Improved ROAS Globally by 78% while Doubling Bookings
Campaigns using Awareness Targeting saw a 20% increase in Impression Share
Improved conversion tracking and Tableau standardization
Background
Every year, Genesys® delivers more than 70 billion remarkable customer experiences for organizations in over 100 countries through its contact center solution for mid-sized and large companies. Through the power of the cloud and AI, their technology connects every customer moment across marketing, sales and service on any channel, while also improving employee experiences.
MarinOne’s automation features have enabled our small team to perform at a level you would expect from a team with 2 or 3 times as many resources. The ability to use powerful algorithmic optimization but still maintain control via business specific segmentation and rules have made all the difference in our paid search strategy.
Genesys
Challenge
Genesys has long seen Paid Search as a top performing advertising channel for their complex B2B business, and the small digital marketing team was tasked with expanding the reach of the program along with a large scale account restructuring.
The team initially used publisher tools but quickly found they were spending all their time executing campaign management tasks and were not able to focus on strategy. Genesys used another bidding tool, but found any performance improvement would disappear when they made manual adjustments due to business requirements leading to unstable and inefficient results.
To achieve their goals, they needed to begin producing at the level of a team 2 or 3 times larger so Genesys selected Marin Software and began to immediately see the benefits of an independent, cross-channel management and optimization tool.
Solution
After selecting Marin Software, Genesys looked to scale their global paid search program with much higher budgets in H1 2020. The expanded reach included Google, Bing, Yahoo Japan, and Baidu accounts that target 60 countries, and 16 languages.
Genesys used MarinOne’s customizable features including Dimensions and Custom Column to dramatically improve their ability to track, report, and analyze the account segments across languages and geographies. Automating these tasks allowed the team to spend their valuable time developing innovative testing strategies and quickly surfacing the results rather than getting lost in a quagmire of data each day.
The team automated URL Building to ensure tracking was consistent and reliable. MarinOne allowed them to quickly create or edit account objects without worrying that tracking would be missing or broken this ensured that the larger business was able to properly see the contribution of paid search to their down funnel sales data.
Previously, the inability to quickly pivot bidding strategies and reliance on publisher tools meant that their Google campaigns were being optimized differently from their Bing, Yahoo Japan, and Baidu accounts. The team was able to use MarinOne bidding strategies to effortlessly expand automated bidding to all publishers.
Genesys manages budgets at a regional level so they have created unique bidding strategies per budget line item – allowing them to easily adjust their Bidding Strategy CPL targets when budgets increase or decrease using the MarinOne Budget Pacing and What-If Forecasting tools.
Results
As Genesys dramatically increased spend, they expected diminishing returns and higher CPLs. In using MarinOne, they were able to structure bidding so that they had firm control based on business requirements but still allowed the algorithm to find efficiencies within their category structure. Automating reporting, tracking, and bidding has allowed the small team to focus on finding winning strategies which enabled them to scale effectively with better than expected performance from the incremental spend.
Improved ROAS Globally by 78% while Doubling Bookings
In North America, maintained CPL and improved CVR by 34% while increasing spend by 26%
In LATAM, achieved a 23% reduction in CPL and increasing spend 66%
Successfully scaled EMEA spend by 286% and CPL only increased 6%
Campaigns using Awareness Targeting saw a 20% increase in Impression Share
Improved conversion tracking and Tableau standardization
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Marketing Data Pipelines: Turning Data Into Insights
Wrangling and making sense of all your marketing data is hard. For longer than a decade, we’ve been helping companies solve some pretty complex marketing data challenges – and we’ve compiled some of the knowledge we’ve gained over the years into a handy guide. The tl;dr? It’s complicated, but with the right tools, namely a marketing data pipeline (MDP), it doesn’t have to be hard! In this guide we break it all down to help you make sense of it, including breaking down:
What an MDP is
The stages of MDP maturity
Some of the key challenges with building an MDP
How to tell if you need an MDP
How to get started
And so much more!
Check out the report to learn all about corralling your marketing data today!
5 Performance Max best practices, from a PPC expert
Advertisers are starting to see great success with their Performance Max (PMAX) campaigns. They have been growing in popularity in Google Ads and are now available Globally in Microsoft Ads, too! Many Paid Search managers now consider it best practice to have at least one Performance Max campaign running in their Google Ads account. They are great for finding high-converting customers not only on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) but across all of Google’s other channels like YouTube, Display, Gmail, and Maps.
PMAX campaigns learn as they go. While they take around 6 weeks to mature, they’ll continue to get more efficient over time. That said, there are several ways to speed up their learning process and set up your campaigns for success. Follow these 5 tips to get the best possible results from your PMAX campaigns.
1. Add high-quality creative assets
Adding high-quality assets is one of the most important steps in setting up a successful Performance Max campaign. Advertisers should add a variety of asset types to ensure that their ad can serve on many different channels and placements.
Text assets
Text assets include the headlines and descriptions for your PMAX campaign’s text ads.
First, you will want to add headlines. You can add up to 15, and filling all 15 slots with headline variations will allow you to include more keywords in your copy, which will improve ad quality. Think about the keywords that you would want to target if this were a traditional paid search campaign. Then, incorporate those keywords into your ad copy. The more relevant keywords you include, the higher the likelihood that your ad will serve.
Once you’ve optimized your headlines, you can add up to 4 descriptions. It is best to include a call to action in each of them. Descriptions can have up to 90 characters and it is best to use as many characters as possible to take up more space on the page and include as much relevant information and keywords as you can.
Image assets
Next, let's talk about graphics. There are two different types of graphics to include in a PMAX campaign: Images and Logos. It's best to add multiple variations of each type of asset so that they can appear in a variety of placements with different ideal image sizes. It is important that all images are high-quality.
For image assets, there are three different options to consider:
Landscape image
Landscape assets should have an aspect ratio of 1.91:1, meaning the width should be 1.91 times the height. The minimum size is 600 x 314 pixels, and the recommended size is 1200 x 628 pixels. The maximum file size for a Landscape image asset is 5120 KB.
Square image
Square assets must have an aspect ratio of 1:1, meaning the width and height are equal (it’s a square, after all!) The minimum size is 300 x 300 pixels, and the recommended size is 1200 x 1200 pixels. The maximum file size for a Square image asset is 5120 KB.
Portrait image
Portrait assets must have an aspect ratio of 4:5, meaning the height is equal to ⅘ the width. The minimum size is 480 x 600 pixels, and the recommended size is 960 x 1200 pixels. This asset type doesn’t have a maximum file size limit.
You can include up to 20 images for each type of image asset, and it’s best to provide as many asset variations as possible. While 20 portrait, 20 square, and 20 landscape images are ideal, it’s not always possible to produce that much relevant creative. It’s critical to have at least one of each type of asset in your campaign, but the more, the merrier!
Logo assets
You should also add logo assets to make your brand more recognizable in your ads. The options for logo assets are:
Landscape logo
Landscape logos are horizontal and must have a 4:1 aspect ratio, meaning the width must be four times the height. The minimum size is 512x128 pixels, with a recommended size of 1200x300 pixels. The maximum file size is 5120 KB.
Square logo
Square logos, like their image counterparts, must have a 1:1 aspect ratio. The minimum size is 128x128 pixels, with a recommended size of 1200x1200 pixels. The maximum file size is 5120KB.
You can include up to 5 logos for each type of asset. Like their image counterparts, including as many logo variations as possible will improve ad performance.
Video assets
Then, there is the option to add video assets. If you don’t add a video asset, Google will create one for you using your headlines and images. Though these videos can see positive results, they may not always reflect your vision of how you would like to present the brand, so it’s best to create your own.
There’s only one video format for PMAX campaigns, which is specifically designed for YouTube ads, though video ads can also serve on the Display Network. You have the ability to include up to 5 video assets per PMAX campaign, and it’s best to include as many as possible. Videos must be at least 10 seconds long. You can choose between horizontal, vertical, and square aspect ratios. Note that Google may resize your videos automatically to make them fit in different placements.
Grouping assets properly
Keep in mind that when setting up asset groups, you will not be able to control which assets get served together within the group. For example, if you sell both sandals and boots, these different product types should have separate asset groups because you wouldn't want a headline about boots showing up with a picture of sandals. Therefore, you want to make sure all the assets within a given group are cohesive. Separate asset groups will also allow you to set up different targeting for each type of product. Make sure that every asset group has video, image, and text assets.
Reviewing asset performance
Once your PMAX campaign has run for a while and has gathered data, you will be able to check the Asset Report and see how each different asset is rated. It will state low, good, or best. However, if there are not enough impressions for Google to calculate a performance category, then it will state that there is not enough data. It is best to switch out low-performing assets with new ones and continually test new assets. But be sure to wait a few weeks before switching out assets so that they gather enough data to receive an accurate quality rating.
Including ad extensions
While setting up your assets, you should also include ad extensions. Treat the ad extensions as you would in search campaigns and make sure that they are relevant to the campaign and to any asset combinations within the campaign.
2. Apply specific targeting
Adding targeting when setting up a PMAX campaign will help speed up the learning process. You can use data from existing campaigns with similar products to help decide what targeting to apply. Depending on your goals, you can target more specific audiences that you know will convert, or you can include audiences that have similar interests to expand your reach.
Audience signals
Adding audience signals to Performance Max campaigns helps guide the algorithm. The algorithm will use these audience signals as suggestions when selecting the right users to serve ads to. Adding all of the possible audience signals is not required, but it will speed up the learning process. To select the right audience signals, use data from active campaigns and audiences and incorporate successful audiences and demographics into your PMAX targeting.
Interest categories
You can use industry knowledge to select interest categories that are related to the products you sell. Adding interest categories is a good way to capture your target audience as well as audiences that may have similar interests.
Demographic targets
There are other targeting options, such as demographics, that you can add right away. Or you can let the campaign run, analyze the data, and then set the demographics based on the results. For example, you may notice a specific age range is more likely to convert, and add that age range as a demographic target. And, of course, you can use data on users who previously interacted with your site, such as website visitors, to create retargeting audiences.
Search themes
Search themes are words or phrases that you expect your audience to search. These are similar to keywords, but they will be used as a suggestion to the algorithm rather than a requirement. The algorithm can still serve your ad to people who are not searching for those words or phrases. Adding search themes will improve targeting for new campaigns and for campaigns whose targeting settings aren’t specific enough. These are optional but are a great way to provide additional guidance to your campaigns.
3. Optimize your feed
When creating asset groups, it's important to optimize your product feed. Make sure that the products in each group match the assets. If your assets are split up by content category, then the products in each asset group should be split up the same way.
Product titles should provide an accurate description of the product, as any confusing language will decrease the click-through rate.
If there are products that are consistently driving low ROI, you should either exclude them from the asset group or put them into their own campaign with a small budget.
Also, be sure to regularly check that your feeds have been approved.
4. Don’t just rely on PMAX
It is best to use performance max campaigns alongside search campaigns. Using both will maximize visibility.
Search campaigns offer more control and the ability to target exact keywords. With PMAX, you can’t control which search queries your ads are served on. Rather, PMAX’s AI-powered technology analyzes your landing page content, product feed, and assets to decide which queries are relevant to your ads. Therefore, it’s best to target specific keywords with search campaigns and allow PMAX to drive incremental conversions with its AI-powered targeting.
5. Choose the right bid strategy
When selecting a bidding strategy for a new performance max campaign, choose either Maximize Conversions, which will aim to get as many conversions as possible within the provided budget, or Maximize Conversion Value, which will aim to get high-value conversions. The latter may drive fewer conversions, but the conversions it does drive will be more valuable.
Using Target ROAS or Target CPA is still an option, but it is best to wait to use them until the PMAX campaign has matured and gathered sufficient revenue and conversion data for the algorithm to reference.
Final thoughts
We highly recommend testing performance max campaigns to understand what they can do for your advertising program. To ensure the best outcome, set up your PMAX campaigns with quality assets and relevant audiences. The learning period can take up to six weeks, and making changes to the campaign during this period will make it take longer, so try to sit back and let it do its thing.
If you’re looking for a solution that enables you to manage your Google and Microsoft PMAX campaigns in one place, look no further than Marin. In our centralized interface, you can analyze, optimize, and report on all your cross-channel campaigns. Marin can even track your campaigns' performance for you and provide unique, publisher-independent recommendations for improvement. To learn more, click here to chat with a Marin Rep!
Marin Increases Amazon Revenue by 150% for Online Retailer
Background
A leading distributor of components and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance, and repair turned to Marin Software to help optimize their paid eCommerce campaigns. They are a global technology leader with over 80 years of experience. Their multi-channel approach includes 48 transactional websites, contact centers, a field sales force, and an online community.
Whether researching a new technology, designing an electronic product, or looking for parts to repair an existing system, this merchant is the trusted global source for engineering solutions in today’s most in-demand application areas.