How Even YOU Can Master PPC Campaign Management [TEMPLATE]

There aren’t many guarantees in life, and even fewer in marketing. But in the world of search engine marketing (SEM), using paid search (PPC) to rank on a search engine results page (SERP) for a given term comes pretty close. That’s why PPC is such good business for Google, which still generates 96% of its revenue through advertising -- because marketers know when they invest in PPC properly, they can get pretty close to guaranteed placement in the SERPs and help you generate leads.
The problem is, many marketers suffer from poor PPC campaign management, which ends up costing them way more money than they need to spend and delivering underwhelming lead generation results. So, how do you do PPC "properly" so you actually get leads at a reasonable cost? It comes down to intelligent campaign structure. And how do you master intelligent campaign structure? You use a template.
That's why we created a free PPC campaign management template that will help you -- or if you're an agency, the clients you're running campaigns for -- set up a full-funnel campaign structure that follows PPC best practices. Once you do that, you'll be better positioned to maximize the return on your PPC investment. We're going to show you how to use that PPC template in this blog post -- so download the template now so you can follow along with the explanation!
Bonus: If you're running PPC campaigns for someone who doesn’t understand the importance of good campaign structure, this template will also act as a deliverable that will enlighten your boss or clients.
Alright, got your template handy? Cool ... let's get started!

Tips for Using This Template

Before we get started, let's go over a few tips that'll make using this template even easier:

• You will want to clear out the example data I have in the template such as keywords, campaign and AdGroup names, ads, and destination URLs. Unless, of course, you're running a fruit stand named after me.
• Be careful not to erase columns E, G, and I. They contain formulas that will help you in subsequent steps.
• Any red markers you see in the top corners of the cells contain helpful tips and FAQs -- if you ever forget what a cell is used for, those are good reminders.

Step 1: Understand PPC Campaign Structure

Before we actually do anything with this template, it's important we're all on the same page about PPC campaign structure. Far too many marketers ("too many" being defined as any number greater than 0) will just set up an account, create an ad, direct the ad to their home page, pick some keywords and hit go. This is not the way to do things.
With AdWords, you have the opportunity to create multiple campaigns. Each campaign may contain several AdGroups, and each AdGroup may contain a few ads and multiple, similar keywords. It's wise to create multiple campaigns because you can set daily budget caps, day-parting, and select geo-targeted regions at the campaign level. If you're bidding on generic keywords and branded keywords, you'll want to put these in separate campaigns because the economics around these two types of keywords will likely be very different. As you can see, your template reflects these best practices, providing space for several different campaigns, AdGroups, and ad variations within those AdGroups.

Step 2: Identify Your Landing Pages

The "Destination URL" is the place on your website where you want the PPC traffic to end up. Because there is a marginal cost associated with each PPC visitor you attract, I recommend you choose a landing page URL as your destination URL. Do not drive them to your home page or a blog article in the hopes that they will stumble upon a lead generation form somewhere; that’s the job of organic search. Drive them to what we here at HubSpot define as a landing page, a web page with a form on it -- and don't forget to put in a tracking token so you know where these leads are coming from.



I know the big boys don’t always follow this rule, but the big boys also have millions of dollars in budget that needs to have evaporated at the end of the month. Make it easy on yourself and let your landing pages define your AdGroups and campaigns as you see in this template.
You will notice that, within an AdGroup, the Destination URL is the same regardless of the keyword or ad. If you really want to drive a keyword to a different landing page, then create another AdGroup -- or in the extreme, another campaign -- for that keyword.
You should also keep your sales funnel in mind when you identify these landing pages, and think about which part of the sales funnel each landing page and offer speaks to. For example, an educational PDF about an industry concept would be appropriate for a top-of-the-funnel offer, while a coupon or a demo would be at the bottom of the funnel. You will want to manage each part of the funnel separately, and therefore create separate campaigns. If you scroll down in your template, you'll see that there's dedicated space allotted for campaigns in all of these funnel stages.

Step 3: Build Your Keyword Strategy

Next, you will select the keywords that are relevant to the landing page and offer. Make sure to keep them as relevant as possible to increase the chance that each visitor you pay for completes the form on the landing page. Yes, it would be nice to rank for certain keywords, but if the landing page doesn’t answer the keyword queried, think twice. Or better yet, create another offer and landing page that speaks more directly to the keyword.



You can use free tools like the Google AdWords Keyword Tool or, if you're a HubSpot customer, our Keywords tool, to understand the actual search volumes and costs around each keyword you select. If you're running short on inspiration, these tools can help you think of other keywords to include in your campaign -- but always consider the costs of those suggested keywords and keep your economic interests in mind.
If this is your first time, it would be wise to read up on how to design a killer keyword strategy. And, in the case of AdWords, you could become a quick expert by becoming knowledgeable on the keyword quality score.

Step 4: Create Your Ads

This is the fun part! Both Google and Bing allow you to create more than one ad for each AdGroup (hence the "group" terminology) and the service will rotate them until it notices that one appears to drive a higher clickthrough rate (CTR). This is how A/B (and C and D) testing works. While it's optional, you should take advantage of the ability to create more than one ad.
Writing an ad is a bit like writing a haiku. There are character limits for each part, and it can be a little aggravating figuring out how to best complete the ad. You are allotted 25 characters for the title, 35 characters for the display URL -- the URL that's displayed in the ad, not to be confused with the destination URL -- and 35 characters for each line of copy. But if you're using this template, don’t worry about keeping track! The cell to the right of each ad component will count characters and turn red when you have gone over the limit. Handy, right?



In my observation, the title has the greatest influence on an ad’s CTR. It's wise to include a keyword in the headline to draw a user’s attention to your ad. An even better practice would be to use dynamic keyword insertion. I find the copy to be less important, but you certainly can't just put gibberish in there. Search engines have editorial policies for what you can and cannot put in an ad, and they change it frequently, so it's your job to stay up to date on them. A good rule of thumb, however, is to simply try to provide a congruous experience for searchers -- from seeing your ad in the SERPs to completing the form on your landing page.



Finally, there's the tricky matter of the display URL. You're only allowed 35 characters here, but it's unlikely that your destination URL, the actual URL for your landing page, will be that short. So the search engines allow you to create a display URL, which may not even be an actual URL on your website. It is critical, however, that the domain in your display URL be the same as the domain in your destination URL.

Step 5: Share the Completed Template With a Decision Maker

Whether you're doing PPC for your business or a client, your completed template will ensure you're aligning the decision-maker’s expectations with the realities of a productive PPC campaign. If you're the decision maker, this template will help you really think about what you're doing with the money you're spending on PPC.
The end result is that you'll have created the sort of congruous user experience that search engines like to see. That can benefit you in terms of your positioning in the SERPs and, ultimately, your costs. It will also grant you the agility you need to swiftly reallocate and modify budget as you respond to changes in the marketplace, and the drive to maximize the return on your PPC spend.

The Surprising State of Online Advertising

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Online advertising.
What do you think of it? Annoying? Effective? Come a long way? Waste of money? Don't even notice it?
And when you're answering, are you answering as a marketer, or as a consumer? Or (gasp) both? Some of us do fall into both buckets, after all.
Adobe set out to answer some of these very questions in their recent report, The State of Online Advertising. In their research, Adobe partnered with Edelmen Berland to survey 1,250 adults over age 18 -- 1,000 were part of the general population, and 250 were marketing decision makers. They asked the survey respondents questions about advertising, and sometimes even marketing, trying to get a gauge on things like channel effectiveness, preferences, and just gut feelings. Hey, make fun of those warm and fuzzy feelings all you want, but putting some numbers behind them is a mighty task worth attempting!
Take a look at some of the most fascinating highlights from their study on online advertising; and I encourage you to take notice of how the discrepancies between consumers' and marketers' opinions play out, too. It's always good and sobering to take off your marketer hat and remember how your target audience actually perceives the work you do.

The State of Online Advertising, According to Adobe

1) In general, how do consumers "feel" about online advertising?

When you compare marketers' opinions of online advertising to consumers', it seems they're in a slight state of denial, eh? The opinions with a negative sentiment do follow the same general trend, though -- probably a good reminder that marketers often have a higher tolerance for online advertising because we're "in the biz." So remember, what mildly annoys us might make consumers outright cringe.

2) So, what's a better alternative to online advertising? You might never guess it, but ...

TV ads?! This is based on consumers' and marketers' opinions, of course. Data may suggest otherwise for your industry. For HubSpot, for instance, online advertising is a much more efficient advertising expenditure than television ads. As the infomercials say, "your results may vary."

3) Actually, traditional media is overwhelmingly the preferred place to view advertising.

This data should be considered alongside the fact that only 31% of consumers reported enjoying reading and viewing advertisements. So this chart is really more along the lines of "where most people find viewing ads the least disagreeable." That being said, it makes sense that consumers would prefer to view advertisements -- a more traditional means of getting a brand's message across -- on traditional channels. You know, the places they're used to seeing them.

4) But consumers' preferences for "traditional" channels aren't limited to advertising. They seem to prefer more traditional channels for marketing and advertising.

Well, sort of. In my opinion, it's a tad misleading to group marketing and advertising in with one another for some of these channels -- social media makes sense, for instance, because it's very clear how one can market and/or advertise on social channels; there's organic updates, and paid updates. Boom. Cut and dry.
But newspapers as a marketing channel? That's a little more gray -- unless you receive coverage in a printed story, isn't the only other alternative just ... plain advertisements?
I am excited to see the preference for things like consumer forums and friends, family, and coworkers, which are considered "traditional media" in this study. Word-of-mouth marketing is a powerful tool, one that social media and organic search marketers have a natural tendency to reap benefits from. Keep on keepin' on, guys and gals!

5) In fact, user-generated content is a pretty hot commodity.

This is one where marketers are on par with the trend, and I couldn't be more excited about it. (Although, marketers, that huge comparative differential we're citing in the value of "marketer created ads" is a little concerning.) I'm glad to see marketers recognizing the incredible power of user-generated content. It's something we all inherently know; a third-party endorsement means more than someone just saying they're awesome. How non-partisan is that, right? But user-generated marketing also helps with those oft-suffered content shortages. If you have a network of leads, customers, and partners eager to create content for you, you're probably tickled pink!

6) So it makes sense that consumers and marketers are into social media as a marketing and/or advertising channel, too.

If marketers and consumers alike are hot on user-generated content, it's only natural we're fostering presences on social media sites, and consumers are liking them. Although I must be honest, I find the numbers in the "no" column a little low considering the billions of people on Facebook today. However, despite the use of the terminology "Like" in this survey question, they also kept the specific social network ambiguous, never mentioning Facebook by name.

And for a little entertainment -- many people, unsurprisingly, still like a little social media flaming. This is not surprise; we've all known for some time that the anonymity of the internet helps people say some things they typically wouldn't say face-to-face.

7) So, does that social sentiment translate into any other actions?

While social reach is fantastic, we all know that reach doesn't put food on the table. So while the action of 'Liking' a brand on social media results in no action for 35% of respondents, many more still proceeded to check out the product their friend liked, or visit the brand's website or social media page. That's pretty awesome! And while only 2% of people purchased the product, we all know that marketing takes a funnel (or funnel-like) shape. A social media interaction is just one step in the process or becoming a life-long customer!

8) Ultimately, it's more about value than channel. Marketers and advertisers that can tell a story will be the most successful.

But you already knew that. Can you tell a story? Does your marketing resonate with your audience? Are you using the right content format? Are you providing value?
The cool thing about marketing these days is, the cream of the crop tends to rise to the top. Now, that's not to say those with more resources don't have an easier time of it; and of course those with less time, money, employees, what have you, will have to put in some more elbow grease to get noticed. But super powers like Google (Panda updates) and Facebook (EdgeRank algorithm) are continuing to make changes that help excellent content creators -- the ones that do a lot of the things at the beginning of that graph up there -- get more visibility. However you feel about online advertising, it's certainly heartening to know that quality content is the muscle behind it all.

Twitter Launches Gender Targeting For Advertisers, From Marketing Land

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Isn’t it scary how quickly the marketing world is moving these days?
Search engines and social networks will roll out a new feature one week, then BOO! They’re terrifying us with a whole new update that requires us to adapt quickly and learn the new rules of the game.
These updates might seem like nasty little tricks, constantly keeping you on edge, but we see them as treats just waiting to be uncovered! To help you see the treats inside the tricks, we’ve provided you with a weekly round-up of the top marketing stories of the week. Don’t be scared, just read these top articles and you’ll be prepared for the bone-chilling week ahead!

You might recall Twitter’s previous update for advertisers in the beginning of September, when they launched their targeting by interest and username for promoted tweets. Now these ad targeting abilities are diving even deeper, giving advertisers the option to target by gender. What’s interesting about this is, users don’t actually need to specify whether they’re a male or female when creating a Twitter profile. So how does Twitter know? Well according to Twitter, the platform is determining gender through public signals, including profile names and the accounts he or she follows. And where Twitter can’t accurately predict the gender of the Twitter account, they don’t, and those accounts are not included in the targeting option. Marketing Land also hinted that Twitter might be looking at certain types of phrases that are generally more common amongst men such as, “What a comeback!” or women including, “My tummy hurts.” Will you leverage this new targeting capability once it rolls out to all advertisers?

 Twitter advertisers can now target their promotions based on gender. This type of targeting join the existing mobile, geographic and interest-based targeting options already available.
Gender targeting may sound a bit strange since Twitter users don’t have to declare if they’re male or female anywhere in the account settings, but Twitter says that it’s confident the science behind the new targeting is strong.

Similar to our approach to interest targeting, we’re able to understand gender by taking public signals users offer on Twitter, such as user profile names or the accounts she or he follows. We have strong confidence in this approach. A panel of human testers has found our predictions are more than 90 percent accurate for our global audience. And where we can’t predict gender reliably, we don’t — and those users won’t be targetable through this feature.

That last line is interesting. It might mean that folks named Chris, Terry or Pat — a few of the many non-gender-specific names — might not see gender-targeted ads. Or maybe they will.

I’m not certain if the gender-based targeting has fully rolled out to all advertisers yet. I don’t see an option for it in my advertising dashboard. Then again, I also don’t see an interest-based targeting option, and that’s been around for a couple months …