#pubcon

COMPETITIVE COMPETITIVE PPC PPC

INTELINTEL

@MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

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Director of Paid Search at Point It Digital Marketing

Oversee $35M+ in Yearly Media

Global SEM Program Lead 20 Person Team 30 Languages 60 Markets

2015 US Search Award winner“Young Search Professional”

@MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

Maddie!

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@MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

AuctionAuctionMetricsMetrics

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AUCTION METRICS @MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

Impression ShareHow often received an impression in the auctions eligible for Overlap RateHow often a competitor received an impression when you did

Position Above RateHow often a competitor was shown above you

Top of Page RateHow often a competitor was shown at the top of page

Outranking ShareHow often you outranked a competitor

#pubcon

@MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

5 W’s 5 W’s ofof

Competitive Competitive PPC IntelPPC Intel

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ASK YOURSELF…

WHOWHO

are your

competitors?

WHATWHAT

kind of competitors

are they?

WHEREWHERE

are they competing with you?

WHYWHY

are they competing with you?

WHENWHEN

should you take action?

@MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

#pubcon

WHOWHO

are your competitors?

ASSUMPTION:I know exactly who my online competitors are

Pull Auction Insights data to determine:Who are my relevant competitors in PPC?Do the domains you’re showing with seem irrelevant? Maybe you aren’t bidding on the right keywords then…

Then, take that data & make it actionable!No, not by starting at rows & rows of raw data in Excel

@MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

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WHATWHAT

kind of competitors

are they?

ASSUMPTION:All my competitors are exactly the same

Research domains showing with yours ads to identifyAffiliatesCSEsOTAs

Understand if you’re getting the full storyDo different internal groups point to the same domain?Escalate non-approved trademark users

Search Arbitragers Resellers “True” Competitors

@MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

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WHEREWHERE

are they competing with you?

ASSUMPTION:Non-branded keywords see the most competition

Label top performing keywords, including Branded!Don’t pull your hair out monitoring every single keywordFocus on your “cash cows”

Set up alerts, reports, & automated bidding rulesSet up automated Search Impression Share ReportsUse Google & Bings automated rulesTest Google’s Portfolio Bid Strategy: Target Page Location

@MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

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WHYWHY

are they competing with you?

ASSUMPTION:I should only worry about my ad copy

Review competitor ads regularlyWhat are you competitors’ messaging strategies?What are their CTAs?Are you competitive with them on price, offering, perceived quality?Have they launched Google Expanded Text Ads (ETAs?)

Test your messaging tacticsTest copy to see what ACTUALLY drives results

@MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

#pubcon

WHENWHEN

should you take action?

ASSUMPTION:I’ll worry about my competitors later

Later? You cray cray! Take action nowDon’t spend every waking moment obsessingPriority #1 = driving results for your account

But competitors can rock your boat, and knowing how to steer the ship is the first step in the right direction

Take your ego out of it. Use the 5 W’s

@MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

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@MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

33rdrd Party PartyCompetitive Competitive

ToolsTools

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Research US + INTL markets

PLA vs. Paid Search trends

Domain vs. Domain

Desktop vs. Mobile ad copy

Great for SEO, too!

3rd Party Tools @MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubconNOTE: I was not paid by any of these tools

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Google vs. Bing ad copy

First & last seen dates of ads

Ad URLs with tracking params

3rd Party Tools @MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubconNOTE: I was not paid by any of these tools

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Color-coded ad change grids

Highlighted top performing adsKeyword Venn diagrams

Segments top competitors (paid & organic)

3rd Party Tools @MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubconNOTE: I was not paid by any of these tools

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@MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

Using YourUsing YourOwn Own DataData

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AdWords Keyword PlannerReview relative impression share for new keywords compared to

top market leaders & similar advertisers in your

keyword categories

Keyword Planner Tool@MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

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BrainLabs Auction Insights Script (my favorite!)

Copy/paste script into Google SheetPull segmented data

Campaign raw data Auction insights

Automatically generates graphs that illustrate competitive metric trends alongside your trending CPCs

Auction Insights Data@MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

#pubcon

@MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

BIG TAKEAWAYSBIG TAKEAWAYS•Create a competitive analysis calendar (monthly, quarterly)

•Closely monitor your keyword “cash cows”

•Check SERP to identify competitors’ ad copy strategy

•Leverage 3rd party tools to get glimpse into keyword overlap

•Use your own data – Google & Bing Auction Insights!

•Make smart bidding decisions, not (costly) territorial ones

#pubcon

@MaddieMarketer || @point_it || #pubcon

THANK YOU!THANK YOU!

Twitter:

@MaddieMarketer@MaddieMarketer

Wordstream guest blog post:

bit.ly/ppc-competitor-analysisbit.ly/ppc-competitor-analysisMaddie!