larry kim's presentation at clickz live san francisco august 2014

August 11–14, 2014

#CZLSF | @ClickZLive

The Global Conference Series Designed by Digital Marketers, for Digital Marketers

PPC Peak Performance: The Definitive AdWords Audit FrameworkLarry KimWordStream, Inc.Founder & CTO

@larrykim

August 11–14, 2014 | #CZLSF | @ClickZLive

Win This $25 Amazon Gift Card!

• Include the hashtag #CZLSF and me (@larrykim) in your tweets

• Prizes Awarded For Either …–Best Tip!–Funniest Tweet!

@larrykim


• Even the “Winner” is a Loser!Forest vs. Trees

@larrykim


Today’s Agenda: PPC Audits• What’s a Good…

– Quality Score?– Click Through Rate?– Conversion Rate?– Cost Per Conversion?

• … and how to vastly improve on all of these metrics!

@larrykim


About Me• Founder of WordStream• Commander of the Quality

Score Rebellion• Had Kid 3 Months Ago

#ppckid

@larrykim


Warning: Lots of Data Ahead!

@larrykim


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What’s a Good Quality Score

(and Why Should You Care?)

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Avg. Quality Scores Are Falling

• Previously 7/10 was Average. Now 5/10.

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Quality Score Impacts Ad Position

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Quality Score Impacts Impression Share

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Quality Score Matters 2x More on Mobile

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Cost Per Conversion Greatly Impacted by QS

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So.. Get a High Quality Score (Duh)

How is Quality Score Calculated?!

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What’s a Good CTR?

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QS is Your CTR vs. Expected CTR

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But High QS Not Possible In My Industry!

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Real Estate Quality Scores

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Ecommerce Industry Quality Scores

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Finance Industry Quality Scores

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Crazy Hack To Raise Quality Scores

• Add 10% Branded Terms to Raise Account Average Quality Scores

• Delete the Bottom Third of Your PPC Account

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Example Crap Account

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Example Awesome Account

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Key Finding #1: They’re Downplaying QS

Quality Score Is a Helpful Diagnostic Tool, Not a Key Performance Indicator • Why: Your Quality Score is like a warning

light in a car’s engine that shows how healthy your ads and keywords are. It’s not meant to be detailed metric that should be the focus of account management

-- Source: bit.ly/qs-whitepaper

@larrykim


But Wait – What About This?!“QS is important in order for your ads to be successful … QS plays a key role in determining your ad's position and how much you'll pay for a click. In general, the more relevant your ad, the higher your QS – and the higher your QS, the better your position and the less you will have to pay for a click...Being successful with AdWords means getting your products or services in front of the people who are most likely to become your customers and a high Quality Score can help make that happen.”-- Source: What is AdWords Quality Score and Why Does It Matter?" from Google (2011)

@larrykim


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Remember: QS Graded on a Curve

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Key Finding #2 : They Were

Withholding Info

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“Low CTR” = Losing PPC Strategy

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Quick Recap

• Below Avg. CTR = Low QS

• Low CTR ads:

• Have Lower Ad Positions (Fewer Clicks)

• Often don’t even get displayed

• Get penalized w/ up to 400% higher CPCs

• Have up to 64% higher cost per conversion

@larrykim


The High CTR Game for AdWords

• Be Very Picky. Bid on Only the Best Keywords and Get HIGH CTRs.

• Delete Junk Keywords (Bottom Third of your Account)

• Tip: Roll Up Quality Scores to the AdGroup, Campaign or Account Level by using Impression weighted averages

What’s a Good Click Through Rate(And How to RaiseYour CTR by 6x)

@larrykim


Which Ad Wins?

Ad A

- 32,423 Impressions- 453 clicks (1.4% CTR)- Average Position: 2.8

Ad B

- 36,223 Impressions- 760 clicks (2.1% CTR)- Average Position: 3.0

@larrykim


Trick Question! They Both Suck

• Neither ad is worth declaring a “Winner”.

• Not even the 2.1% CTR in the 3.0 Avg. Position.

• Why??

What’s a Good CTR These Days?

(You’d be surprised)

@larrykim


Google Expects More Than Ever

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Lots of Variance!

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Under-Performing vs. Unicorns

Percentile Vs. Expected CTR

Name

Bottom 50% Below Expected CTR

Under-Performing Advertisers

Top 15% 2X Higher Awesome Advertisers

Top 5% 3x Higher Super Awesome Advertisers

Top 1% 6x Higher!! Unicorns!!!

@larrykim


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Unicorns?! (6x Avg. CTR!)

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Ad Text Testing

• Same Story – 20% of Ads Generate 92% of Spend• 20% of Ads Generated 65% of Impressions• But CPA, CTR, and Conversion Rates vary

@larrykim, @perrymarshall

Hunting Unicorns

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1. Keywords With High Commercial Intent

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2. Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI)

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2. DKI Doesn’t Produce As Many Unicorns

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3. Ad Extensions Impact on Quality Scores

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3. Ad Extensions Impact on Click Through Rate

How To Write “Unicorn” Ads

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Most Ads Suck.

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Ads That Trigger Emotional Response

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Versus…

You Need To Test 100 Ads To Find 1

Unicorn.

@larrykim


Relative AbundanceName Percentile Relative

AbundanceVs. Expected CTR

Awesome Ads

Top 15% 1:6.7 2X Higher

Super Awesome Ads

Top 5% 1:20 3x Higher

Unicorns Top 1% 1:100 6x Higher!!

@larrykim


You’re Testing Fewer Ads Than You Think

It’s Not as Hard As You Think

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The Bar is Very Low

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5% of Ads Take 85% of Impressions

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What’s a GoodConversion Rate? (And How to Improve Yours!)

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Average Conversion Rates

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Top 10% of Landing Pages Have 3-5x Higher Conversion Rates

Distribution Point

All accounts

Ecommerce Legal B2B Finance

Median Conversion Rate

2.35% 1.84% 2.07% 2.23% 5.01%

Top 25% Conversion Rate

5.31% 3.71% 4.12% 4.31% 11.19%

Top 10% Conversion Rate

11.45% 6.25% 6.46% 11.70% 24.48%

@larrykim


Landing Page Unicorns?! (+3x Avg. Conversion Rate!)

@larrykim


The Great Landing Page Optimization Myth

• We Changed the: – Font Type– Spacing– Button Color– Image– Etc.

• We got a 5% Increase in Conversions!!*

@larrykim


Typical Conversion Rate Optimization Test

• PTD- Premature Testing Dilemma (aka “Optimizatitis”)• The Early Lead Disappears!• We want to believe our hard work paid off but we are often deluding

ourselves…

@larrykim


Conventional Landing Page Optimization is Over-Rated

• Small Changes Result In Small Changes• % Change You Think You Got is Probably

Just Noise

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Re-Arranging Deck Chairs on the Titanic

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Aim for 3-5x Increases Not 3-5%

What Do Landing Page Unicorns

Look Like?

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1. Change Your Offer

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The New Offer

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How To Know If Your Offer Stinks

• 2% Conversion Rate or Less• Ask Your Prospects

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2. Radically Change The Flow

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New Registration Flow

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Mobile Changes The Flow

OMG a Call Button!!

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Call Extensions Radically Change Flow

Calls to Businesses worth on Average 3x More Than Clicks to Websites!!

4. Captured Lead

2. Calls Business

2. Clicks On Ad

Desktop Search Conversion Funnel

3% Avg. Conversion Rate

Mobile Conversion Funnel

1. Sees Ad 1. Sees Ad

3. Visits Landing Page3. Lead Captured!!

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Try Eliminating Your Landing Pages

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Let Users Choose a Path

You Need To Try Out 10 Landing Pages To Find 1

Unicorn

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This is the Same Landing Page

It’s Not as Hard As You Might Think

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10% of Landing Pages Take 80% of Impressions

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Typical Small Biz Has Just 3 Landing Pages

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No Automatic Benefit of Having Tons of Tons of Landing Pages

What’s a Good Cost Per Action?

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Avg. CPA’s By Industry

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Don’t Settle For Average!• Unicorn Ads Get 6x

higher CTR at 50% the Cost

• Unicorn Landing Pages Have 3-5x Higher Conversion Rates

@larrykim


Summary:

• Just Say Now to Low CTR (and Low QS)• Forget Average, Find Your Unicorns!• Small Changes Result in Small Changes.

Think Big!

@larrykim


Thank You #CLZSF

• Stop by the WordStream Booth Today!• Slides: bit.ly/czlsf