Boost Your adCenter Efficiency Part 2 - How to Use Excel and adCenter Desktop to Add and Edit Match Types in Bulk [Tutorial]

In part one of this series, I explained how to edit match types for a handful of keywords in adCenter Desktop. That method is perfect for laser-focused changes to specific keywords, but what if you wanted to update 50, 100, or more keywords at a time? Well, adCenter Desktop has you covered. You can easily work in Excel to add match types, adjust bids, etc. and then simply copy and paste that data into adCenter Desktop. You can also import the spreadsheet into adCenter Desktop, which I’ll cover later in this post. I’ll show you a quick example below using the keyword I referenced in my first post (graphite tennis rackets).

Note: For this example, I have a Sports campaign that contains a Tennis Rackets ad group. Then the keyword graphite tennis rackets is located in the Tennis Rackets ad group. If you want to follow along, you should set up a test campaign that matches this setup.

Export and Edit
If you have campaigns and ad groups already in adCenter, then you can export those campaigns via the desktop tool. Once you export your campaigns, you can isolate campaigns, ad groups, and keywords in order to make adjustments. Let’s say you had an ad group called Tennis Rackets that contained the keyword graphite tennis rackets as phrase match. Similar to what I covered in my first post, we want to add match types for this keyword and adjust bids based on our bidding strategy. Once you make adjustments, you can re-import that data or copy and paste it into adCenter Desktop. Follow the instructions below to complete the changes.

1. First, if you added broad and exact match types for graphite tennis rackets by using the method explained in part one of this series, you should delete them before moving forward. Remember, we are going to add them again to your keyword list by using a different method, so you don’t want to try and add duplicate keywords. Just select the broad and exact match keywords in your list and hit the delete button on your keyboard. You should be left with only the phrase match keyword for graphite tennis rackets. If you didn’t create the new match types yet, you can simply move on to step 2.

2. Open adCenter Desktop and export your campaigns. You can do this by clicking the “Export” icon in adCenter Desktop.

3. Open the spreadsheet you just exported and find the ad group you want to make changes to. You will see the list of keywords from your ad group in the spreadsheet, along with text ads and campaign settings. Note, the column headings should be kept as-is (the first row in your spreadsheet). When we copy and paste the data back into adCenter Desktop, we want the headings to remain (so they can be mapped properly).

4. Isolate the data you want to edit by either deleting all other rows in the spreadsheet or copy and pasting only the rows you want to work with into a new worksheet. You shouldn’t have to import unnecessary data, so I recommend isolating the keywords in question. For our purposes, that’s the graphite tennis rackets keyword in the Tennis Rackets ad group. Since we are only working with one keyword for this example, you will only need the header row and the row containing the graphite tennis rackets keyword. Again, I wanted to keep this example simple for the tutorial. You might have many keywords to update at one time when you are working on your actual campaigns.

5. Once you have isolated the data you want to edit, find the row containing the graphite tennis rackets keyword, copy the row, and then paste it twice. Remember, we want to add two new match types (broad and exact match), so we need two new rows of data. Once you add the new rows, change the match type for each of the new rows. Make sure each row includes a different match type (broad and exact). Now that we have three rows of data, each containing a different match type, you can adjust the bids for each match type. Like we did earlier, add $4.50 for exact match, $3.50 for phrase match, and $2.75 for broad match.

6. Copy all of the rows in your new worksheet, which should only contain your header row and the graphite tennis rackets keywords (4 rows in total). Select all the rows, right click, and select copy. You’re almost there.

7. Open up adCenter Desktop and access your campaigns. Click on the Tennis Rackets ad group in the Sports campaign and then click the “Multiple Changes” button near the top-center of your screen.

8. Select the radio button labeled “Campaigns and ad groups are specified in the keyword data”. Remember, your spreadsheet contains the correct headings for our import. Now paste your data from Excel by right clicking and selecting “Paste” or by simply hitting control-v on your keyboard. Note, do not check the box that says, “Delete all of the keywords in the destination ad groups and replace them with the new keywords.” Only do this if you truly want to replace all of the data in your existing ad group. Once your new data has been pasted, click “Next” at the bottom-right of the window. Once you do, you’ll see a message that says the import was completed. Click “Finish” to return to your keyword list in adCenter Desktop.

That’s it, your new match types and bids should have been imported into your ad group. The new keywords and match types should be bolded in your keyword list. Click “Sync Changes” in the upper-left corner of adCenter Desktop and your new match types and bids will be uploaded to adCenter. Again, you can check the adCenter UI (via the web) after the upload is complete to review the changes.

Bonus: Alternative Import
If you would rather import the spreadsheet you’ve been working on versus copying and pasting the data, you can by clicking the “Import” button in adCenter Desktop. When you click “Import”, you can select “Import from Microsoft adCenter” and then browse to select the Excel spreadsheet you have been working on. Once you click “Next”, you can preview the data you are about to import. If all looks good, click “Next” again to import the data. You should see a message that the import was successful. Click “Finish” to return to your campaigns.

Efficiency Helps Boost Performance
As you can see, adCenter Desktop’s import functionality can be a great asset for increasing efficiency when editing large campaigns. The more you can increase your efficiency, the more time you will have for refining and expanding your campaigns. This can yield greater opportunities for SEM success. Although this two part series just covered match types, I plan to write more posts here on the adCenter blog covering additional features and functionality of adCenter Desktop.

Now, aren’t there some match types that need editing? :)

Thanks for reading,

Glenn Gabe, G-Squared Interactive LLC

Glenn Gabe is a digital marketing consultant at G-Squared Interactive and focuses heavily on SEO, SEM, Social Media Marketing and Web Analytics.  Glenn has over 15 years of experience and has held leadership positions both in-house and at a global interactive agency.  He has helped clients across a wide range of industries, including consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, military, education, non-profits, ecommerce and publishing.  Glenn is a columnist for Search Engine Journal and also writes about the latest in digital marketing strategy on his own blog, The Internet Marketing Driver.

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