Business Marketing Classes Part 6 Paid Search Engine Marketing PPC

Business Marketing Class Part 6

In Business Marketing, Search Engine Marketing by Mark GuertinLeave a Comment

Business Marketing Class – Part 6
Search Engine Marketing Paid

Welcome to Business Marketing Class Part 6 – Search Engine Marketing Paid. This week we will be discussing the option of paid advertising at search engines. Topics covered will include search engine marketing overview, search engine choices, types, account setup, account monitoring, non-profit grants and pros and cons.

Paid Search Engine Marketing Overview

Frequently, paid search engine marketing is referred to as “Pay Per Click” or “PPC” for short. PPC might be a bit lacking when you consider that one does not have to pay for clicks but can opt to pay for impressions instead.

Paid search engine marketing can be incredibly effective when done right. It can also be incredibly wasteful when done wrong. There are many advantages to using this form of business marketing and it is a great option for most.

Arguably, the single biggest advantage of PPC is that you get a hot lead and free branding at the same time. You get a hot lead because your ad is displayed at precisely the time someone is actively searching. You get free branding because when your ad is seen but not clicked you are not charged. We’ll talk more in depth about the many other advantages when we get to the pros and cons.

Search Engine Choices

While many people will opt for Google by default there are other choices as well. Bing, Yahoo, Baidu and Yandex all offer paid search engine marketing and each of them has a worthwhile market share.

Baidu is a great choice if your focus is marketing in Asia and particularly in China. Yandex is a great choice if your focus is marketing in Europe and particularly in Russia. Bing & Yahoo make up roughly 1/3 of the search market and can sometimes provide less costly clicks than Google albeit with less volume.

Types of Search Engine Marketing

In terms of search engine marketing you need to be aware of the various options and then decide which of those will best fit for your objectives.

  • Search Network Only: Your ads are triggered by search box entries and appear with the search results
  • Display Network Only: Your ads appear on websites, mobile apps and videos. Your ads are triggered based on your various settings
  • Search Network with Display Select: This combines the two previous options
  • Partner Network: You can control whether or not your ads are displayed on search engine partner sites
  • Shopping: By using Product Listing Ads you can display merchandise for sale with information like a photo, your business name, pricing, etc.
  • Video: Your video ads are triggered to appear in various locations based on your settings – This will be discussed in detail during next week’s class on video marketing

Video: Which AdWords Campaign Is Right For Me?

Adwords Account Setup

  1. Go to https://adwords.google.com and create an account
  2. Give your account a name, select your country, select your time zone, select your currency, opt-in or not opt-in for ideas – offers – newsletters, invite a user to the account, click “Create Account”
    Create An Adwords Account Step 1

    Create An Adwords Account Step 1

  3. Create your first campaign
    Create An Adwords Account Step 2

    Create An Adwords Account Step 2

  4. Name your campaign, choose the campaign type whether Search Network with Display Select – Search Network Only – Display Network Only – Shopping – Video – Universal App, choose Standard or All Features, choose Include Search Partners, Choose your targeting location(s)
    Create An Adwords Account Step 3

    Create An Adwords Account Step 3

  5. Choose your language, Select your bid strategy, set your total daily budget, set your maximum bid for clicks
    Create An Adwords Account Step 4

    Create An Adwords Account Step 4

  6. Select Extend my ads with location information, select extend my ads with links to sections of my site, select extend my ads with a phone number, Click save and continue
    Create An Adwords Account Step 5

    Create An Adwords Account Step 5

  7. Name your ad group, enter an ad headline, enter 1st description line, enter 2nd description line, enter display URL, enter final url
    Create An Adwords Account Step 6

    Create An Adwords Account Step 6

  8. Enter your keyword(s) then click Save and continue to billing
    Create An Adwords Account Step 7

    Create An Adwords Account Step 7

  9. Choose account type whether business or personal, enter your business info and contact details, select how you pay and what you pay with, accept the terms and conditions, click the Complete sign up button

I want to point out several important points on setting up and managing a search engine marketing campaign.

Firstly, this is relatively complex and can take years to master. Rest assured that I can’t possibly cover all of the intricate details in the scope of this class but rather am giving a very simplistic starter guide to merely get up and running.

This also means that you may be well served by hiring a certified professional as opposed to doing it yourself. I would recommend that you avoid any person or company that is not officially certified. Bing has their Bing Ads Professional Accredited Status certification and Google has their Certified Google Partners. By utilizing a certified professional you stand a better chance of getting higher quality service and results.

In the Kansas City area alone there are approximately 20 certified Google Partners which you can browse by visiting this Google Partner page. Also, you are welcome to visit our Google Partner profile at: Impact Social Media Google Partner Profile

In the entire state of Kansas and Missouri there are roughly 25 Bing Ads Certified Professionals and 7 of those are in the Kansas City area. You can view them at this site. Also, you are welcome to visit out Bing Ads Accredited Professional profile at: Impact Social Media Bing Ads Accredited Professional Status Profile

If you choose to handle your campaign yourself I would make several recommendations. Firstly you can receive free and valuable help directly from Google as long as you are spending at least $10 per day. Just give them a call at 855-607-0435. Next, you can learn a ton of great info by making use of the Adwords channel at YouTube. You can find it by going to https://www.youtube.com/user/learnwithgoogle Last but not least you can access a tremendous amount of helpful information online at the Google AdWords help page which is located at https://support.google.com/adwords/?hl=en#topic=3119071

Adwords Account Monitoring

A critical component of any successful campaign is ongoing and effective monitoring. The more frequently you check your account and the more frequently you implement positive changes the better you will do.

You should understand that if you manage your account well it will become more cost effective over time. This is because you can eliminate waste while also improving your keyword quality scores.

Here are just some of the things you should be taking care of:

  • Monitoring search terms and adding negative keywords
  • Monitoring click through rates and adjusting ad copy as needed
  • Making use of A/B testing to increase conversions
  • Using conversion tracking to quantify your ROI
  • Watching for account alerts
  • Watching for opportunities which are recommended
  • Watching for and taking action on low quality score keywords
  • Exporting reports for analysis and performance monitoring
  • Watch for and remove display placements that perform poorly
  • Monitor your spend vs. your budget settings
  • Adjust your keyword bids up or down as needed

Non Profit Grants

I would like to give huge kudos and express my admiration for Google’s pro bono benefits for 501C3 non-profits. These programs provide countless dollars of much needed help and it definitely makes a difference in terms of benefitting society.

To get started you first must get approved at Google for Nonprofits. You can do this by visiting https://www.google.com/nonprofits/ Once you’re approved you’ll have the option to make use of a variety of benefits to include Adwords marketing.

Once your Adwords Grant is submitted and approved Google will provide you with up to $10,000.00 per month of free pay per click advertising. There are a few limitation such as you cannot use the partner network and if you place an ad to sell something it must be worded according to their terms. You will also be required to log in and manage your account on a regular basis.

If you meet certain eligibility requirements such as click through rates above 1%, maxing out your spend repeatedly, etc., you can submit for a spending increase that can go all the way up to $40,000.00 per month. There is no guarantee you would be approved but if you were to be approved this amounts to nearly ½ million a year in free Google advertising!

Paid Search Engine Marketing Pros & Cons

PROS

  • Free branding when PPC ads are seen and not clicked
  • Can be very effective
  • Extremely precise targeting options
  • Can be turned on and off with the click of a mouse
  • Can put you on top of page 1 instantly
  • Easy to track results and monitor ROI
  • Allows you to target competitors branded keywords

CONS

  • Can take years to master all management skills
  • Can be time consuming if you do it yourself
  • Can be incredibly wasteful if done improperly
  • Competitive keywords may be very costly
  • Some industries are unable to meet certain guidelines
  • Campaign performance can suffer due to the landing page quality

Class Directory

  • WEEK 1: INTRODUCTIONS AND OVERVIEW

    Member introductions, overview of each class, marketing overview, marketing statistics, marketing trends. Go To Introductions And Overview Class Go To Introductions And Overview Class

  • WEEK 2: KEYWORDS

    Keywords defined, keywords history, types of keywords, importance of keywords, keyword research, keyword examples, keyword tools, keyword implementation. Go To Keywords Class

  • WEEK 3: EMAIL MARKETING

    Email marketing overview, mail list generation/acquisition, legalities, best practices, pros & cons, software choices, results monitoring. Go To Email Marketing Class

  • WEEK 4: SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING (ORGANIC & PAID)

    Social media overview, social media platforms, social media demographics, organic social media marketing, paid social media marketing, best practices, results monitoring, pros & cons. Go To Social Media Marketing Class Go To Social Media Marketing Class

  • WEEK 5: SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING (ORGANIC)

    Organic search engine marketing overview, on page seo elements, off page seo elements, local citations, backlinks, penalty avoidance, algorithm updates, webmastering, analytics, pros & cons. Go To Organic Search Engine Marketing Class

  • WEEK 6: SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING (PAID)

    Paid search engine marketing overview, search engine choices, types, account setup, account monitoring, results monitoring, non-profit grants, pros & cons.

  • WEEK 7: VIDEO MARKETING

    Video marketing overview, best practices, video production, video marketing channels, pros & cons. Go To Video Marketing Class

  • WEEK 8: TRADITIONAL MARKETING

    Traditional marketing overview, print advertising, radio advertising, television advertising, direct mail marketing, billboard advertising, hosting seminars and workshops, attending trade shows, networking group participation, door to door selling, pros & cons. Go To Traditional Marketing Class

Leave a Comment