A few weeks ago during a fact-finding meeting with a prospective client (who became an SEM client shortly after meeting with the Enquiro Team and touring our offices) I was asked a very good PPC question.
The client-to-be asked "Other than branding, why would we consider running PPC ads on keywords we are already ranking #1 organically for?" By branding I assumed the client was referring to the 'multiplying effect' of having multiple listings on an SERP (Search Engine Results Page).
So why would an online company run PPC ads for keywords they rank #1 organically for? If there are no other ads on the SERPs they are ranking #1 for organically, they most likely would not. However, if the competition is advertising on those same SERPs, or the client has reason to suspect their organic listing will not do the job, PPC deserves careful consideration.
I responded with an example from another client of ours with very active affiliates who are allowed to bid on brand terms. Putting aside the whole issue of allowing affiliates to bid on SEM brand terms, our experience tells us that for our example client's brand terms, up to 30% of brand-term searchers will click on the client's paid ads when they are running in the #1 paid position. The CTR drops as the paid ad position drops. I should also mention that the affiliates are allowed to discount the product in their PPC ads, so the competition for PPC clicks is very aggressive.
For our example client, this means that they risk losing 30%+ of visitors on their brand terms, and if the visitors buy the product through affiliates they will have to pay commission charges that are in excess of the CPA (cost per acquisition) via PPC.
When bidding on non-brand keywords there are a few other factors to consider:
- How far into the buying funnel does the search keyword indicate the searcher is?
- What are the best stages in the buying funnel for the site to reach a searcher in terms of the site's historical performance?
- Which site page(s) are ranking for the keyword?
- How compelling are the competitors ads?
If any of these issues are concerns, then the best step might be to run ads on the keywords in question and make decisions based on the results. Monitor thoroughly, not just CTR, but visitors paths through the site, conversion rates, etc - and then compare the same data for paid and organic visitors. Don't forget to compare the effect of removing a PPC ad, is traffic volume impacted from losing the 'multiplying effect'?
I am not certain that this was the standard SEM / PPC answer the client-to-be was expecting to hear, however she grasped its implications
Brenda Wright
Head Sponsored Search Strategist
Enquiro Full Service
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