A long-term client partnered with us to generate long-term form fill, call, and ultimately sales results using traditional search tactics. Over the length of that relationship, search engine marketing was positioned as a foundational element for their bottom-of-the-funnel new client acquisition.
Traditional Search: Using keyword bidding and geographic targets, position a brand for those seeking services in google, yahoo, and Bing. Traditional search tactics capture those who know they are in the market for a service and are using search to find a provider of those services.
This traditional search approach functioned like something of a “base layer” for new client acquisition for their delivery service. It’s performed well. Optimizations over time have stabilized the number of new client acquisitions (both commercial and residential.) Our client partner has reported a stable stream of well-qualified leads for their team.
But in the words of Jim Collins, let’s not allow good to be the enemy of great.
We know that using traditional search, we’ll find those looking for services “right now.” But using Performance Max, we can target searchers based on key characteristics qualifying them as intenders. Put differently; we can engage an audience in search while they are in the consideration stage—higher in the funnel.
Performance Max: A google search campaign designed as a compliment to traditional search won’t conflict with an advertiser’s existing keyword targeting but add a layer that conquests additional audiences based on internet and search behaviors during their consideration phase.
By changing a 100% traditional search campaign to a 70/30 split of traditional to Performance Max, we tested this model in just one of our client’s markets. Here’s what we saw.
Clicks increased by 12.6% in a single month
COST PER CLICK DECREASED BY 13% IN A SINGLE MONTH
Interestingly, we observed that our traditional search acquisitions preferred form-fills as their means to convert, where Performance Max audiences were more likely to contact our client by phone.
Comparing the Same Month reported above to Last Year,
Leads from Paid Search +36%
Qualified Leads +49%
Product Deliveries +35%
Same Spend. Better Results.
The most crucial part of this? The gain was only performance-based. No additional investment was required.
What’s Next for this Search Engine Marketing Campaign?
The pilot campaign was a clear success. In the coming month, two more markets will get the same treatment. Same spend–but moving to a 70/30 split of traditional to Performance Max search, acquire an increasing number of new clients during their consideration phase.
Beyond the search optimization phase, our team anticipates discussions on how paid search, when combined with display, can improve results from even the smartest of search campaigns. Bundled search and display campaigns perform better than standalone and are more cost-effective. Because your display investment drives more clicks in the search channel AND organic traffic to your website, you may need to spend less over time.
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