• by Keith Miller , November 2, 2006

It is common for advertisers with a productive paid search campaign--which includes such elements as an optimized keyword portfolio, sophisticated bid management, and a presence on all first- and second-tier engines--to think they have exhausted the potential of this channel. In reality, this is not always the case. In fact, there is a new generation of optimization tactics that can help move the needle on those "maxed out" paid search campaigns.

Befriend Your Copywriters

To draw a parallel to direct mail, your paid search ad texts are the envelopes of the search world. There is not a direct marketer who has not tested different teasers, window positions, and offers to motivate prospects to get inside the package. The same should occur with online ad texts. Develop a testing matrix for each keyword category, with ad texts that approach search prospects from different angles--brand-centric, offer-focused, out-of-the-box, etc. After the matrix is developed, continually rotate these ad texts in a preplanned champion/challenger manner, keeping a close eye on both click-through and conversion rates at the keyword level. Variances in performance for the same ad text from keyword to keyword will help identify how to re-segment the keyword portfolio in a way that maximizes click-through rates across the board.

Do Not Neglect Your Landing Page

High click-through rates only pay dividends if landing pages are converting prospects. To extend the direct mail analogy, landing pages are letters and lift notes; they must reinforce what enticed the prospects to make that click in the first place. A simple way to give landing pages that customized feel is to display the prospect's search query on the page. Remember, in paid search, continuity is king!

More sophisticated tactics start with A/B testing, and quickly graduate to multivariate techniques that isolate which offers, design elements, and message treatments are truly driving conversion. For high-volume advertisers, taking the time to implement a multivariate solution will pay big dividends, resulting in increased conversion rates, additional volume, and learning that can be applied across other marketing channels.

Leverage Offline Customer Profiles

Most advertisers have gone through the exercise of profiling their existing customer base for list-buying or demographic-targeting purposes. Through the use of PRIZM Clusters, analysts painstakingly build complete customer profiles and develop segmentation strategies by analyzing demographic data such as age, income, marital status, occupation and purchasing behavior along regional lines. These profiles are equally applicable in the paid search space. National advertisers should segment the channel by creating several different regional campaigns with highly personalized copy that speaks directly to the traits exhibited by that region's customer profile. The closer you get to one-to-one marketing, the better your campaigns will perform.

Be a Pioneer

It seems like the top-tier engines release new product offerings almost every week. Do not be afraid to experiment, and push your agency to stay ahead of the curve. Underutilized tactics like pure local search, pay-per-call, click-to-play video, and site targeting may not be appropriate for every type of business, but may offer an opportunity to increase your share of voice in a channel you had previously thought was "maxed out."