to one of mentorship, and we were able to have conversations about post-
college job searches, the recent economic crisis‟ effects on his industry, and additional
marketing tactics ConceptReserve is considering.
This is not to say there were no issues with the client; communication issues also
arose in this area of the campaign. The ConceptReserve contact was also a faculty member at
our university, and initially promised he would be readily available to consult and assist us
with the campaign. He actually approached us with the idea of using ConceptReserve as our
client, and we chose the company because of our close proximity and communication
convenience to him.
However, his responsibilities to the university led him to be out of town for much of
the semester, and communicating via e-mail often proved difficult; on occasion emails went
unanswered for periods over two weeks. This presented the most difficulty after much of the
pre-campaign strategy was outlined before he left on a business trip, and upon his return
decided to drastically alter the proposed campaigns just before the document was due. The
situation led to high stress levels during the completion of the pre-campaign strategy, but the
crisis was overcome, and we are not only satisfied, but proud of the work that resulted.
Through this specific experience, we learned to take more initiative to proactively determine
what work could be done while waiting to receive correspondence from the client.

9. In the future, some things we might do differently include more carefully selecting
group members, becoming more familiar with the nature of the client‟s business, and
ensuring the specific time commitments on the part of each group member, as well as the
client contact.
Confirming availability and time commitments of all parties involved is an important
step in group and client dynamics; it is critically important for everyone‟s expectations of
others so there is no confusion as to who is responsible for specific tasks, when meetings will
occur, or what the deadlines are. Unfortunately, the timeline for the competition didn‟t allow
time for all parties to learn all of these preliminary items.
Additionally, conducting more thorough research about the nature of the client‟s
business might have changed the entire experience. Our contact admitted after conclusion of
the campaign that during times of economic difficulty, training is one of the first expenditures
to be cut from corporate budgets. We feel this was a major reason for the lack of conversions
seen by ConceptReserve.
A final recommendation for future AdWords campaigns concerns optimization of the
ConceptReserve website to improve relevance in relation to keywords in the campaign.
Though the website was augmented prior to this campaign, this was simply the addition of
landing pages for each respective campaign. The client is frequently cited in various online
publications; if possible we recommend obtaining rights to publish this content on their
websites in order to develop more pertinent results, not only in paid search engine results, but
also within organic search results.