6 steps to an advanced competitor analysis for digital marketers

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6 Steps To An Advanced

Competitive Analysis for Digital Marketers

&

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Presenters

• Paul Klebanov– Marketing Educator at SEMrush

– Speaker at SEMrush

– @paulklebanov

• Jacob Fairclough– Senior Account Analyst at Hanapin Marketing– PPC Hero Blogger

– @realsecretjake

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Join the conversation

Include the hashtag #thinkppc in your Twitter tweets.

Or use the webinar question box to send us questions.

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Live Poll Question #1

How long have you been in PPC?#thinkppc

A. Less than 1 yearB. 1-3 yearsC. 3-5 yearsD. 5+ years

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Creating Your Market Map

“If you want to convert someone, go to where they are, introduce yourself, take them by the hand and guide them to where you want them to go.”

- Saint Thomas Aquinas

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1.Determine your targeting

Ask yourself:

What are people searching for?

• Existing topics (bodybuilding)• New topics (branded terms)

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• Informational Keywords– Informative keywords that are based

on answers to a specific problem.

• Transactional Keywords– Keywords that signal an intent to purchase

based on keyword or specificity of query. For example: Buy, Subscribe, For Sale, Brand + product name.

1.Three Types of Keywords

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1.Three Types of Keyword

• Navigational Keywords

– Navigational keywords help people find your web page and are often branded

• Example: “SEMRush, bodybuilding.com”

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1. What Keywords Should I Bid On ?

Google Keyword Planner

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1.Export Google’s Keyword Ideas

Google Keyword Planner has 436 keywords:

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1.Copy Google Related Terms

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1.Copy Google’s Suggested Terms

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1.Use SEMrush

With SEMrush

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1.By Keyword

Using Your Topics’ Keyword

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1.By Keyword

Related Keywords

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1.Creating a List of Competitors

Export a List of Your Top 20 Competitors

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1.Exporting Their Keyword Targets

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Publishers Your Competitors are Advertising On

1.Export Publishers

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1.Rank Your Competitors

Domain Traffic Volume

Common Keywords Competitiveness

gnc.com 85.3k 637 10%

Vitacost.com 79.4k 998 4%

esupplements.com 1.1k 332 3%

Bodyfortress.com 1.2k 327 3%

sbmuscle.com 483 289 2%

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1.Your Ad GroupDesign your Ad Groups for Informational & Transactional Terms

Keyword Specific, Medium,

Broad

Keyword Volume

CPC Competitive Density

Traffic Percentage

how long does it take to get a six pack

specific 2400 1.54 1.00 2.79

at home ab workout medium 2900 3.34 0.79 1.25

best ab workout for men

medium 2900 4.62 0.42 0.83

how to get abs in a week

medium 4400 4.96 0.54 0.68

abs in 30 days specific 1000 2.02 0.30 0.23

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2. Finding Your Performance Data

Auction Insights (AdWords) and Share of Voice (Bing) show how your campaigns stack up against competitors.

These are based off of the current performance of your accounts and campaigns.

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2. Finding Your Performance Data

You can also add impression share metrics to your standard interface and reports.

Use this to:

● Quickly compare two periods for performance differences.

● Build lost impression share models.

● Keep an eye on lost impression share due to budget and rank.

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2. Campaign, Ad Group or Keyword

You can also add impression share metrics to your standard interface and reports.

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2. Using Campaign Data Example

Campaign and ad group data competitive data can be used to estimate expansion results and performance based on budget allocation.

Blog Post - How to Get More Out of Excel Solver

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2. Auction Insights Breakdown

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2. Using New Metrics

The base metrics are helpful but you can combine them for even more insights.

Blog Post - Find Your True Competition with Rank Above Share

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2. Potential Issues with Your Data

Due to sampling, search volume and time, you won’t get perfect auction insight data. You’ll often have inconsistent data for campaigns capped by budget or rank.

If this is the case, your best bet is to turn to a third party such as SEMrush to get a view of the landscape.

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3.Choosing the Right Data Segments

Auction Insights reports can skew your view if you aren’t careful.

Make smart segments by:

● Product line● Branded and non-branded● Campaign intent● Campaign type● Being aware of seasonality

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4. Further Analysis

The data itself is helpful but not actionable. You also need to account for other factors such as time and device.

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4. Dealing with Devices

You monitor your device performance — why ignore a competitor’s?

Device performance can clue you in on who to watch for each device.

Are competitors the same or do you see variation between devices?

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4. Dealing with Devices Cont.

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4. Dealing with Time

Don’t settle for aggregates over time.

Segmenting by time can help explain when a competitor is pushing or pulling. This allows you to find new opportunities or spot your own weaknesses.

Common views include:● Week● Month● Quarter

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4. Dealing with Time

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4. Dealing with Time

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5. Success Leaves Clues

Your Customer’s Persona

● Demographics● Psychographics● Goals & Challenges ● Environmental● Interests● Goals & Challenges● Common Objections

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5. Success Leaves Clues

Your Anti-Customer's Persona

● Demographics● Psychographics● Goals & Challenges ● Environmental● Interests● Goals & Challenges● Common Objections

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5. Your Competitors Media Ads

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5. Success Leaves CluesPublishers Your Competitors are Targeting & Ads Displayed

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5. Success Leaves CluesPublishers Your Competitors are Targeting & Ads Displayed

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5. Ad Copy Ideas

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5. Export Ad Copy Ideas

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5. Landing Pages

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5. Ad History

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6. Making Your Ad Irresistible

End Result Customer Wants + Specific Period of Time

Example:

How to get Six Pack Abs in 30 Days using this step-by-step workout plan.

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6. Elicit an Emotional Response

The Seven Deadly Sins Or The Seven Heavenly Virtues

Pride Humility

Envy Kindness

Wrath Forgiveness

Gluttony Temperance

Lust Chastity

Sloth Diligence

Greed Charity

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6. Gluttony vs Temperance

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6. More Information

http://bit.ly/Deadly-Sins-Webinar

bit.ly/Deadly-Sins-Webinar

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Offers!

A. Get a 14 day free trial to SEMrush (expires Oct. 26)

B. Get an account analysis by the experts at Hanapin (For accounts spending 15k+/month)

C. BothD. No Thanks!

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Live Q&A Time!

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Thank you for attending our webinar! #thinkppc

• Contact us Directly:

» Hanapin Feedback: marketing@hanapinmarketing.com

SEMrush Feedback: paul.klebanov@semrush.com

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