Golden Rules for Google AdWords Content Network

The great thing about Google's Content Network is that it allows us to contextually target our ads to those web sites where the content matches the concepts in our adgroups. At InterNexo we provide the service of managing web marketing for small and medium sized advertising and marketing Agencies and one of the most requested services we offer is that of managing Google AdWords. We have found that AdWords Content Network serves our Agency clients by placing their campaigns in view of the Right Person with the Right Message at the Right Moment.


Why Content Network Advertising?

• Precision
  Appears only on sized where the content is contextually related to the Campaign and AdGroup
  
  
• Reach
  Google Content Network is viewed by 85% of the users of the Internet. Check out the Content Network Partners here: http://www.google.com/adwords/contentnetwork/partners.html Internet users spend more time on content sites than on any other online activity: 45% of their time compared to 5% on Search, 15% on eCommerce and 35% with communications tools (chat, email, etc.).... note: content includes social networking sites like Facebook and rich media sites like YouTube.
  
  
• Effectiveness
  On average, advertisers get 20% more conversions on the Content Network as compared to Search campaigns.
  
  
• Pricing
  Content Network bids are separate from those of Search and can be targetted per placement. The resulting CPA is on average 6% less than Search ads.
  
  
• Creative Copy
  Many Content Network sites allow for a variety of types of Ads, both text and display ads. This allows for more variety of ads and creative copy.

Google Content Network Golden Rules


The golden rules we apply to our Agency clients' campaigns as outlined by Google are:

1. Create separate content campaigns
   We create separate campaigns for Search and for Content. This allows better targetting and budgeting.
   
   
2. Set separate Content CPC bids
   We set the spend on Content ads differently than the Search bidding. Content CPC is often higher than the Search CPC but the resulting Conversion Rate justifies this spend and on average the cost per acquisition ands up being lower on Content ads.
   
   
3. Design small and tightly themed ad groups
   We have success with ad groups with a small number of keywords all tighly grouped around a common theme. This is essential to the contextual targetting that the AdWords systems does automatically. Disperse ad groups compete with AdWords ability to contextually target the ads. The ad groups may have as few as 5 and as many as 15 keywords.
   
   
4. Track and measure performance
   At InterNexo our absolute favorite service activity to perform on behalf of client Agencies is the tracking and analysis of campaign performance. We use both AdWords Conversion Tracking tool as well as the Google Analytics reports. It is important that the ad groups each have unique destination URLs (landing pages). The greatest tool of all is the Perfromace Report in AdWords that shows the results of the campaign for each site on the Content Network where the ad has been placed. Want to learn about your Market and their interests... look no further!
   
   
5. Misspellings
   Unlike Search campaigns, the Content Network automatically targets on a "broad match" basis and the contextual targetting makes the use of misspellings unnecessary. In other words, misspellings are a built-ion feature of Content Network ads.
   
   
6. Creative messaging
   Content Network is a great place to try out many versions of the campaigns's creatives. This is where the Agencies shine, providing us a wealth of information and guidelines so that InterNexo can produce variants on the creative. The Agencies usually structure the Creative copy and display ads around six primary concepts:
   1. They target users in the onsideration Phase of their browsing
   2. They build off of their offline messaging from print and web content
   3. They aggressively use seasonally appropriate content
   4. They reference key events that can tie into their campaigns (i.e. graduation day, father's day)
   5. They make the messaging personal
   6. They create time-limited offers and message around there offers
   
   
7. Stay on message by matching ad text to Keywords
   We make certain that the ad groups apply the same concepts and keyword sin both the Creative copy of the ad texts as well as the selection of keywords for each ad group. These factors are then reflected in the copy of the landing page.
   
   
8. Keyword selection and ad groups is not limited to what people type into search
   We know that the Content Network reflects the users' interests directly while they are in the process of consuming content. This user "moment" is different than the Search moment and ad groups can be built around greater variety of concepts. We target groups around brand names, around the product/service qualities and uses, as well as around contextual themes that reflect the moment the user is most likely to become engaged in the Agency's Creative.
   
   
9. Control where ads are served
   To control where ads are served we can use the Content Network tools to explore and discover new placement sites. We also use negative keywords and site exclusions to remove our ads from placements with inappriopiate context.

Five Strategies for Success


To summarize, when we manage campaigns for our Agency clients, we keep in mind the following fives strategies:

1. Create Content-only campaigns separate from Search
2. Build concise ad groups by theme with small sets of keywords
3. Create a variety of creative ads
4. Bid strategically
5. Run reports and optimize!

These are some of the thinking behind managing Content Campaigns for small and medium-size advertising and marketing agency clients. These clients rely on InterNexo to keep there campaigns running smoothly and with many happy returns.