Competitive Intelligence and Research in Paid Search

@ChristiJOlson #SMX #13B
Christi Olson
Director of SEM

About Me….
Director SEM (Crazy)
Runner Family

Move one step beyond the SERP…
TEST TO IMPROVE CONVERSION RATE
Track competitive shifts in
Ad Copy and Landing Pages

Testing is the new norm

Time for a Story…

Things can get complicated quickly

Focus on the CONSUMER
and build a landing page or user experience to target their needs
Understand your competitive set
(and their strategy)

The million dollar question
What is in it for me?
Make me care
Before you make me do additional work…

Small gains in cvr COMPOUND AND ADD UP OVER
TEST CYCLES
+55% (140bps) increase in CVR
+22%
+5%
# of Tests or Test Cycles
Conversion Rate (CVR)

Clicks CTR CPC Ad Spend CVR TXNS Revenue Rev/TXN ROAS
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 2.50% 25 $ 500 $ 20.00 100%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 2.56% 26 $ 520 $ 20.00 104%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 2.63% 26 $ 520 $ 20.00 104%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 2.69% 27 $ 540 $ 20.00 108%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 2.76% 28 $ 560 $ 20.00 112%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 2.83% 28 $ 560 $ 20.00 112%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 2.90% 29 $ 580 $ 20.00 116%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 2.97% 30 $ 600 $ 20.00 120%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 3.05% 30 $ 600 $ 20.00 120%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 3.12% 31 $ 620 $ 20.00 124%
What this looks like in #’s
Clicks CTR CPC Ad Spend CVR TXNS Revenue Rev/TXN ROAS
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 2.50% 25 $ 500 $ 20.00 100%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 2.63% 26 $ 520 $ 20.00 104%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 2.76% 28 $ 560 $ 20.00 112%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 2.89% 29 $ 580 $ 20.00 116%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 3.04% 30 $ 600 $ 20.00 120%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 3.19% 32 $ 640 $ 20.00 128%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 3.35% 34 $ 680 $ 20.00 136%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 3.52% 35 $ 700 $ 20.00 140%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 3.69% 37 $ 740 $ 20.00 148%
1,000 2.5% $0.50 $ 500 3.88% 39 $ 780 $ 20.00 156%
5% Growth 2.5% Growth
Iterative Testing Growth

Improving the Conversion rate is like printing money…

4 Tips for landing page Teardowns and competitive
intelligence
1. Select a few relevant competitors
2. Understand YOUR & their value proposition
3. Decide What elements and at stage of the funnel TO
TEST
4. Develop user focused Scenarios
Go forth and document / test!

If you don’t know where you are going any road will get
you there

Templates for Landing Page Tear Down
Competitor:
Observation:
Status:
(Date Observed)
(Active/inactive)
(Winner/Loser)
THEME
Control:
Screen shots
Test:
Screen shots

Templates for Landing Page Tear Down
observation:
hypothesis:
THEME
Test:
Screen shots
Hand drawn picture
Wire FRAME

Theme: Streamlined quote process
Competitor:
Observation:
Status:
PODs
PODs are testing a streamlined
single page “Get A Quote” form.
Observed on 9/25, Active
Control:
CHECK AVAILABILITY
Variant:

As a consumer I want to be able to get an
accurate quote quickly. I do not want to
go through multiple screens of data entry
to get a quote.
Theme: Streamlined quote process
Observation:
Hypothesis:
Current Process:
By moving from a multiple step quote
process to a single step process we
should decrease funnel drop off by x%.
This would net Y incremental leads per
month.
Test Example:

tIP 1: Size your “Universe”
Start with researching a few core competitors and expand as
bandwidth allows

Use Auction insights
Compare who you think your competitors are to who you are
competing with in the auction
Account Level = All
Selected = Campaigns highlighted

Tip 2: Know your Value Proposition
A B C D
Value Prop Trusted
40K Users Daily
Global
1B Global Users
Easiest/Fastest Most Secure
Trial Period 14 Day 14 Day 5 docs free 30 Day
Price $10/month $14.95/month $14/month $15/month
Landing Page Sign-Up Form Sign-Up Form Sign-Up Form Home Page
Landing Page

Use it to Test variations of design

tip 3: Decide where to Optimize
Location within the Purchase funnel or elements on page?
awareness
consideration
evaluation
Purchase
Repeat!
Homepage
Category Page
Search Results Page
Product Page
Check out

In one test we saw a 5% lift in cvr BY DIRECTING TRAFFIC TO A SEARCH RESULTS PAGE WITH THE
SEARCHED PRODUCT CALLED OUT AT THE TOP OF THE srp
+5%
cvr
Conversion Rate optimization (CRO)
Caveat: This varies by industry
Home Page
Cat page
Search Results
Product page
Check out

Product placement
OFFERS & TARGETED ADS
Which on-page elements to focus on
Header & navigation
ROTATING CAROSOL
Content
Footer & navigation

In Ecommerce its easy to focus on Product and price
This is ugly and clunky when you compare it to the competition

As a price sensitive consumer I
want to be able to see the
discount clearly called out on
the website.
Start simple -Work your way to complex tests
Sole society
ZAPPOS
Observation:
Hypothesis:
By calling out the before and
after sale price with the
discount percentage we should
see a x% increase in conversion.

Don’t get lost in the level of sophistication of tests
Basic Sophisticated

Multi-channel & device optimization
Start by monitoring one channel and one device
One or Many Marketing Channels
One or Many Devices

Don’t become a INSIGHTS island
Encourage others to tear down competitive
sites

Teardown competition
• Engage members outside of your org
• Engineering
• Product
• Marketing
• Finance
• Bring 3-4 examples of competitor lps
• Develop themes
• Have A team competition

Make ‘Test & learn’ part of your dna
Observe
Test
Learn

THANK YOU for your time!
Questions?
Contact me:
christio@pointit.com

Competitive Intelligence and Research in Paid Search

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (6)

Similar to Competitive Intelligence and Research in Paid Search

Similar to Competitive Intelligence and Research in Paid Search (20)

More from Christi Olson

More from Christi Olson (14)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Competitive Intelligence and Research in Paid Search

Editor's Notes