Big profits with little budgets state of search

1| @State_of_Search @navahf @WordStream nhopkins@wordStream.com
Little Budgets with Big Profits
Navah Hopkins

2| @State_of_Search @navahf @WordStream
Agenda
• Budgets By Network
• How to Make the Most of Your Budget
• Signals of Growth/Case Studies
• Work across the entire WordStream book of
business
• Started working in Digital Marketing in 2008
• I call my husband, my lovely…we’re very nerdy
A Little About Me

| @State_of_Search @navahf @WordStream 3
Ryan Reynolds (aka Deadpool) was asked one of the
most important questions: which ad network is
better?

Let’s play the Ad Network
Dating Game!

• Really smart, rich, and powerful.
They’re constantly changing their
look to set trends.
• Sometimes over fixates on the little
things, but heart is in the right
place.
• Only commits to power players like
them, but is willing to date anyone.
Meet Alpha Google Ads

• Had a bad boy past that he still gets
in trouble for, despite being a
changed man.
• Tries to create value for you
through experimental projects.
• Cares about getting to know you,
and tries to show he can relate to
your interests.
Meet Dreamy Display

• Often overlooked, but has looks
and smarts in their own right.
• Is a little nerdy and prefers a cheap
date of gaming over a night on the
town.
• Loves art and appreciates those
who draw for them.
Meet Bashful Bing

• Lives on his phone and loves connecting
people. He somehow manages to be the
life of the party and super chill at the
same time.
• Looking for an adventure buddy, and will
get bored if the relationship turns
predictable.
• Sometimes gets in trouble for their
openness, and doesn’t always get taken
seriously despite being quietly loaded.
Meet Fun Facebook

In the Old Days, Advertising was a Monogamous
Relationship

It was Usually With Google Ads

This Worked for a While, but Then Sticker
Shock Set in for All Those Expensive
Cocktails (clicks)

On Average, Adwords Requires at Least $750 Ad
Spend Per Month.

Daily Budgets Needed For AT LEAST One Lead
Based on 2018 Average CPC
Monthly
budget will be
30.4 X daily
budget

Display Auction Prices are More Reasonable

Bing Requires at Least $450

Facebook can get by on $250 (highly dependent on
initiative)

No One Network Should Get All Your Budget – Let’s
Shed the Confines of Budget Monogamy!

18| @State_of_Search @navahf @WordStream nhopkins@wordstream.com
Making Your Budget
Work on Google Ads

Let’s get to know each other

How Much Do You Make When A Prospect Becomes a
Customer?

Are All Parts of Your Business Equal, or Should We Be
Playing Favorites?

Can You Focus Your Advertising Efforts into Being a Big
Fish in a Little Pond?

Depending On Your Answers, You Will Need to Use
Some Filters

Pick the Right Time to Make Your Move
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Conversions
Conversions by Day Of Week
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Saturday
CPA $9.29

Location Can Make or Break the Mood

Keyword Choices Dictate How Far Your Budget Can Go
Based on $369
spend between
October 25th and
November 23rd
2017

Broad Keywords Can Drag Your Budget into
Unintended Auctions
162%
More
Than
Average

In Many Cases, Controlling for Auction Price is Enough
to include Google Ads in Initial Touch Plans

Sometimes the Average CPC is Just Too High…

Meet the Yentas of Online Advertising: Remarketing
Lists for Search Ads & Customer Match

• Bid more/less aggressively on
certain users.
• Target exclusively those users so ad
copy can be the perfect match.
• Begin weighting different behaviors
and interactions with your brand.
Using RLSA/Customer
Match You Can:

The Average User Takes 3.58* Exposures to Your Brand
to Act. Your Budget Might Need Other Networks to
Make the Introduction
*Based on 5000 accounts running AdWords and Display

Display: The Audience
Builder

One of the Most Costly Mistakes Advertisers Make is
Combining Search & Display in the Same Campaign

Display Average CPC’s Are Cheaper – Google Could Be
Fooled into Funneling More Budget into Display Than
Search
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
Display Search
November 2017
Clicks Conversions Average cpc
10%
conversion
rate vs 4%
conversion
rate

Honor Display’s Strategic Autonomy

Many Think Display is Just for Remarketing

Ignoring the Inexpensive Blitzing Power of Display

Get Access to Youtube Without Video Ads

How Many Audience Targets Do You See?

• Remarketing
• Affinity
• In-Market
• Keyword targets

Display Can Bring Users Your Branded and
Remarketing Search Campaigns are Poised to Pick-up
$503
Budget
168,550
Impressions
701
Clicks
*Average monthly budget, impressions and clicks
across 4000 accounts (no budget over $50 and no
budget under $1)

• Decide if mobile is worth the risk of
app fingers
• Check content for brand integrity
• Audit placements for cost
effectiveness
• Have remarketing tag placed
BEFORE starting display campaign.
Friends Don’t Let Friends
Party With Display Without
A Game Plan.

How to Make the Most
of Your Bing Budget

Bing Works Because a Lot of the Search Rules of
Engagement are the Same

It Can be As Easy as Hitting the Import Button

• Ad group level location and
schedules
• No “unknown” demographics (just
can’t completely exclude).
• Target specific search partner sites.
Budget-Saving Bing Unique
Traits

• Not all bidding strategies carry over
– make sure you’re bidding to rank!
• Bing serves ads in the time of the
user – audit your schedule!
• Extensions can lead to conversions
– make sure they’re set up
correctly!
What to Check For:

It’s Much Easier to Own 90%+ Impression Share on
Bing Than AdWords

Facebook: Where the
Rules Don’t Matter and
Everyone Gets to Play

Facebook Takes Us into Uncharted Structure Territory
– the Ad Set, Not the Campaign Holds Strategic
Control

Given that Facebook
Charges in CPM – the Most
Strategic Energy Should be
Focused on the Copy (Don’t
Reuse Your Display Ads)

Too Broad

If You’re Working With
$500 or Less, Use At Least
One Prebuilt Audience

The key is Getting Your
Message in Front of the
Right User (and Not
Lumping Your Users
Together)

Same Copy: Drastically
Different Results!
• 19 conversions vs 0
• 2,144 impressions vs. 3,782
• 76 clicks vs 179

Always Include at Least One Location Target (Ideally
More Focused Than a Whole Country)

Average CPC is a Good Indicator if Your Copy is
Engaging or Getting Friendzoned

Story Ads Are Here!

• 82% of branded audiences would
rather watch a live video than a
social share.
• Average watch time is 3.5 minutes.
• Companies using video see 41%
more search traffic than those who
don’t.
Facebook Live is Accessible
and Profitable:
Livestream.com

Getting Your Lovelies to
Play together

We’ve Explored Each Network’s Budget Optimization Powers

But as Ryan said, “we want all the scoops...with pine
nuts on top!”

By running campaigns on cheaper networks, you can
charm your way into Google:

Sync in Audience segments for analytics to capture cross
network audiences

You can either overcome the reason your
organic traffic bounced, or outright
exclude them (since they’re coming to
you anyway)

In-Market Audiences Now Available on Search, Display, and
Bing
*On Google Ads
and Bing

Case Studies

Client Story: The Facility

• Focused optimization efforts on
prime prospects, and layered in
demographic targeting/bid
adjustments.
• Launched Facebook lead campaign,
which allowed for branding and
acquisition
• Supplemented winning search
campaign with Bing
Main Action Items:

The Facility
Benchmark (5/25/17)
• Spend: $1,885 (AdWords)
• Impressions: 26,937
• Clicks: 473
• Average CPC: $3.99
• Conversion Rate: 3.59%
• CPA: $110.88
Post Optimizations (11/25/17)
• Spend: $1,400 (AdWords/Bing/Facebook)
• Clicks: 356
• Conversion Rate: 11%
• CPA: $46.82

We’re still growing!

Client Story: A & A Machinery

• Segmented giant campaign into
micro campaigns focused on
specific locations.
• We audited each location for how
users searched and paused
variations driving up the spend.
• Imported successful campaign into
Bing (allowing for further location
targeting).
• Ran Facebook look a like campaigns
on services that were too expensive
to achieve on search.
Main Action Items:

A & A Machinery
Benchmark (1/13/16)
• Spend: $2,726.42 (AdWords)
• Clicks: 435
• CPA: $389.49
Post Optimizations (11/1/17)
• Spend: 357.78 (AdWords/Bing)
• Clicks: 74
• CPA: $14.91

Still growing!

But Navah, They Eventually Grew Their Spend Past
$1000…

Of Course They Did – Once You Get the Machine
Working, Putting More Money in Means More
Leads/Sales

The Goal of Most Businesses is to Grow Scalably

Let’s Go on a Date With
Profit!

Action Item #1: Audit All Networks for Auction Prices
That Could Be Running Away With Your Budget.

Action Item #2: Build in Remarketing Lists So Your Ad
Spend Can Empower Itself Rather Than Live in a
Vacuum

Action Item #3: Audit Your Copy For Each Stage of the
Buying Cycle

Action Item #4: Conduct an Honest Audit of Your
Business’s Profit Centers, Lead Values, and Growth
Trajectories

Action Item #5: Create Criteria for Campaigns That
Account for Growth – and Don’t Be Afraid to Take Your
Relationship With Your Budget To the Next Level!

Big profits with little budgets state of search

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Big profits with little budgets state of search

Similar to Big profits with little budgets state of search (20)

More from Navah Hopkins

More from Navah Hopkins (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Big profits with little budgets state of search