Large Scale PPC Campaign Management: Automating Processes and Leveraging Technology

1. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
AUTOMATING PROCESSES & LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY
LARGE SCALE PPC CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT
Image Credit:
Jungfrau-marathon.ch

2. 8 years 7.5 months
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Our Fur Kids: Bella the Wunderpug &
Elsa the Not-So-Mini Schnauzer
Coming in May 2016
8.5 years
Professional
Background
Search Evangelist

3. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
o Managing 10K+ KWDs
o Automation Tools & Technology
o Excel Automation
o Bing Ads Intelligence
o AdWords Scripts
o Automated Rules
Scaling Campaigns &
Automating Processes:
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Location: Matterhorn, CH
Photographer: Michael Meisl

4. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Managing Large Scale (10K+ Keyword) Accounts
It’s like running a marathon, you have to plan [and train] to finish.

5. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Everything Starts with Structured Data
Expedia
• 300K Hotels
• Global Scale (availability)
• Replicate for 20+ Languages
Bing Shopping [2008]
• 2M+ Unique Products
• 50+ Tier 1 Product Categories
• 1000+ Tier 2 Product Categories
Microsoft Store
• 100+ SKUs
• Weekly Offers & Promotions
• Available in 40+ Markets
• Replicate for 20+ Languages

6. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Everything Starts with Structured Data
Bing Shopping [2008]
The Challenge:
• 3 months to create accounts (from the ground up)
• 2M active products (10-20% net-new products weekly)
The Solution: Use Structured Data (Product Hierarchy + Taxonomy) to:
Automate Everything!
• Account structure
• Develop keyword definitions & themes
• Ad Copy Templates

7. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Build scalable accounts by using Structured Data
Develop strategy based on KPIs
Revenue or Leads ROAS or Efficiency ConversionValue or LTV
Choose segmentation strategy:
Product Offering Demand Geo-Location
Use Structured Data
SiteTaxonomy Product Feed Location Feed

8. #SMX @BingAds @ChristJOlson
Products
Modifiers
Attributes
Account Structure
• Account
• Campaigns
• Ad Groups
Used to create Keyword Definitions (Tail
Keywords)
Used in Ad Copy
Create a structure from your feed/taxonomy
Base (Head) Keywords
Qualifiers

9. #SMX @BingAds @ChristJOlson
Products
Modifiers
Attributes
Descriptive words / phrases for keyword
definitions
Price, # Products Available, Offers, Colors
Create a structure from your feed/taxonomy
Qualifiers
Model, Brand
Product Categorization, Model, Brand, SKUs

10. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Example of Product Feed Structure (fake data)
AttributesQualifiers Product

11. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Framework: Product, Qualifier, Modifier & Attributes
Product (A)
Laptops
Tablets
Qualifier (B)
Surface
Surface 3
Surface Pro 3
Surface 4
Modifiers (C)
Buy
Price
Reviews
Account Structure
Mix & Match
Campaigns A A+B B
Ad Groups B B+C C

12. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Stop thinking of keywords  think structured groupings

13. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Structure your Keywords to Scale: Definitions not Keywords
Scalable
Easy to automate
HeadTerms  LongTail
Buy <Brand+ Model >
Cheap Hotels in <Location>
Buy Surface Pro 4
Cheap Hotels in Munich

14. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Use the attributes to create ad copy templates
Offer
Discount
% or $
Reviews
# of
Models
# in StockPrice
Attributes:
(ad copy)
Buy {Product or Product + Version}
Save Up To {Discount % or $}. Now {Price}.
Only {# in Stock} Remaining. Purchase Today.

15. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Develop process to create rich granular outputs
Rich & Granular Outputs:
Campaigns Ad Groups Keywords Ad Copy
Basic Inputs (Feed /Taxonomy)
Feeds
(Product, Location)
Themes
Keyword
Definitions
AdTemplates

16. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Use structured data to:
• Be scalable
• Make it easy to replicate
• Generate head terms & tail queries

17. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
o Managing 10K+ KWDs
o Automation Tools & Technology
o Excel Automation
o Bing Ads Intelligence
o AdWords Scripts
o Automated Rules
Scaling Campaigns &
Automating Processes:

18. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
hire an agency to do it...
The secret to automating everything is…

19. #SMX @BingAds @ChristJOlson
Should you automate something? 3 Questions to Ask:
Is this a task I do (or should do) regularly?
E.g. every day, every week, every month?
Is this a task I’m comfortable enough to know it’s running in the
background without direct supervision?
Is this a very basic task that takes longer to do than decide the optimization
necessary?

20. Everything Starts with Structured Data
Bing Shopping Example
• Account structure
• Develop keyword definitions & themes
• Ad Copy Templates

21. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Create an XLS template to help you scale out campaign builds
example built by @SamuelDJames
Tricks for Automating SEM Campaign Builds

22. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Create an XLS template to scale out keyword definition builds
example built by @SamuelDJames
Tricks for Automating SEM Campaign Builds

23. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
You can do this in XLS or…
mens
womens
boys
girls
tops
pants
shoes

24. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Tip: Use Bing Keyword Planner

25. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
o Managing 10K+ KWDs
o Automation Tools & Technology
o Excel Automation
o Bing Ads Intelligence
o AdWords Scripts
o Automated Rules
Scaling Campaigns &
Automating Processes:

26. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Bing Ads Intelligence is a powerful research tool
Create
bulksheets
Easily build
lists
Get insights on
traffic
Get keyword
suggestions
bingads.com/BAI

27. Keyword Suggestions: Generate a list of suggested keywords based on a term you’ve selected
1. Choose starter term 2. Select ‘Keyword Suggestions’ 3. Review results

28. Get relevant keywords based on a specific webpage
Create a list of additional keywords to expand your list
Generate a list of phrases containing your keyword
Make a list of keywords other advertisers are bidding on
Find search terms that are similar to your keywords

29. Generate a list of business categories that apply to each keyword
Find locations that had the most searches on specified keywords
Age and gender percentages for keywords over the last 30 days
Keyword bid estimates for mainline and sidebar positions

30. Keyword research templates: Download templates to
create charts and graphs of your research results

31. Create bulksheet: Creates a .CSV file
containing keywords suggested by
Bing Ads Intelligence which you can
then import into your Bing Ads
account.

34. Utilize the Keyword
Categories and
Webpage Keywords
tools to troubleshoot
keywords with a low
Quality Score.
Article by @mel66: bit.ly/BAI-QS

35. Utilize the Keyword
Categories and
Webpage Keywords
tools to troubleshoot
keywords with a low
Quality Score.
Quality
Score

39. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
o Managing 10K+ KWDs
o Automation Tools & Technology
o Excel Automation
o Bing Ads Intelligence
o Scripts
o Automated Rules
Scaling Campaigns &
Automating Processes:

40. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Very Brief Intro to Scripts
Introduction to Scripts for Non-Coders:
bit.ly/CO-Scripts

41. Scripts are…
EASIER
(THAN API)
Don’t require API
Development
SCALABLE
MCC + Account
Level
JAVASCRIPT
Similar to SQL
Easy to learn
FLEXIBLE
Run more
frequently than
automated rules

42. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Scripts VS APIs VS Automated Rules
Scripts API
Hosting Hosted by AdWords, just like Google Docs You need a server
Skills needed Copy-and-Paste Install the code, some SDKs or libraries, …
Scheduling Set your schedule inside AdWords Maintain cron jobs on your server
Capabilities Can’t manage everything Almost everything in AW
Strengths Quick to test something out Better for large accounts
Scripts Automated Rules
Scheduling As often as hourly As often as daily
Capabilities Highly customizable Limited predefined rules
Bottom Line:
With Scripts, you don’t need to be an engineer to automate AdWords
Scripts are more flexible than Automated Rules

43. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Why use scripts?
Weather
Data …
Data
Company
DataAPI
Scripts can talk to your data and external 3rd party data

44. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Use scripts for bid management
High Converters
In last 30 days…
Conversions:
- At least 5
Known Converters
In last 30 days…
Conversions:
- Less than 5
- More than 1
Unknown
In last 30 days…
Conversions:
- None
Impressions:
- Less than 10
Top of page bid
First Page + 50%
First Page Bid
Filter Bid Strategy

45. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Scripts can be used to automate campaign creation

46. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Scripts can be used to notify you of landing page issues

47. Resources:
• FreeAdwordsScripts.com
• Google Developers
• Optymzer.com
150 Plus Scripts Here: bit.ly/rh-scripts
46
Getting Started with Scripts

48. @RussellSavage
@SiliconVaelleys
@armondhammer
@danielgilbert44
@bloomarty
Who to Follow for Scripts:

49. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
SCRIPTS YOU SHOULD USE NOW:
bit.ly/ScriptRecs
• Campaign & Keyword Performance Report, Written by Russ Savage
• Quality ScoreTracker, Written by Martin Roettgerding
• Keyword Performance by QS & Position, Written by Google Developers
• Anomaly Detector, Written by Google Developers
• Broken URL Checker, Written by Google Developers & Russ Savage (FreeAdwordsScripts.com)
• Account Audit, Written by Russ Savage (FreeAdwordsScripts.com)
• Search Query Manager, Written by Marcela DeVivo (Gryffin.com)
• N-Gram Search Query Analysis, Written by Daniel Gilbert at Brainlabs

50. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
o Managing 10K+ KWDs
o Automation Tools & Technology
o Excel Automation
o Bing Ads Intelligence
o Scripts
o Automated Rules
Scaling Campaigns &
Automating Processes:

51. #SMX @BingAds @ChristJOlson
Automated Rules
CREATE
ALERTS /
NOTIFICATIONS
MANAGE
PROMOTIONS
PAUSE
INEFFECTIVE
KEYWORDS
BIDDING /
BUDGET
CHANGES

52. #SMX @BingAds @ChristJOlson
Automated Rules – Scale Campaign Management
CREATE
ALERTS /
NOTIFICATIONS
MANAGE
PROMOTIONS
PAUSE
INEFFECTIVE
KEYWORDS
BIDDING /
BUDGET
CHANGES
• Out of budget (before a set time)
• Campaigns aren’t spending
• Sharp drops in performance

53. #SMX @BingAds @ChristJOlson
Automated Rules – Scale Campaign Management
CREATE
ALERTS /
NOTIFICATIONS
MANAGE
PROMOTIONS
PAUSE
INEFFECTIVE
KEYWORDS
BIDDING
CHANGES

54. #SMX @BingAds @ChristJOlson
Automated Rules – Scale Campaign Management
MANAGE
PROMOTIONS
PAUSE
INEFFECTIVE
KEYWORDS
BIDDING /
BUDGET
CHANGES
CREATE
ALERTS /
NOTIFICATIONS

55. #SMX @BingAds @ChristJOlson
Automated Rules
CREATE
ALERTS /
NOTIFICATIONS
MANAGE
PROMOTIONS
PAUSE
INEFFECTIVE
KEYWORDS
BIDDING /
BUDGET
CHANGES
• Brand Campaigns (Position Caps)
• Awareness Campaigns
• Performance

56. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
Stop being tactical… start being strategic!
Quick Recap:
1. Use Structured Data (like Product Feeds or Site Taxonomy/Heirarchy) to
set account structure & create structured keyword definitions
2. Automate with Excel (or Developers if you have the resources)
3. Use Bing Ads Intelligence for keyword research & troubleshooting QS
4. Use Scripts to save time and focus on strategy not execution
5. Use Automated rules for:
1. Creating Alerts
2. Managing Promotions
3. Optimization

57. #SMX @ChristiJOlson @BingAds
THANK YOU!