Customized Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Marketing Solutions
Service Overview
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Whonarenwe?
Diginnel is first and foremost a marketing consultancy. We have been in business in the Kitchener- Waterloo region since 2006, serving clients across Canada and internationally. Our organization is comprised of two groups — professional marketers & market
researchers, and technical implementation staff. We differentiate ourselves on several bases, and this is one of them: Our clients benefit from our capacity to offer “big picture” creative thinking and solution development, as well as technical expertise down to the finest detail.
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WhynDiginnel?
It is often heard that only “obsessive” businesses succeed. We attribute our success at least in part to our obsession with time and core competencies. Our mantra at Diginnel is that even the most effective marketing solutions are really only beneficial insofar as they allow clients to regain their time and refocus on their core competencies. No “managing the managers” is to occur. We take full ownership of our clients’ marketing objectives, and remain extremely communicative throughout — we strive to answer questions before they’re asked, through reporting and direct communication.
Read further below for how consultancy and detailed reporting play a role in our approach to pay-per- click (PPC) marketing.
Our PPC capabilities are substantial and proven. Diginnel’s technical team is staffed by true professionals — Google-certified experts, each with years of experience in the paid online advertising sector. High-end software programs are used in combination with human expertise to narrow the field for search phrase and competitive research, and ad interaction monitoring. All client data is stored on encrypted (AES-256) servers, and digital access restrictions prevent viewing by all but need-to-know professionals on each client’s specific project.
Our consultancy roots at Diginnel drive us to identify solutions beyond the technical in order to achieve higher returns on our PPC campaigns. As pay-per-click ads drive traffic to a website, the user experience on that site has a direct impact on the success of the advertising. If aesthetic or messaging solutions are required to improve the visitor experience on our clients’ websites, for instance, we can facilitate this.
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Pay-Per-Clickn(PPC)nMarketing:nAnBriefnIntroduction
In short, pay-per-click marketing is the most groundbreaking advertising concept in several decades: Pay only for the advertising that successfully leads potential customers to your business (in this case, your business’ website). Several companies provide PPC advertising platforms, the most popular of which is Google. In the most common setup, text-only or image ads are shown online next to Google Search results or on the websites of Google’s advertising partners (known as the Google Display Network). Pay-per-click marketing represents is a remarkable departure from traditional forms of advertising (e.g., radio, television, newspaper), in which the cost of advertising is tied to circulation — the number of potential customers who could see or hear your ad. The PPC model is far more cost- efficient, as circulation is irrelevant — ads are shown as many times as necessary, without limit, in order to generate interest. The advertiser pays only when an interested viewer clicks on an ad (hence, “pay-per-click”).
The amount paid for each click (or “cost-per-click”, CPC) is based on the amount an
advertiser is willing to bid for each keyword — the search phrase that triggers the display of the ad. Staying competitive while avoiding overpaying for keywords is dependent on skilful research and maintaining a high degree of relevance with the target website’s content. The broad objective of successful PPC marketing is to pay as little as possible to drive the highest possible volume of relevant traffic to a website. The qualifier in the last statement is important — sending a large volume of traffic to a website is relatively uncomplicated; sending a large volume of truly interested and ready-to-buy customers to a website is considerably more difficult. While the concept of PPC is simple, successful execution is challenging. The competition for prime ad placement is tough, and there are many variables to consider and manipulate: Cost-per-click, click-through rate, network placement, on-page position, ad copy, trigger keywords, bid amount, ad Quality Score, demographic targeting, ad extensions, and so on.
This said, well-managed PPC campaigns can be extremely profitable. One of PPC’s most attractive features is its extensive tracking capabilities for return on investment (ROI). A metric such as cost-per- conversion (cost per goal, e.g., a sale) is
extremely valuable in ensuring the most efficient use of any advertising budget. Paying careful attention to ROI-related metrics such as this allows for advertizing optimization not possible in any other marketing
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Diginnel’snApproachntonPPC
While PPC marketing is only one aspect of our solution suite, it has quickly become a “core service” for many of our clients.
We believe firmly in a combination of technical expertise, customized research, and a deep understanding of our clients’ business climate and marketing objectives as the basis for successful pay- per-click campaigns.
Technical know-how is crucial, and yet it is “table stakes” — the price of entry, necessary to compete but not sufficient to win. We attribute most of our success in our PPC marketing division to the attention we devote to background research and client consultation, both of which facilitate well- informed content and optimization decisions.
Diginnel’s foundation is its cadre of educated market consultants, and our PPC practice was built on top of this. This has facilitated a unique situation, in which we interact with our clients on a deeper and more frequent basis than traditional digital advertising agencies do, in an industry which has established itself as primarily technical in nature over the past decade, rather than consultative. This instinct forces us to ask questions and
Even in the pay-per-click world, an ad isn’t just an ad — it’s a communication medium, and to communicate well on your behalf, we need to understand your business, and your message. The technical details (cost-per-click, click-through rate, etc.) all follow from this. Details on other success factors are outlined below.
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AdditionalnSuccessnFactors
Industry awareness. We restrict our activities to several key industries, particularly big-ticket price- sensitive markets such as electronics, furniture, and automotive sales. As such, we have come to understand the pay-per-click elements that work in these industries versus those that do not.
Detailed consulting. The practical outcome of the philosophy described above is that each of our clients meets with a dedicated Account Manager throughout the PPC marketing process. Account Managers are responsible for understanding our clients’ marketing objectives and how these fit within their broader business objectives, in order to properly inform campaign design. They are also ultimately responsible for their team’s success in generating the highest returns possible for our clients.
An outline of our standard initial and ongoing consultation approach is available further below. Research. Thorough research is carried out as part of the process to design and construct each PPC advertising campaign, at the level of market operations (e.g., local, national):
• Competitor research (offerings, advertising)
• Industry messaging research (current and historical) • Broader market research
• Current messaging in traditional media, if applicable (e.g., newspapers) • Online keyword (search phrase) research
• Product/service price point research
• Visitor and traffic research (your site, comparable sites)
Any other research required to structure campaigns with highly predictable success An educated approach can therefore be taken within each project. The approach is predictive, in that by the time our campaigns are deployed, we are normally able to estimate their future success with a fairly high degree of certainty. Monitoring and adjustment. Despite the prevalence of this approach, pay-per-click advertising is not a “set it and forget it” channel. Markets change, influences change, attitudes change, price reference points change; many things change. We have yet to encounter a campaign, among our clients or others in the industry, that has maintained successful returns without relatively frequent adjustment. As with traditional forms of marketing, PPC advertising needs to convey messages that
potential customers both want to hear and are ready to hear. When Toyota’s brake pedal-related recalls began in 2009, returns on many until-then-successful PPC campaigns began to plummet. We were able to turn the tides and maintain strong returns for many of our clients only by acknowledging the issue and including references to “accelerator pedal repairs” in our ad copy — this signalled honesty and competence to our clients’ customers, and the campaigns turned around.
Diginnel monitors campaign statistics obsessively, analyzing key metrics daily and using proprietary, hard-won calculations and ratios to inform changes to ad pricing, placement, target audiences, networks, and so forth, as well as the optimal frequency of these adjustments. This is the “science”. The “art” is expressed in the ad copy (text) and design, and to inform changes here we monitor our clients’ markets and the world-at-large, as described above.
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OurnProcess:nWhatntonExpect
Consultation. The process begins with a consultation with one of our Account Managers. Normally, this same Account Manager will continue to oversee your campaigns and consult with you throughout the course of your experience with us. Relationships are important at Diginnel, and have proven themselves central in enabling us to advertise successfully on our clients’ behalf. Our clients always have a direct line to their Account Manager and PPC team. There are no customer service representatives at Diginnel.
In the initial consultation, your Account Manager will ask questions to achieve a solid understanding of your business, current marketing model, current and past advertising approaches, competition, and your direct objectives — all of this will inform high-quality PPC campaign design. This discussion can be as detailed or as brief as you like, though the more detail we have to work with, the more likely your campaigns are to succeed.
Budgeting. The next step is to establish an advertising budget, if this has not already been done. We normally recommend beginning with a reasonable proportion of your existing budget. This allows our clients to “grow into” pay-per-click advertising, increasing budget at their option as results are demonstrated.
Returns typically increase as budget increases, due to mechanisms in PPC ad purchasing that mimic “buying power”. Cost-per-click (CPC) can more readily be lowered (and thus the number of clicks increased within the same budget) as daily budget allocation increases. For related reasons, the minimum recommended monthly budget is $500; there is no upper limit. Shifting 25% to 50% of your existing monthly advertising budget to the PPC channel is often recommended. It allows our clients to experience gains without an investment far beyond what they are already spending. Further, it allows for ROI comparisons with previous advertising channels within a similar price range.
Research and design. Once the initial consultation is complete and a starting monthly budget is set, your Account Manager will convey the information to their team, so that research and campaign design can begin. This generally takes a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of two weeks, depending on the size and requirements of the campaign. Throughout this time, your Account Manager will communicate with you, and is likely to ask additional questions to further inform the research and/or design stages.
Feedback and sign-off. Once the campaign plan, structure, and materials have been prepared, you will have the opportunity to review and provide feedback on the ads before
Launch, observe, adjust. When all ad content is to your satisfaction and approved, the campaigns are launched. Your team at Diginnel monitors customer interaction with your ads, and their performance in general, tracking numerous metrics daily. Over the subsequent weeks and months, and throughout the campaign, many adjustments are made to optimize performance and ROI. Your Account Manager can provide a detailed explanation of the specific metrics tracked and the types of adjustments performed. Optimization is ongoing through the life of every campaign, but how quickly the initial adjustments can be made depends on how quickly large amounts of data can be collected for analysis. The higher the monthly advertising budget, the more ad clicks will occur. More ad clicks means more data for examination at a statistically significant level.
The first and largest set of adjustments is normally complete within the first month (sooner with large budgets, as noted above), and most clients see their first large gains in the second or third months, with performance and returns increasing steadily thereafter.
Repeat. Even the best campaigns can stagnate, or simply become less relevant as market conditions or other factors change. PPC ad cycles can be extended somewhat longer than with traditional advertising, as the potential target base is so much larger, and prospective customers are unlikely to see the same ad twice; PPC ads thus have a slightly longer “shelf life”. This said, it is beneficial to change campaigns with some frequency to reflect actual in-store changes to pricing, promotions, and so on.
Reporting. On a weekly, biweekly (recommended), or monthly basis, detailed reports are developed and shared with you. These include an array of important metrics; comparisons; trending and predictions; return calculations; and an explanation of planned adjustments for the weeks ahead. Reports are customized to your preference for level of analytical detail, and to address particular lenses or areas of focus within your marketing strategy.
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ContactnUs
260 King St. West, Kitchener, ON N2G 1B6 info@diginnel.ca
