One of the more powerful aspects of pay-per-click advertising is the ability to control which ad copy and headline is displayed in response to a prospects search. This is also one of the most neglected. Paid search marketing gives us the incredible power to target customers at the exact time of need, while they are actively looking. Taking the time to understand the searcher’s intent and grouping keywords in to tight groups specifically focused on that intent can increase the number of qualified visitors, lower your cost per click and greatly increase your profits. It can be a tedious task unless you keep the end in mind-more profitable sales.
I was working with an auto dealer who was determined to market his way through these tough times and asked for some help in evaluating his current Google AdWords ad campaign. What we found was fairly typical in the campaigns of those new to paid search.
Restructuring a Pay-Per-Click Campaign
Here’s a example of how the campaign was structured. We changed the name of the company to Acme to protect our client’s anonymity and well, because the Three Stooges had a lasting effect on all of us.
He had a pretty good list of keywords and phrases (below is a partial list). A search on any of these terms would return an ad for his business. The operative phrase is “an ad”—he only had one ad to support all these keywords. So regardless of what people were searching for, they saw the same ad.
| Keyword Phrase | Displayed Ad |
| auto dealer auto dealers auto dealership auto dealerships auto sales automobile dealers car dealer used auto dealer used auto dealers used automobile dealer used automobile dealers used car auto lease auto lease specials auto leasing auto leasing rates ford auto lease ford auto leases ford auto leasing ford car leases auto repair shop auto repairs auto service car repairs car service auto body repair shop
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Acme Auto Dealer Huge inventory of cars and trucks. New and used. Call for a quote. www.acmeauto.com |
| Looking at this list one can quickly see several different segments with different customers, profit margins, frequency and length of sales cycle. Why treat them all the same?
The first step was to organize the list into groups of phrases as they related to the various business segments he wanted to advertise. The next step was to write ads tailored specifically to each group of keywords. Below are six different business segments we found in the starter list alone along with ads for each group.
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| Keywords by Segment | Related Display Ads |
| Buyers looking for new cars Preowned cars auto dealer auto dealers auto dealership auto dealerships auto sales automobile dealers car dealer
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Looking for a New Car? Test drive a Fuel-Efficient Escape at a Ford Dealer Near You! www.AcmeAuto.com |
| Buyers looking for uses cars used auto dealer used auto dealers used automobile dealer used automobile dealers used car
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Great Used Cars for Less Boston’s premiere used car dealer. Check inventory and prices online. www.AcmeAuto.com |
| Car repair (engines and under the hood stuff) auto repair shop auto repairs auto service car repairs car service
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Expert Car Repairs Fix it Right the First Time With Ford® Genuine Parts and Service. Repairs.AcmeAuto.com |
| Buyers looking for lease cars auto lease auto lease specials auto leasing auto leasing rates
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Leasing a Car? $160 monthly/no-money down specials early lease termination options. Lease.AcmeAuto.com |
| Brand specific customers (Ford) ford auto lease ford auto leases ford auto leasing ford car leases
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Leasing a Ford? Lowest Ford Factory Prices Ever! No hassle leases. Same day approval. Lease.AcmeAuto.com |
| Body work and collision repair auto body repair shop collision repair car painting
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Need Auto Body Work? Make your car look like new. Free estimates. Fully guaranteed. BodyShop.AcmeAuto.com |
| Breaking the single keyword list into tight groups related to the various business segments click through rates improved dramatically. Treating the various business segments as separate campaigns, with their own budgets, success metrics and even geo-targeting helped turn an auto dealership owner’s expensive attempt at getting more website traffic into a highly profitable sustainable way of getting highly targeted traffic that converts to profitable sales.
Next time we will discuss how even minor adjustments to ad copy, testing multiple ad copy, display urls and landing pages can result in an enormous lift in conversion. |
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Before moving to Western MA, Dan launched his career in New York in advertising and public relations, where he worked with some of the country’s top brands. Dan also has many years’ experience in small-business and corporate marketing, finance, franchise business operations and field consulting. In 2005, Dan became the first area president of TruePresence, a national internet marketing firm specializing in web design and search engine marketing. Dan’s clients have included Johnson & Johnson, Sears, Warner-Lambert, Monsanto and Pepsi, but he prefers the individuality of his smaller business clients. Dan launched The Green Internet Group to help business owners fully leverage the digital marketing and social media by offering results driven marketing planning, consulting, training and creative services.
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