How many times were you tempted to test display because of its low cost per click (CPC)? Or were you disappointed by a few tests that you have run without much success? Did you simply wonder whether it would make sense to learn more about display to see if it would work for a business like yours?

Display represents one of the biggest advertising network thanks to the millions of placements that are available to advertise on and it can definitively be both a huge opportunity if well used or a complete disaster if tested without a proper strategic approach.

Use data points to improve your display targeting

Display campaigns don’t need to be set up as standalone campaigns but they can actually be part of a bigger, more targeted picture. There are three types of display campaigns that utilize data points to be more effective for advertisers.

Display select: this is an addition to a search campaign that uses the search budget to expand the reach of a search campaign. This campaign type uses conversion data to generate a list of ideal user profiles that might be likely to become customers as well and targets them on display placements. This campaign type has much better chances to convert than a standard display campaign
Content keywords on display: This campaign is similar to what we described just now but it is a standalone campaign. It doesn’t use search conversion data but it uses the keywords you target to find contextually relevant placements that are visited by people that are likely to be in market for your products or services
Smart display: This is a semi automated campaign that uses the conversion data of the account to deliver display ads based on a few creative elements that are provided to the publisher. This campaign type usually requires large budget and a lot of conversion data to be effective but it could dramatically boost the results of your business if well set up. It typically converts at a cost per acquisition (CPA) similar to your other display campaign since it uses conversion data to optimize delivery.

Optimize placements at least once a day

Since there is many display placements to use, choosing the right ones to exclude is key to investing your money wisely. For example, you don’t want to invest money on placements that aren’t converting or on placements that are off topic for what you are trying to sell users.

As a rule of thumb, you should look for placements that have a low click through rate (CTR) and no conversions compared to the average CTR of the account. A low CTR indicates that users aren’t likely to be interested in your products or services and therefore they aren’t clicking on your ads as much. You should also be looking for placements with high CTR to see if you can win more traffic on them, particularly if they are converting! Needless to say, you should be creating custom strategies for your top converting placements and you could go all the way to creating custom ad groups with native looking ads for them to test ways to convert at a better cost.

Allocate enough budgets to take fast decision

But don’t be too generous either. You want to be able to test your in-market audiences and other strategies in a timely manner you need to collect data and data costs money. The more you spend, the more clicks you generate and the faster you will be finding winners on display. It is a good practice to test starting with a low budget, optimizes the placements and the bids and then scale up the budget to collect data based on better quality traffic.

In conclusion

Display is not a complete waste of time and money but it requires a lot of dedication to be successful. Use data whenever possible to fine-tune your targeting and run daily optimizations to control where your ad is appearing. Yael Consulting AdWords experts are standing by to help you with your paid search needs today.

Is Display a Waste of Time?