PM Digital has been leveraging content search much more than we had in the past, and we’ve found some great success there. Google’s content network, in particular, yields a massive amount of impressions which is desirable for advertisers looking for more scale from search (approximately 70% of internet users view content ads per month for 139 million impressions).
In the past year, PM Digital was fortunate to have Michelle Obama favor two of our clients’ clothes, and we leveraged linking those brands with Michelle Obama’s name and other relevant keywords within the content network, trying to make the most of the constant media mentions.
These campaigns yielded a significant amount of sales. Most advertisers, though, may not get the opportunity to link their brand to Michelle Obama, so can they still find success with content?
When content search first launched, we had to use the same bidding strategy as for regular search in the UI. As anyone who has advertised in the content network knows, the two perform differently so most of the content part of these campaigns didn’t work out. As a result, a lot of advertisers dropped out and were wary of going back in.
Since then, there have been radical improvements made in the content network itself and the methodology for launching these campaigns. Beyond the ability to have unique bidding strategies in content (which actually happened a while back), the ability to run display ads on some sites — and text ads on those that don’t run display — has made a nice impact in performance. The display ads have generated acceptable ROI, and a great byproduct is that it’s nice brand exposure, too, when you consider the volume of impressions displaying the ad.
Likewise, the ability to exclude underperforming sites has also helped lift performance of content campaigns. We have also changed our strategy in developing keywords which has significantly moved the needle: with content, less is definitely more. For ad groups, it’s the opposite. We expect even more improvements ahead. In fact, there is a Google beta in progress now in which view through conversions from content ads can be tracked provided Google’s conversion pixel is in place.
Here at the Shop.org conference in Las Vegas, retailers continue to look for ways to push scale going into the upcoming holiday. Continued advancements in search technology and methodologies such as those being made in the content network will help push those sales.
Suzy Sandberg is President of PM Digital.
