2015 MnSearch Summit - Brad Geddes - Perfecting you PPC Ad Testing in 2015 and Beyond

Brad GeddesFounder, Certified KnowledgeFounder, AdAlysisAuthor, Advanced Google AdWords

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Creating an Ad Testing Framework

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Single vs Multi-Ad Group Testing

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A/B Testing – Known as Single Ad Group Testing


Multi-Ad Group Testing

Idea 1Idea 2Idea 3Idea 4Idea 5


Use Cases

Single Ad Group Testing- Insights within an ad

group- Best for high traffic ad

groups- Best for Brand ad

groups- Good for other ad

groups after you’ve done some multi-ad group testing for global insights

Multi-Ad Group Testing- Insights across a

segment- Best for template

created ads- Best for small data

accounts- Best for market

research


The Brainstorm


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Research Your Initial Ad Ideas

Ad Ideas Inspirations• Social mentions• Customer support inquiries• Your forums• Company reviews• Competitive research• Brainstorming• Previous Marketing Efforts• Customer onboarding interview• Search query data• Etc…

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• Are consumers price sensitive? (discounts, prices in ads)

• Does Location matter? (use geographies in ads)

• Does shipping matter? (Free or Rush shipping)

• Is selection important? (large, exclusive, variety, etc)

• How much does quality matter? (cheap, luxury)

• What’s your best CTA? (Call, Shop, Find, Discover, etc)

• Should your display URL be products, geo, CTAs, or something else?

• Do we need to pre-qualify clicks? (b2b vs b2c)

• etc…

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Ask The Big Questions First


Optional: Spreadsheets, Keyword Density, Tag Clouds

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Determine How You Want to Segment Ad Tests

Basic Segments: • Your brand• 3rd party brands • Products• Informational • Long tail• By buying cycle entrance• Etc…

Ad Type: • Text ads• DSAs• Image ads• Call only ads• HSAs• etc…

Devices:• Mobile• Desktops• All


Start With Multi-Ad Group Testing


• Examples:GEO vs Non-GEO headlinesCall us vs Learn More CTAsBrand vs Non-Brand HeadlinesRush vs Free Shipping


List Out Your Ad Tests

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Multi-Ad Group Testing Setup

Ad Group D2

1 Rush Shipping!

1 Free Shipping!

1 Price $

2 Rush Shipping!

2 Free Shipping!

2 Price $

3 Rush Shipping!

3 Free Shipping!

3 Price $

Etc… Etc…

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(Optional) Label Ads for Easy Filtering


Use Pivot Tables or Software to Analyze the Data

Idea 1Idea 2Idea 3Idea 4Idea 5


•Don’t use brand names in non-branded ad groups

•GEOs increase CPI; break out campaigns by GEO

•Call Us works best on a mobile device

•Learn more works best on a desktop device

•Etc…

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You Now Have Answers to Big Questions

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If a “Losing Line” is an Outlier for CTR/CPA:Test it as an ad extension

•If you have more big questions to answer; do more rounds of multi-ad group testing

•If not; then move to A/B testingEasiest to start with your top ad groups (by impressions)


Next Steps


Quick Case Study



Using Your Customer’s Words


Rush Shipping Vs Fast Shipping

Ad CTR Conv Rate

CPI Avg Order

Fast & Free Shipping

4.96% 4.22% 0.209% $71.32

Rush Shipping

5.13% 4.32% 0.225% $357.91


Segmenting by Consumer Type: B2B vs B2C

Type Ad CTR Conv Rate

RPI

B2B Fast & Free Shipping

2.31% 3.46% 0.286328

B2B Rush Shipping 5.47% 5.30% 1.037939

B2C Fast & Free Shipping

4.02% 4.73% 0.137408

B2C Rush Shipping 1.96% 3.05% 0.043392


•Segment by B2B vs B2CFor B2B – use ‘rush shipping’For B2C – use ‘free shipping’

Next Steps:

•Examine the branded terms, RLSAs and remarketing lists and see if there’s a good way to match the shipping type to the ads.

•Can we change the landing page to match the shipping?Test it to see if it makes a difference

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You Now Have Answers to Big Questions


Outlier Data is Good for Extension Testing


Campaign Changes w/ New Extensions

Pre-Extension Changes Post-Extension Changes


Mobile Ad Testing



You Can’t Ignore Mobile


Google Often Changes How Ads Are Displayed on Mobile


Mobile Preferred Ads


Easy Effective Device Analysis

Count of Ad

Row Labels Mobile All

Ad Group 1 2Ad Group 2Ad Group 3 1 2Ad Group 4 3 1Ad Group 5 10Ad Group 6 2 6Ad Group 7 1 7Ad Group 8 1 6Ad Group 9 7


If on Mobile: Segment Ideas by Device

Mobile CTR Desktop CTR

Call Us 11.2% (includes calls)

5.2%

Contact Us 4.1% 6.9%

Example.com/Things 4.2% 5.3%

M.example.com/things (or example.com/mobile)

8.2% N/A

Find the Nearest Store 7.6% 4.5%

Shop Now 2.1% 5.8%

•Simple option:Just flip d1 & d2 and test as usual

•Start with multi-ad group testing for CTA and other minor changes

•For single ad group testing, start with your top mobile ad groupsSegment by device and start with most impressions on mobile devices

•If you’re ignoring mobile, remove -100% bid modifiers on brand terms and start with your brand keywords


Getting Started With Mobile Testing


Image Ad Testing



What’s Your Theme?

• List Your Themes• Create a label per theme• Examine how each theme performs• Pick your winning theme and continue


Test Your Main Themes in Contrasting Colors


Learn the Pivot Table AnalysisNote: Old AdWords UI – Analysis is still the same

https://youtu.be/0IBbNO0v-8c

•Start with a big brainstorm / research session to gather ad ideas

•Determine your ad testing segments

•Ask the ‘big questions’ first through multi-ad group testing

•Use that data to create rules around ad creation

•Move to A/B testing on your top ad groupsTest mobile as appropriate

•Repeat forever


Recap

Founder, Certified KnowledgeCo-Founder, AdAlysisAuthor, Advanced Google AdWords

Brad Geddes

Thank You! MnSearch Summit


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2015 MnSearch Summit - Brad Geddes - Perfecting you PPC Ad Testing in 2015 and Beyond