Top 5 SEM Management Mistakes

1. Top 5 SEM Management Mistakes • Miles Olson • VP, Customer Engagement • SearchForce

2. THE COST OF MISTAKES Expected Performance Gain/Loss From. . . Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

3. TOP 5 MISTAKES Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

4. Mistake #1 Default Campaign Settings

5. Mistake #1 Default Campaign Settings • Is This What You Want? • . . . probably not. Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

6. Solution Default Campaign Settings Campaign Launch Checklist Write it down. Get 3rd party to review. Then launch. Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

7. Mistake #2 Conversion Tracking Issues

8. Mistake #2 Conversion Tracking Issues • What do you want to achieve with your search advertising dollars? • Lots of ad impressions • Traffic to my website • Car buyer leads • Vehicle sales The vast majority of agency-managed dealer search campaigns are being optimized for TRAFFIC! Source: My personal experience Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

9. Mistake #2 Conversion Tracking Issues Search Conversion Funnel Align Your Goals! Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

10. Mistake #2 Conversion Tracking Issues • You Only Get What You Optimize For. . . • Optimizing to maximize traffic will likely result in less leads. • The cheapest clicks are typically driving the lowest quality traffic. e.g. display network, general terms • Optimizing to maximize leads will likely result in less sales. • The cheapest conversions are typically the lowest quality leads. e.g. job seekers, business questions • So, why are agencies and dealerships doing this? Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

11. Solution Conversion Tracking Issues The most crucial step to improving ROI! Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

12. Mistake #3 Poor Keyword Matching

13. Mistake #3 Poor Keyword Matching Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

14. Mistake #3 Poor Keyword Matching Two Types of Keyword Matching Mistakes • Matching to the wrong searches • Matching to the wrong places Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

15. Mistake #3 Poor Keyword Matching Inappropriate Match SEARCH TERM KEYWORD AD GROUP used semi truck for sale +used +truck +sale Used Trucks used truck bed liners for sale +used +truck +sale Used Trucks used mack mixer trucks for sale +used +truck +sale Used Trucks Money Wasted Misdirected Match SEARCH TERM KEYWORD AD GROUP used ford f250 trucks sale +used +truck +sale Used Trucks lexus GX460 suvlexus lx570 suv Lexus LX570 used bmw x5 “used bmw” Used BMW used 2014 acurasuv +used +suv Used SUVs Money Poorly Spent Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

16. Mistake #3 Poor Keyword Matching • Impact on Bid Management • ROI-based bid management assumes a correlation between what users are searching for and conversion behavior (search query & conversion rate). • Example: People searching for a Toyota Prius are more likely to purchase a Toyota Prius than those searching for a Ford F-150. • Due to broad keyword/search term matching, a correlation between search terms and conversion rates may NOT lead to a correlation between keywords and conversion rates! • Example: People searching for a Toyota Prius but matched to a Honda Accord keyword are less likely to purchase an Accord than those searching for an Accord. Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

17. Mistake #3 Poor Keyword Matching Assume we pay exactly what we bid. . . Allowing different searches to match to the same keyword: Routing searches to match to the best keyword: In both scenarios, $100 was spent on each search term. But in the second scenario, more leads at a lower CPL resulted from directing search terms to match to the most appropriate keyword. ROI-based bid management does not work without correct keyword matching! Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

18. Solution Poor Keyword Matching Review search term reports regularly. Use campaign negatives or shared libraries for inappropriate terms. Use ad group negatives to force correct search term/keyword matches. Leverage match types for more control. Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

19. Mistake #4 Shortsighted Budget Management

20. Mistake #4 Shortsighted Budget Management Limited by budget = Overbidding Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

21. Mistake #4 Shortsighted Budget Management Campaign targeting a $50 CPL and hitting budget cap. . . Same campaign after lowering bids. . . Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

22. Solution Shortsighted Budget Management Lower bids (or target CPL) until budget caps are not being hit. Use Target CPL and bidding to control spend. Develop process to make this easy to manage. Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

23. Mistake #5 Conversion Path Neglect

24. Mistake #4 Conversion Path Neglect • These problems might exist without your knowledge. . . • Landing on home page • Landing on 404 error page • Landing on incorrect vehicle page • Landing on “no results found” page Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

25. Mistake #4 Conversion Path Neglect Searched for ‘used Toyota Prius’ in Austin, TX Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

26. Mistake #4 Conversion Path Neglect Searched for ‘used Toyota Prius’ in Austin, TX Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

27. Mistake #4 Conversion Path Neglect Searched for ‘used Toyota Prius’ in Austin, TX Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

28. Solution Conversion Path Neglect Check to make sure your destination URLs are correct. . . Obviously. Use a software tool to automatically run landing page error reports on a regular basis Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

29. Things to check after the conference TOP 5 MISTAKES Miles Olson | VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com

30. Share an important takeaway you received from this session using hashtag #DD17 for a chance to win an iPad. Contact Info Full Name: Company: Job Title : Email: Miles Olson SearchForce VP, Customer Engagements miles@searchforce.com