Vivian Chang, a paid search consultant at Apogee Search, took a few minutes to speak with me about event driven paid search campaigns. Vivian shared a few tips and best practices that she has learned while managing event driven paid search campaigns for Apogee’s clients.
Vivian began by explaining that event driven paid search campaigns are paid search campaigns that focus on promoting a specific event. Event driven campaigns (versus a typical paid search campaign) are time sensitive and usually have a more substantial call to action.
Event driven paid search campaigns can be successful for almost any type of event. Vivian mentioned a few examples such as fundraisers, 5K walks and runs, conferences and retail sales.
When marketers plan for this type of campaign, they need to consider the strategy and goals of the campaign. Marketers should ensure that the paid search messaging is consistent with all media and promotions surrounding the event. The landing page should include all of the logistical details and include information on registering for, or attending the event. Conveying key information within the ad copy can prevent unqualified visitors from clicking on your ad and costing you money.
Vivian offered some additional helpful tips for advertisers to consider when running an event driven paid search campaign:
Think about the timing of the ads. How far in advance will your attendees realistically need information on the event? Use this information to shape the dates that you run the ads.
Include a call to action. The goal is to convey as much relevant information as possible. This can keep unqualified traffic from clicking on your ad.
Geo-targeting your ads to specific cities or regions helps target only those who can participate in your event. You don’t want to waste money on clicks from people who support your event but are physically unable to attend it.
Use negative keywords. View Google’s search query report to determine the keywords that are sending traffic you don’t want.
Think about your keyword selection. Remember you want to generate awareness so broad keywords are beneficial.
Use higher bids than for normal campaigns because you want your ads to show up quickly for a short period of time.
Adjust bids and keywords as data becomes available. Google provides several tools to see what keywords are driving the most traffic, and what traffic is actually converting.
Google announced last week that it will start selling TV ads for NBC/Universal’s cable stations, a historical opportunity for both the television station and the search engine giant.
The agreement would allow Google TV ads to buy time on six of the NBC’s cable stations, including MSNBC, Oxygen and C-NBC. The companies will split the revenue from the commercials, although it is unknown how many ad spots NBC will make available to Google. Both companies have said there is a possibility that they will eventually make the service available for NBC ‘s local markets, including a Spanish speaking network and multiple NBC-owned websites.
“In NBCU, we’ve found another partner that shares Google’s commitment to innovation, research and the power of technology,” states Google’s official media blog. “With valuable feedback from advertisers, agencies and inventory partners, we’ve continued to evolve and strengthen the Google TV Ads platform.”
“This is just a continuing effort to try to find ways to take the transactional burden out of the mix, so that we can, all of us, focus on making advertising more effective for our clients,” said Mike Pilot, NBC Universal’s president-sales and marketing. “That’s what they care about at the end of the day.”
According to recent press reports, Google has begun similar programs, or Web tools, for users to buy ad space for both radio and print.
Google introduced a new tool on June 24th called Ad Planner. Ad Planner is marketed as a research and media planning tool that will give advertisers another method of measuring their media audience and ROI. It seems to be targeted to reach the long-tail or niche consumers. Currently, Ad Planner is in a beta version and is available for use by invitation only. The service will be free and available to all after the initial trial period.
Ad Planner offers several, interesting features. It allows companies to search for attractive Web sites to place their ads on using specific, demographic, and usage criteria. Ad Planner can also provide keywords that can be used as search terms.
In addition, companies are able to determine what other Web sites their target audience visits. Business product manager of Google, Wayne Lin, cited the example of ESPN.com, showing that visitors to this site also tend to visit cnnsi.com and Cubs.com.
There are, however; some concerns with Google Ad Planner. For instance, the service is not equipped with costs or a brokerage system in order to enable buying. Subsequently, companies will need to seek out vendors or professional media buyers. Also, Ad Planner must be used in conjunction with other, often costly services. The service should be seen as a starting point and used in addition to other research tools.
Although Google Ad Planner may be a useful tool, it should be used with carefulness and caution. Google claims to use outside data as well as their own, but they do not disclose any specific sources. Users should also be concerned about the conflicts of interest since Google sells advertising space.
The tool has some potential, but it lacks services that are necessary to media planning.
