Optimising PPC Performance:

The Client

The client, which operates in Australia, is a subsidiary of a corporation that specialises in manufacturing and marketing quartz surfaces. These surfaces are used for both residential and commercial interior applications such as bench tops, wall panelling, and more. Since its launching, the client has serviced over a million homes Australia-wide.

Previously, an Israel-based digital marketing agency was managing the client’s paid ads. However, the client decided to look for another agency that would let them work closely with the specialists under a more cost-effective project management model.

The Challenge

The client has already explored various online advertising opportunities in the past. In fact, there were no actual problems with the client’s previous account. It’s just that while the previous agency still sought the client’s approval for the paid ads, they didn’t give the latter administrative access to their own Google Ads account.

Under the aforementioned ads accounts, the client’s previous agency has implemented and managed a total of 27 campaigns. The client wants to achieve results similar to what these previous campaigns have produced. However, this has to be accomplished using the same budget and while switching the website from HTTP to HTTPS. 

These are all the factors ShoreMarketing had to consider during the client’s transition to the agency.

Our Recommendation

Google receives an average of 63,000 searches per second every day. In most of these search results pages, Google ads are being displayed. These online ads or campaigns are paid for and can be tailored to your business goals and budgets. They can be extremely helpful in driving relevant traffic to the client’s website and expanding their customer reach.

Account Setup

Upon its takeover in December 2018, ShoreMarketing created a new Google Ads account instead of using the client’s old one. One reason for this is that the old account was still linked to the previous agency’s MCC. Also, upon checking, ShoreMarketing learned that multiple analytics properties (.com and .au) were connected to the account. This is only advisable if you have multiple Ads accounts and you want data to flow in different ways between these accounts and your analytics properties.

So instead of keeping the old ads account, ShoreMarketing decided to start the optimisation with a clean slate. While starting over is not for everyone, there are just some accounts that need more than a bit of tune-up. That is the case with this particular client. ShoreMarketing found it more efficient to restructure the campaigns under a new account.

Typically, new Google Ads accounts are less competitive compared to older accounts with a good track record that are tested and trusted by Google. ShoreMarketing acknowledges this immediate drawback. Nevertheless, the agency knows that daily ad curation could help the new account outperform even the client’s previous account which dates back to 2014.

Website Migration

The client’s website migration went underway in February 2019. Prior to the migration, four campaigns were running. These were paused upon finding out that some landing pages were not redirecting to the new site.

While the campaigns were on hold, ShoreMarketing’s PPC specialists worked on the client’s Google Display Network ads. These were eventually added to the client’s list of running campaigns. The client set the target of 2,000 clicks across all campaigns and ad budget was increased.

Eventually, the client’s web developers resolved the redirection chokepoint issue. ShoreMarketing reactivated the client’s campaigns on February 21.

Campaign Optimisation and Daily Monitoring

Instead of tapping into the platform’s automation features, it was decided that the best route was to go for manual options. ShoreMarketing advised the client to get a full-time specialist to monitor and nurture the new account’s overall health and competitiveness. Said specialist employed the following strategies:

• Active monitoring and listing down of the market’s daily search behaviour
• Daily refinement of keyword match types and exclusion of irrelevant placements and search queries
• Testing on some of the final URL landing pages
• Review and revision of ad copies and calls-to-action for both Search and Display Network campaigns
• Bid adjustments on desktop devices by 30% (since there was better quality traffic on desktop than mobile); and days when the campaigns get more impressions and clicks (for higher chances of conversion)
• Installation of Google sitelink extensions
• Setup of tracking codes for website events (e.g. download PDFs, order free samples, etc.)

With all of the account alterations and optimisation, the client’s ads eventually started performing better.

The Results

ShoreMarketing started running the Google Display Network ads for the client in March 2019. Since ShoreMarketing logs in every day to refine the client’s Google Display Network Ads, the team was able to deliver thrice the results. February and March’s paid traffic performance is relatively higher than the previous years’ average.

Looking into the client’s historical performance, December 2017 showed the highest budget the company spent. The client’s campaigns, which cost around A$17,800, only delivered 20,359 visits to the website.

However, March 2019 delivered the highest number of overall paid traffic. While ShoreMarketing’s daily monitoring and exclusion of irrelevant websites caused the impressions to drop, higher paid traffic was still delivered. 

The average cost-per-click also dropped from A$1.08 to A$0.22—the lowest historical CPC recorded for the client. These figures show that the client received almost 80% more traffic in March 2019 compared to when it spent the most in Google advertising.

With ShoreMarketing’s manual daily exclusion of irrelevant placements (58,416 apps and websites in total as of June 2019), the client is now able to target qualified audiences with a higher interest in their products. Also, the daily analysis and adjustments on broad-match Search term reports ensure that the client’s advertising budget is not being wasted on irrelevant search queries.

The 2019 clicks have increased by 83% compared to 2018. This could be credited to the constant refinement of ad copies to determine which will entice users to click the ads.

The client’s ad cost or investment is also significantly lower than last year’s. Despite the reduced costs, the ad performance was better in terms of traffic acquisition and cost-per-click. This shows that the client was able to maximise its ad budget.

Conversion rate is lower considering the previous agency’s optimisation and conversion methods are different from ShoreMarketing’s. For example, the previous agency considers basic ad clicks as a goal conversion; whereas ShoreMarketing’s measured goals are bottom-of-the-funnel level such as contact us form submission, actual purchases, brochure and app download, etc. With the current strategy, ShoreMarketing is stricter and more precise in determining conversion goals.

Note: The agency transition started in December 2018 and optimisation is still ongoing, hence the chosen months for the report,

Although the paid traffic was better in some months of 2017, it wasn’t sustained the following year. In fact, the decrease in overall yearly paid traffic in 2018 decreased by 54.4%. The average PPC budget for 2018 was around $11,838. Ad cost was reduced in January and February 2019 mainly because the budget allocation was relatively smaller. Nevertheless, these months still outperformed the previous years’ performances in terms of traffic acquisition and cost-per-click.

After the new account’s setup in December 2018, the cost-per-click and click-through-rate improved. The CTR rose to 4.87% in January 2019. Meanwhile, CPC in March of the same year was the lowest one recorded at A$0.22. However, the CTR drastically decreased throughout February and March. This is to be expected, given ShoreMarketing’s continuous monitoring, testing, and optimisation of conversion goals to improve the account’s overall performance.

Initially, the client only wanted to transfer their ads account management to ShoreMarketing. Now, they are also outsourcing their SEO and Social Media services to the agency.

Note: The client’s information was not disclosed in compliance with the non-disclosure agreement signed by all interested parties.