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We like Matt Van Wagner. An industry veteran, he’s always a force of friendly and positive energy at any conference he attends.

Just before his session he told me this was going to be the best presentation he’s ever given - “53 years in the making!”

It didn’t disappoint!

Matt loves paid search because it’s cost effective, incredibly targeted and your investment is instantly measureable.

He talked about PPC and SEO being complementary. PPC can minimise risk of algorithm changes, it can help a new site start receiving traffic quickly while the SEO catches up. It’s a predictable, dependable flow of traffic.

PPC allows you more control over your messaging. You write the ads that appear and you determine the landing page your visitors arrive at.

When talking about geographic targeting he said, “You don’t have to advertise to the whole country just because you sell to the whole country.”

Calling out adCenter’s pioneering demographic targeting functionality, Matt made another great point in that PPC gives you so much control. Whether it’s day-parting, time of day, geography or demographics, you can construct some very sophisticated campaigns which will present you with the kind of results that suit your needs and bottom line

When setting up your campaigns:

  • What is the primary goal of your campaign? Is it leads, sales or brand building? Think about what your outcome will be
  • How do you define success? Online vs offline sales? Think about the steps on the path towards sales conversions
  • How do you measure success? Use conversion trackers, analytics tools. How much are the phones ringing? Total company sales and profits increasing.
  • Work out your target cost-per-acquisition and work towards it.

When writing ads:

  • Think about who you’re talking to – make sure the message resonates with your target audience
  • What are you selling? Sell benefits not features
  • Start with story-telling. Talk out loud. Listen to your sales force and listen to what they’re saying on the phone.
  • Use KWs in titles – it’s a trigger point
  • Use call-to-actions in the ads – save, compare, find
  • Use ads to filter clicks – words that stop users clicking on them

He wrapped up by saying it’s so important to have a good process. It’s not just about the KWs, ads and bids. You need to plan on working in a disciplined manner as it’s all about sales and profitability. Track performance and be methodical but don’t get “analysis paralysis”!

Great, informative insight for a very happy, packed SES crowd.

Don’t forget our adCenter Learning Center and adExcellence program for tutorials on adCenter.

Check out the rest of our coverage from SES New York.

Cheers

Mel

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