converting ppc traffic: how one search campaign produced a 302% increase in profit, meclabs

Converting PPC Traffic:Converting PPC Traffic: How one search campaign produced a 302% increase in profit

2

TODAY’S TEAM

Dr. Flint McGlaughlin – Director, MECLABS Group

Flint McGlaughlin is the Director of MECLABS Group. The organization has partnered with key market leaders including The New York Times, Microsoft Corporation, and Reuters Group.

Dr. McGlaughlin also serves as the Director of Enterprise Research at the Transforming Business Institute, University of Cambridge (UK) and as a Trustee for Westminster Theological Centre. Dr. McGlaughlin originally studied Philosophy and Theology at the University of London’s Specialist Jesuit College.

Today, his primary research is focused on enterprise as transformative agent. His work has won multiple awards and has been quoted in more than 13,000 online and offline sources.

3

Business Software Suite#1 On-Demand. 6459+ World ClientsAward-Winning Solution. Free Trialwww.[Company].com/BusinessSoftware

Version A

WHICH PPC AD GENERATED THE MOST RESPONSE?

Version B

{KeyWord} Business SolutionsRun Your Entire Business with One System. Accounting + CRM. Free Trial.www.[Company].com/Business-Solutions

4

Relief From Back PainReclaim your life with a 30-minuteGroundbreaking back pain procedure[Company].com/Back_Pain

Avoid open back surgeryTry AccuraScope back pain treatmentOne micro incision for pain relief[Company].com/Back_Pain

Version A

Version B

Same-day Back Pain ReliefTry AccuraScope back pain treatmentInnovative, single 30-minute procedure[Company].com/AccuraScope

Version C


5

Version A


Version B

Event Management SoftwareOver 9 Million People Registered!Online Event Management Softwarewww.[Company].com

Event Management Software32 easy to use, customizable tools120,000+ planners use it, Try Free[Company].com/Back_Pain

6

AN EXPERIMENT

7

Background: A leading software provider

Goal: To increase total leads captured

Primary research question: Which process will generate the most leads?

Approach: A/B multifactorial split test. The experiment ran for 18 weeks, testing 16 different ads (control PPC ad above) and observing more than 950,000 unique impressions.

Experiment ID: (Protected)Location: MarketingExperiments Research LibraryTest Protocol Number: TP1214

Research Notes:

�EXPERIMENT: BACKGROUND

8

{KeyWord} Business SolutionsRun Your Entire Business with One System. Accounting + CRM. Free Trial.www.[Company].com/Business-Solutions

EXPERIMENT: EXAMPLE TREATMENTS

#1 Business Software 6459+ Clients. On-Demand Access. One System for the Entire Company.www.[Company].com/BusinessSoftware

Small Business Software Worlds #1 On-Demand Suite. 6459+ Clients. Free Trial Today. www.[Company}.com/BusinessSoftware


Small Business Software 6459+ Clients Worldwide Free Trial Software You Won't Outgrow.www.[Company].com/BusinessSoftware

{KeyWord} Business SolutionsSupport the Entire Company with One Low Cost Solution. [Company].www.[Company].com/Business-Solutions

9


{Keyword} Business SoftwareAward-Winning Business Software. Fully Integrated. Free Trialwww.[Company].com/Business

EXPERIMENT: RESULTS

Original Ad Best Performing Ad

21% Increase in Clickthrough The new ad generated 20.9% more clicks than the original

10

But we did not stop with the PPC Ad…


EXPERIMENT: RESULTS

21%CLICK-THROUGH

11


Control

EXPERIMENT: CONTROL LANDING PAGE

12


Treatment

EXPERIMENT: TREATMENT LANDING PAGE

13

Control Treatment

EXPERIMENT: SIDE-BY-SIDE

14

54% increase in overall conversion The optimized landing page conversion rate increased by 54.26%

Landing Page Conversion Rate Relative Diff. vs. Control

Statistical Significance

Original 7.17% - -

Optimized 11.06% 54.26% 95%

EXPERIMENT: RESULTS

15

Business Software Suite#1 On-Demand. 6459+ World ClientsAward-Winning Solution. Free Trialwww.XXXXXXXXXX.com/Business

21%CLICK-THROUGH

54%CLICK-THROUGH

But we did not stop with the PPC Ad and landing page…

EXPERIMENT: RESULTS

16

Control

EXPERIMENT: ORIGINAL FORM PAGE

17

Treatment

EXPERIMENT: ORIGINAL FORM PAGE

18

97% increase in overall conversion The optimized landing page conversion rate increased by 97.27%

Landing Page Conversion Rate Relative Diff. vs. Control

Statistical Significance

Original 15.84% - -

Optimized 31.25% 97.27% 95%

EXPERIMENT: RESULTS

19

What was the compounding effect of the sequential gains?


21%CLICK-THROUGH

54%CLICK-THROUGH

97%FORM SUBMISSIONS

EXPERIMENT: RESULTS

20

Metric Control Treatment Relative Difference

PPC Advertisement 0.89% 1.08 20.9%

Landing Page Clickthrough 7.17% 11.06% 54.26%

Form Completion 15.84% 31.25% 97.27%

Impression-to-lead Conversion .009% .033% 272.2%

272% Increase in Overall Conversion The optimized path’s conversion rate increased by 272.2%

What you need to understand: In this experiment, a 272% increase in conversion led to 268% more projected revenue and, when combined with the corresponding 66% reduction in cost-per-acquisition, the optimized path produced more than 4 times the monthly profit (302% increase).

EXPERIMENT: RESULTS

21

CONVERTING PPC CLICKS

1. We do not optimize PPC campaigns; we optimize thought sequences. A small change can often have a big impact on the prospect’s sequence of thought.

2. In order to understand the thought sequence of a prospect arriving from a PPC ad, marketers must be able to see both the PATH TAKEN (route) and PATTERN FOLLOWED (behavior) by the prospect.

F Key Principles

22

g =

9.81

m/s

2

1. The funnel is often presented as one potentially useful analogy for marketing. It is in fact, the primary analogy. All marketing should influence a decision.

2. The funnel analogy distorts reality. People are not falling into your funnel, they are falling out. The funnel must be inverted.

3. People don’t travel down the center of the funnel. People are climbing up the sides.

THREE FLAWS IN THE FUNNEL ANALOGY

23

(Mi)YES

(Ma)YES Y

Valu

e Pr

opos

ition


PPC Ad

Landing Page

Sales Call

THE INVERTED SALES FUNNEL

(Mi)YES

(Mi)YES

(Mi)YES

(Mi)YES

(Mi)YES

24

For this clinic, we are going to walk through the THREE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS that impact a

prospect’s probability of conversion on a landing page

TODAY’S FOCUS

25

Factor #1: Channel Momentum

26

BUILDING CHANNEL MOMENTUM

F Key Principles

1. The probability of conversion on landing page is directly related to the degree of momentum (customer expectation) generated from the PPC ad.

2. The goal of the PPC ad is not to sell the product, but rather to initiate momentum by converting attention into interest into action (click).

3. We do this by answering the derivative value proposition question, “If I am your ideal prospect, why should I click on this PPC ad rather than any other PPC ad?”

FACTOR #1

27

Background: North American Spine is the sole provider of the Accurascope procedure which is an innovative, minimally invasive spine surgery for back pain relief

Goal: To increase number of leads on home page.

Primary research question: Which benefit approach of the three treatments will increase the conversion rate?

Approach: A/B multifactor split test

Experiment ID: North American Spine PPC Copy TestLocation: MarketingExperiments Research LibraryTest Protocol Number: TP4061

Research Notes:

�FACTOR #1

EXPERIMENT: BACKGROUND

28


Control

EXPERIMENT: BACKGROUNDFACTOR #1

29


Treatment #1

FACTOR #1

EXPERIMENT: TREATMENT #1

30


Treatment #2

EXPERIMENT: TREATMENT #2FACTOR #1

31

Treatment #2

Treatment #1

Control Landing Page




FACTOR #1


32

Versions Conversion Rate Relative Difference

Statistical Confidence

Control 1.8% - -

Treatment #1 1.6% -7.9%

Treatment #2 2.6% 46.6%

46.6% Increase in Conversion The Treatment generated 46.6% more leads

What you need to understand: With simple but nuanced adjustments, treatment #2 was able to achieve a 46.6% lift over the control.

95%

95%

FACTOR #1

EXPERIMENT: RESULTS

33

Event Management SoftwareOver 9 Million People Registered!Online Event Management Softwarewww.[Company].com

Event Management Software32 easy to use, customizable tools120,000+ planners use it, Try Free[Company].com/Back_Pain

118% Increase in Clicks

But thisNot this

BUILDING CHANNEL MOMENTUMFACTOR #1

But thisNot this

21% Increase in Clicks


{Keyword} Business SoftwareAward-Winning Business Software. Fully Integrated. Free Trialwww.[Company].com/Business

34

Factor #2: Transition Orientation

35

MOMENT OF ORIENTATION

Moment of Orientation Conversation Value

Exchange

Where am I?

What can I do here?

Why should I do it?

First Seconds Subsequent minutes (or days) depending on sales cycle

Visitor Experience Timeline

• You have approximately 7 seconds to orientate the visitor. If you fail to do this, you will mitigate the momentum built within the channel.

FACTOR #2

36

NOT THIS…Generic Homepage

FACTOR #2

37

Specific Landing Page

BUT THIS…FACTOR #2

38

PREVIOUS AUDIENCE EXAMPLEFACTOR #2

Are you able to discern the following questions?

• Where am I?

• What can I do here?

• Why should I do it?

Bitdefender Safepay - Protect your online transactionsAward winning antivirus software on sale nowhttp://bitdefender-internet-security.com/

http://bitdefender-internet-security.com/



39

Factor #3: Value Transfer

40

F Key Principles

1. In order to effectively transfer value from the PPC ad to the landing page, one must ensure the holistic expression of the value proposition. This involves two key elements :

• Congruence – Ensuring that every element of a page either expresses or supports the value proposition

• Continuity – Ensuring that every step of the conversion process either expresses or supports the value proposition

TRANSFERRING VALUEFACTOR #3

41


Experiment ID: (Protected)Location: MarketingExperiments Research LibraryTest Protocol Number: TP1306(a)�

Background: Provides end-to-end market solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses.

Goal: Increase the email capture rate of an online form.

Primary Research Question: Which page will obtain the most form submissions?

Approach: A/B multi-factor split test

Research Notes:

FACTOR #3

42

[Bankruptcy] Mailing ListsQuality business mailing lists thatGet you results to increase sales![company-name].com

EXPERIMENT: CONTROLControl

FACTOR #3

43

EXPERIMENT: CONTROL

C = 4m + 3v + 2(i-f) - 2a

To increase congruence, we used the conversion heuristic above to identify potential ways we were not transferring value:

• The headline is making qualitative, hype-filled claims

• The two-column structure of the page impedes the eye-path.

• The tone of the call-to-action generates unnecessary concern

• The credibility indicators are hidden in headers and footers.

Control

FACTOR #3

44

EXPERIMENT: CONTROLTreatmentControl

FACTOR #3

45

EXPERIMENT: CONTROL

Design Conversion Rate

Control 1.71%

Treatment 4.93%

Relative Difference 188%

188% Increase in Total Leads The new form page increased lead rate by 188%

What you need to understand: By applying a methodological approach for optimizing landing pages, the treatment was able to generate a 188% increase in total leads captured.

FACTOR #3

46


Control – Keyword Present

• In our efforts to improve congruence, we lost continuity from the PPC ad to the headline of the landing page.

How did this affect the landing page conversion?

Treatment – Keyword Not Present

EXPERIMENT: RESULTSFACTOR #3

47


Experiment ID: (Protected)Location: MarketingExperiments Research LibraryTest Protocol Number: TP1306(b)�

Background: Provides end-to-end market solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses.

Goal: Increase the email capture rate of an online form.

Primary Research Question: Which page will obtain the most form submissions?

Approach: A/B multi-factor split test

Research Notes:

FACTOR #3

48


EXPERIMENT: CONTROLControl

• The control utilizes a general headline that doesn’t reference the keyword used in the PPC ad.

FACTOR #3

49

EXPERIMENT: TREATMENT


• The treatment simply integrated the keyword utilized in the PPC ad.

Treatment

FACTOR #3

50


Control – Keyword NOT Present Treatment – Keyword IS Present

FACTOR #3

51

EXPERIMENT: RESULTS

Design Conversion Rate

Control 4.93%

Treatment 12.05%

Relative Difference 144%

144% Increase in Total Leads The new form page increased lead rate by 144%

What you need to understand: By simply improving the continuity from the PPC ad to the landing page, the treatment produced 144% more leads.

FACTOR #3

52

EXPERIMENT: RESULTS

188%

144%

FACTOR #3

53

EXPERIMENT: RESULTS

188%

144%

A compounding gain of 603% increase in lead rate

FACTOR #3

54

SUMMARY: PPC CHECK LIST

Are the claims in your PPC ad specific? Do they use qualitative or hype-filled language? How can you quantify your claims? Is your PPC ad focused on generating a click? Have you provided a compelling reason to click your ad over the other options?

Are you utilizing the headline of your page to immediately inform the prospect where they have arrived?

Is your landing page objective clear? Is your eye-path a simple, single-column flow? Do you have an easy-to-see call to action?

Is every element of you page (headline, images, copy, CTAs) expressing the value proposition?

PPC Campaign Checklist

Converting PPC Traffic:Converting PPC Traffic: How one search campaign produced a 302% increase in profit

converting ppc traffic: how one search campaign produced a 302% increase in profit, meclabs

Technology