Improve SEM Performance With Your Own Unique KPIs via @sejournal, @jonkagan

If you travel maine connected Twitter, you cognize I americium a harsh professional of those New York Jets and an unsolicited commentator connected each things Real Housewives.

But you whitethorn person besides realized I americium a tireless combatant for SEM assemblage and plus segmentation.

Brand vs. non-brand, first-time user vs. repetition visitor, precocious HHI (high household income) earner women property 25–35 vs. property 65+ coupon shoppers… each element and assemblage is different.

It makes nary consciousness to clasp everything to the aforesaid modular for measurement.

One whitethorn say, “Jon, I person an aggregate goal. I expect each efforts to deed it. Otherwise, it conscionable isn’t worthy moving them.”

To which I reply, “Well, riddle maine this. How overmuch cheaper is your brand CPC vs. your non-brand, oregon however overmuch higher is simply a repetition shoppers conversion complaint than a first-timer?”

While you tin person an aggregate goal, you inactive request to recognize that each constituent volition execute differently.

Moreover, the antithetic show levels indispensable harvester to funnel into a azygous show KPI (Key Performance Indicator).

If you proceeded with nixing each efforts that didn’t conscionable the aggregate KPI you acceptable crossed the board, you volition neglect to garner caller customers, and you’ll rapidly person a diminishing level of traffic.

Need Proof? Well, Here You Go

Here we observe “client N.”

They are a direct-to-consumer ecommerce marque that sells bacon and assorted smoked meats (yes, it is delicious).

We conception targets connected the basal marque vs. non-brand, but besides by NTF (first-time purchasers) vs. repetition purchasers.

Our AOV (Average Order Value) is pricing dependent, which is marketplace terms dependent, truthful we absorption connected maximizing conversion implicit ROAS (Return On Ad Spend).

We cognize that we’ll get 2 to 3 purchases per twelvemonth for 5 years from a lawsuit successful a lifetime.

So portion getting repetition purchases connected our marque is ace cost-efficient and pays the bills, we admit they are present considered a depreciating asset.

As a marketer, bash you propulsion dense connected the depreciating assets due to the fact that it is debased cost, oregon bash you wage retired the wazoo for a caller lawsuit upfront, realizing they volition go ace cost-efficient connected the 2nd purchase?

Spoiler: Never halt supporting the repetition customer, but propulsion hard for the first-time customer.

Because of this, we person six antithetic KPIs (and their reasons):

Brand Repeat

• Low-level CPC KPI.
• Why: They are marque loyal, with a precocious probability of purchasing, truthful we privation to get the CPC (Cost Per Click) arsenic debased arsenic imaginable to nonstop them to the merchandise we privation to push.

Brand NTF

• High postulation KPI & Mid-level CPC KPI.
• Why: Brand aware, usually a receiver of acquisition oregon different marketing, precocious conversion probability, CPC is pricier, truthful if we tin power it, it’ll beryllium a amended LTV ROAS.

Non-Brand Repeat

• CPA (Cost Per Action) KPI.
• They person nary loyalty, they purchased erstwhile earlier but didn’t travel backmost to america by name, truthful it is much logical to absorption connected a circumstantial CPA people due to the fact that different acquisition aft this is overmuch little likely.
• Important to enactment that this is the slightest invaluable lawsuit and shows a deficiency of marque loyalty.

Non-Brand NTF

• High Traffic & High Impression Share KPI.
• You privation arsenic galore of these arsenic possible, and successful a crowded marketplace, you often person to surrender outgo (because this volition not beryllium cheap) for visibility (make definite you person a large advertisement successful place.
• You’ll compensate connected the backmost extremity for a conversion.

Shopping (We Don’t Separate NTF From Repeat)

• Conversion measurement & ROAS KPI.
• This is our moneymaker aft brand. Max retired your income measurement arsenic overmuch arsenic you can. Clicks are cheaper fixed the advertisement unit. Just marque definite you don’t dip beneath a 110% ROAS.

Display/Video

• Brand Awareness KPI.
• This isn’t getting america nonstop sales. It builds marque awareness, truthful we bash the lowest CPV connected our 30-second videos and CPM (Cost Per 1,000 Impressions) connected our show and trial it regionally to find the level of inbound first-time marque visitors to the site.
• We harvest the visitors for remarketing.

Another illustration is “client S.”

They are a concatenation of elder surviving communities astir the country.

Their absorption is connected pb procreation via signifier submissions oregon telephone calls of a definite duration.

As always, we benignant by marque and non-brand keywords and services provided. Each work has a different beingness valuation arsenic recurring revenue.

Independent surviving has a higher volume, longer LTV duration, and little gross per resident.

While astatine the different extremity of the spectrum, Memory Care is the lowest measurement and shorter LTV duration but has the highest archetypal gross successful the archetypal 3 years.

In this scenario, we acceptable the KPI by the work enactment (ignore the deficiency of marque traffic, it isn’t arsenic concerning for america arsenic each determination has a antithetic name).

We run with 3 antithetic KPIs:

Independent Living

• High Traffic and mid-low CPC KPI.
• An immense magnitude of competition, truthful if you person a bully terms and a bully location, the extremity is axenic volume. But if the CPC rises (from the competition) supra $11, determination is simply a speedy accidental that clicks autumn disconnected a cliff, arsenic determination is nary further budget.

Memory Care

• CPA KPI.
• Least magnitude of competition, but a precocious grade of researchers, which reduces CTR (Clickthrough Rate) and increases CPC. The cardinal is to absorption connected the CPA itself with the realization the LTV duration is 25% of Independent Living. The gross successful 3 years successful Memory Care exceeds that of 8 years successful Independent Living.

Assisted Living

• Low CPC KPI.
• There is simply a batch of competition, and everyone gets seen arsenic a batch of probe goes into this. You don’t person to beryllium successful presumption 1, conscionable beryllium visible, and get the postulation for arsenic small arsenic possible, because, with fixed budgets, a CPC plaything of $0.50 tin chopped your postulation down.

Okay, I’ve Seen Your Proof. Now What?

Once we’ve identified the indispensable KPIs, we acceptable the people numbers each to achieve.

This means, things similar “Brand Repeat CPC cannot transcend $0.50” oregon “Non-Brand NTF needs to thrust astatine slightest 250 clicks per week with an content stock of 15%, and a CPC not exceeding $0.75”.

We past disagreement the fund from what is astir invaluable to america to the slightest for fund distribution.

Then we tin find if the budget allocation volition conscionable the aggregate ROAS objectives.

Takeaway

No 2 accounts are alike (it’s similar calling the Jets and the Giants the aforesaid NFL team).

But that being said, not each plus successful an relationship is the same.

Therefore, holding a non-brand first-time searcher of Cherrywood Bacon to the aforesaid CTR, CPC, CVR (Conversion Rate), and ROAS of a repetition bargain connected marque presumption buying corned beef hash is similar comparing apples to oranges.

Maintaining abstracted KPI targets, strategies, and elements volition pb to a much close and predictable show outcome.

More resources:

• The 6 Most Important PPC KPIs You Should Be Tracking
• How Impression-Based KPIs Drive Campaign Performance
• PPC 101: A Complete Guide to Pay-Per-Click Marketing Basics

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