Jeff Baum says, “Many businesses receive significant lead volume from phone calls. The reason marketers want to generate phone leads is to capitalize on the immediacy of being able to activate the sales funnel. This article delves into why lead generation businesses need to have a call tracking solution in place, how data collected through call tracking technology can improve conversion funnel performance and why integrating call tracking into third-party systems can lift paid search performance. Why do lead generation businesses need call tracking? Lead generators run into a blind spot... [...]

Itai Sadan says, “”I turned off Google AdWords because the cost-per-lead was too high.” That line from Neil Patel’s blog post, “What Spending $66,372.09 on Paid Advertising Taught Me,” featuring different pay-per-click (PPC) methods, still resonates after four years because it highlights a common problem: The pay-per-click model wants us to throw away a lot of cash. In case haven’t noticed, you (and a lot of other advertisers) recently have been paying more for PPC campaigns than you used to. The average PPC costs (cost-per-click, cost-per-mile, cost-per-conversion,... [...]

Laura Collins says, “I was once asked to list my favorite PPC mistakes. To me, this seemed like a contradiction in terms; I don’t hold any of the mistakes I’ve made in particularly high regard. Perhaps a better phrase to use would have been common PPC mistakes. Because mistakes, no matter how hard we try, are common. We’re all human and therefore capable of human error. And the world of PPC is rapidly evolving with new, ever more sophisticated features and updates. With all those shiny new bells and whistles to explore, it can be easy to forget the basics. Here I take a look at what... [...]

Lauren Evans says, “Paid search has evolved way beyond the traditional keyword-based desktop ads where it all started. The latest quarterly data from Kenshoo indicates that 62% of clicks and 60% of impressions from search ads now come from ad types other those that involve bidding on keywords entered into desktop searches. So what makes up these other clicks and impressions and why? 1. Phone and tablet ads No prizes for guessing that mobile ads are now one of the biggest areas of search advertising, and smartphones lead the way. In fact, in the second quarter of this year, spend directed... [...]

Brett Middleton says, “Starting to manage PPC isn’t easy. You make your first campaign, get some traffic, maybe even get your first conversion. Then you realize just how much there still is to learn! Following are three recommendations for every PPC beginner to try. 1. Make use of the Search terms report One of the biggest mistakes a new PPC practitioner can make is a lack of strong keyword targeting. If you’re bringing in the wrong traffic, it simply doesn’t matter how much time you put into your ad copy, landing pages and offers. The Search terms report shows search queries that triggered... [...]

Larry Kim says, “I was blown away when I heard that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is suing 1-800 Contacts for anticompetitive behavior. The contact lens company allegedly struck deals that prevented rivals from bidding on PPC ads on Google and Bing using their trademarked terms and variants. According to the FTC complaint: “Beginning in 2004, 1-800 Contacts secured agreements with at least fourteen competing online sellers of contact lenses providing that the parties would not bid against one another in certain search advertising auctions.” The FTC is concerned because these reciprocal... [...]

Greg Sterling says, “The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it was suing 1-800 Contacts for allegedly pursuing “anticompetitive agreements with rival online contact lens sellers that suppress competition in certain online search advertising auctions.” The FTC complaint alleges the bidding agreements “unreasonably restrain price competition in internet search auctions, and restrict truthful and non-misleading advertising to consumers . . .” According to a source with knowledge of the agreements, they had been in place for roughly a decade. The stated intention was to... [...]

Sean Philip says, “With Google unleashing several new Adwords features in the first half of 2016, advertisers should take this as an opportunity to maximise their paid search campaigns. Here’s how… The updates During the first half of 2016 Google announced two fundamental changes to its Adwords real estate. It launched ‘Expanded text ads’, with both ad headline and description lines increasing in length and it removed the familiar ‘sidebar’ paid search ads (on the right of the results page), introducing an additional spot for paid search listings above the organic results”. Six... [...]

Pauline Jakober says, “People have the best of intentions when they take on PPC without the help of a professional. And why wouldn’t they have high hopes when Google makes it look so easy in its myriad of fanciful videos? Now, I’m sure there are a lot of smart, self-taught business owners and in-house marketers who have found some success with PPC. But they also have their day jobs, and that’s where it gets tricky to stay on top of all the newest paid search features, trends and strategies that are essential for staying ahead, not to mention trying to monitor and optimize the account... [...]

Jeff Baum says, “Both technology and automation play a huge role in the digital marketing space. Paid search and social functionality is more complex than ever, the number of platforms and networks that need to be managed is constantly expanding and clients are demanding deeper analysis and insights. These convergent dynamics put a strain on the account manager’s ability to efficiently manage accounts. The right technology provides the ability to automate routine tasks and solve complex problems quickly, which frees up account managers to focus more on strategic planning and exploring new... [...]