Jonathan Mendez's Blog

Landing Page Optimization Part 2: Search Ads

Marketers optimizing landing pages often neglect to look at a key element in that optimization equation. The ad.

The Reason:

Testing results recently showed a 61% impact on conversion rate In Google for a particular ad with the first description line having the greatest impact on that performance. Display ads are being tested as well. This proves what many marketers have thought but there has been no easy way to prove. Ads impact the user experience and thus conversion rate of the landing page. Smart marketers are now going further up the user pathway from the landing page to the ad itself to optimize for metrics like conversion rate, average order value and brand engagement.

The History:

The purpose of the ad, to generate interest, has not changed since papyrus was first used by the ancient Egyptians. The ad tells the user a little bit about your product, service or company. The ad messages benefits and promotions. The ad sets expectations. If the user has arrived from an ad to your page they have uniformly expressed an interest. Your landing pages will have success if you leverage that pre-generated user interest.

The Best Practice:

The best way to leverage this interest is to reinforce the messaging in the ad on the landing page. Obviously the user liked what you said enough to click through. Make sure you bridge that second or two of page load with reinforcement of the original messaging. A second or two in the flow of a user experience is more than enough time for the user to lose focus or become distracted. Again, many tests have validated the effectiveness of messaging reinforcement (not only on the landing page, but throughout the conversion funnel).

The Ad Title:

Reinforcement from paid search should begin with the ad title. Many times the keyword will be the title of your ad. This is where the advantages of dynamic landing pages are evident. The ability to target messaging based on the keyword and ad is critical to getting the most out of your conversion rate by creating the most relevance. Dynamic targeted content delivery enables us to present a triumvirate of keyword reinforcement from query to ad title to landing page headline. This is likely the single most important optimization measure for your landing pages.

The Ad Description:

But let’s not forget my metric form the first paragraph. It’s also important to reinforce your description. Sometimes this is the most important part of the ad to optimize. Why? One interesting theory on this is that with so many advertisers doing keyword insertion in the ad title the SERP is full of exactly the same titles so the users are looking more carefully at the description.

Example: Your AdGroup for Bruno Magli has keyword match for a “bruno magli shoes” in the title however your description messages a current promotion in the men’s shoe category. The best route for this add is likely to a Bruno Magli category page (too often retailers do not have branded category pages, a large mistake since many users search by brand). On that landing page the promotion should be clearly messaged again. This may sound obvious but it’s amazing how many marketers don’t take the time ensure this type of reinforcement (as you can see if you click on the actual ads from the SERP link above).

The Visible URL:

The last factor of the search ad is the visible URL. Of course if your URL has the keyword in it you are one step ahead of the game. But what if it does not? A few search marketers have been effective adding the keyword to the end of the visible url after a backslash. While I have seen mixed results (though it’s never done precipitously worse) sometimes this can add a small factor on both clicks and conversion rates.

The Plan:

Much of your ability to do ad optimization is predicated on how your AdGroups are structured. This speaks to another important and often overlooked point. How you set your campaign hierarchy and group your keywords will have a lot to do with how well you can optimize your ads and your landing pages. One great practice is put your top performing keywords in AdGroups by themselves or with similar root keywords to get the most out of optimization.

The Verdict:

Optimizing your ads is the critical middle step in holistic methodology of optimization. Ad optimization both in display and search is a practice that is going to explode over the next year. The ad is the bridge between the user query and the landing page. It plays an essential and important part in your campaigns. Start taking a holistic view of landing page optimization that includes the query and the ad and you will see the results.

Search Behavior Targeting: Determining Targeted Content Viability and Messaging on Landing Pages

There is no more precise behavioral targeting technique than delivering relevant content by targeting the search query. The search query itself is indisputably the closest we can come as marketers to gaining insight into the goals, motivations and stage of users. This enables us to deliver the right messages, content and images that are relevant. Additionally, using search as our source medium enables us to deliver to our targets at the right place and the right time, when they are engaged in goal fulfillment. So Search Behavior Targeting (SBT) gives us the holy grail of right place, right time, right message…can’t top that!

Of course the odds of delivering relevancy from search are already higher than any other form of media based on the pull factor of the medium. Doing Search Behavior Targeting on landing pages further increases these odds of delivering relevancy. The result is higher conversion rates on your landing pages and experiences.

I’ve created and used the outline below to help guide the thought process around SBT. Please share with me your thoughts. I expect use of SBT as an optimization technique to explode over the next 12 months but there’s no reason to wait. Let’s get started…

I. Keyword or AdGroup Targeting
Determining Factors:
• Traffic per keyword
• Traffic per AdGroup
• Campaign Hierarchy

I’ve discussed the benefits of high-level segmentation here before. These rules hold true for targeted content delivery as well. The idea is to discover where the greatest impact can be made. This can be keyword level or AdGroup / campaign level.

It’s very important that you first examine the campaign hierarchy. How the keywords are grouped will determine if you can target across multiple keywords. For example:

Retirement AdGroup:
kw1 - retirement savings
kw2 - retirement account
kw3 - retirement information
kw4 - retirement planning

This AdGroup may seem like a good targeting group however a closer look shows us that there are two higher consideration keywords (planning and information) alongside two keywords more down funnel (savings and account). This gives us a few options. Realign the AdGroup or do keyword level targeting. In fact these keywords would be perfectly suited for stem targeting described in section three.

II. Targeted Message Determination
Factors:
• Ad Title & Descriptions
• Broad and Exact Match Settings
• Traffic Volumes

Setting our targets is only part of the strategy. The second part is determining what messages to deliver. Our initial strategy will be predicated on a few factors. We must keep in mind the user has already engaged with us by clicking on the ad. Whatever title and description we used in our creative must have aligned with the users attempts to fulfill their goal. We should always look to reinforce this feeling upon the user landing experience.

Here though, it’s important to think about how the ads are displayed. If you are ads are being served on broad or expanded match there is going to be a loss of relevance. Imagine if the AdGroup we used above was just the keyword “retirement” on expanded match (not likely due to the CPC but you get the idea). Not only is there a loss of relevance to the user query but also we lose the reinforcement benefits of exact match (though we will still be able to repeat the query).

The last thing to consider on the campaign level is traffic. If you are doing targeting on this level but a majority of the traffic is on one keyword you may want to skew your messages towards this keyword or blend messages from a couple of your top volume keywords.

III. Basic Search Behavior Targeting Ideas:
• Branded vs. Generic
• Stem targeting (e.g. “retirement information” information is the stem)
• Keyword reinforcement
• Channel reinforcement
• Ad reinforcement

Above are some specific examples of ideas that would work well in delivering targeted content from paid search. Someone familiar enough or interested in your brand to query it should get a much stronger brand experience on the landing page than someone who has used a more general keyword. This may be images, larger logo and tag lines or just content.

Another interesting idea is stem targeting. Instead of delivering targeted content based on the root keyword you can deliver based on what is often times a better indicator of user phase and motivation, the stem. Looking at our original keyword examples above the stems on the keyword ‘retirement’ are “information, planning, account, and savings.” These stems present a great opportunity to deliver relevancy.

One simple idea that I’ve found very effective for increasing conversion rates and is employed on sites like Kayak is the keyword and channel reinforcement. Repeating the keyword phrase helps maintain the user flow and reinforces that you will be able to help them achieve their goal. It’s also helpful if an expanded keyword match was used and the ad title on generated part of the query. Of course if the user clicked to your site they have expressed interest based on your ad. Reinforcing this messaging on the landing page can be effective as well.

Keep in mind we are only scratching the surface here. Factors such as previous search behavior (query and visits) will at some point become part of the optimization equation so marketers can provide even better relevance and experiences to users.

I’ll be speaking more about landing page optimization at the upcoming OMMA show on September 25th in New York. Please stop by and say hello if you’re at the show.

Delivering Contextual Relevance Through Segmentation

Mass marketing in the digital age means marketing to many segments of the entire mass. In fact, we all know the very idea of “mass marketing” is road kill. Technology allows us as marketers to understand the individual segments of our audience and deliver messages contextually relevant to each segment. In fact, segmentation is the strategic cornerstone of relevance and thus optimization.

Leveraging the power of data and technology for optimization will have a huge impact for your campaigns. Careful data analysis and test design also provides long-term value in the form of business intelligence, facilitating a window to the latent needs of the market. Over the past year, agencies and businesses alike have begun to use optimization and analytics for marketing in ways they never have and never could before, with outstanding results. Nowhere is the strategy becoming more prevalent than with the landing page.

Since about half of all online ad dollars go into paid search, landing page optimization can reap tremendous rewards. The very nature of search marketing affords us the opportunity to deliver contextual relevance in ways that were unimaginable to marketers just a decade ago. Also, these search-focused strategies transfer to other forms of user-controlled media or pull marketing, which should be gaining more attention in your marketing plans.

So that I may deliver contextual relevance myself, here are a few basic landing page optimization examples (in the guise of a clothing retailer) of delivering contextual relevance based on high-impact segmentation:

Keyword – If the visitor’s search query included color specificity the product landing page will display the color match product image and have supporting copy for the color that matches the user query.

Geo - It’s the middle of January. As a clothing retailer I show down jackets and snow boots on my homepage to users from Maine however I show polo shirts and loafers to my users from Florida.

Referrer – Visitors from the comparative shopping engines will land on product pages optimized with additional product options matching their category interest since these visitors are likely still in the consideration phase.

Stage - A customer that purchased shoes will be shown socks and belts should they return to the homepage within 30 days of their purchase. Should they return after the season changes (if they live in a seasonal climate) they’ll be show the season’s newest shoes.

An often-overlooked one…

Language – My visitor used a Spanish language search query or came from a Spanish language site deliver so her landing page will be in Spanish.

After you’ve discovered the high impact segment you want to optimize that’s when the fun begins. Through the wonder of JavaScript (the bedrock for most of the next-generation web applications), delivering relevant messages through targeted content delivery on your landing pages as exemplified above can be implemented quickly and easily. As a digital marketer you will be able to wrestle control of content delivery away from the IT department and bring it where it belongs, your marketing department and your agency. Now that’s some very relevant segmentation indeed.

Rocket Up Your ROI with Contextual Relevance

Once you figure out how to deliver relevance to one of your key market segments I guarantee you’ll want to try again. And when you try it again you’ll wonder why you didn’t try it sooner. From beyond the universe to the planet OTTO, I present the ASTRO rules for delivering contextual relevance.

1. Analyze-Numbers tell a story
2. Segment- Meet your audience
3. Test- Listen to your audience
4. Repeat- Iterate off your learning
5. Optimize- Target relevant messages

Fasten your seatbelt and put on your helmet…your campaigns are about to take off!

Is it Real? YouTube’s “lonelygirl15”

Brilliant Hoax, Marketing Genius, or UGC Savant?
Whatever ends up happening with “lonelygirl15” it will be a fascinating study of online marketing prowess in the nascent world of user generated content (UGC) and social-media. If you’ve become a fan of YouTube as I have then you probably know who she is. Her two-minute video from last week has been viewed over half a million times. Over 2000 comments have been left about it. In the past two months her 24 “episodes” have been watched millions of times. By any measure, lonelygirl15 is a media star.

Her videos chronicle a 15 year-old life complete with the friend who wants to be more than friends, being home schooled, questioning religion and hating her strict parents. All really normal stuff that anyone in YouTube's demographic sweet spot can relate to. Clearly with the audience she has attained plenty do relate and don't find much unusual at all. In fact that's all part of the attraction.

However, as you watch the videos a few things that are unusual become very apparent. The resolution quality of the video is outstanding. The lighting in her bedroom, where most everything takes place, is perfect. The photography uses proportion to great effect. Add to this editing skills that are above even a professional level, multiple camera angles, a nice soundtrack edited into just the right spots, a biography and a subject that look right out of central casting and one will immediately question as I did, is this the work of a 15 year old girl? In fact, questioning the validity to this has started to pick up some chatter in the comments of her videos, a site devoted to her growing fandom, the NYTimes blog and others.

One thing is for certain. One of three scenarios will take place, all incredibly interesting. If she is real, and she has made these clips herself (or with her friend Daniel who she claims is the video genius) she has immediately mastered the genre and her future in it is secure. If it’s just a fraud then this is the first great hoax of the UGC era and hundreds of thousands of people will need to reassess their perspective of the medium. If it’s fake for commercial reasons (speculation has run in the comments and blogosphere that this is a marketing ploy for a new show or movie) then it is viral marketing genius that they could get away with this for over two months and generate so much low cost exposure and publicity for their endeavor.

Stay tuned...

UPDATE 9/08: LA Times has more info and a link from lonelygirl15 to Creative Artist Agency