“It’s not delivered any sales, turn it off!”

 

PPC Management 101 states that if a campaign is spending money but not delivering a return then you should stop it from running.

 

The slightly more savvy marketers amongst us would be wondering “If I turn this campaign off, will it affect anything else?”. This is exactly the right question that should be asked, however, the answer almost always comes down to opinion.

 

One of the things which is hugely important in our ethos at Bespoke is that we let results do 100% of the talking.

 

Here are three hugely important, tangible reports which you need to be looking at before you stop your PPC spend, or even pause a keyword.

 

1) Analytics > Multi-Channel Funnels >Top Conversion Paths

 

Hidden in the depths of the Google Analytics left navigation, in that area which you’ve probably never clicked on before, is an extremely useful report which gives you the first nudge in the right direction to answering the above question.

 

 

 

This shows the different marketing channels that a customer has interacted with before completing a goal, or making a purchase.

 

Using the slightly simplified example above, this particular client would be unaware that £7,186 of revenue is being attributed to Organic, when Paid Search is the channel that actually started the sales process. (Number 3 on the screengrab).

 

If spend was stopped or reduced, then this £7,186 would almost certainly have been spent elsewhere.

 

Their purchasing process was started by clicking on a Paid Search Ad, before coming back and buying through a completely different channel later on.

 

For the full, tangible picture of how much your Campaigns are assisting others, try the “Assisted Conversions” Report

 

2) Analytics > Multi-Channel Funnels >Top Conversion Paths > Campaign (Or Source/Medium) Path

 

To access this report, click Other on the navigation bar above the report, then under Acquisition, click Channel Path.

 

After you’ve established that your Paid Search is probably worth more that you thought it was, the next step is to work out where this mysterious extra revenue is coming from.

 

 

The red blocks are there to hide client’s information, but in your report, providing your Analytics has been set up properly, you will see the individual Campaigns which are responsible for providing this extra revenue along with the channel which is most commonly used to complete the conversion.

 

The middle AdWords Campaign above, is responsible for almost £2,000 in hidden revenue!

 

And to think you almost turned it off!

 

3) View Through Conversions

 

Firstly, here is what AdWords describes one as

 

“View-through conversions happen when a customer views (but doesn’t click) an ad before converting.

 

What it means: Some customers might see, but not click your ad. If these customers later convert (by making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter, for example), this metric counts them as view-through conversions. “

 

Here is a great example of how a View Through Conversion in AdWords can completely change your outlook on how a Campaign is working.

 

 

 

At face value, this remarketing Ad has delivered 0 conversions, however using the View Through column, you can see that it has contributed to 34 other conversions.

 

Would the 34 conversions still have taken place if this Remarketing Ad wasn’t running? There is no way of knowing for sure without testing, but it’s certainly not a cut and dry case of “Let’s turn it off because it’s not converting”.

 

What Should I Do Next?

 

There are 2 key things which this post will hopefully highlight when it comes to making decisions about where to spend your Digital Marketing Budget.

 

1) Ensure that your Analytics has been properly set up with detailed Goal Tracking and that it’s linked to your AdWords account. The reports above can’t be utilised properly without this setup.

 

2) Consider the indirect effect of stopping spending money on a particular channel. It’s very easy to get drawn in by the surface level metrics in AdWords and Analytics, but there is crucial data that you need to dig deeper to view that might just make or break your Campaign.

 

To learn how we can help you get more from your digital marketing spend, Get In Touch.

 

Written by Julian, Digital Strategist at Bespoke | Web Specialists

 

Original Article

 

Find out more on the future of Technology at our DLUK - Trends Briefing on the 24th September 2015