Love Em, Hate Em: Google Makes Us Accountable
ADOTAS EXCLUSIVE — Early this year, “Recession-Proof Marketing” was the buzzword of the minute. Now, into Q3 2008, online marketers are finding that the recession is not affecting their budgets as much as they thought and are continuing to push those marketing dollars to online initiatives. However, the scare did one notably good thing to the industry – it forced companies to take a deeper look into their return on investment. It was a significant shift in the move toward accountability in online marketing.
Now, the C-level suite is demanding that marketers not only maximize ROI, but also prove that they are using the most effective blend of marketing channels.
Traditionally, search has been very “recession-proof” not only because of its measurability but also because pay-per-click marketing is customizable – allowing marketers to set bids to align with their specific goals and optimize campaigns on the fly. In that way, PPC marketers can clearly map their marketing efforts back to their overall business objectives, minimize wasted budget and prove the ROI potential of the channel to their bosses. As the rest of the online advertising industry moves toward this model, we may begin to see more and more of the fundamentals of search marketing popping up in other channels.
Take for example a success story in pay-per-click search with Qipit. A new mobile services company with aggressive customer acquisition goals to meet, Qipit hired an “interactive marketing agency” to put together an online media buying plan for a display campaign. Before Qipit proceeded with the other agency’s recommendations, Qipit ran a Google Performance Targeting campaign to statistically determine where their ads would perform the best.
The results of the six-week Google Performance Targeting revealed the sites and target audiences that were the best performing for Qipit’s display campaign. Surprisingly, one of the “interactive agency’s” recommended top-tier target audiences was the worst performing category. A mistake like that would have resulted in six figures worth of wasted ad dollars for Qipit – precious resources in today’s economy, especially for small businesses and start ups.
Why did Google Placement Targeting prove to be the smart choice for Qipit? Because it treats display advertising like search marketing campaigns. By managing display campaigns using the same methodologies as it does with paid search, we were able to make micro-buys on behalf of Qipit across hundreds or thousands of Web sites to determine where ads perform best. Also, because we could set unique maximum CPM levels for each Web site, we had the ability to optimize campaigns to a target Cost Per Action (CPA) or Return On Ad Spend (ROAS).
“Google Placement Targeting is a valuable low cost tool which enabled us to test multiple ads across a wide range of target audiences without a long term commitment,” said Conrad Hametner, vice president of consumer marketing for Qipit. “It also allowed us to create a basis of performance benchmarks and greatly contributed to building an understanding of our target users.”
Beyond the measurability benefits, Qipit was also able to get better coverage of the Internet population since the Google content network has a much wider audience than any ad network. This allowed them to target more qualified buyers than through using the ad agency’s recommended Web sites alone.
Take a lesson out of Qipit’s play book. If your CEO is asking for measurable results and maximum ROI, Google Placement Targeting could be a critical first step in your display advertising routine.
Reader Comments.
No comments yet
Leave a Comment
Article Sponsor
More Features
-
Loading ...
Latest News
- Infographic: HootSuite Analyses Social Media Impact of Super Bowl Ads February 7th 2012 ADOTAS - So, it’s the Tuesday after the Super Bowl, [...] more »
- Facebook to Serve Mobile Ads in Coming Weeks February 6th 2012 ADOTAS – According to a Financial Times report, Facebook will [...] more »
- Survey: 39 Percent of Mobile Users Responded to Super Bowl Ads Via Mobile February 6th 2012 ADOTAS - During the Super Bowl yesterday, mobile ad network [...] more »
- Sponsormob Leads the Way Into RTB for Mobile February 3rd 2012 ADOTAS – For more than half a decade, Berlin-based tech [...] more »
- Weird Study: Mobile Purchasing While in the Bathroom on the Rise February 3rd 2012 DM CONFIDENTIAL - According to 11mark, three-quarters of Americans with mobile [...] more »
- This Week’s New Hires February 3rd 2012 ADOTAS – Another week, another round of new gigs. Here [...] more »
- Two Surveys: What Are We Doing with Mobile Devices During the Super Bowl? February 2nd 2012 ADOTAS - With the Super Bowl fast approaching and the [...] more »
Features
- Rethinking the Online Advertising Ecosystem, Part One: Independent Publishers February 8th 2012
- Case Study: Social Ad Effectiveness February 8th 2012
- Video: “Build an SEO Foundation” Excerpt February 8th 2012
- Covering the Digital Buy: Super Bowl Winners and Losers February 8th 2012
- How Social Targeting Can Lead to Discovery February 7th 2012
Spotlight
Sponsormob Leads the Way Into RTB for MobileADOTAS – For more than half a decade, Berlin-based tech firm Sponsormob has remained relevant in an industry characterized by [...] more...
Reader Favorites
Classifieds
- PS Technical Writer - SEO Data Analyst
- Interactive Project Manager
- Media Buyer
- PHP Software Engineer (Facebook Platform/Social AP
- SEO/Marketing Internship at Green Education Startu
Recent Comments
- Andrew Boer: You have defined the problem clearly. To me the solution is pretty clear...you route
- John Pike: The main problem facing independent publishers is Google, which is lowering the page rankings of
- Grovo How To Do SEO Video Series – ReadWriteWeb | SEO Facts: [...] has built sites for some major retailers and teaches SEO at New York University,
- Video: “Build an SEO Foundation” Excerpt – ADOTAS | Best Electronics Reviews: [...] Video: “Build an SEO Foundation” Excerpt – ADOTAS « Santorum Delivers
