This article first appeared on agencyside where Mike Swan, Director of Search Marketing Strategy at Liberty Interactive Marketing is a guest columnist as well as a panel speaker on topics for search marketing strategies.

Content Network is a Waste of Time and Money! Really, Are You Sure About That? I hear clients and Internet marketers alike make this statement as often as I hear the question “Why aren’t my ads showing?” but for now let’s discuss some best practices for advertising on the Content Network. It is not unlikely for us at Liberty Interactive Marketing to see content account conversions in the double digits, we recently managed a Gaming and Hospitality account with an average conversion rate of 11.11% on over 1,700 conversions. So we’re not shy in sharing some of our best practices with you.

Five Best Practices to Setting Up and Managing a Content Campaign:

1. Do not run Search- and Content-targeting in the same campaign. This is far and away the most important rule. When you create a campaign in AdWords it defaults to include all 3 networks (Google Search, Search Partners + Google and Content), make sure to separate them. If you are currently making this mistake, stop reading for a moment and turn off Content-targeting immediately.

2. Do not duplicate your Search campaign, run it on Content only, and call it a day. This is a reasonable place to start if you are in violation of #1 above, however, the job is not done. The key thing to remember is that while Search campaigns will give you performance metrics on a keyword basis, Content does not. You only have adgroup visibility, (an adgroup is a logical grouping of related keywords). So you don’t have a way of knowing if one or more of your keywords is making or breaking your adgroup.

3. Campaign construction is crucial to Content-network success. You want to make sure your campaign structure is as focused as possible. This means more adgroups than you would use for a Search campaign. You don’t have the same Quality Score considerations with a Content campaign so duplicates and plurals are acceptable. Also, keep the number of keywords per adgroup small. We have found the most success with 5-10 keywords per adgroup. Every campaign is different, so testing is important.

4. Content targeting algorithm matches content on the page to the keywords in the adgroup so, while “foreclosures real estate phoenix” may make a great keyword in a Search campaign, it is very hard to use in a sentence, so it is unlikely it will match to many content pages. So with that said, long tail keywords are not usually a great idea in a Content campaign. Using this example, you would be better served creating an adgroup with 3 keywords – “foreclosures”,”real estate” and “phoenix”. This combination will give the algorithm many more opportunities to match your ad to desirable content.

5. Google Keyword Tool is still recommended to find your initial keywords but it will just get you started. The Keyword Tool is primarily geared towards Search, so it merely serves as a jumping off point. If you already have a Search campaign running you can use that as a resource too. One methodology involves looking at the top performing keywords in your Search campaign (or promising ones from the Keyword Tool) and then looking at the organic results for each of these terms. Take the top 20-30 results and compare their content. Understand what phrases are commonly used and identify keyword themes. Sound like a lot of work? It is, but it is the difference between a mediocre campaign and a case study. I recommend building a tool to do this for you. We did.

These are some of the best practices to get you pointed in the right direction as you delve into the fascinating world of Content-targeting. But before you go hog-wild reconfiguring and re-launching, remember Content is not appropriate or profitable in all cases. Make sure you have a good understanding of the goals of the campaign or hire us to manage your campaigns.

Read the full unedited version here.

Image credit: Google Display Network

One of the most common topics we encounter when planning a new paid search engagement is how much focus should be placed on the competitive landscape. More specifically, is it prudent to bid on competitors’ branded and/or product terms? There are a lot of considerations to make when answering this question.

First off, the major paid search venues use some form of Quality Score or ranking system based on relevancy. Always keep in mind that the search venues get paid based on the click, not the conversion goal. Your profitability is secondary to theirs. As such, always consider – “Is my product/service/company more relevant for my competitors brand than they are?” If you answer “yes” than either you’ve found a utopian business or you are deluding yourself. Since your competitor will almost always be more relevant for their brand name and products, you will find yourself bidding higher just to maintain visibility. You are fighting an uphill battle with this one.

So should you even bother to bid on competitor terms? Yes, if you can commit to it. Strategy becomes crucial in this endeavor. Here are some tips to point you in the right direction:

#1 Make sure all your competitor-related terms are separated from the rest of the terms. Assign a specific budget to these competitor terms. Bear in mind that branded searches of any kind indicate that some preliminary research has been done or a familiarity exists. Because of this you are faced with the challenge of persuading someone who may be quite far down the decision making path to consider a different alternative. In order to convert these customers with a high degree of success, you likely need the perfect storm of: 1) better value 2) lower price 3) stronger call-to-action 4) and a reasonable degree of brand strength. It is not often a prospect will abandon what they are familiar with for an alternative they are not without 1, 2 and 3 being in place.

#2 Focus on what you can control. Often, when aggressively targeting competitors’ terms, you can expect lower Click Through Rates and a higher Cost Per Click than the campaign average. However, this doesn’t mean this traffic can’t or won’t convert. It does mean you need to focus on what you can control. Most prominently, your landing page and user experience. The traffic that is generated by this segment needs to be hit hard and fast with the information needed to ideally make a new buying decision, or at the very least, reset the buying process. Since the latter situation is far more likely, conversion measurement may need to be treated differently.

For instance, in the case of an e-commerce Product A and Product B: A certain percentage of the searchers for Product A will buy Product B if presented with the right value proposition. A larger percentage, which remains largely unknown or unidentified, will take a step back in their buying process and will start to consider Product B alongside Product A.

The first step is to create this audience by establishing credibility and proposing Product B as a worthy alternative to Product A. A word of warning: This cannot be done by disparaging Product A or its source, and it will take more than “Before you buy A, take a look at B.” If you do this, you will decrease your chances of converting these customers and will solidify their buying decision to purchase Product A. Give your potential customers/clients a little more credit.

This is a perfect opportunity to deploy a specifically targeted landing page, with an objective Features Matrix or some other tasteful comparison tool. It is our job as marketers to play to our strengths so definitely highlight what is better about Product B. Testimonials and third-party validation and accolades are appropriate to use here as credibility builders. Don’t be shy, but don’t be over the top either. There is plenty of research surrounding how to appropriately use testimonials, etc. and when to use them.

If you can build enough value in Product B’s strengths, then it is possible to overshadow its shortcomings. Not to point out the obvious, but if Product B has no positive comparisons to Product A, find a new job. In this day and age if you aren’t as good as your competitor, you better be cheaper, and if you aren’t cheaper you are out of business – you just may not know it yet.

MySpace just launched a new ad platform called MyAds.com.

The platform allows advertisers to:
• Create display/banner ads using provided templates or allows the upload of custom ads
• Target Audiences down to the specifics (Interest and Occupation, Demographics, Geography)
• View your audience reach of unique users as you narrow your target audience, this system also adjusts suggested bid

Payment Options and Who Can Advertise
Payment is on a CPC (cost per click) basis. Currently they are only accepting credit cards and are only running in the U.S. They are offering a $25 credit to new users for 1 week. Use CODE web06250925 during checkout.

Reporting & Tracking
I asked several times whether they would be providing any type of conversion tracking to advertisers but received no answer. I will follow up with Lisa Carrieri later this week to see if I can get details. Currently, the platform does offer basic reporting on impressions, clicks, and CTR.

Why You Should Try Myads.com
The CPC model and the targeting and uploading of ads allows the advertiser to have more control of their ads. This will open up a whole new methodology for testing and launching ad campaigns. With the ability to test which ads are performing best and the ability to gain a better understanding of who your target audience will be highly cost effective. MyAds can also serve as a valuable testing platform before launching a National offline campaign.

Let’s hope they don’t have the same click fraud problems as Facebook.

Let us know if you have used the platform and what your thoughts are.