David J
SEM Marketing Manager / Paid Search Division Manager at National Positions
How Do you Convince a Client that it's more important to measure the amount of leads vs. what position they are in?
So we have a number of clients with smaller budgets, who insist on bidding top dollar for keywords. Obviously, they are shooting themselves in the foot, when they can easily bid lower, appear lower, and get more clicks for their budget. I've somehow managed to explain that to a couple of my clients, but I'd like to know how you would explain this to a layman?
Good Answers (18)
Dan G
Principal - Analytics and Marketing at Chapel Hill Carrboro Corp., LLC
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (2)
Looking at this one can port concepts from traditional media/placement to SEO/SEM. In this context think of grocery shelves and how products are placed thereon. Things like Mac and Cheese get less premium placement because marketers know shoppers will look for the product and that each shopper who looks at the bottom shelf will likely buy. Additionally, since the lower shelf costs less, the Mac & Cheese is given more space resulting in greater exposure, which in turn improves sales. SEO/SEM is similar in that being at "eye level" (i.e., top of the search results) with little shelf space (in fewer results since they buy fewer, more expensive keywords) the product is more difficult to see and therefore overall sales are not as robust. Although lots of eyes may see the Mac & Cheese, most aren't looking for it and those that are looking are challenged to see it given its lack of exposure. I'm not sure this really makes sense, but it is an attempt to formulate an explanation using something to which most can relate. This also presumes they're capable of gleening the concept from the disparate setting I pose.
Monika M. S
Director Branding and Communications
Best Answers in: Advertising (2), Business Development (1), Corporate Governance (1)
Great question. Tough to communicate. It's about them needing to understand the internet world and believing it. It's different and a new model and it's not figured out. So, sinice we always strive to be at the top it's our nature so here is a though....do a test for "x" amount of months their way and "x" amount of months your way. That's the only way to show it or to "show" an example that is in their world.
Ilan P
IT Director
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I'd break it down in technological terms, they might not understand at first but as a marketing specialist you ought to re-notify them that as your client you care about their every move and your job is also to consult and point them in the right direction; explain to them you are trying to cut losses and believe there would be more success if they were to optimize their budget on bidding less on what not works; and bidding at a good rate on keywords that will generate ROI.
I guess it all comes down to connecting with the client on a level where they take you not only as a marketer, but trust your expertise and understand that you as a professional in this field would know what will benefit them best.
Best of luck,
Ilan
I am not sure why you need to explain anything to them at all. They have hired you to manage their search marketing campaign and provided you with a budget to do so. How you manage that campaign to deliver results for them is what counts. You know better than them and thus should be telling them what you are doing any why - not the other way around.
I take advice and suggestions from my clients. I don't take them telling me how to do my job. They hired me for a reason and their interference will only hinder the results I can generate for them. I have an ego, yes, but more importantly I have a reputation to protect. If they aren't going to let me know what I know needs to be done to deliver results then I won't have them as a client. Simple as that.
Søren S
Experienced B2C eCommerce Consultant
Best Answers in: Web Development (2), Internet Marketing (1)
Here's some of the "catch phrases" I usually use with my clients.
When dealing with SEO: Being in the Top 3 of the SERP doesn't really matter, if none want to click on your site.
When dealing with PPC campaigns: Position doesn't really matter. It's all about getting the lowest CPC while using all of the budget. Getting the most bang for your bucks.
I know these doesn't directly answer your question, but I hope you find them usefull anyways.
The proof is in the pudding. Give your clients evidence to back up your theories and ask for a test budget. As a client myself I can vouch that numbers are very compelling (particularly if they tell a good story). If you have a good relationship with your clients and they think you are credible you are more than halfway there
Gianluigi C
Consultant @ Traffic4u ★ Marketing Strategist @ Agora Media Group
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Hi David,
To understand: you're a consultant right which is being hired to do the job?
This said, it doesn't mean clients are not in the position to ask or to double-tripple ask and confirm why actions are taken or not.
Ask, Ask, Ask:
*Why do they insist being in top positions?
From a client's perspective it is understandable, companies in high positions have a different brand perception by users than those on lower places.
This in combination with low SERP's might even fuel this insisting.
*All is accountable in SEA, show evidence/proof of:
-The lower the position, the less traffic, but also the less impulsive clicks and the more quality clicks. This because people are actually taking the time to read the ads in lower positions, their modus is different.
-> Volume is lower -> CTR higher -> CPC lower -> Conversion rate higher (conversion rate of course depends also on the landingpage, conversion funnel, ad) -> better ROI and all of this with a small budget.
Why are these clients working with small budgets? if objectives are being achieved, why are they limiting the stream of leads/conversions from this channel?
I'm not an expert at all at this, so I'm probably more like your clients than some of the posters here, but I would suggest:
"Is there a reason you want to be at the top? Most clients I work with would see that as wasting money that could be better used for another purpose."
That way you could see if they think the extra dollars are buying them enhanced image, feeding their own vanity, or whatever. At that point you can respond appropriately to help them with whatever this unstated need is about without butting heads with them.
Gideon R
SEO & Online Marketing Specialist
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (20), Search Marketing (10), Web Development (2), Advertising (1), Business Development (1), Blogging (1)
Hi David
Sometimes the only answer is a/b testing - let the results do the convincing...
Well, different people look to different metrics as their touchstone.
Ego and competitive spirit may drive the desire to be Number One in everything including keyword ads regardless of cost. Impressing investors, competitors, family may be worth the cost.
ROI, cost per lead, lead quality and conversion metrics may drive the desire to be lower in the rankings based on testing and experience.
As the SEM you should actually be able to accommodate both desires even for the same keywords at least from time to time if not simultaneously.
Hugo L
Experienced Print and Online Media Advertising Sales, Marketing and Publishing Executive
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (1)
Tough spot to be in!
Marketers traditionally have used quantitative metrics such as open and click through rates to measure success and although top placement does increase your chances of being seen it does not guarantee you will close the sale.
The client must understand that although the old quantitative methods are very good at assessing whether we caught the attention of our target audience, they do little to provide data on consumer behavior.
Newsletters and contests with good call for action items to attract the right people are key. Assuming that your client has relevant/ engaging content and good web design and navigation, I’d suggest to focus on qualifying (streamlining) your prospects and contact list by means of testing both online and offline marketing techniques with the sole purpose of increasing your ROI.
You don't have to bid the highest to be at the top. Google's quality score lends itself to helping the "most relevant" ad move to the top, not necessarily the ad that has the highest bid. A number of things go into this, including click thru rate and conversion rate, so I would focus on making sure the ad and landing page are highly relevant to increase both of these, which should help your lower bids get into the higher spots if you do in fact want to bid lower.
The problem, however, is that if you start off bidding lower, you're likely to be placed on the right side of the page, lower in the ad results, which, as proven, gets you much fewer clicks than being one of the top 3... this is going to decrease your click thru rate, thereby reducing your quality score, thereby not allowing your lower bid to move to the top of the results.
I would make sure the quality of your ads and landing pages are strong, then bid relatively high to begin, then slide the bidding down once your quality score is more secure. Here's a relatively recent article I read that touches on this...
Links:
Clarification added 11 months ago:
In other words, you may be able to explain it to your client using the quality score measure, in that you don't have to be the highest bidder to get to the top spot, and that may help them feel better with bidding lower.
Toby Y
I make incredible marketing credible.
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Give the client what they want. It's never good when you debate your customer. Especially when the debate is over metrics.
Why? Because, philosophically speaking, the customer is always right.
Agree to giving them what they want, and provide it in the most innovative, effective and efficient manner you can imagine.
They're far more likely to accept your recommendations for "improvements" after you've given them what they've asked for in a better way than they could have imagined.
The obvious answer is to track and report their Cost Per Lead on a monthly basis (total spend / total number of leads). Giving them this number can really cut through the techno-speak and focus them on the true ROI of their campaign. It also allows them to compare apples to apples when comparing the PPC campaign to their other marketing channels (direct mail, yellow pages, email marketing, etc).
One other thought, your clients might be self-diagnosing their campaigns incorrectly. In my experience, most clients aren't concerned so much with exact position as they are with seeing their ad displayed consistently. They might be telling you to bid high on keywords because they THINK this will solve the problem.
Ask them specific questions to determine if this is in fact what is going on, then look at their Impression Share (IS) and reset the daily or monthly budget limits to correct.
Good luck!
Julee K
Senior Production/Project Manager Envision Technology Marketing Group
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Hi David -
First of all I would argue that it is not all about the amount of leads it is about the quality of those leads. So I would explain to the client that while being at the top of the page may mean more clicks it also means more impulsive/wasted clicks which they may be throwing money away on. From a user perspective navigating a results page is a self selecting process so therefore your client is more likely to receive better quality leads in a lower - but still highly visible - position.
Hope this helps,
Julee
Links:
Matthew K
Professional SEO and Internet Marketing
Best Answers in: Search Marketing (1), Blogging (1)
One thing you can do is go find one of the heat map studies that show how the eye glances over the top positions and actually focuses more in the 3-5 position on the right hand sponsored links for Google AdWords
So you get better bang for buck in that region.
But position isn't everything - you have to match your keywords to your text-ad to your landing page. If they don't mesh, you won't convert.
Show your client a split test (as suggested elsewhere on this answer)
Of course, you as the PPC campaign manager, should be in charge of the whole scenario and should be doing split tests anyhow. If you aren't, you might want to start doing that - you can increase your conversions *substantially* by testing. Yes, it takes time, but it makes clients soooo happy!!
Brendon S
Freelance SEO Consultant
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>> How Do you Convince a Client that it's more important to measure the amount of leads vs. what position they are in?
You don't, for a couple of reasons
1) It may be cynical, but bear in mind that in some organisations, bonuses are paid on perception of success, not actual success. No ones going to thank you for improving the performance of their company, whilst halving their payout
2) You're not being paid to do what YOU think is best. You're being paid to do what the client asks of you. By all means, question the criteria, and explain why you think things should be different, but don't get preachy. It'll just sound like you're a snake oil consultant trying to fluff your own contract up a bit
I agree with both David T. and Jason. Although I would add that I'd first figure out what the ROAS is instead of the ROI. ROAS is specific to your actually advertising spend, ROI would include anything else associated with it (agency fees, etc.)
Once you figure out your ROAS goal, then you run A/B campaigns and find out how much it is costing you to acquire those leads based on both strategies (higher bigds vs lower bids). Compare the two and see which one falls within your threshold.
Although an argument can be made that the top spots generate "impulsive" clicks, if a potential customer takes the time to forward you his/her contact information, I wouldn't consider that a bad lead at all.
