SES San Jose Ad Testing Research & Findings

Ad Testing: Research & Findings

What are the Keys to Successful Testing?

Design your test around a single question

Have a large differentiation b/w tested elements

Account for changes in temporal behavior

Collect enough data to reduce margin of error

Segment results to provide added insight

Act on the results!

Don’t Guess! - Ads for “loan” loan Great Rates. On Time Closing No lender fees. Bad Credit OK www.loans.brand.com brand loans apply now Low Rates. Approval in Minutes Personal Service. Apply Online Now! www.brand.com A B C low rate loans Low Rates. Approval in Minutes No lender fees. Bad Credit OK www.loans.brand.com

Don’t Guess! - loan adgroup loan Great Rates. On Time Closing No lender fees. Bad Credit OK www.loans.brand.com brand loans apply now Low Rates. Approval in Minutes Personal Service. Apply Online Now! www.brand.com A B C low rate loans Low Rates. Approval in Minutes No lender fees. Bad Credit OK www.loans.brand.com 3.79% Conversion 2.32% Conversion 0.95% Conversion

Impression

Interest

Expectation

Persuasion

Ads Persuade!

Ads (the meat of the relevance sandwich)

Intention Enticement Goal Fulfillment

Test Ads by Match Type!

Test 1: Is Running Ads on Brand Queries a Waste of Money? Example SERP w/o Ad Example SERP w/ Ad

Test Design

1 week ads on 1 week off

No issues of seasonality or promotion

30 Branded Keywords

1 version of ad

Did the Ads Drive Traffic?

Google -1.3%

Yahoo -8.7%

Live -7.3%

NO

Did the Ads Increase Conversion Rate?

Google +17.9%

Yahoo +32.1%

Live +11.7%

YES

Did the Ads Increase RPV?

Google +15.4%

Yahoo +47.0%

Live +27.5%

YES

New Questions

Marketing to Intent?

Power of Persuasion?

Power of Brand in Search?

Test 2: What is the Best Ad to Increase Conversion? Ad Testing Multivariate Testing Works Increase Conversion Rates ottodigital.com/ads Element 1 Element 2 Element 3 Element 4 4x3 L9 Orthogonal Array 4 Elements 3 Variations

Test Design

9 Ads Created and Tagged w/ URL Parameter

Landing and Thank You Page Tagged

Ad Serving Optimization Turned OFF

What does an L9 Array Really Look Like? Recipe (9) Title (3) D1 (3) D2 (3) URL (3) A - Control {keyword} Search {AdGroup} suppliers Compare Products Today www.brand.com B {keyword} Find {keyword} suppliers Search Thousands of Products www.brand.com/{keyword} C {keyword} Find Parts fast at (brand) {keyword} catalog search www.brand.com/catalogs D {keyword} suppliers Search {AdGroup} suppliers Compare Products Today www.brand.com/catalogs E {keyword} suppliers Find {keyword} suppliers Search Thousands of Products www.brand.com F {keyword} suppliers Find Parts fast at (brand) {keyword} catalog search www.brand.com/{keyword} G {keyword} catalog Search {AdGroup} suppliers Compare Products Today www.brand.com/{keyword} H {keyword} catalog Find {keyword} suppliers Search Thousands of Products www.brand.com/catalogs I {keyword} catalog Find Parts fast at (brand) {keyword} catalog search www.brand.com

What Were the Results? Recipe Visitors Conversion Lift A - Control 11.80% 5.88% --- B 14.30% 4.29% -27.05% C 14.04% 6.08% 3.42% D 9.34% 2.57% -56.29% E 13.00% 6.16% 4.72% F 9.42% 5.38% -8.50% G 10.06% 5.04% -14.32% H 10.41% 5.13% -12.82% I 7.63% 8.04% 36.71%

What is the breakdown?

Other Ads the Used Winning Title

-14%

-12%

Other Ads the Used Winning D1

+3.42%

-8.5%

Other Ads the Used Winning URL

Control

+4.72%

www.brand.com Find Parts fast at (brand) {keyword} catalog

What Ad Elements Influenced Conversion? Element Winning Alternative Influence on Conversion Title {keyword} suppliers 13.54% D1 Find {keyword} suppliers 53.53% D2 Search Thousands of Products 23.56% URL www.brand.com/{keyword} 9.37%

What’s Better? {keyword} catalog Find parts fast at (brand) {keyword} catalog search www.brand.com {keyword} suppliers Find {keyword} suppliers Search Thousands of Products www.brand.com/{keyword} Winning Recipe Best Predicted Best Predicted +52% Lift in Conversion Rate

Jonathan Mendez, Chief Strategy Officer My Blog: