Browse Tag: # digital marketing

Easy Guide to Bidding Strategies

Picking the right Google Ads bidding strategy and implementing it is critical to driving your ad costs down.

While creating a new campaign on Google Ads, Google asks what type of bidding you want to use: Automated or Manual?

Most people opt for automated because whom the heck wants to adjust bids all the time if you’re running multiple campaigns? Nobody.

But in Google Ads, there are numerous bidding you can pick between and considerably more ways you can put them to use for maximum results.

Let’s walk you through all the different types of Google Ads bidding strategies

Google Ads Bidding Strategies

bidding-strategies-google-ads

  1. Target CPA
  2. Target ROAS
  3. Target Search Page Location
  4. Target Outranking Share
  5. Maximize Clicks
  6. Maximum Conversions
  7. Enhanced CPC
  8. Manual CPC
  9. Cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM)
  10. Cost-per-thousand viewable impressions (vCPM)

Let’s Understand Each one of them in detail:

1. Target CPA (Cost Per Acquisition)

Target CPA bidding strategy can be used when your objective is to generate conversions within a specific cost. In the CPA bidding strategy method, Google will automatically set your bids (CPC bids) based on the CPA you have defined for your campaigns. In order to understand the optimum CPA cost, Google needs historic data to estimate the CPA for your campaign because the CPA can differ from product to product and service to service.

2. Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

Return on Ad Spend is the amount you are expecting on every dollar you spend on your ads. Target ROAS strategy focuses on driving high conversion value than the number of conversions.

Let’s take an example and understand it with some math. Let’s say you are expecting $30 for every 10$ you spend then the Target ROAS to be defined in the campaign will be

ROAS = Revenue x 100%

         Ad Spend

ROAS = $ 30 x 100% = 300%

      $ 10

If we set 300% as the Target ROAS in the campaign, Google will try to achieve as defined but might not be able to every time achieve the no, because expectation on ad spends has to be justified with respect to the product you are marketing. You can’t set very high Target ROAS, which in reality is impossible to achieve.

3. Target Search Page Location

Target Search Page Location bid strategy can be used to target your ads on the first page of the Google search result page or on the top of the search result. So the first page means, your ad might be shown at the bottom of the first page as well, which you won’t be okay with.

Won’t recommend using this strategy as the ad position depends on the Ad Rank of your ad which is related to your bid and quality score. So if your Ad Rank is high then your ads will anyways achieve a higher position in paid search. Also, another reason why you shouldn’t go with this strategy is that Google will raise your bids automatically with no upper limit defined for your bid.

4. Target OutRanking Share

Target Outranking share bidding strategy is an automated bidding strategy where you can outrank your competitor’s ad on Google search.

When you and your competitor’s ads are getting triggered for a particular keyword in the same auction, Google will raise your bids to rank you higher above your competitor’s ad.

The only issue with this bidding strategy is that you can only outrank one competitor at a time. But while you are advertising, there would be multiple competitors on Google ads, so you will have to test and see if this strategy works for you or not

5. Maximize Clicks

Maximize Clicks is a type of bidding strategy where you can get maximum clicks within the daily budget defined for your campaign. Maximize clicks is also an automated bid strategy wherein Google will decide per click bid.

This strategy is good to drive maximum traffic within your daily budget. If your brand is new or if you want to create awareness and increase the visibility of your website, you can go with this strategy.

6. Maximize Conversions

Maximize Conversion bidding strategy is an automated bidding strategy wherein Google will optimize your campaign to get you maximum conversions, set within your daily budget.

For Eg: If your daily budget is $ 100. Google will try to get you maximum conversions within that budget.

Before setting up this bidding strategy, make sure that you have set up an optimum daily budget for your campaign. Do test the campaign by running it for at least 15 days and see if this bidding strategy is working for you or not.

7. Enhanced CPC

Enhanced CPC (ECPC) bidding strategy is a type of bid strategy where Google automatically increases your bid if it feels that there is a possibility of conversion during an auction. The bid amount can be anything, there is no cap limit for this, Google decides the bid amount here. So the bid amount can shoot up by 200% or maybe more than that as well!

So while using this type of bidding strategy, be careful, how your bids are fluctuating and monitor how many conversions you are able to generate from your daily budget. If you observe that the bids are going very high, then switch to another bid strategy or else you might exhaust your budget with no or fewer conversions.

8. Manual CPC

Manual CPC bidding strategy is a bid strategy where you define how much amount you are ready to pay for one click. It’s a manual strategy that gives you complete control over your bids. If you don’t want to move on any of the automated bid strategies then this is the best one to go with and control it effectively.

Google has also given an option of combining Manual CPC bidding strategy with ECPC bidding strategy but I won’t recommend going ahead with this because Google will automatically increase your bids if they are an opportunity for a conversion.

9. Cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM)

With CPM, you’ll pay depends on the number of impressions (times your ads are shown) that you get on YouTube or the Google Display Network.

10. Cost-per-thousand viewable impressions (vCPM)

You’ll be able to use this bidding if your ads are intended to build an increase more awareness however not essentially generates clicks or traffic. It allows you to the highest amount you need to pay for every 1,000 viewable impressions on the Google Display Network. If the goal of your campaign is a direct action from customers, like buying a product or filling out a form then probably vCPM bidding is not for you.

Bidding Strategy in Google Ads

  • Go to Google Ads account
  • Select a particular campaign
  • Go to the settings tab

Bidding-strategies-google-ads

  • Under Settings, you will find bidding
  • Click on bidding
  • You will see all bidding strategy options

Wrapping Up

It is important to select the right bidding strategy, selecting the right bidding strategy will depend upon the business objective. Also, not every bidding strategy would work for your business. The best way is to consider the business objective and then define the bidding strategy and keep experimenting with the other ones if they are not working.

How Social Media Helps In Brand Differentiation

With many competitors on digital platforms brand differentiation  has become a necessity to succeed. Coming up with a good strategy is the recipe to do this.

By standing out in the industry we create a safety net around our brand. Hence, a brand can protect themselves from price discounts and the competition. Besides this, it also assists in avoiding the draining of resources on prospects that are not the right fit.

Some steps that experts often suggest when brainstorming strategies are:

  • Defining your business mission
  • Understanding and analyzing your competition.
  • Understand your target audience very well
  • Ensure what differentiates your brand matters to your target market.
  • Review past differentiation strategies

 In today’s digital realm the main focus would be how to stand out in a cost-efficient manner and which digital tools can be used to achieve this. Social media platforms play a crucial role in differentiating a particular business in the eyes of their customers.

So what is the benefit of using social media?

Brand Awareness: 

The use of social media platforms can increase brand awareness as nearly everyone are active on these sites. Almost all the research customers do start online. This creates a great opportunity to share your unique story to educate your customers and distinguish your brand.

The use of social media boosts awareness and helps create a loyal following of customers ready to interact with your posts. Additionally, it helps in understanding your customers and focusing on their needs.

Humanizes your brand: 

Social media allows to connect with customers on a human level and have a conversation instead of an overused sales pitch. Using real emotion such as humor, empathy, and joy is helpful to get people to relate to your brand on a deeper level. 

Personalization has become essential and is what customers tend to look for in terms of developing brand loyalty. This can assist in moving further in the direction of differentiating your brand in comparison to the competition.

Advertising: 

Paid promotion on platforms like Facebook can not only be cost-effective but can increase awareness and brand engagement. Targeting your ideal market and promoting highly relevant posts can increase a users interest and help in achieving desired results.

The use of strong visuals and storytelling derives highly engaging advertisements which can further increase visibility. Ads are a great way to support your brand in all differentiation endeavors.

Customer Feedback: 

Customers often post reviews both negative and positive. This can be another great way to distinguish your brand through appreciating positive reviews and replying to negative ones in real-time. When a brand quickly replies and resolves any issue a customer might have faced it enhances the brand’s value.

By making improvements and evolving based on customer feedback it is possible to consistently impress them, strengthen loyalty and bring in new customers.

Tips To Stand Out on Social Media

Choose the right social media platforms: 

Understanding the different popular platforms available and choosing the one that is most used by your ideal target market plays a key role in reaching the right people.

Original Content: 

Share your story, don’t copy similar content but create it from scratch as well as a mix of user-generated content. Using content that resonates with your target market is important to develop an audience to stand out. Use content differently based on the platform being used and make sure to tailor it the most suitable way. Researching the type of content people enjoy more can aid in this process and can make your posts stand out.

Customize all your social platforms: 

A great way to grab a user’s attention is to make the company social profile visually attractive by updating the profile and cover photos. Also, well-written description of what the business is all about goes a long way to increase awareness and help set a brand apart from the other competitors.

Connect With Influencers: 

Connecting with online influencers whose niche audience matches your target market can be very beneficial in gaining people’s attention and increasing sales. Influencer marketing has become very popular and provide great value to brands. Choosing an influencer must be done with careful consideration. Finding an influencer that is the best fit for your brand can assist in reaching the right audience, building trust and gaining more loyalty.

 Brand Voice And Authenticity: 

The way you communicate online must be real, authentic and true to your business culture and tone. It is important to stay in alignment with what your brand image represents. The first step is to know your brand, what your tone is and how you want people to perceive the brand. Focus all the communication based on this understanding and create an authentic personality for the brand. This can increase chances to further the brand differentiation process.

Consistency:

 Maintain a constant theme concerning the company’s logo, tone and the kind of topics you choose to post about. Being consistent in every aspect of your social media profile. Furthermore being consistent in posting content can help followers in understanding what to expect from you and also builds trust.

Audience focused: 

All communication and content should be based on what the target market wants and needs. This will attract new followers as well as keep current followers interested. Researching and paying attention to detail will be beneficial in the long run.

Quality produce/Service: 

Brand differentiation is important but unless the product/service being offered is of top quality there is only so much online or offline platforms can do. It is key to maintain a certain level of quality and constantly adapting to the changing needs of consumers.

A good understanding of your target market and focussing on their needs and wants both online and offline is essential for success. It will help in developing value, image, and loyalty which in turn distinguishes a brand. 

The above tips and step are guidelines for achieving an edge over the competition and safeguarding the overall brand. However, this is a continuous process of meeting and exceeding customer expectations consistently.

5 Out-of-the-Box Ways to Improve your AdWords CTR

Google AdWords is deemed to be one of the most important implements in the digital marketing toolshed.  The metrics that it provides can give you an immense understanding of the performance of your ads, target market as well as website. Moreover, Google tends to charge you a lesser amount per click if you have a higher Click-Through-Rate (CTR). CTR, which happens to be one of the metrics is expressed as a percentage of ad’s clicks divided by its impressions. A higher CTR can also increase your Quality Score and give you a higher Ad Rank, as it tells Google that your Ad is resonating with users. Here are 5 out of the box ways to improve your AdWords CTR:

1.) Make sure your Keywords are Narrowed-Down and Relevant:

 Sifting out your keywords will improve your CTR will, in turn, reduce your Cost Per Conversion (CPC). The following mentions a few steps you can take to do this:

Reduce & Group Similar Keywords:

Your ad copy should match its keyword and this can be done by targeting your ads to specific keywords and grouping them accordingly.  For instance, if you’re writing ads for dresses, you can break up your ads into different keywords such as ‘cocktail dresses’, ‘summer dresses’, ‘gowns’ etc. in different ad groups rather than targeting those keywords under one generic dress ad. You should make separate ad groups for each of these dress categories and make varying ad copies for each one of them.  By doing this, you are being more relevant and attempting to sub-group your keywords.

Make use of Negative Keywords:

The negative keywords feature becomes useful when you do not want your ad to show up at certain google searches. This is done to stop your ad from showing to an audience that does not need your product at that moment in time. You can use the Keyword Planner to help you find negative keywords for your list so that your ads are more filtered. From them, you can get ideas about which words are not in line with your product offering and put them in your negative keyword list so that your ad does not show up in instances where it is not actually being searched for. So if we take the example of ‘dresses’, type it on google keyword planner, we will get relevant keyword search results. We might get results such as, “prom dresses’ or ‘dresses for rent’ etc. if you are a company selling casual dresses for sale, you would not want your ad to show up when people are searching for dresses for rent or even prom dresses. Hence you would put ‘rent’ and ‘prom’ as part of your negative keyword list.

Include target keywords in the Ad Copy you create:

It sounds pretty straightforward. Make sure the keywords you are bidding for are present in your ad heading, copy or in the display URL, or your CTR will plummet and you would end up paying more than you actually need to.

2.)  Title Case and Symbols improves CTR.

To improve your CTR, incorporate the use of title case in your ad copy. Make sure you use uppercase letters when you need to, along with symbols such as exclamation marks, currency signs or even the discount symbol if required. According to Acquisio, such symbols may appeal more to your target audience and thus increase clicks.

 

Photo Credits: Acquisio

Acquisio also gives the example demonstrated in the picture above. They stated that advertisement four or five would attain more clicks as it involves symbols such as % and ® which could potentially appeal to searchers.

3.) Use ad extensions to their full potential

 Never underestimate the power of ad extensions such as Sitelinks, Callouts, location, affiliate, price and more, as they allow you to reveal more information on your ads. With ad extensions, CTR may increase because you can input information such as a direct phone number for searchers to call, a map with your business’ location and buttons that link to different pages in your site, to name a few. This serves to be very appealing to potential leads as it provides them with a sense of direction. Not only this, ad extensions allow your ad to take up a greater space on the search results which entails that there is a higher chance of your ad being sought after.

Photo Credit: Clicteq

4.) Add Call to Actions (CTAs)

Right now you might be thinking that CTAs refer to phrases such as ‘Buy Now!’, ‘50% off, Only Today’ or ‘Check out our offers, Save big now!’

Although this might be true, CTA does not always have to be a sales push, unless you have tested it and it works for you. Instead, you can be creative and try something different. For instance, Wordstream exposed an example of a wedding planning company’s ad in Boston and their unusual approach to using CTA. In the ad copy, the company uses “Imagine the spectacular setting of the Boston Public Library…”’: a story-telling, unique and eye-catching phrase instead of the banal ‘buy now/save now’.

 5.) Review your bids to maintain/boost CTR

To ensure that you remain on the first page of relevant Google Searches, keep on reviewing on how much you have bid. Do not bid too less on keywords as it can reduce your ad’s CTR. Take into account and research on other factors, such as, time of day/week whereby your target audience is more engaged, geographic locations which would relate to your offering and many more. Moreover, be wary of your competitors and review the way in which they write their ad copies.

 

 

How Apple created and captured marketing through Social Media

Apple is a American Multinational Technology Company that designs, develops and sells consumer electronic, computer softwares and online services. Apple’s first slogan, “Byte into an Apple” and the slogan “Think Different” was used in advertising campaigns. 

Apple created and captured market through Social Media:

Apple used seven market strategies to capture the market those are:

  1. Rethink the need of Advertisement: It is necessary to invest more on ads by google ans facebook when you want to increse your sales revenue. But apple doesn’t think that way, they have completely diffrent strategies:                                                                                                                                                             a. product placement through celebreties and in popular show.                                                                   b. the buzz created by positive reviews in media.                                                               Apple another strategy was to give free trails to the customers. They give free trails in exchange of positive testimonials.
  2. Avoid Price wars by Emphasing your Unique Value Propostion: Apple focuses on their UVP (unique value proposition), which is beautiful design that works right out of the box with ever-smaller packaging. It’s a marketing strategy that gets juice throughout social media and is very much a competitive advantage for Apple and its market share.How can Apple keep its fans with a pricing strategy so much higher than the competition?It’s because Apple doesn’t view PCs as competition. Where others focus on a single killer feature through a variety of content marketing, Apple focuses on the entire product, and it shows. Apple doesn’t focuses on price rather you are ready to pay something more tahn paying more in the other brand product.
  3. Keep your marketing and product simple: Apple understands that technology consumers often get overwhelmed. Overwhelm can create a confusion in a marketing mix. Apple helps reduce that consumer confusion by simplifying their web and sales copy. They completely eschew jargon or industry terms. Instead, they use simple, direct words and they continually stress the benefits that consumers absolutely need and will be thrilled by. This is part of their brilliance in content marketing; high tech without high tech terms.This approach doesn’t confuse their customers with too much information. As Leonardo da Vinci said, Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.Apple keeps it simple and their customers love it giving them a loyalty with market share that is unprecedented. Apple ads and marketing strategy doesn’t convey the specifications and features of the product rather than it focuses on how the product is useful and how it can change your living standard. Even the products themselves are kept sleek and minimal, with simple color schemes and clean, uncluttered design. The names are short and easy to remember, including the “app store” that has made third party partners huge successes.
  4. Know your audience and talk to them in their language: Apple mention their product specification and technical details of the product on therir websites. They doesn’t use the terms which the customers cannot understand, in their websites you wil find the words like edge-to-edge glass, retina display and LED backlight. Apple knows its customers and has developed loyalty in the market share. They know their customers and know the language in which they have to talk to their customers and make them comfortable instead of confusing them.
  5. Design a better customer experience: When a Apple customer buy a product they upload video in which they unwrap their new apple product which is called unboxing. Apple has created a customer experience that goes far beyond the actual purchase in a retail store. They no longer even need to be in charge of a huge part of their content marketing since their target market is doing it for them.
  6. Aim to your prospects’ Emotions: Emotional connections are the key to successful marketing strategies. It’s what makes certain stories, videos, and memes go viral. Think back to the first ads for the iPad, after its buzzy launch in 2010 and how simple their content marketing was.Remember those images of people relaxing in the living room with the strange new gadget? They looked happy and comfortable.They weren’t talking about display dimensions or processing power. They were just enjoying their iPads.Those ads, as with all of Apple’s marketing, hit their consumers where they really live – not in the pocketbook but in their hearts.
  7. Build a Community of users or customers: Apple has built one of the most hardcore fan bases for any brand, anywhere in the world. Apple has created a brand personality and culture that’s cool, fun, and friendly — the opposite of some of its competitors. Apple’s marketing strategies include making customers want to belong to that community. Their market share shows just how successful they have been. The first and most critical step to take in building a strong, vibrant and engaged community of users is to get crystal-clear on your brand values and personality. You have to create a vivid and accurate picture of your brand in your own mind first — your brand’s core message, its deeply-held values, its personality and what it stands for above all else.Then, your next step is to make sure that your pages, marketing copy and content all express those values and that personality. Every aspect of your website should be consistent with those words you chose to describe your brand, from graphics to fonts to color scheme.Last, but not least, show your readers and users you value them, as well as their opinions. Let them know that you’re deeply interested in them with your content.

    How can you do this effectively on the web? You can try any or all of the following tips to start with:

    •  Ask open-ended questions in your content.
    •  Respond to cooment on your blog posts– carry on a conversation.
    •  Try to initiate conversations with your users/readers on social media.
    •  Create a referral reward program for customers who refer other new customers.
    •  Reach out to customers with email.

    CONCLUSION: Apple as a brand take care about every single things through which they have a hold in the market. Apple on social media that is on twitter and Facebook without any advertisement has  captured the market. Apple joined Instagram where he has posted pictures shot by their product telling about the features of the product.

Apple on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Apple ( 1.5 million)

The twitter page of Apple has no tweet still have so many followers.

Apple on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apple/?ref=br_tf

Highlights info row image
10,935,466 people like this
Highlights info row image
11,039,250 people follow this
This is how the facebook page of Apple looks. It has no posts still customers are so loyal to this brand that it has so many who likes and follow this page.
  • 96 posts
  • 3.2m followers

This is the Instagram page of Apple where they shows the shot on their Iphones and they also generate backlinks by tagging the person.