#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

Visualizing Your PPC Competition

Now You See It!

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

§  Senior  Client  Manager  at  Point  It  Digital  Marketing    

§  5  Years  in  PPC    

§  Oversee  $35M  in  Yearly  Media    

§  Global  SEM  Program  Lead  

§  20  Person  Team  

§  30  Languages  

§  60  Markets    

§  2015  US  Search  Award  “Young  Search  Professional”

 

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

5 W’s of

PPC Competitor

Analysis

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

ASK YOURSELF…

WHO  

are  your  competitors?  

WHAT  

kind  of  competitors    are  they?    

WHERE  

are  they  competing    with  you?    

WHY  

are  they  competing    with  you?    

WHEN  

should  you    take  action?  

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

WHO  

are  your  competitors?  

Assumption:  I  know  exactly  who  my  online  competitors  are!    

Pull  Auction  Insights  data  to  determine:  

•  Who  are  my  relevant  competitors  in  PPC?  

•  If  domains  showing  ads  with  aren’t  relative,  are  you    bidding  on  the  right  keywords?  

Then,  take  that  data  &  make  it  actionable!  

•  No,  not  by  starting  at  rows  &  rows  of  raw  data  in  Excel…  

•  We’ll  review  my  favorite  PPC  competitor  analysis  tools  that    can  help  you  visualize  your  competitor  trends  

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

WHAT  

kind  of  competitors    are  they?    

Assumption:  All  my  competitors  are  exactly  the  same    

Research  domains  showing  with  yours  ads  to  identify  

•  Affiliates  

•  CSEs  •  OTAs    

Understand  if  you’re  getting  the  full  story  

•  Can’t  distinguish  partners  pointing  to  the  same  domain  –    it’ll  all  be  lumped  under  “You”  in  Auction  Insights  

•  Escalate  non-­‐approved  trademark  users    

•  Search  Arbitragers  •  Resellers  •  “True”  Competitors    

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

WHERE  

are  they  competing    with  you?    

Assumption:  Non-­‐branded  keywords  see  the  most  competition    

Label  top  performing  keywords,  including  Branded!  

•  Don’t  pull  out  your  hair  trying  to  monitor  every  single  keyword  

•  Your  “cash  cows”  are  going  to  see  the  quickest  impact  if    competitor  enters  and  inflates  CPCs  to  push  you  out    

Set  up  alerts,  reports,  &  automated  bidding  rules  

•  Set  up  automated  Search  Impression  Share  Reports  

•  Use  Google  &  Bings  automated  rules  when  competitors  getting  more  aggressive  to  maintain  crucial  impression  share  

•  Test  Google’s  Portfolio  Strategy:  Target  Page  Location  

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

WHY  

are  they  competing    with  you?    

Assumption:  I  only  need  to  worry  about  my  copy,  not  my  competitor’s      

Review  competitor  ads  regularly  

•  What  are  your  competitors  offering?  

•  Are  they  using  clear  CTAs?  •  In  a  heavily  occupied  vertical,  how  are  they  standing  out?  

•  I’ll  share  my  favorite  competitor  ad  monitoring  tools  in  next  slides    

Test  your  messaging  tactics  

•  The  proof  is  in  the  pudding!  Test  copy  to  see  what  drives  results    

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

WHEN  

should  you    take  action?  

Assumption:  I’ll  worry  about  my  competitors  later    

Later?  You  cray  cray!  Take  action  now  §  Don’t  spend  every  waking  moment  obsessing  §  Your  first  priority  should  be  driving  results  for  your  account    §  But  competitors  can  rock  your  boat,  and  knowing  how  to    

steer  the  ship  is  the  first  step  in  the  right  direction    Take  your  ego  out  of  it,  be  smart,    &  use  the  5  W’s      

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

My Favorite Tools for

Visualizing PPC

Competitor Data

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

COMPETITOR  ANALYSIS  TOOL    

§  Research  US  +  INTL  markets  §  PLA  vs.  Paid  Search  trends  §  Domain  vs.  Domain    §  Desktop  vs.  Mobile  ad  copy  

   

3rd Party Tools NOTE:  I  was  not  paid  by    any  of  these  tools  

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

COMPETITOR  ANALYSIS  TOOL    

§  Google  vs.  Bing  ad  copy  §  First  &  last  seen  dates  of  ads  

(how  often  competitor  testing?)  §  Ad  lists  with  URLs    

(including  tracking  parameters)    

 

3rd Party Tools NOTE:  I  was  not  paid  by    any  of  these  tools  

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

COMPETITOR  ANALYSIS  TOOL    

§  Color-­‐coded  ad  change  grids  §  Highlights  top  performing  ads  §  Venn  diagrams  of  shared  

keywords  (paid  &  organic)  §  Segments  top  competitors    

(paid  &  organic)    

 

3rd Party Tools NOTE:  I  was  not  paid  by    any  of  these  tools  

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

COMPETITOR  ANALYSIS  TOOL    

 AdWords  Keyword  Planner  Review  relative  impression  share  for  new  keywords  compared  to    

top  market  leaders  &    similar  advertisers  in  your    

keyword  categories        

Using Keyword Planner Tool

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

COMPETITOR  ANALYSIS  TOOL      

 BrainLabs  Auction  Insights  Script  (my  favorite!)  

•  Copy/paste  their  script  into  Google  Sheet  •  Pull  segmented  campaign  data  •  Pull  segmented  Auction  Insight  data  •  Throw  both  into  Google  Sheet  •  Automatically  generates  graphs  that  

illustrate  competitive  metrics  alongside  your  trending  CPCs    

 

Using Auction Insights Data

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

COMPETITOR  ANALYSIS  TOOL      

 Segmented  Reporting  Can  segment  Auction  Insights  data  by  Time  and/or  Device  to  get  the  fuller  picture  of  your  competitor  

trends    

 

Using Auction Insights Data

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

Don’t  let  your  PPC  competitors  drive  you  crazy  

 Reactive  PPC  tactics  can  result  in  A  LOT  of  wasted  time  &  spend  

 Your  approach  should  be    

smart  &  strategic  

BE  A  SMART  COOKIE  

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

Check out my blog post on these

PPC Competitor Analysis Tools!

www.pointit.com/blog/

ppc-competitor-analysis

#SMX #32B @MaddieMarketer

SEE YOU AT THE NEXT #SMX!

THANK YOU!