This episode we're joined by Ubrik's Digital Marketing Manager, Azhad Ali.
He usually spearheads our performance marketing campaigns.
He's been in digital marketing since 2008, when he was employee #3 at Ubrik.
Now, Ubrik has handled over 100 accounts and AED 30 million in digital media spend.
[02:30] Today's topic - a practical breakdown of how to execute your first Google Adwords campaign.
[03:15] Specifically, we will focus on the Search Marketing Cycle (SMC.)
[04:00] The SMC is a 4-step process of research and planning, execution, measurement, and optimization.
[04:45] At the planning stage you figure out what your objectives are and develop keywords you want to associate with your brand, using the information you have about your business.
[05:55] The difference between "search term" and "keyword." A search term is what the user types into Google Search, while a keyword is what the digital marketer configures in an Adwords account.
[06:25] For example, "where can i get a part-time MBA in Dubai?" is a search term.
[06:50] Using data from search engines, the marketer might select "MBA in Dubai" as the keyword.
[07:00] If there is a lot of competition for that keyword, they might refine it further and choose to target "Canadian MBA in Dubai." This is known as a "long-tail keyword."
[07:30] Which keywords you choose to target will depend on how competitive they are and on their price.
[08:00] How does the marketer go about doing the research to identify the right keywords? Using the Canadian University example (one of Ubrik's clients,) the marketer will review Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and Google Keyword Planner.
[09:15] He will also use websites like Alexa, Similar Web and SEM Rush to get data about competitors.
[09:41] Keywords can be categorized into brand keywords, product keywords, and competitor keywords.
[09:55] For Canadian University, the brand keyword is Canadian University in Dubai. The Brand offering keywords could be "Canadian University Dubai degree," "Canadian University Dubai courses," "CUD," "Canadian University location," "Canadian University of Dubai," etc.
[11:20] Arabic search data is also essential in this region. You would review Arabic search terms and come up with Arabic keywords.
[12:20] How do you select your offering/product/service keywords? Look at your website structure. In our university example, they could be broken down by undergraduate and graduate, by academic departments, by major etc.
[13:26] In this example Azhad would go with one campaign for brand keywords, one for undergraduate and graduate keywords, and one for competition keywords.
[13:36] The product/offering campaign would be broken down further by degree typ, major, etc.
[14:00] You need to build your brand and increase brand awareness, as well as target your brand keyword, so you don't get beaten by your competitors.
[15:41] When executing a campaign, you need to segment your campaign into ad groups, figure out your budget (i.e. how much you will spend daily on each ad group.)
[16:41] We'll be providing a document that illustrates this so you can understand it better.
[17:15] Adwords works on a daily budget basis. You would divide your total budget by the duration of your campaign. You would also assign a maximum Cost Per Click (CPC) for each ad groups.
[18:10] Along with the keyword you would have your ad copy, and companies will need to optimize the ad copy as part of their iterative process.
[19:35] The final piece of the puzzle is the landing page that each ad is linked to. The keyword, ad copy and landing page together make one ad set.
[19:50] You also want to specify your negative keywords, which are those that you don't want your ad to show up for. E.g. if Canadian University in Dubai is running a campaign to advertise for its 'fall intake, "Canadian University in Dubai jobs" would be a negative keyword.
[20:30] After lauching your Adwords campaign you will be able to collect data and this is the measurement phase.
[20:40] Important metrics to track are impressions, Click-through Rate (CTR,) CPC and conversions.)
[21:40] Based on those numbers you will understand which areas of the campaign need to be optimized. E.g. if CTR is low, you need to work on your ad copy.
[22:30] This process of measuring and optimizing continues until you are satisfied with how the campaign is performing.
[23:00] You can learn how to implement Google Adwords campaigns via online courses like Google's own "Essential Adwords" courses, Wordstream's "PPC University," Udemy's "Google Adwords for Beginners" and Lynda's "Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords."
[23:50] These courses are regularly updated as new features are added. Marketers need to keep themselves sharp.
[24:20] Other resources for news and trends are websites Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Land, SEM Rush, PPC Hero, etc.
[25:40] While there are some best-practices to follow, getting good at Google Adwords is a constant process of experimentation.
[27:22] We plan on doing more episodes to cover SEM in more detail. This was just an introduction.