A Business Case for Adwords: For Those Just Getting Started

What is Adwords?

• Google has become part of our daily lives

Our Knowledgeable Friend

• Every day, people go to Google to find the information they need, information they might have asked a friend or doctor before:-Where is the best place to get pizza?-What is there to do at my next holiday

destination?-What might cause my side to ache?-How can I lessen the symptoms of my

depression?

Our Knowledgeable Friend

• People go to Google to get answers about all aspects of their life• Google results are what provide the answers• These answers come in the form of “organic”

search results and paid ads using Adwords

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Paid Results (Adwords Ads) are in red.

Search Results

• Where they appear: Usually on the middle of the page• How they’re matched: Google matches sites to a

person’s search using information like text on the page and links to that page• How they’re ordered: Results are ordered on the

page based on things like relevance to the search term and popularity• In addition to links to webpages, you may also see

relevant results on a map that lists local business locations, contact information, and driving directions. Google’s search results are independent of Google’s advertising programs.

Source: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/1722080?hl=en

Adwords Ads

• Where they appear: Typically along the edge of the page (like the top, side, or bottom)• How they’re matched: Google matches ads

to a person’s search based on how closely the search matches your keywords and campaign settings• How they’re ordered: Ads are ordered based

on a combination of cost-per-click (CPC) bid and relevance

Source: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/1722080?hl=en

Search in Another Setting

• In other words, if a person where to walk into your establishment for the first time, they will ask a few questions. In Google Search, these are the keywords.• Based on the questions, the employee will give

answers to the questions relating to the services they can provide. This is the ad you show based on the keyword.• Then the person can chose whether the services

suit their needs - they either learn more about the specific services or decide another company may be better. This happens when a searcher either clicks on your ad or another option.

Creating a Business Case

The Benefits of Adwords

• Let’s start with the obvious:- People don’t usually ask questions about things they

already know- So, when heading to Google, people are searching for

new information- The more generic the keywords, the less they know

about the topic they are searching or are just entering the research phase to buying

• So for example, a person searching for “best cars in 2016” would be searching for more general information than “nissan altima reviews”

The Benefits of Adwords

• What does this mean for marketers?• Adwords is an enormous database for qualified

leads – people actively looking for information related to your products / services• The more generic the related keyword, the less

likely they have established brand loyalty in the market – the more you learn about potential customers’ search behavior, the greater the advantage you have over your competitors

Creating the Business Case• Elements of the business case to be

discussed as a starting point:• Visibility volumes on relevant keywords• Activity of your competitors• Average cost of bringing a person to your website• Average cost to convert a search into a lead

• How do these compare to other platforms traditionally used by the company?

Visibility at High Volumes

• For most industries, Adwords provides visibility in high volumes. • To see what volumes are available for your

industry, you can use the keyword planner in your Adwords account. See this help guide to get started: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2999770?hl=en• If you don’t have an account yet, try Google

Trends using the search tool to see if searches are popular in your area: https://www.google.com/trends/

Tailored Visibility

• Keep in mind, unlike many offline mediums, Adwordsvisibility is highly tailored by what keywords you chose to prioritize. People will only see your ad if they:• Show an interest in a keyword specifically related to one

you’ve chosen to bid on• Specifically in a geography where you’ve targeted• Other targeting options include: time, day of the week, and

device

• Each search is a potential customer• What other media would you be able to get in front

of so many people interested in your services?

Competitor Research

• What are your competitors doing in the space? If they are active, then you could be losing potential customers to them• If they aren’t active and the search volumes

are there, you have the possibility of first-mover advantage.

The Cost of a Lead

• Using the Keyword Planner again, Google will give an estimated cost per click for each keyword.• What is the average? This is the estimated

cost of driving one person to your website.• How does this compare to other marketing

efforts?

The Cost of a Conversion

• For those of you who have not driven online leads through your website, it will take a trial of using Adwords to see how much money you need to spend per conversion.

• To set up conversion tracking, please see: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/1722054?hl=en

• For those who have driven online conversions, you can “guesstimate” the cost per conversion for Adwords even before set-up

The Cost of a Conversion

• On average, what percentage of people who enter your website go on to become a conversion? • If say, 5% of those entering your site go on to

become a conversion then you can “guesstimate” at every 100 clicks from Adwords will result in 5 conversions.• So if your CPC is $2.00, it could cost around $40 per

conversion. • Are you receiving a ROI with this? How does your

estimate compare to other platforms?• NOTE: This will only provide a “guesstimate”. Leads

from each platform could have very different conversion rates.

From Knowledgeable Friend to Knowledgeable Staff• Each click from Adwords is like a person entering

your establishment to ask questions with your staff. How would you want to convert them into a lead offline?• Would you provide them with a knowledgeable staff

member to help guide them through the process? Most likely!• Is your website set-up to answer the questions being

asked? If not, you may want to test landing pages creating specifically for your Adwords campaigns.• The sky’s the limit with the possibilities online. Test,

test, and test some more. Learn through the data and improve all the time. Let’s see what you can do!

Need More Information?

• Need more information on what Google Adwords is all about? Google offers Adwordshelp on explaining anything from the basics to advanced help.

• For the basics, see: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/6080949• For best practices, see:

https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/6154846

Other Resources

• For more information on creating business value through Adwords research, see my blog post: http://www.meganhuxhold.com/post/136897477071/placing-your-adwords-strategy-in-your-customers• For a look at the philosophy behind Google’s

Enhanced Search, please see: http://www.meganhuxhold.com/post/77575659082/google-introduces-enhanced-campaigns-for-adwords