From the SMX East Conference in New York City, September 27-29, 2016. SESSION: The Lowdown on Google Customer Match One Year Later. PRESENTATION: The Lowdown on Google Customer Match One Year Later - Given by Andy Taylor, @ProunouncedAhndy - Merkle | RKG, Senior Research Analyst. #SMX #33B2

1. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
The Lowdown on
Google Customer
Match One Year
Later

2. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
About Me

3. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
About Me

4. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
AdWords remarketing lists made up
of email addresses loaded through
the AdWords UI, API, or third party
Customer Match Uploader
Customer Match: What is it?

5. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Requirements:
• Advertiser privacy policy must disclose that customer
information is shared with third parties
• CM audiences must be made up of at least 1,000
identifiable emails
• CM audiences must only contain emails obtained 1st hand
by the advertiser
Customer Match: What is it?

6. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Customer Match vs RLSA
Customer Match for search is similar to
Google Remarketing Lists for Search Ads,
which target past visitors to an advertiser’s
site
- RLSA can only target users who have
visited a site in the last 180 days –
Customer Match has no limit
- RLSA relies on remarketing tags rather
than emails to identify searchers
- Customer Match and RLSA audiences
often overlap in who they target
Customer Match
RLSA

7. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Customer Match Reaches High-Value Searchers

8. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Customer match spend share across
Merkle advertisers actively deploying
these audiences
But…Customer Match Reaches Only a Small Share of
Searchers
~2%

9. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
But…Customer Match Reaches Only a Small Share of
Searchers
<0.5%
-
~10%
Range of Customer Match search spend
share for individual Merkle advertisers
actively deploying these audiences
By comparison, it’s not uncommon for RLSA
to account for 20%+ of a brand’s search spend

10. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Match Rates Vary by Email Domain
17%
46% 48%
90%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
.edu Yahoo AOL Gmail
Match Rate by Email Domain
Sample Retailer
Some advertisers’ email lists skew
towards domains that are less
likely to get matched by Google
- Brands that cater mostly to
college students
- B2B advertisers (like Merkle)
- Brands that serve older users

11. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Differences in User Demographics by Email Domain
Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/547531/e-mail-provider-ranking-consumer-usa-age/

12. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Age of Email Impacts Match Rate
55%
90%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2013 2014
Gmail Match Rate by Order Year
Sample Retailer
While Customer Match does allow
advertisers to reach customers
who haven’t interacted for a longer
time period than with RLSA, the
likelihood of emails being matched
is lower for older emails

13. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Opportunities for
Customer Match
Expansion

14. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Customer Match Now for Google Shopping Too
Source: Merkle|RKG Digital Marketing Report, Q2 2016

15. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Customer Match Now for Google Shopping Too
0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
250%
300%
CTR
CR
CPO
Baseline Shopping Campaigns
CM IR Top 100 Retailer #1
CM IR Top 100 Retailer #2
On Average, Customer Match Sees Double the CR at One Third of the Cost for Google PLA

16. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Similar Audiences May Roll out to CM for Search

17. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
New Feature! CMU Data Append
New feature known as Data Append stands to help advertisers who have customer phone numbers/
physical addresses but can’t tie them to email addresses by allowing Customer Match Uploader
partners to match those users to email addresses and upload them in Customer Match lists

18. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Customer Match
Strategies

19. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Customer Match for GSP

20. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Target Email List Unsubscribers
Very likely to click through to the
website after clicking on a GSP ad
Conversion rate is pretty ‘meh,’ but not
awful compared to other audiences

21. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
§ Customer Match is great for
testing
– Easy to create randomized test and
control groups
– Emails can be used with backend order
information to determine how likely
users are to convert with/without the
presence of paid ads
Brands Should Test the Real Value of Their Ads
Email List
Test CM
Turn Ads Off
Control CM
Keep Ads Running
Estimate the Impact of Paid Ads on Order
Volume from the Customers

22. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Depending on your goals and
the competitive landscape of
the search results on your
brand keywords, it may make
sense to test turning ads off for
Customer Match audiences
Brands Should Test the Real Value of Their Ads

23. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Match Rates Should be Factored Into Test Setups
41%
Share of orders from a test campaign
excluding all past online converters
with Customer Match lists that were
attributed to existing customers

24. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Expand Keyword Lists
§ Advertisers may want to try to
expand keywords lists to include
more general terms targeting only
Customer Match lists
– However, the more general the
keywords and further away from the
core function of your business you get,
the more expensive it can become

25. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Adjust Ad Messaging
§ Advertisers can target ad copy to Customer Match audiences in order
to:
– Upsell – Latest model!
– Cross-sell – Get an extra battery for that phone!
– Call out product attributes relevant to specific audiences
• Be careful not to assume too much
Advertisers can’t know if differences in messaging will impact performance until they test

26. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Ad Messaging Restrictions
Ads cannot mention specific types of
personal information, such as
knowledge of race, political affiliation,
or negative financial status

27. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
§ Customer Match is currently limited in reach
§ There are some updates on the horizon that stand to increase that reach
§ Customer Match audiences can currently be used in initiatives/strategies
such as testing incremental value, expanding keyword lists, reconnecting
with email list unsubscribers, and ad copy testing
§ This is only the beginning
– Ad personalization is likely to continue to become more of a possibility, so advertisers
should take advantage of Customer Match to begin testing optimization strategies
Takeaways

28. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
Play in the Customer Match Sandbox

29. #SMX #33B2 @PronouncedAhndy
LEARN MORE: UPCOMING @SMX EVENTS
THANK YOU!
SEE YOU AT THE NEXT #SMX