management friendly alpha-beta by caitlin halpert

#SMX #23B @Caitlin_Halpert

Get the benefits without the downsides of endless ad groups

Management-friendly Alpha-Beta


How I’m going to win!!

• Why are we having this debate? Why?

• Alpha-‐Beta defined What?

•  I do not accept your misconceptions! How?


How to maximize “nurses uniforms”?

Query / Keyword Max CPC Avg Pos Cost Conv CPA

nurses uniforms 2.15 $3,035.39 561 $6.17

+nurse +uniforms $1.10 2.39 $234.29 69 $3.84

[nurse uniform] $1.35 2.30 $897.43 154 $6.80

[nurse uniforms] $1.50 2.00 $1,903.67 338 $6.37


Clean query mapping = effective bidding

Ideal Bid Volume

Efficiency


Alpha-Beta campaign structure We aim for query control through exact match, single-‐keyword ad groups, paired with broad/broad modified match keywords, and exact match negatives for mapping

BETA (query mining) Broad and +BMM

ALPHA (query sculpting)

[Exact]


Single-keyword ad groups & negatives

Query Reports Alpha Campaign 1:1 Mappings best query ever

stupid query

Performance negative

AG/KW: [best query ever] - [best query ever]

Negative in all beta campaigns

Query Keyword Ad Landing Page


Alpha-Beta account structure in practice

Account

Campaign

Brand -‐ Alpha

SKAG 1

SKAG 2

SKAG 3

Campaign

Brand -‐ Beta

SKAG 1

SKAG 2

SKAG 3

Campaign

Non-‐Brand -‐ Alpha

SKAG 1

SKAG 2

SKAG 3

Campaign

Non-‐Brand – Beta

SKAG 1

SKAG 2

SKAG 3


Misconception #1: Alpha-‐Beta is not scalable

#SMX #23B @Caitlin_Halpert 9 A Harte Hanks Company

Alpha-Beta gone wrong!

190 active campaigns in Google

346,536 Active Keywords §  85% are flagged as low search volume §  9% of active keywords are fully eligible

In the last 30 days: §  2% of keywords had more than 10 impressions §  37 keywords rendered conversions


Ease management in 3 steps

Careful keyword selection

Aim for high data-‐density

Review & update keyword lists


Top converters Top search volume & may convert

Picking alphas is easy…


Misconception #2: Betas are “lesser” keywords that eventually will be paused


Beta selection is just as important! Betas mine new queries AND roll-‐up data from lower volume queries that will never be promoted to alpha

For any variation you’re considering: §  Is there search volume or past performance to show that there’s sufficient data? Use the Keyword Planner

§  Is there a unique landing page? If resources are tight, is it worth the investment?

§  Is there unique messaging? Will that additional modifier fit in the ad copy?

§  Are you further segmenting campaigns (e.g. geography)? Use fewer betas to start when segmentation is required

If the product falls in an easy to identify category, keep it simple and have catch-‐all head terms to start


Copying Alphas is lazy §  [pink dresses] is different from [dresses pink]

§  +pink +dresses is not different from +dresses +pink

For type/product/theme coverage, start with the site as a guide, but minimize variations §  +cotton +nurse +uniform – YES

§  +pink +nurse +uniform – YES

§  +pink +cotton +nurse +uniform – NO

Use your brain.


Misconception #3: Alpha-‐Beta requires excessive keyword build-‐out for full product coverage


Use Dynamic Search Ads! Use DSA for what it’s designed for – ensuring coverage across your product set

Use DSA to find new Alphas & Betas

Outlier: Certain retailers cannot use DSA because of policy reasons so an automated system to maintain coverage across 10,000+ SKUs is acceptable, but bidding is difficult


Misconception #4: It’s hard to maintain clean query mapping in Alpha-‐Beta


Maintain your keywords Optimizations

Bleeders

Irrelevant

Promotions

Demotions

LSV

Non-‐Converters


Remove low search volume (LSV) keywords

LSV keywords are not serving • Or, not serving as often as they would if matched to higher-‐volume keywords

LSV keywords are a waste of time • Unique ad creation is a large time investment with no pay-‐off

LSV keywords change over time •  [gopro2 hd] might have had volume 3 years ago, but it doesn’t now – CUT IT •  [wine Christmas gifts] only has volume from Nov 15th-‐Dec 25th – PAUSE & MARK AS SEASONAL


Remove non-converting keywords

Some keywords are logically a good fit, but after months still don’t convert

§  Have they been given a chance (had bids above first-‐page recommendations)? – PAUSE

§  Is there search volume, but CVR is too low? – PAUSE

§  Is search volume so low that data-‐based decisions are impossible? – PAUSE

There’s a difference between pausing & no longer serving and pausing & redirecting queries to a higher volume keyword

§  Understand which you’re doing but know there’s little risk in pausing a non-‐converter that’s had it’s chance


Do these things!

•  Top performers deserve special attention •  Set up for long-‐term query sculpting

Alpha-‐Beta SKAGs

• Keep keywords simple – it’s easy to add more •  Think about data-‐density Selection

• Keep Alpha-‐Beta clean with negative & alpha updates • Remove low-‐volume & non-‐converters Maintenance


SEE YOU AT THE NEXT #SMX

THANK YOU!


Bonus Materials!


What’s wrong with “keyword coverage”…

Query / Keyword Max CPC Avg Pos Cost Conv CPA

Brand.com $9013.76 2185 $4.13

[Brand.com] $.80 1.0 $1978.16 470 $4.21

[Brand misspelling 1] $.80 1.0 $2009.61 526 $3.82



96% of the spend on the “misspelling” Alphas is actually from the correct spelling query


What do SKAG ad group builds look like?

Campaign Ad Group Keyword Headline Desc Line 1 Desc Line 2 Display URL

Brand -‐ Alpha brand.com [brand.com] Brand.com -‐ Official Try Our New Widgets Today! Best Deal Available Now. Brand.com

Brand -‐ Beta brand name +brand +name Brand Name -‐ Official Try Our New Widgets Today! Best Deal Available Now. Brand.com

Brand -‐ Beta brand.com +brand.com Brand.com -‐ Official Try Our New Widgets Today! Best Deal Available Now. Brand.com

Non-‐Brand -‐ Alpha cool product [cool product] Buy a Cool Product Try Our Cool Product Today. Best Deal Available Now. Brand.com/Cool-‐Product

Non-‐Brand -‐ Alpha new cool product [new cool product] Buy a New Cool Product Try Our New Cool Product Today. Best Deal Available Now. Brand.com/New-‐Cool-‐Product

Non-‐Brand -‐ Alpha other product [other product] Buy a Other Product Try Our Other Product Today. Best Deal Available Now. Brand.com/Other-‐Product

Non-‐Brand -‐ Beta cool product +cool +product Buy a Cool Product Try Our Cool Product Today. Best Deal Available Now. Brand.com/Cool-‐Product


• Performance warrants unique keyword – corresponding alpha neg will fix mapping issues Alpha promotion

• When problem query exists as an alpha Confirm alpha negatives

•  Fixes cross-‐matching when a target keyword exists & term does not qualify for alpha promotion

Ad group level negatives

•  If misspellings or alternative keyword variations are capturing the same queries as other keywords

Pause/remove keywords

4 ways to fix bad mapping within Alpha-Beta


SEE YOU AT THE NEXT #SMX!

THANK YOU!

management friendly alpha-beta by caitlin halpert

Marketing