Think Like a Sequoia, Not Like a Bonsai: Advice from Google for Optimizing Your Ad Campaign to Drive Growth

At a recent event organized by SLC SEM, Daniel Wahlen, a performance marketing specialist with Google, gave an insightful talk about successful advertising practices online. He spoke on the Google Search, Display networks, and the need to clearly define the objective for your marketing campaign.

Keys to a Successful Ad Campaign

According to Wahlen, the first key factor in any campaign is having the right mindset and choosing your Key Performance Indicator (KPI) accordingly. Being willing to test methods and practices to determine the best course of action can be difficult, but the benefits of doing so are innumerable.

Driving PPC Growth By Optimizing for Profit

• Optimize your campaign for profit, and follow metrics that account for that focus.
• Know the full value of customers: consider them on a lifetime basis rather than by transaction.
• Adopt Growth Principles. Wahlen stresses growth over efficiency. “Don't try to grow and trim at the same time. Grow, then trim! Otherwise, your growth will be blocked”. This entails optimizing your campaign holistically, rather than by a high level of granularity. Recognizing when things work, even if you don't yet have the data to know exactly WHY things work, is valuable.
• Think Quarterly. Testing drives growth. When you have gathered enough data over time, you can then begin refining your campaign to better target your objective and audience.

Ads on the Google Network Organized by KPI

Fixed budget plans account for approximately 15% of the ads on the Google Search and Display networks, while plans focusing on Cost Per Action (CPA) and Return On Investment (ROI) make up approximately 75% of the ads, while plans focused on Profit make up a mere 10% of the ads.

Ads on the Google Network Organized by Profitability

When it comes to profits gained from those ads, Fixed Budget plans only account for 10% of total profits. “Having a fixed budget plan is like turning the money machine off at night”, Wahlen said. After all, not having the flexibility in your budget to accommodate days with heavier traffic can stifle your opportunity to make impressions.

Plans focusing on CPA and ROI in general earn around 60% of the total profits, while Profit based plans earn 30%, dramatically outperforming the others despite making up a smaller percentage of the total ads.

The Takeaway

Daniel Wahlen and Google encourage you to think more like Sequoias rather than Bonsai trees when your campaign objective is growth; while growing a Bonsai entails daily trimming and maintenance, Redwood forests have thrived and lasted for years utilizing long-term, holistic survival strategies.  The benefits of a highly targeted campaign are worth the time, effort, and expenditure it takes to refine your advertising strategy.

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