Inside Adwords has announced today that Google rolled out a new feature to its Adwords paid search platform called product extensions.  Currently available to U.S. customers only, product extensions will be a way to enhance your existing ads by showing searchers your product images, titles and prices in a plusbox located beneath the ad.  The products will be most relevant to the searcher’s query and the advertiser is charged on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis.  If a searcher clicks on the ad text, or a product within the product extensions plusbox, the advertiser will be charged for the click.  The advertiser will not be charged if the searcher clicks on the plusbox, but does not click through to the advertiser’s site.  The use of product extensions will enhance a searcher’s experience by increasing the relevance for shopping-related queries by allowing advertisers to include relevant product information directly within the ad.  Even further, the product extensions feature give advertisers the option to select which products they prefer to display for specific search queries in addition to the ability to use automatic targeting.  According to the Inside Adwords blog post, a specific advertiser who implemented product extensions feature during Google’s beta test reported seeing over a 10% increase in click-through-rate (CTR) for their ads.

To get started with product extensions, simply go to the Google Merchant Center and add your Adwords customer ID to your account.

Kurt Kaufer

Google Adwords Product Extensions

As of September 30th, Google now has a new Adwords performance metric called the “View-Through”. The metric is primarily designed for those advertising on Google’s content network, and while the new metric will provide an additional indicator for campaign performance, the terminology currently has a few people confused. Per Google, this “feature provides a measure of the number of online conversions that happened within 30 days after a user saw, but did not click, a display ad on one of the sites on the Google Content Network”. Essentially, view-through can be used to better measure the return on your investment for your display campaigns based on how users are responding to your display ads at a later date. A cookie is generated at the time of the display ad’s impression; the visitor’s behavior is then tracked and can measure if that user shows up on the advertiser’s site through direct search, paid search, organic search, or some other track able form of engagement aside from the display ad itself. Clicks on your search ads will not interfere with view-through conversion tracking.

The measurement can offer a more accurate depiction of your ads influence and how effective your ad is at drawing visitors to your site, even if they don’t click right away. As an example, the user may see the ad, like it, but immediately close their browser bar without clicking on the ad because they were signing off for the day. Then, ten days later, they resume their product search and remember the name of your website or company from the display ad and go to your website directly. Although they did not click on the display ad ten days earlier, your ad did do its job of engaging and pulling the potential customer to your website.

The view-through metric has been added to the new Google Adwords interface as a default. It could be a sign that Google is really looking to get advertisers to engage with their Adsense content network, and that it may be time to re-optimize any content campaigns you already have running.

Kurt Kaufer

Recently, I’ve received more and more questions regarding two important key metrics in the search engine marketing world, bounce rate and exit rate. There seems to be some confusion about the difference between the two, what they actually measure, and how they are valuable tools in a digital marketing campaign. I thought I would use the second installment of my “Back to the Basics” blog to help clarify these mysterious performance indicators.

Bounce rate by definition is the percentage of visitors who land on the website and view only one page (without visiting any other pages) before leaving. For example: Kurt sees a pay-per-click ad which was advertising a wetsuit sale at a local surf shop. He clicks on the ad which takes him to the “sale” landing page. After he reads the page he then leaves the website to go back to Google and start another search. Typical ways a bounce is recorded is by:

• Clicking on an internal link to a page outside of the website
• Closing the browser window or tab
• Simply typing in a new URL
• Clicking the “back” button and leaving the site
• Session-timeout*

*A session-timeout is when a visitor views a specific page, doesn’t look at another page, and leaves the browser idle for a certain amount of time. A commonly used session-timeout threshold is 30 minutes; so once this time limit has been reached a bounce is recorded.

Exit rate by definition is the percentage of visitors who leave the website from a specific page based on the number of visits to that page. The difference between bounce rate and exit rate is that the visitor who exited from this specific landing page may have viewed many other pages on the website before landing on this specific page and then exiting from here. For example: Kurt sees a pay-per-click ad for a local surf shop that just opened. He clicks on the ad which brings him to the home page of the website. He views a few different pages before going to the “sale” page. After he reads the “sale” page he then closes his browser window, hops in his car and speeds to the surf shop.

How to use these metrics:
Both of these performance indicators can create actionable insight, but are used very differently. Bounce rate is important for determining how your landing page might be performing. If you have a ppc ad running and you find that you have a 75% bounce rate for the specific product page which your ad brings the user to, then there is a problem with the landing page. Why would so many users leave a page that was specifically targeted for them? What about the page is preventing them from moving onto other correlated pages within the site? Optimizing the page, multivariate testing, and statistical analysis may help you determine what the root cause and solution may be.

Exit rate is important for determining how a particular page is performing in the sales process. If, as an advertiser, you have mapped out a specific sales (page) funnel, and visitors seem to be exiting from one specific page in that funnel, then you know that that page is problematic and needs to be optimized.
As you can see, both metrics can be powerful tools in identifying specific problems in the user interaction process and help you determine what changes are needed to increase sales and ensure a better return on your ad spend.

Kurt Kaufer

As the cliché goes, a house can’t be built without first laying the foundation.  This post is dedicated to “matching options”, a basic pay-per-click concept that can sometimes get confusing to new PPC advertisers.  The main goal for advertisers is to match their ads with the most qualified search queries.  i.e. The searcher most likely to click on the ad and complete the advertiser’s goal for their website (purchase/sales, leads, newsletter signups, registration, etc…)  Google has four keyword matching options that determine which searches trigger your ads to appear.  The options were built to help the advertiser control who sees their ads, control costs, and ensure the most targeted and qualified traffic is clicking on their advertisement.

1.    Broad Match:  This is the most basic option and happens to be the default when a campaign is set up.  This option is less targeted than the “phrase” and “exact” match options and Google will run your ads on relevant variations of your keywords, even if these terms aren’t in your keywords lists.  Keyword variations include synonyms, singular/plural forms, relevant variants of your keywords, and phrases containing your keywords.

Example:  The keyword you are bidding on is, snowboard jackets.  Ads may appear for searches including snowboard, jackets, buy snowboard jackets, Burton snowboard jackets, winter jackets, snowboard coats, used snowboards.

Pro:  This option allows you to serve your ad to the broadest audience.
Con:  It often generates invalid/unqualified clicks and can increase costs.

2.    Phrase Match:  With this option, Google matches your ad only against keywords that include the phrase you designate specifically in that order.  You can designate this by typing quotation marks around the keyword in the Google interface or by simply selecting the phrase match option.
Example:  The keyword you are bidding on is, “red coat”.  Ads may appear for searches including “cheap red coat”, “buy red coat”, large red coat”.

Pro:  This option allows you to narrow your audience and focus your marketing efforts.
Con:  If one of your goals as an advertiser is generating brand awareness you are eliminating a large base of searchers from ever seeing your ads.  Additionally, if the user happens to misspell a word, or not type it in the exact order, “buy coats red”, then ads would not be served to a segment that really wants your product or service.

3.    Exact Match:  This is the most specific option and your ad would only appear when a user searches for the specific phrase in that order.  You can designate this by typing brackets around the keyword in the Google interface or by simply selecting the exact match option.
Example:  The keyword you are bidding on is, [wetsuit repair].  Ad would only appear for searches including wetsuit repair, in that order, and without any other terms in the query.

Pro:  This option allows you to target your ad spend as much as possible.
Con:  Same as phrase match, but to a higher degree.

4.   Negative Match:  Negative keywords function as a filter to prevent ads showing to unwanted visitors.  This eliminates the amount of untargeted and/or invalid clicks and help control costs.

Example:  The keyword you are bidding on is, snowboard jackets.  If you add the negative keyword ‘cheap’, you ad will not appear for any searches containing the keyword ‘cheap snowboard jackets’.

As you can tell there is a lot to consider when building your keyword list.  In order for your ppc campaigns to be as effective as possible it is a good idea to have a clear understanding of your audience, your marketing and business goals, and your budget well before-hand to ensure you are getting the most effective return on your ad spend.

Kurt Kaufer

If you’re not familiar with the Google Ad Preview Tool than this post is an opportunity for you to add something new to your PPC tool belt.  It seems that more now than ever clients are interested in seeing their ads in action.  They are doing multiple searches daily with the hope of seeing their ads show above their competitors or just to monitor the ad generation that hired guns are doing on their behalf.  What most fail to realize though is that the impressions generated from these “false” searches count towards specific metrics utilized to measure success on both the agency-side and the Google algorithm-side.  Essentially, these searches inflate impressions without the chance for clicks, thus lowering the campaign’s click-thru rate (CTR).  The click thru-rate is a large component of the ads quality score, and the quality score has a direct impact on the bid that is needed to obtain a certain position.  Agencies and consultants need to communicate to their clients that while these searches are alleviating their obsessive need to micro-manage their ad campaigns, they are ultimately affecting the performance of the ads and their wallets.

The benefit of the Google Ad Preview Tool is that clients and account managers now have the ability to check ads without generating impressions and affecting key metrics.  Additionally, this tool was designed to help advertisers see the ads when they’re targeting a location outside of their own location, and target specific languages other than their own computer language setup.

For access to the tool, please click on the image below.

Kurt Kaufer

In an age where a backlash against traditional advertising is fueling the growth of social media as a robust marketing channel, this un-intrusive and user engaging alternative communication medium is experiencing unprecedented growth both in terms of the amount of user generated content splashed onto the web and the tools available for understanding what these conversations mean to your brand.  As marketers become hyper-sensitive to the buying public’s increasing use of instinctive advertising defense mechanisms (such as selection and filtering), they are simultaneously being bombarded with an assortment of new tools and services to combat this messaging avoidance.  Staying on top of these new tools as they roll out is becoming a full time job upon itself, but ultimately the role of the marketer is to effectively integrate these tools in a way that not only connects with their target audience, but measures how this interaction impacts the business.

The earliest forms of social media were built on the premise of “members” exchanging information with other “members” across a wide range of topics.  Members create the content, the conversation, and have control over the conveyance and distribution of information.  In keeping with that tradition, this blog post, which presents five tools for social media measurement, is in itself a fundamental platform representing the principles of interactive social information flow.  I am neither trying to endorse nor detract from the below tools, and I am simply using this forum as a springboard for conversation, awareness, and information sharing.

With that said, the tools listed below are useful platforms for measuring brand reputation, tracking user trends, understanding influence, and analyzing customer sentiment.  As a marketer, the ability to organize and understand the massive amount of data available is paramount in not only being able to engage with your target customer base, but in converting them into loyal advocates for your brand.  The main goal is to create actionable insight from your conversation audit, thus advancing the brand and ultimately the business.  Below are five tools that help you get one step closer to realizing qualitative bliss.

Kurt Kaufer

QR stands for “quick response” and the QR code is a cube shaped 2-dimensional matrix code that permits users to obtain data at a high speed by simply using the scanner (camera) located on their mobile phone. Originally developed by the Japanese corporation, Denso-Wave in 1994, the codes were initially used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing. As the years have progressed, the genesis of this technology has enabled it to be used in a much broader context, including mobile marketing. A QR code is free and easy to generate, and with the code’s ability to store much more information than a traditional barcodes, a user now has the ability to connect with a brand by viewing highly targeted website URLs, text and sms messages, and storing personalized B2C information all from their mobile phone.

When a QR code is scanned, information from the code is transferred to the mobile device where it is processed by specialized software located on the phone. This convenience oriented application enables marketers to better narrowcast audiences by directing users to specific website landing pages, advertisements, coupons, and calls to action while keeping the advertiser’s brand top of mind through the user’s ability to store this information in their phone. Certain brands and industries have already recognized QR Codes as a new communication channel in their quest to reach an expanding generation of tech-savvy consumers and have been using these codes in numerous ways to help achieve their marketing and branding initiatives. From using them to build their social communities, to placing the codes on outdoor advertisements, for-sale signs, print advertisements, business cards, fast food wrappers, convention name badges, in-store advertisements, dvd cases, and even wine bottles, these codes are furthering the personalization aspect of mobile marketing and helping brands win the war of advertising resistance by the consumer.

Although QR codes have yet to be widely adopted in the United States, it is commonplace in certain countries within Europe and in Japan. The Japanese are continuing to innovate around their original technology by searching for ways ways to strategically reach customers who they say are increasingly suffering from information overload. The advent of change is upon us and as QR codes become more mainstream in the U.S., marketers and advertisers will increasingly rely upon the ease and accessibility of this pull marketing technology to connect with audiences in a more efficient and cost effective way. The innovation and evolution of this intelligent advertising platform will create a mobile revolution where phones will eventually become a consumer’s main information source. With over 3 billion mobile phones worldwide today, the QR code will be a powerful mechanism in providing information gratification for a society that increasingly demands it.

Kurt Kaufer