Testing Ads & Calls-to-Action in Large or Enterprise Level PPC Accounts

THE RIGHT CTA AT THE RIGHT TIME

John A. LeeManaging Partner of Clix Marketing – search marketing agency specializing in PPC, display advertising and social advertising. In the search game for 7 years. Articles have appeared on Search Engine Watch, Clix Marketing Blog, PPC Hero, SEO Boy, Website Magazine, Wordstream Blog and more.

Testing Ads in Large/Enterprise Accounts is a Headache

Why Are Large Accounts a Problem?

Large number of campaigns.

Due to segmentation, campaigns and ad groups are repeated.

More campaigns = more time and effort.

Why Are Enterprise Accounts a Problem?

Campaigns and ad groups are repeated across multiple accounts.

Time and effort to test is multiplied by number of accounts.

So… How Do You Test Ads and Calls-to-Action?MICRO VS. MACRO TESTING

Micro Ad TestingOPTION 1

What is Micro Ad Testing?

It is PPC management 101: Isolate an ad group.

Confirm ad test data is statically relevant.

Make a decision. Pause an ad.

Insert new ad for testing.

Move to the next ad group.

Why is that bad? It isn’t bad!

Just a time and resource drain.

If you have the time or physical resources – have at it!

Macro Ad TestingOPTION 2

What is Macro Ad Testing

Efficient, Large Scale Ad Testing Test the same message or call-to-

action across many campaigns and ad groups.

Consolidate ad performance data.

Speed up testing processes.

Potential Negatives Averages lie.

May not be writing the “perfect” ad for every ad group.

Large number of variables.

Have to accept that Macro testing is a compromise.

The Macro Ad Testing Process

How to Conduct Macro Ad Testing

Maintain rigid campaign and ad group structure and naming conventions.

Use labels in AdWords or comments in AdWords Editor.

Eliminate testing variables.

Adhere to PPC best practices as much as possible.

Part 1 – The Guidelines

AdWords Editor Comments

How to Conduct Macro Ad Testing

Pull all of the ad data into a spreadsheet.

Best case scenario: create pivot table based on labels or comments.

Alternative: sort/manipulate spreadsheet based on any element then pivot from that perspective.

Make a decision on winning/losing ads.

Pause losing ads. Launch new ads for testing.

Rinse/Repeat.

Part 2 – Pivot Tables Are Your Friend

Resource for Pivot Tables: bit.ly/ppc-pivots-rock

Courtesy of Get Found First & Mark Jenson

Thank You!Want to Chat?

Twitter: @john_a_lee

Email: john@clixmarketing.com