[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Display On
With a low budget and a desperate need for brand awareness, many businesses will face a tough, uphill battle to gain any ground in SEM; you have options though. With standard search being…standard, it can be hard to get past search network campaigns as your starting point but I’m here to tell you if this scenario is the one you find yourself in you may be making a mistake by creating some search campaigns and crossing your fingers. The Google Display Network is sometimes discounted as a less efficient use of your time and money, and it does have it’s own set of challenges, but let’s look at all the factors.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]CPC – Cost Per Click
This one is almost unfair and MAY be included solely to prove my point, but I’m the one writing this. Search campaigns have a wide range of expected CPC depending on the competition for your business’ keywords, it is not uncommon for keyword CPC to be in the $1-$5 range or much higher when there is both high competition and high potential for revenue from a lead (plastic molding, construction projects, surgery, etc). Search campaigns will likely continue to be the primary investment in SEM because you are only targeting users who search for a specific set of keywords, which have (hopefully) high relevance to what you do. This is a feather in the cap for the Search Network because with Display the users seeing your ads were not performing a search looking for you, your product, or service. However volume can be quite helpful, and worthwhile. With an example account (last 7 days) Average CPC is over $4, Click-through Rate is approximately 1.7% (16 clicks, 956 impressions), session duration and page depth are both just below averages for Organic. A newly created Display Network campaign was created using a really well-fitting In-Market segment for targeting, and it is giving the search campaign a very hard time. Stats for Display campaign?
Average CPC $.16
CTR 1.53% (198 clicks, 12,924 impressions)
Mike drop.
Session duration, page depth, bounce rate are all unfortunately worse in Display than Search to this point but it’s a sacrifice worth making and can be managed with better targeting.[/vc_column_text][divider line_type=”No Line”][image_with_animation image_url=”13363″ animation=”Fade In” img_link_target=”_self”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Ad Creative
You get to use rich images AND text. Why do I have to sell you on this one? Ok, so you can use a full range of advertising elements with search ads, I will not dispute that. A well structured ad with full usage of keywords in text, good display url, callout extensions, and sitelinks will draw some really good sessions. I love good search traffic, once the CTR starts approaching 5% I can’t help but smile. But with certain products and services isn’t it hard to imagine text being more captivating than a picture? Your small business sells hand-knit scarves, candles, or top hats; why not show people? You’re a web designer, why not use a sample of your portfolio as a display ad instead of talking about it? Text usage is limited with Google Display ads but you do get to add some element of a message, particularly if you are building your ad outside of Google and importing it. This category is something of a wash due to the extensive ways in which Google lets you enhance your text ads, but at least this doesn’t feel like a loss for display.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][image_with_animation image_url=”11865″ animation=”Fade In” img_link_target=”_self”][vc_column_text]Marketing Objectives
This is where the lines can be drawn in the digital sand, you have a small budget and need to advertise to drive business. You can’t afford for brand awareness to be your sole focus, but you also can’t afford to ignore it and simply target conversions.
Search campaigns can have any number of objectives, and can do all them sufficiently. The intent with a search campaign will be determined by your ad copy, the extensions used, and landing page.
With Display, Google has put significant work into revamping the creation process and asks you to select your marketing objective. It’s clear that the intent is to improve the way Display campaigns are run, to deliver better results and make the process as simple as possible. The emphasis Google puts on Marketing Objectives in the Display Network signifies how useful Display can be when conversions, brand awareness, lead gen, or even driving traffic to a mobile app are the goal.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]In Conclusion
Search and Display are both still relevant. Successful campaigns should incorporate both, however, it cannot be ignored how easy and cost effective it would be to run a pure display campaign when advertising on a budget. Once an advertising budget is above a certain point (Say $500/month), you should get your search on, but if you have $100 in your pocket to put towards creating business Display should be your go-to.
Have questions? Super confused about what this has to do with anything? Ask us![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][/vc_column][/vc_row]