Harlan T. Beverly explains how to do Adwords Marketing and Facebook Marketing. Learn the details about how to set Bids, CPA, CPM, CPC, and more. See how to choose the right words to target, and how to write good ad copy. A/B Testing and Multivariate testing is also explained as it pertains to ads.
2. About Harlan Beverly
Harlan Tytus Beverly
Founder of Karmaback, Inc.
Founder of Bigfoot Networks
MBA from UT 2004
BSEE from ONU 1999
Hardcore Gamer
Programmer (Networking)
Chip Designer/Architect
•Currently: VP Marketing & Business
Development for Creeris Ventures
(small seed investor)
•Founder/CEO Karmaback, Inc. A
social Network Marketing company.
•Founder/CEO Bigfoot Networks &
Designer “Killer NIC.” Raised over
$13MM in funding.
• Filed over 30 patents, including 16
about Online Game Design.
• Designed “World's first” 10-Gig
Ethernet Adapter at Intel.
3. You must make it REALLY easy to “say yes or no.”
Clean, simple offering… with 1 Call-to-action: Buy Now
You must give confidence to the buyer that you will deliver..
And you will not fraud them.
Paypal, Visa logos, SSL sites, etc.
FEWEST CLICKS POSSIBLE
BUILD an amazing Landing Page
(see: The Conversion Scientist)
Use Internet Marketing to “pre-qualify” web traffic.
4. Lots of Web Traffic is NOT the goal… the goal is to get “Qualified” web traffic:
Visitors that have the problem you solve
Visitors that are in a “buying mood”
Visitors that are “ready to click” BUY NOW
How?
Targeted Advertising (google/facebook)… targeting people who are your Target Market
who are:
Searching for what you solve.
Like competing products.
Fit a customer profile.
Landing Page:
Focus on building great landing pages for each product.
A/B test them if you can… so you will always get the best results.
A/B test ads too… A/B test everything if you can.
Analytics.
Did I mention A/B testing… you MUST know how your site performs to know what is
broken.
Enable Google Analytics, and use any tools you can to measure “sales conversions”
See “the funnel” (next slide)
5. Direct or Indirect sales, you will always have customers at
various stages. MEASURE AND TRACK stages of prospects
Try to keep in mind that customers have a “buying process”
of their own... Learn it! Ex: who has to approve?
6. In order to “do” Adwords right, there is some core concepts that will be a big
help.
CPA = Cost Per Action (example=sale), CPC=Cost Per Click (a site visitor)
1. If you don’t know how to use the Adwords interface, start here first:
http://support.google.com/adwords/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=28921&rd=1
2. Next, read the next few slides for a primer to get you started… or if you want
to go deep, and maybe even get GOOGLE CERTFIED, start here:
http://www.google.com/adwords/professionals/
http://www.lynda.com/Google-AdWords-tutorials/Essential-Training/73287-
2.html
https://support.google.com/adwords/certification/bin/static.py?hl=en&guide=
23611&page=guide.cs
3. Then, read the rest of this presentation to get some customized tips and data
from Harlan’s experience running dozens of campaigns for B2B and B2C
businesses!
1. Read on.
7. 1. MOST IMPORTANTLY: set up conversion metrics, before you start!
WHY? So that you can tell if the campaign is “working” (CPA) or just
sending you lots of random traffic. (CPC)
For web-based products this is easy…
use the Google Adwords “drop-down” for (Tools and Analysis->Conversions)
Make various conversion metrics that you want to measure (usually 1 is best: sell,
signup, etc.).
Install the Java Snippet on your website on the “Checkout complete” page or on
the “Singup success” page, etc.
Advanced note: there are ways to do this “ON_CLICK” of a button, but it is not as
reliable and requires “Javascript” coding.
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2082129/how-to-track-a-google-adwords-conversion-onclick
For non-web-based products, this is harder…
Try to find a “best proxy” for a conversion and track that (example: clicked to a
reseller website from my website)
Use some other metric to cross-reference.. (example: get a Google Voice phone
number and track incoming calls as a proxy for conversions… not ideal as it
doesn’t say which ads led to the sale, but as good as it gets probably).
8. 2. Setup and install Google Analytics.
This step is essential! It will allow you do answer Almost
ALL the questions that will come up later in your
campaign.
EXAMPLE: what gender of users are my ads bringing?
EXAMPLE2: what % of people are leaving on page 2 of
my experience? (why are people leaving and not
buying?)
Etc.
ITS SO EASY TO INSTALL:
http://www.google.com/analytics/
9. 3. Design some “landing pages” that really do a fast & good
job at “converting the user on 1 small page”.
If you must use several pages, that is fine, just realize each
page will see fewer and fewer conversions..
FOR GOOGLE ADWORDS only the final page (the
sale/signup/etc.) is the actual conversion.
Intermediate pages are just chances for someone to leave!
4. Write ADS that match the landing pages.
ADS are defined as either “Text” or “Graphic”:
TEXT ADS:
Your ads MUST match the spirit of the landing pages!!! (this is
vital).
Words used IN THE ADS must be found/present on the landing
pages as well. (html <h1> words more important than <h2>, down
to <p> words)
10. Text Ad Template:
Text Ad Suggestions/Tips
In addition to “matching the landing page” your text ads should also
“match the KEYWORDS” used in the Google Keyword group. (See
later slide for more on this).
Some Best Practices are also:
Make the title a “question” or a “bold statement” + a call to action to
grab attention: [Need a lawyer? Click here.] or [Get TRUE law help.
Get started.]
In the body, be sure to “QUALIFY” the clickers…
Example: Texas Residents, get your …. (qualifies Texas only)
In the body, don’t over-explain the offering, instead use keywords and
words found on the landing page (KEEP IT SIMPLE!)
MORE TIPS:
http://support.google.com/adwords/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=170
4392&topic=1713901&ctx=topic&path=1713898-1710534
11. For Graphic Ads, you MUST make the ad look good at the
desired size!
http://support.google.com/adsense/bin/answer.py?hl=en&ans
wer=9733
The BEST performing formats are usually LEADERBOARD,
SQUARE, and SMALL SQUARE.
Don’t feel like you have to make an ad in EVERY format, just
stick with these (or ones that are easy to make from this).
Add a CLEAR call-to-action “button” onto your graphical ad.
(Buy Now) (Sign Up)… makes the ad feel more action oriented.
Please, use colors and images that relate to your product. (your
Graphical ad should ALSO try to pre-qualify prospects.).
REMEMBER CPA is the goal, not CPC!!!!
Consider “flash”.. (it doesn’t cost more and WILL be more
effective)…. Doesn’t have to be custom… Google will help
build it for you!:
https://adwords.google.com/cm/CampaignMgmt#r.ONLINE_dab_gall
ery-suggest.create
More tips here:
http://support.google.com/adwords/bin/answer.py?hl=
en&answer=1722134
12. This section is mostly “my preference” for staying
organized… but the part on keywords is vital.
The hard part of running Adwords campaigns is NOT
the ads… it’s “getting your money’s worth”.
You will get clicks!... But will you get sales???
The best way to succeed is TO MEASURE a lot… and
tweak… to do this you HAVE to stay organized.
The following slide will explain “A good way” to stay
organized and get the most out of your MONEY!
NOTE: all terms used in the next slide are “Google
Adwords Terms” and should have NO OTHER
MEANING!
13. NOTE: all terms used on this slide are “Google Adwords Terms”
and should have NO OTHER MEANING!
Example: just because Google says the word “Campaign” does not mean
that is your actual campaign… it’s just their word for a top-level thing….
1. Organize Google Campaigns as follows:
Each product should have 3 campaigns setup for it:
[PRODUCT_NAME] Text Primary
[PRODUCT_NAME] Graphical Primary
[PRODUCT_NAME] Test
This one will have both text and graphics on it… for testing
Why? Because you can only control “ad spend” at the
campaign level. This way, we can allocate our budget
primarily to text or graphic (whichever is working best on
CPA basis) and always have a small budget to TEST new
ideas/ads.
14. NOTE: all terms used on this slide are “Google Adwords Terms” and
should have NO OTHER MEANING!
Example: just because Google says the word “Ad Group” does not mean that is your
actual ads… it’s just their word for a container of stuff….
2. Organize Ad Groups for each Campaign as follows:
Each Ad Group is a “collection of ads that relate to the SAME landing page” and
use the SAME words in the text or graphic.
Why? Because your Ads must match your Google’s Keywords AND your landing
page! This is the best place to ensure that!!
Time to add Keywords!!!
1. This is the real meat of Google Adwords. (should be called Google Keywords
even).
2. THINK THIS: What are people searching for that my ADs I created for each Ad
Group will answer their question/satisfy their need.
3. Now, add Keywords to the Ad Group; being as specific as possible!
1. IDEALLY, use multiple words in a phrase group using “” quotes around the phrase.
1. Example: “get more fans on facebook”
2. Why? Because the MORE specific, the cheaper your CPC and CPA will be… AND the more precisely
you will be able to satisfy the SEARCHERS NEEDS.
3. THINK: My ad should be a “possible choice” for a searchers needs!
15. Your ads are now set up… but Keywords are worth a few more
sentences…
1. In your “[PRODUCT] Test” campaign, you can use more broad
keywords (without quotes even) to see what people are actually
searching for that is getting them to your pages.
2. Google Analytics will also show you how people are “organically”
finding your pages or what FULL search term they are using to find
you.
3. There is a great tool called “Keyword Tool” that will help you
determine search volumes of keywords…
1. You want terms with “decent keyword results” (like 1,000-5,000), but
not too many (like 1,500,000 per month)
2. Click Tools and Analysis -> Keyword Tool
4. Google will make Keyword recommendations.. Review them all!
(worth it sometimes!)
16. At this point you may wonder, what about “bidding”!!!
My advice is simple: use CPC bidding for Google Adwords.
CPM and CPA are just not working right on Google.
Start at $1 USD CPC bid on each Keyword.
(you can go higher on your test ads to start if you want).
Then, increase it ONLY if the ad is working on CPA basis. (e.g. is it converting!)
IF… your ads are NOT getting shown due to low search volume…
That’s okay. Just add more variations of your keyword phrases… you’ll find better/more
terms. DO NOT get too broad… or you will waste your $$. (it’s a balancing act)
IF… your ads are NOT on 1st page (or are ranked 5 or lower)…
YOUR Keyword is probably too broad. Try making a longer phrase.
IF… you quality score for your keyword is low.
FIX your landing page! Don’t give up on the ad… unless it is just way off base… instead:
add some text below the fold that talks to your keyword.
OR better yet, build a NEW landing page… and really focus better on that keyword.
When to raise CPC bid above $1?
ONLY if the CPA is worth it to “scale up and get more volume”.
EXAMPLE: if your CPA is working out to $10/Sale. But you allocated $20/sale for marketing
spend… Go ahead and raise your CPC bid to $2 !!!
(hopefully all things being equal you will get more clicks, at a higher price but be slightly below
$20/sale!)
17. Your campaigns are now up…
EVERY DAY, you should log in and review the previous day’s campaign
performance.
1. Is my CPA good?
1. if not analyze why..
2. And then FIX landing pages (usually the issue)
3. Or trim ads or keywords that are getting clicks but not getting sales.
4. If so, SCALE it up!
2. Any new keywords to test? (put them in adgroups on the test campaign)
3. Any Bids to adjust?
4. Any Quality Scores need attention?
5. IS my budget getting fully spent?
1. If not add more keyword phrases… don’t just raise bids!
6. Make a few more ads (try them out in test first if they are really different, or
else feel free to try ‘tweaks’ to words. (Google Adwords tests each ad
automatically, as if you had a multi-variate campaign going all the time!)
Remember that setup of Google Analytics we did before? EVERY DAY log in
and see where in your flows people are leaving and make some fixes.
Consider A/B testing to help test your assumption.