You're doing so many things right in PPC, but your competitors still seem to be gaining an edge on you. Nevermore! It's time to get on your boxing gloves and start fighting with smart strategy and tips your competitors don't know about (yet!). From quality score to ad extentions to conquesting, be ready to be a smarter PPC manager. Join experts Erin Sagin from Wordstream and Hayley Cummings from Hanapin as they discuss 10 tips, tricks, and strategies that will keep you ahead of the game and running past your competition. Visit www.wordstream.com or http://www.hanapinmarketing.com/ for more information.

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BE SMARTER!
10 WAYS TO OUTSMART YOUR PPC COMPETITION

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The Agenda!
#1 Focus on Quality Scores
#2 Implement Ad Extensions
#3 Auction Insights
#4 Conquesting
#5 Identify new opps through your search query report
#6 Re-build & Restructure
#7 Utilize Bid Rules
#8 RLSA
#9 Participate in Betas
#10 Keep Up With The Experts

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#1 Get Your Quality Score Discount
Google wants you to create relevant, engaging ad content
Quality Score discounts give advertisers an incentive to develop good content
Quality Score Your CPC vs. QS = 5
10 Discounted by: 50%
9 Discounted by: 44.4%
8 Discounted by: 37.5%
7 Discounted by: 28.6%
6 Discounted by: 16.7%
5 -------------------------------
4 Increased by: 25%
3 Increased by: 67%
2 Increased by: 150%
1 Increased by: 400%

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QS Impact on Actual CPC

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Components of Quality Score
A few reminders on Quality Score:
 It can take anywhere from 4-6
weeks to see updates to QS
Google periodically renormalizes
the average WS to 5
 Average QS fluctuates by
industry
New keywords’ QS is impacted
by the performance of existing,
related keywords
Device DOES matter for QS
calculations

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#2 Implement Ad Extensions
Ad Extensions are a critical component of PPC
campaigns
 Simple, quick set-up
 No additional costs
 Variety of format (Call, Sitelink, Location, etc.) and
scheduling options
 In-depth reporting available through AdWords
Benefits?
 Higher Ad Rank
 More SERP Real Estate
 Increased CTRs

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Improve Ad Rank

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Boost Visibility and CTRs

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What I was looking for was right in front of me all along …
#3 Auction Insights

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Preliminary Questions
Decide which campaign you are most concerned with:
a) All campaigns
b) Just one or two
c) One specific keyword theme or group
Once you know what to focus on, check out where you stand!

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How to Pull the Data
Now let’s walk through how to start looking at the data
1. Log into your AdWords account
2. Select the campaign/group that you want to analyze
3. Select the ‘Details’ button (below)
4. Then select ‘All’

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What Does This Data Show Us?
From here you can see where you stand compared to your
competition for the following metrics:
• Impressions share
• Avg position
• Overlap rate
• Position above rate
• Top of page rate
Make sure you are looking at competitors that are closely related to
your brand.

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Next Steps
Now that you know where you stand, what can be done about this?
Impression Share Loss Metrics:
• Build your share by increasing you daily budget
• Build your share by increasing you bids
• Make sure you are on the first page or, if you choose to be
more aggressive, top of page
Revisit in 3 months and set a quarterly reminder moving forward.

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#4 Conquesting
Bidding on your competition’s brand terms: When is this OK?
First things first, are they bidding on your terms?

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How Do You Know if You Should Conquest?
After looking into your Auction Insights data, you can now revisit this looking
at your branded terms only.
Answer these questions to qualify a Conquesting campaign:
1. How much impression share are they gaining from your brand?
2. Has your branded CPC increased over the past 3 – 6 months?
3. How has that CPC increase effected your ability to garner the same
number of clicks/conversions?
Once you have made a good case for bidding on a competitor’s brand terms, you will
be ready to move forward. Let’s be sure to set some realistic expectations…

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Be Sure to Set Some Expectations
Remember this audience is already telling us what brand they are loyal to
and(or) done the research on. What does this mean for us?
• They will not likely click on our ads – CTR will be low
• However, if they do, you should see that they are much more engaged
and likely to purchase – Conversion Rate should be higher

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How Should You Set Up Your Campaigns?
How do you ensure you are setting your campaign up for the MOST
success possible?
• Utilize a strong call to action and research what your competition is
offering and beat it / meet it.
• This will draw their eye to your ad and entice the click
• Focus on your strengths
• How are you better than your competition? Put it in the ads!
• Be selective about your keywords
• Focus on tightly themed, exact match terms to avoid bidding on
even less relevant traffic

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#5 Mine Your Search Terms Report
Your Search Terms Report is a gold mine just
waiting to be tapped into…
Utilize this report regularly to:
Develop a better understanding of what searches are triggering your
PPC Ads
 Discover new keyword opportunities with high potential
 Identify and weed out negative keywords

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Where can I find my Search Terms Report?
1. Head to the
Campaigns tab in
AdWords
2. View Keywords
3. Click the details
button above the
statistics table
4. Select “All” from
the dropdown
menu

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PPC Advisor QueryStream

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Don’t let your competitors outsmart you when it comes to the simplest of
tasks. Your account structure and content determines everything…so DO
IT RIGHT!!
#6 Rebuild & Restructure

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Why is it Important to Segment Your Match Types?
If you cannot be sure you are prioritizing the most valuable terms, then
you risk your competitor stealing share of voice.
• If you have a higher bid set at the broad match level than the exact
match level, the algorithm could prioritize the broad keyword
• Segment by group so you can prioritize your most valuable, exact
match terms first
• Negative the exact match versions of those terms in the broad (and
phrase) match groups

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What Could Happen if You Don’t?
Here is what you will be risking:
• Running through your budget on a less relevant audience 
• Showing less relevant ad copy because we can’t be 100% sure what
the broad match query will be 
• Landing your potential buyers on a less than specific page 

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#7 Utilize Bid Rules
I know you’re busy so let’s take advantage of some of those free tools
available to use right in AdWords.
Use
Bid Rules

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Where Can I Find This Option?
Setting up bid rules can be as simple or complicated as you make it.
Determine what you really desire and make it so!
• Start by logging into AdWords and navigating to your high priority
campaigns/group/terms
• Once there you can select the keywords or ad group tab (if not already
there)
• You will see a ‘Bid Strategy’ button (below)

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Bid Strategies
Once you have selected the ‘Bid Strategy’ you will be able to choose
from the following options:

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Automate Options
Or you can select ‘Automate’ which will provide the following options:

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#8 RLSA
Keep your audience aware, engaged and motivated by prioritizing them
EVERY time they search. Don’t let your competition steal potential
buyers whom you have already informed.

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What is RLSA?
RLSA, also known (at Hanapin) as RFS, means Remarketing For Search.
This means you can remarket to those who have been to your site as they
continue to search right within the SERP.
What can you do?
• Prioritize certain audiences with higher bids
• You can customize ads to those who have previously visited your site
and(or) taken a specific or high value action
This will allow you to:
• Set a separate budget for those who are searching for related terms and
are already brand conscious

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Why Should We Focus on This?
This audience should be the HIGHEST priority as they are;
• Raising their hands and asking for MORE information (unlike
remarketing within a Display Network)
• They are previously qualified as being brand aware (which will
lower your risk)
• They are telling us they are still ‘in-market’ by continuing to
search (also lowering your risk)
o Exclude your converters!

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#9 Participate In AdWords Betas
Be on the cutting edge for new features
Many marketers assume that they must be invited to join a new beta
program. Don’t wait for an invite—be proactive! 9 times out of 10, all
you have to do is ask.
 Keep an eye out for Betas that you may want to participate in
 Contact your AdWords Rep/Certified Partner for application details
 Be sure to comply with all AdWords requirements

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Betas We’ve Seen Success With
Gmail Sponsored Promotions
 Rather than using Managed Placements to
show ads on the Gmail platform, use advanced
options to target Gmail ads by email address,
subject line, job title and product category
• 80% decrease in CPA
• 11% CTR
Google Merchant Promotions
 Append special offers to Shopping Ads to
distinguish ads from competitors and
encourage more clicks
• 25% decrease in CPA
• 36% increase in conversions
• 16% increase in revenue
• 13% increase in ROAS

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#10 Keep Up With the Experts
There’s no shortage of PPC content online,
keep on top of it!
Use a news aggregator to follow industry news
o Search Engine Journal
o Seach Engine Watch
o ClickZ
o PPC Hero
o WordStream
Participate in #ppcchat (Tuesdays at 12PM EST)
Attend SEM conferences
Keep watching webinars!

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Have more questions?
• Contact us Directly:
» Hanapin Feedback: marketing@hanapinmarketing.com
Wordstream Feedback: marketing@wordstream.com