Larry Kim's Presentation for Pubcon 2014 Las Vegas -- Hacking AdWords!The Top 10 Greatest Hacks of All Time

1. Hacking AdWords!
The Top 10 Greatest Hacks of All Time
Presented by: Larry Kim
Founder/CTO, WordStream, Inc.
@larrykim #pubcon

2. @larrykim #pubcon
About Me
Larry Kim (@larrykim)
•Founder / CTO of WordStream
•Commander of Quality Score
Rebellion
•Had Kid 5 Months Ago! #ppckid

3. @larrykim #pubcon
Today’s Agenda
• The 10 Greatest PPC Hacks of All Time!

4. You’re an AdWords Hacker … and a
Traitor!

6. Slides Can Be Downloaded From Slideshare!
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• bit.ly/pubcon-2014

7. #10.
QUALITY SCORE IN
ADWORDS
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10. Why You Should
Care About
Quality Score?!

11. Quality Score Impacts Ad Rankings
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12. Quality Score Impacts Cost Per Click
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13. Quality Score Impacts Impression Share
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14. Impression Share 2x More Competitive On Mobile!

15. Quality Score Impacts Cost Per Conversion
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16. So Get a High Quality Score!
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17. How is Quality Score
Really Calculated?

18. Expected Click Through Rate
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19. QS is Based on Your CTR vs. Expected CTR
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20. A Crazy Hack To Increase Quality Scores
• Allocate 10% of Budget To
Raise Account Average
Quality Scores
• Delete the Bottom Third of
Your AdWords Account
(Shift budget to
Remarketing instead)
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21. Example Crappy Account
• 2/3rd of Keywords
Underperform
Expected CTR,
• 1/3rd of Keywords
Beat Expected
CTR

22. The Junk Keywords Kill The Account
• Even the above
average CTR
keywords have
very low Quality
Scores!

23. Example Amazing Account
• 1/3rd of Keywords
Underperform
Expected CTR,
• 2/3rd of Keywords
Beat Expected
CTR

24. High CTR Keywords = Get Out of Jail Free!
• Even the
Keywords with
0% CTR have
Quality Scores of
7/10 or 10/10!!

25. What’s A Good Quality
Score These Days?

26. Typical Quality Score Distribution
• Today, Average
~5/10
• Previously it was
7/10
• As average values
drift lower, above
average QS worth
up to 200% more
than before!

27. So What To Do With My Keywords?
@larrykim #pubcon
• If Your Keyword’s Quality Score is…
– 1to 3: Delete Immediately
– 4 to 6: Fix / Optimize
– 7 to 10: Don’t Mess with Success

28. But.. High Quality Scores Aren’t
Possible In my Industry!!
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29. Real Estate Industry Quality Scores

30. E-Commerce Industry Quality Scores

31. Finance Industry Quality Scores

33. But.. Google Says Not To Obsess About
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Quality Score!!

35. Key Finding #1: Google is Downplaying
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Quality Score
Quality Score Is a Helpful Diagnostic Tool, Not a Key
Performance Indicator
•Why: Your Quality Score is like a warning light in a car’s
engine that shows how healthy your ads and keywords are. It’s
not meant to be detailed metric that should be the focus of
account management
-- Source: bit.ly/qs-whitepaper

36. But Wait – What About This?!
“QS is important in order for your ads to be successful … QS plays a
key role in determining your ad's position and how much you'll pay
for a click. In general, the more relevant your ad, the higher your QS – and
the higher your QS, the better your position and the less you will have to
pay for a click...Being successful with AdWords means getting your
products or services in front of the people who are most likely to become
your customers and a high Quality Score can help make that happen.”
-- Source: What is AdWords Quality Score and Why Does It Matter?"
from Google (2011)
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37. @larrykim #pubcon

38. Key Finding #2: They Withhold Key Information

39. Remember: Quality Score Graded on a Curve

42. Low CTR = Losing
PPC Strategy

43. Quick Recap
• Below Avg. CTR = Low QS
• Low QS means…
– Less prominent ad positions
– Very low impression share
– Huge CPC penalties (+400%
Tax)
– High Cost Per Conversion
(+64%)

44. The HIGH CTR Game for AdWords
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• Be Very Picky. Bid on Only the Best
Keywords and Get HIGH CTRs.
• Delete Junk Keywords (Bottom Third of
your Account)
• PRO TIP: Use impression weighted
average quality scores for Campaigns &
Accounts (ignore keyword-level QS)

45. @larrykim #pubcon
#9.
UNICORN ADS

46. @larrykim #pubcon
Which Ad Wins?
• Ad A
– 2,423 Impressions
– 453 clicks (1.4% CTR)
– Average Position: 2.8
• Ad B
– 36,223 Impressions
– 760 clicks (2.1% CTR)
– Average Position: 3.0

47. Trick Question! They Both Suck
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• Neither ad is worth
declaring a
“Winner”.
• Not even the 2.1%
CTR in the 3.0 Avg.
Position.
• Why??

48. What’s a Good CTR These
Days?
(It’s Higher Than You Think)

49. Google Expects More Of Your Ads

50. Big Performance Inequalities Here

51. Crap Ads Vs. Unicorns!!
Percentile Vs. Expected
CTR
Name
Bottom 50% Below
Expected CTR
CRAP ADS
Top 15% 2X Higher Awesome
Advertisers
Top 5% 3x Higher Super
Awesome
Advertisers
Top 1% 6x Higher!! Unicorns!!!

52. Unicorns Ads?! (6x Avg. CTR!)

54. 1. Keywords With High Commercial Intent
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55. 2. Dynamic Keyword Insertion? (DKI)

56. 2. DKI Doesn’t Produce As Many Unicorns

57. 3. Use of Ad Extensions?

58. 3. Use of Ad Extensions? (Impact on CTR)

59. 3. Ad Extensions has Small Impact on QS

60. 3. Ad Extensions has Small Impact on QS

61. How To Write
“Unicorn” Ads
(Top 1%,
6x Average CTR)

62. Most Ads Suck (+90%)
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63. The Hack: Try Ads That Trigger Emotions!
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64. This Beats Avg. CTR by 6x !
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65. .. Because All The Other Ads Suck!

66. Ad Unicorns are Rare & Beautiful Creatures!
Name Percentile Relative
Abundance
Vs.
Expected
CTR
Awesome
Ads
Top 15% 1:6.7 2X Higher
Super
Awesome
Ads
Top 5% 1:20 3x Higher
Unicorns Top 1% 1:100 6x
Higher!!

67. You Need To Test 100 DIFFERENT Ads..

68. The Bar is Very Low Here…

69. 5% of Ads Soak Up 85% of Impressions
• You Just
Need to
Find 1
Unicorn
Ad!!

70. #8.
CRAZY OFFERS
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71. What’s a Good Conversion Rate for PPC?
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72. The Top 10% of Landing Pages Have 3-5x
Higher Conversion Rates
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Distribution
Point
All accounts Ecommerce Legal B2B Finance
Median
Conversion
Rate
2.35% 1.84% 2.07% 2.23% 5.01%
Top 25%
Conversion
Rate
5.31% 3.71% 4.12% 4.31% 11.19%
Top 10%
Conversion
Rate
11.45% 6.25% 6.46% 11.70% 24.48%

73. Landing Page Unicorns?!
(+3-5x Avg. Conversion Rate!)
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74. The Great Landing Page
Optimization Fairy Tale
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• We Changed the:
– Font Type
– Spacing
– Button Color
– Image
– Etc.
• We got a 5%
Increase in Conversions!!*

75. PTD- Premature Testing Dilemma (aka
“Optimizatitis”)
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76. Conventional Landing Page
Optimization is Over-Rated
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• Small Changes Result In
Small Changes
• % Change You Think You
Got is Often Just Noise
or Wishful Thinking

77. Re-Arranging Deck Chairs On the Titanic..

78. Aim for 3-5x Improvements! (not 3-5%!)

79. What Do Landing Page
Unicorns
Look Like?

80. 1. Change Your Offer
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81. @larrykim #pubcon
The New Offer
• How To Know If
Your Offer
Stinks:
– 2% Conversion
Rate or Less
– Ask Your
Prospects!

82. 2. Radically Change The Flow

83. 2. New Registration Flow

84. 3. Let Users Choose / Leverage
Emotional Triggers
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85. Landing Page Unicorns are Rare &
Beautiful Creatures!
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Name Percentile Relative
Abundance
Vs.
Expected
Conversion
Rate
Awesome
Landing
Pages
Top 25% 1:4 2x Higher
Unicorns Top 10% 1:10 3-5x
Higher!!

86. @larrykim #pubcon

87. Note: This is the Same Landing Page
with Different Spacing…
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88. The Bar is Pretty Low

89. 80% of Impressions go to 10% of Landing Pages
• You Just
Need 1
Killer
Offer!

90. OMG - Just One Landing Page?!!
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Larry Kim (@larrykim) #mnsearch

91. YES - One Unicorn is Usually Enough!
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Larry Kim (@larrykim) #mnsearch

92. #7.
GMAIL SPONSORED
PROMOTIONS
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93. @larrykim #pubcon

94. Subject Line and Teaser
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95. Email Ads! (HTML)
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96. The Hack: Target Your Competitor’s Emails
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97. #6.
PEOPLE BASED
MARKETING (NOT IN
ADWORDS!)
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98. Custom Audiences in Facebook
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99. Tailored Audiences in Twitter
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100. The Hack: Think of PPC More Like Email
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Marketing
Email Marketing
• Limit Number of Blasts To Reduce
Unsubscribes
• 0.5-2% Unsubscribes Each Blast
• People Need To Opt Into Your List
• Tons of Unqualified Emails on the
List
People Based Marketing
• N/A
• N/A
• N/A
• N/A

101. @larrykim #pubcon
#5.
CRAZY MOBILE
STRATEGIES

102. Mobile Changes The Flow In a Big Way
OMG a
Call
Button!!
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103. Mobile Changes The Flow In a Big Way!
Desktop Search Conversion Funnel
1. Sees Ad 1. Sees Ad
2. Clicks On Ad
3. Visits Website
Landing Page
4. Captured Lead
Mobile Conversion Funnel
2. Calls
Business
3% Avg.
Conversion
Rate
3. Lead
Captured!!
Calls to Businesses worth on Average 3x More Than
Clicks to Websites!!

104. The Hack: Forget about Mobile Sites and
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Landing Pages!

105. #4.
QUALITY SCORE FOR
GOOGLE DISPLAY
NETWORK
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106. Quality Score Exists on Google Display
Network!!
Higher
CTR =
Lower
CPC
Higher
CTR =
Lower
CPC
A 0.1%
increase/decrease in
CTR yields ~20%
increase/decrease in
CPC!

107. The Hack: Create Display Ads With Above Avg. CTR
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108. 1. Push Ads To Your Offers

109. Do a Conversion Path Analysis
Define audience
segments using the
pages that most often
lead to a conversion
event

110. 2. Push Ads To Your Content
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111. 5% of Articles Generate 50% of Social Media
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Engagement

113. The Hack: Same Emotions Make People
Click on Ads and Content

115. Mark Your Calendar!
• Remarketing and Retargeting in 2014
• Wednesday 3:50, Salon F
– Erin Sagin – WordStream
– Tim Mayer – Trueffect
– Sean Dolan – PushFire
– Rob Garner - Advice Interactive Group
@larrykim #pubcon

116. #3.
REMARKETING LISTS
FOR SEARCH ADS
(RLSA)
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117. Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA)
• Customize Ads To
Users Who Previously
Visited Your Site
• On Average Doubles
Click Through Rates
(Raises Quality Score)
and Cuts CPC’s in
Half!!

118. @larrykim #pubcon
#2.
IN-MARKET
SEGMENTS

119. In Market Segments & Similar Audiences
to Increase Reach!
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120. @larrykim #pubcon
#1.
FIRST MOVER
ADVANTAGE

121. A Thousand New Features Each Year
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• Over 1000 New Features
in last 12 Months
• Innovation is Accelerating
• Much more if you Include
Bing Ads, Twitter,
Linkedin, Facebook, etc.

122. +Post Ads on Google+
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• Released in April 2014
• Google+ Updates Show
Up All Over The Web as
Ads!

124. Impact on G+ Page Visibility Before &
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After
After
Before

125. The Flywheel Effect: Paid Social Promotion
Generates Organic Engagement
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126. TrueView Ads on YouTube
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• People spend 6 Billion
Hours on YouTube /
Month
• Pay Nothing if People
Click “Skip Ad”
• Ridiculously Powerful
Targeting Options

127. Summary: The Top 10 AdWords Hacks of All Time!
@larrykim #pubcon
1. Say No to Low CTR!
2. Unicorn Ads Get Up To 6x
Average CTR
3. Unicorn Offers Get 3-5x
Average Conversion Rates
4. Forget About Mobile
Websites and Landing
Pages
5. Quality Score has Huge
Impact on Display Ads
6. Use RLSA to Double Click
Through Rates / Reduce CPC
in Half
7. Expand Display Ad Reach with
In-Market Segments
8. Get in People’s Gmail
Inboxes!
9. Target Specific People on
Facebook and Twitter
10.Always Be the First Mover!

128. Flywheel Effect: Paid
Don’t Settle For Average – Be a Unicorn Among a Sea of
Donkey Advertisers!
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129. Thank You PUBCON!
• Download Slides Here: bit.ly/pubcon-2014
@larrykim #pubcon