Can't crack content network, need some input

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bb_wolfe

bb_wolfe

Medicinal KFC
Jan 1, 2008
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I've been sticking campaigns on Goog's content network for a few weeks now and I'm about to fucking scream.

I go deep for keywords, geotarget by state and major cities, and segregate ad groups to root keywords (and sometimes branch keywords), use images with each ad group.

I'll also throw some placements in the ad group that have a lot of traffic, good ad placement, and relevance to the offer.

Quality score is usually 7/10 or 5/10 for keywords.

But nothing for conversions. I get dick for conversions.

I'll typically build 3 campaigns for the same offer, one with images only to LP, one with images only to LP-Redirect, and one with both images/keywords/placements to LP.

Search network gets 4% conversions off the same LP, but has 0% ROI.

Anyone know of a good article/resource out there that they've utilized and have had success with?

Or... Am I just fucked, restart with a new offer?
 


Could be that you are just fucked. Some things just do not work. A 4% conv rate on search network is rather low, it depends on the offer you are promoting.
For example, I am currently playing at 2% conv rate on search, so the content network is simply out of the question for my deal. That is why I cut it out completely.
I would suggest that you try site targeting. Scour the niche for authority fora and blogs, and target only those.
 
This makes it tough to reply to since you have already tested so many options with nil results. One thing that comes to mind is that it could possibly just be the offer. Since your interrupting people on the content network can you look at the offer see that if you were customizing your myspace profile would your ad jump out and make you take action to click on it?

Another thing that is kind of shaky is that a 4% conversion rate from LP to offer as I understood you is low enough on search to maybe warrant further tweaking? I mean if they are actually searching for the information then going to your invaluable resource page and into the offer at 4% it seems low enough that getting that conversion percentage up may in fact yield a better result on content network?

Are you filtering shit resource sites each day/night thru placement reports?

I go deep for keywords, geotarget by state and major cities, and segregate ad groups to root keywords (and sometimes branch keywords), use images with each ad group.
Click to expand...

Ok, have you tested text ads also here?

I'll also throw some placements in the ad group that have a lot of traffic, good ad placement, and relevance to the offer.
Click to expand...

The problem with that is looking at the placements you actually target and thinking about the site. Myspace peeps would be different than About.com peeps. Can 1 landing page cover so many different demographics and conflicting site behaviors at once? The only way I have had success with placement targeting is not throw and stick. It was completely analyzing the site and trying to depict behaviors then testing ad copy and/or images to get people to stop and click. If the problem is not clicking but in conversions in itself, you might check up top about the search conversion %.

Dont know what else to say until more info comes out but it really seems like the offer is dead. I dont know, typically I am the type that would try the exact same thing here as you and if it didnt work, I would just move on.
 
How many keywords do you have per adgroup?

Do you have plenty of negative keywords for each adgroup?

Also, like Ruck already mentioned - you gotta think completely different when promoting on content vs. search. People are in a totally different mindset.

Again, some products just aren't really good for content, while others are way better than search on content. But - you should give it a few more tries first. Pm me if you want me to take a look at your campaign setup.

I wrote some other tips a month ago here:
http://www.wickedfire.com/affiliate-marketing/41684-question-about-content-network.html#post381121
 
ImagesAndWords said:
How many keywords do you have per adgroup?

Do you have plenty of negative keywords for each adgroup?

Also, like Ruck already mentioned - you gotta think completely different when promoting on content vs. search. People are in a totally different mindset.

Again, some products just aren't really good for content, while others are way better than search on content. But - you should give it a few more tries first. Pm me if you want me to take a look at your campaign setup.

I wrote some other tips a month ago here:
http://www.wickedfire.com/affiliate-marketing/41684-question-about-content-network.html#post381121
Click to expand...



Thanks for the link to your post, I did see some things you mention that I am not doing or doing wrong. Let me redeploy the campaign with your ideas! Thanks for the input everyone!
 
barman said:
didn't know there was a QS for CN keywords.
Click to expand...

There isn't. Unless you're grouping content and search into the same campaign? Which you shouldn't do.

Try running some placement targeted campaigns. CPM, not CPC.

Just make sure the placements you are targeting are above the fold. The big sites typically label their placements well so you know exactly where you're advertising... or simply search Google with your keywords and pick-off the top sites with great placements.

Also, as far as I know, when you bid CPM with text ads you take over the entire placement, as opposed to competing with several other ads. Therefore the CTRs are much higher. So don't be afraid to bid as high as a few dollars for CPM. Oh, and if you add at least 5 placements to an ad group there's a little green bar that changes when you adjust your CPM bid that tells you the likelyness of your ads showing. That helps sometimes.
 
Yes there is.

There's no physical way to see, but I do believe that they take landing page relevance and more importantly CTR into factor. I think I spoke with Google about it a while ago in person, but they're likely dumbasses who don't know their own system - so maybe we'll never really know.

avantrosa said:
There isn't.
Click to expand...
 
SUP3RNOVA said:
Yes there is.

There's no physical way to see, but I do believe that they take landing page relevance and more importantly CTR into factor. I think I spoke with Google about it a while ago in person, but they're likely dumbasses who don't know their own system - so maybe we'll never really know.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I meant. Nothing on the user side.

The content network QS is much more lenient than search though.
 
SUP3RNOVA said:
Yes there is.

There's no physical way to see
Click to expand...
you can't see the QS, but you can see the minimum bid for content keywords in adwords editor. Sometimes I'll have a content adgroup with a lot of .05 min bids, but a few .50 or 1.00s, so i'll delete those and put them in a more relevant ad group.
 
btw, since i'm feeling generous here's a tip:

run a placement report, sort by CTR, then look at the avg CPM vs avg CPC and decide whether it would be more profitable to target those placements via CPM.
 
jenzkc said:
btw, since i'm feeling generous here's a tip:

run a placement report, sort by CTR, then look at the avg CPM vs avg CPC and decide whether it would be more profitable to target those placements via CPM.
Click to expand...

CPC will show with other ads, I don't believe CPM does (I could be wrong) so CTR will vary.
 
Image ads generally don't work as well as text ads on the content network. This is due to banner blindness. Unless you have a kick ass image, don't bother. One of the things people do with the content network that holds them back is they bid far too low on competitive terms in high volume niches. That's a big mistake. Bidding high, (especially to start), on the content network is best.
 
Headlines matter quite a bit mate, I am going out atm will put up complete thing on content network and how to have success.
 
beejeebers said:
Image ads generally don't work as well as text ads on the content network. This is due to banner blindness. Unless you have a kick ass image, don't bother. One of the things people do with the content network that holds them back is they bid far too low on competitive terms in high volume niches. That's a big mistake. Bidding high, (especially to start), on the content network is best.
Click to expand...


I would completely disagree. I almost always see better results from image ads than text ads, across the board for all my content campaigns.
 
beejeebers said:
Image ads generally don't work as well as text ads on the content network. This is due to banner blindness. Unless you have a kick ass image, don't bother.
Click to expand...

Like majorbta, I have to disagree on this too. I almost always have better success with image ads on the content network. It's all about what you put into your banner.

My tip here is after running a placement report, take a look at some of the performing sites where you get some conversions, or at least some clicks in the beginning. Take note of what the sites look like and what sort of image would catch people's attention there. Say, if a site is showing potential - note where the adblocks are placed, what color scheme the sites uses, what theme it has, and create an eye-catching image that would fit well in there according to that.


Same goes for text ads of course, but in that case you could think of eye-catching headlines / ads that would interrupt the reader.
 
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