After completing the Google Analytics Academy, I now feel I have a solid foundation of knowledge to experiment and monitor Analytics connected to my teams adwords campaign. The course first provides excellent foundation knowledge and the builds upon that knowledge in part two of the course.
The foundational course was basically a refresher of terminology and basic concepts that we have been hearing most of the semester. Taking this course prior to the Google Analytics Platform Principles course was useful as it "set the scene" for the more in depth information.
Again, now that the GOMC is up and running, I look forward to using Google analytics in a real-world setting.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
BUS 572 Session 5: Lewis, Rao and Reiley Paper (2013)
After reading "Measuring the Effects of Advertising: The Digital Frontier" written by Lewis, Rao, and Reiley. It is clear, there is a lot unclear about advertising even in today's "digital frontier". Lewis et al. (2013) argue that while digital advertising offers possible solutions to analytical problems in traditional advertising, more steps need to be taken to make better use of "big data" collection and analysis. A few solutions offered by Lewis et al. (2013) include use of "computational advertising" and "cross-derivative" experimentation.
Computational advertising, as described by Broder (2008), is “a principled way to find the best match between a given user in a given context and a suitable advertisement'". Lewis et al. (2013) differentiate from the traditional idea of specifying who you want to advertise to, against computational advertising in which you "...specify outcome metrics—an end-goal supported by the system—and automated systems determine how to achieve that goal most efficiently" (pg. 19). In other words, you decide what you what to accomplish with your advertisement campaign and a complex computer program offers solutions on how to achieve a stated goal.
Lewis et al. (2013) point out that online advertising does not occur in a vacuum and that clicking on an ad does not show the full picture of the effectiveness of that ad (meaning influences outside of online ads may have led to the click) and conversely, not clicking on an ad does not mean a conversion did not occur. For these reasons, Lewis et al. (2013) propose that for online advertising to reach a higher potential, "cross-derivative" experimentation needs to occur (pg. 22). Lewis et al. refer to cross derivative as spanning multiple media sources (television, gaming devices, internet), suggesting that with a greater picture of a consumers behavior the effectiveness of online ads may increase.
With the majority of BUS572 behind me, I feel as though the foundational knowledge built in the first half of the class has led to a better understanding of the academic journals assigned in the last two classes. It has been helpful to not get caught up on the technical terminology used in these papers, so that more focus can be turned to the general purpose of the paper.
Questions I have at this point remain similar to my last post. What will the GOMC be like once it begins? I am hoping for my team to receive the $250 credit in the next few days, so that I can apply the knowledge gained in BUS572 to a real word adwords campaign.
Broder, A. (2008). Computational advertising and recommender systems. In Proceedings of the 2008 ACM conference on Recommender systems, pages 1–2. ACM.
Lewis, R., Rao, J., and Reiley, D. (2013). Measuring the effects of advertising: The digital frontier. National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w19520.ack
Computational advertising, as described by Broder (2008), is “a principled way to find the best match between a given user in a given context and a suitable advertisement'". Lewis et al. (2013) differentiate from the traditional idea of specifying who you want to advertise to, against computational advertising in which you "...specify outcome metrics—an end-goal supported by the system—and automated systems determine how to achieve that goal most efficiently" (pg. 19). In other words, you decide what you what to accomplish with your advertisement campaign and a complex computer program offers solutions on how to achieve a stated goal.
 | ||
| Visual Representation of Cross-Media marketing Source: http://shawmut.me/tag/cross-media-marketing/ |
With the majority of BUS572 behind me, I feel as though the foundational knowledge built in the first half of the class has led to a better understanding of the academic journals assigned in the last two classes. It has been helpful to not get caught up on the technical terminology used in these papers, so that more focus can be turned to the general purpose of the paper.
Questions I have at this point remain similar to my last post. What will the GOMC be like once it begins? I am hoping for my team to receive the $250 credit in the next few days, so that I can apply the knowledge gained in BUS572 to a real word adwords campaign.
Broder, A. (2008). Computational advertising and recommender systems. In Proceedings of the 2008 ACM conference on Recommender systems, pages 1–2. ACM.
Lewis, R., Rao, J., and Reiley, D. (2013). Measuring the effects of advertising: The digital frontier. National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w19520.ack
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
BUS 572 Session 4: Ghose and Yang Sponsered Search Research
The required reading this week was a research paper from Ghose and Yang published in 2009 entitled "An Empirical Analysis of Search Engine Advertising: Sponsored Search in Electronic Markets". In this paper, Ghose and Yang attempt to explain what they call the "phenomenon" of paid advertising (pg. 1605). Although this research is nearly 5 years old, it remains useful as it provides a clear and concise picture of how companies can benefit from proper use of paid advertising. For example, Ghose and Yang's findings, which at times go against prior conventional wisdom, provide valuable insight to businesses using this technology. Two of Ghose and Yang's findings I would like to highlight are: Position profitability and Brand-Specific versus Retailer-Specific keywords.
One of Ghose and Yang's (2009) findings that went against prior conventional wisdom was position profitability, or in other words how an ads position on a web page affects the amount of clicks and therefore amount of conversions. For example, it was previously thought that the best position for ads was at the top of the page. It seems as though the higher position of an ad correlates with higher clicks. Ghose and Yang (2009) pointed out that sometimes, number of clicks is not the most important metric and therefore companies should focus on higher conversion rates. However, ad positioning becomes more expensive moving up the page and clicks become significantly reduced moving down the page. Ghose and Yang (2009) that "profits are often higher at the middle positions than at the top or bottom ones" (pg 1605). It seems as though the middle positions strike a balance between cost and conversion rate.
A second key finding by Ghose and Yang (2009) was how consumers look for brand-specific keywords versus retailer-specific keywords. In general, Ghose and Yang (2009) found that retailer-specific keywords increased click-through and conversion rates and brand-specific keywords decreased click through and conversion rates (pg. 1606). This can prove to be vital information as retailers attempt to distance themselves from their competition.
Questions I have moving forward deal with more of the specifics of running ad words. Now that my team is registered for GOMC, I am curious to see how quickly the challenge progresses. I find myself wondering how much attention is needed to keep our campaign on track. I suppose this information will become apparent as we move forward.
At this point in the class, I feel as though I have a solid foundation to manage an AdWords campaign. I am comfortable with the terminology used and the interface of AdWords. I look forward to gaining more knowledge through practice during my teams GOMC experience.
One of Ghose and Yang's (2009) findings that went against prior conventional wisdom was position profitability, or in other words how an ads position on a web page affects the amount of clicks and therefore amount of conversions. For example, it was previously thought that the best position for ads was at the top of the page. It seems as though the higher position of an ad correlates with higher clicks. Ghose and Yang (2009) pointed out that sometimes, number of clicks is not the most important metric and therefore companies should focus on higher conversion rates. However, ad positioning becomes more expensive moving up the page and clicks become significantly reduced moving down the page. Ghose and Yang (2009) that "profits are often higher at the middle positions than at the top or bottom ones" (pg 1605). It seems as though the middle positions strike a balance between cost and conversion rate.
A second key finding by Ghose and Yang (2009) was how consumers look for brand-specific keywords versus retailer-specific keywords. In general, Ghose and Yang (2009) found that retailer-specific keywords increased click-through and conversion rates and brand-specific keywords decreased click through and conversion rates (pg. 1606). This can prove to be vital information as retailers attempt to distance themselves from their competition.
Questions I have moving forward deal with more of the specifics of running ad words. Now that my team is registered for GOMC, I am curious to see how quickly the challenge progresses. I find myself wondering how much attention is needed to keep our campaign on track. I suppose this information will become apparent as we move forward.
At this point in the class, I feel as though I have a solid foundation to manage an AdWords campaign. I am comfortable with the terminology used and the interface of AdWords. I look forward to gaining more knowledge through practice during my teams GOMC experience.
Ghose , A., & Yang, S. (2009). An empirical analysis of search engine advertising: Sponsered search in electronic markets. (Master's thesis, New York University).
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
BUS 572 Session 3: Keyword Planner Tool and Keyword Research Tools
As we move through BUS 572 and get closer to the beginning of the Google Online Marketing Campaign (GOMC), I find myself becoming more comfortable with using the AdWords software. With this base level knowledge, I have been able to now turn my focus towards using features and concepts that give my team a better chance for a successful campaign. Two of those tools are the Keyword Planner Tool on Google Ad Words, and Keyword Research Tools mentioned in Chapter 6 of our text book.
The Keyword Planner Tool in Google Ad Words is a complex but very worthwhile tool to become familiar with. It has the capabilities of providing information that will help you choose the proper keywords, even before your campaign begins. Information provided by this tool includes: keyword ideas based on at least one keyword of your own, CPC to reach the front page, how competitive the keyword is, and the search volume of the keyword. All of this information is presented in an easy to understand format that gives you an opportunity to select the right keywords for your campaign.
As I am developing keywords and ads for my teams campaign, I am also keeping in mind to optimize the content of the ads so that they perform well with the keywords. I learned information on how to do this in Chapter 6.4 of the textbook. This part of the chapter discusses 3 roles content can play:
1. It provides information.
2. It must engage them.
3. It must convince them to do what you want.
Although in the chapter, this information is actually referring to optimizing content on a website, I believe the information will help me develop ads that are successful.
Some questions I have moving forward would be related to my ads being displayed. I have experimented with the Ad Diagnoses Tool on Adwords but have, thus-far, been unable to have my ad be displayed. I was wondering if this is because I do not have an "active" account with billing information? or if I had more to do with my keywords to ad interaction?
Again, moving forward with BUS 572, I feel as though my eyes have been opened to a whole new world of marketing. It seems that this class gives a "behind the scenes" look at how search adverting works, while also providing the opportunity for hands on experience. I feel as though I am learning valuable information and look forward to apply it with my team as we begin to optimize our campaign.
Stokes, R. (2011). emarketing: The essential guide to digital marketing. (V 1.0 ed.). Quirk Education. Retrieved from http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/reader/19
 | |
| Google AdWords logo Source: Google Search |
The Keyword Planner Tool in Google Ad Words is a complex but very worthwhile tool to become familiar with. It has the capabilities of providing information that will help you choose the proper keywords, even before your campaign begins. Information provided by this tool includes: keyword ideas based on at least one keyword of your own, CPC to reach the front page, how competitive the keyword is, and the search volume of the keyword. All of this information is presented in an easy to understand format that gives you an opportunity to select the right keywords for your campaign.
As I am developing keywords and ads for my teams campaign, I am also keeping in mind to optimize the content of the ads so that they perform well with the keywords. I learned information on how to do this in Chapter 6.4 of the textbook. This part of the chapter discusses 3 roles content can play:
1. It provides information.
2. It must engage them.
3. It must convince them to do what you want.
Although in the chapter, this information is actually referring to optimizing content on a website, I believe the information will help me develop ads that are successful.
Some questions I have moving forward would be related to my ads being displayed. I have experimented with the Ad Diagnoses Tool on Adwords but have, thus-far, been unable to have my ad be displayed. I was wondering if this is because I do not have an "active" account with billing information? or if I had more to do with my keywords to ad interaction?
Again, moving forward with BUS 572, I feel as though my eyes have been opened to a whole new world of marketing. It seems that this class gives a "behind the scenes" look at how search adverting works, while also providing the opportunity for hands on experience. I feel as though I am learning valuable information and look forward to apply it with my team as we begin to optimize our campaign.
Stokes, R. (2011). emarketing: The essential guide to digital marketing. (V 1.0 ed.). Quirk Education. Retrieved from http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/reader/19
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
BUS 572 Session 2: Google Ad Words
This past class session a very knowledgeable guest speaker
came and discussed how to set up and optimize Google Ad Words campaigns. From this lecture, in conjunction with material
provided on the course website, many key concepts were introduced. Two concepts I would like to talk more in depth about
are keyword research and creating text ads.
Adequate keyword research is crucial to any Ad Words
campaign. Without proper user of
keywords, the ads you create will get too little or irrelevant views. In other words, the target customer will not
be reached. It is also important to realize
that keyword research does not simply involve brainstorming a list of words
customers might use to find your product or service, but that there are
different types of keywords that came
make the same word perform in different ways.
The 5 types of keywords settings in Google Ad Words are: broad, modified
broad, phrase, exact, and negative.
Source: digital4startups.com http://digital4startups.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Google-Match-Types-Example.png
As you can see, moving from broad to exact the results
become fewer but more specific. Negative
keyword types are not included in the picture above but are used when you want
to exclude keywords.
Each keyword type has certain symbols you can use to define
it:
Broad Match
+Modified Broad Match
“Phrase Match”
[Exact Match]
-Negative Match
Using all of these tools properly will go a long way towards
a successful Ad Words campaign.
After initial keyword research has been completed the next
step in the process is to create a text ad that will attract clicks from
customers searching those specific keywords.
During the last class session we learned the basic structure and how to
use it to our advantage. Starting with
the basic structure, each ad has 4 lines of text. The top line the being the title, 2 lines of
description and 1 line for a hyperlink.
Each line of text has a limited number of characters and rules dictate
how ads may look. (E.g. Refraining from excessive capitalization, and only one
exclamation point per ad). Best practices
include ads that are concise, interesting, and have a landing page relevant to
the ad being displayed. The image below
is simply a screenshot capture ads displayed after of a Google search I
conducted of “shoes”.
 |
| Google Search for "shoes" |
A skill I have begun to develop after Session 2 of BUS572 is simply becoming more adept at using the Google Ad Words software. This technology is used worldwide by advertisers and holds amazing potential for any business. As we learned from our guest speaker, Google Ad Words is so in depth an entire business can be built around helping clients best utilize the software. I look forward to working with my team in formulating a successful ad campaign. It seems that in order the best use this software it will take a lot of trial and error.
Some outstanding questions I have moving forward are: What kind of impact can Google Ad Words campaigns have on local businesses? and Is it more cost effective than conventional advertisement methods? It seems as though time will tell.
On my last post, I made the comment that I look forward to a
better understanding of Google Ad Words, and while certainly I know more now
that I did two weeks ago, it seems as this is just the tip of the iceberg. Google Ad Words is an intricate and complex
technology that I look forwarded to broadening my
understanding of as the class moves on.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
BUS 572 Session 1: Pay per Click, Cost per Acquistion and Development of a Marketing Plan
2 key concepts I have been introduced to in Session 1 of
BUS 572 are Pay Per Click advertisements and Cost Per Acquisition analysis.
Pay per click (PPC) advertisement is a concept in which
advertisers pay for each time there hyperlink is selected. The price is set by a bidding system. As seen below, the advertiser who bids the
most per click will receive a more favorable spot on the web page. This means that with more traffic comes
more cost. The hope is that more clicks
will result in more revenue, but this is not always the case. PPC must be used strategically so that the
entire advertising budget is not squandered on those not interest in buying
your specific product or service.
 |
| Example of Pay (or Cost) per Click in a Bidding system (Source: Stokes, 2011) |
One way advertisers can make sure
they are using PPC advertising effectively is to analyze results using information
from cost per acquisition. Cost per
acquisition (CPA) refers to how many clicks resulted in customer’s spending
money on your products and services. As
the chart illustrates below, more clicks does not always equate to higher
earnings. In fact, it may often result
in high CPA if keywords are not used to target the correct customers.
 |
| Example of a Cost per Acquisition Analysis (Source: Stokes, 2011) |
 | |||
| Marketing Plan Development (Source: Stokes, 2011) |
One skill set I have acquired from this
session’s readings is the learning how to develop a marketing plan. In Chapter 19.3 of our textbook, a step by
step overview of marketing plan development is discussed. Looking ahead in BUS 572, it seems as though
learning this 7 step process will be crucial in regards to my success in the
class. I plan to apply this process to
real-world situations in the Google Online Marketing Challenge (GOMC), in order to
achieve a desired result.
My learning journey in BUS 572 is
just beginning, but I find myself excited for what is to come. Although, having a real-world client the GOMC
will prove to more challenging, it will most likely end up being very
rewarding. In session 2, I look forward to achieving a greater understanding of
Google’s Ad Words and applying that understanding for a better campaign result.
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