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Trada: Where Marketers Can Jump Into Paid Search Campaigns Without Knowing Squat

Trada

Marketers who won't launch a paid search campaign because they find the process daunting may want to consider a recently launched marketplace that allows them to instantly jump in and swim without drowning.

Imagine having one paid search ad campaign where 24 people optimize bid prices, work on long-tail search terms, and write and propose ad copy that could increase conversion rates. Most of the paid search experts working on this campaign would support on average 6,213 keywords.

These experts would manage about 97 pieces of ad copy for the campaign, yielding roughly 3.55% conversion rates,and 1.26% click-through rates. All that's according to Niel Robertson, founder of the markeplace Trada, which connects companies and paid search marketing experts. It allows clients to have not one, but as many paid search experts to support a campaign as required for budget and design goals.

Today, the marketplace connects with Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing, but will soon add Microsoft adCenter.

The paid search experts who support Trada clients must have AdWords and/or Yahoo Search Marketing certification. They also must pass Trada's certification program and provide a LinkedIn profile as a resume to verify their experience. Once certified, the experts view a list of campaigns they can choose to support. They work through Trada's interface, where they have access to all the familiar AdWords tools to manage quality scores at the ad group level or support dynamic keyword insertion.

Trada's technology links work done by multiple paid search experts into one campaign. Robertson told me Trada's ability to put the campaign together this way reduced the company's liability, working in a way that AdWords, YSM and adCenter accept. "We also don't worry about matching the paid search expert with the keyword campaigns," he says. "We put everything into one campaign, and Google's optimization algorithms manage that for us."

Robertson says the keywords, bid prices, match types, landing pages and everything else that makes up the campaign automatically gets matched with ads. The system also helps with accounting because it's able to track a campaign to those who work on it.

The company operates on a pay-per-performance model. No setup or monthly service fees exist. Advertisers can specify a fixed price per click, fixed price per conversion, or a combination of both. Advertisers have a variety of options, from choosing to put keywords on a block list to reviewing keywords once they reach 10 clicks to enforcing that keywords remain below a specific CPA. There are quality score enforcements, along with a variety of triggers that halt or alter the campaigns immediately.

The campaigns are built by polling the marketplace for paid search experts who have specific experience, such as working with small or large businesses or specific consumer segments. Trada also is building into the platform a method for companies to choose experts based on such criteria as how much money the expert has made in the marketplace.

The Trada search platform in the marketplace should soon allow advertisers to search for experts in specific regions. For example, U.S. paid search advertisers that want to run a local campaign in France can find native French speakers to help build the campaign internationally.

Trada emerged recently from a quiet beta with 75 customers and more than 260 paid search experts who can support clients. Investments in the company come to about $2.2 million from the Foundry Group and angels such as Carlos Cashman.

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