New to PPC, not to IM

D

Davebot

New member
Feb 9, 2011
24
1
0
I've been doing SEO for a few years and now have a bankroll to burn learning PPC. I got a hold of pay per click formula 2.0 but that isn't nuts and bolts enough to get me up and running with my first campaign. I already got accepted to a few big CPA networks through my organic sites.

Where can I find a mentor or program worth the money to get me going?
 


Well, I'll state that PPVPlaybook is rubbish for PPC. Seriously. I'm not even sure what I paid for. One of these :love-smiley-083: and I'm the yellow guy.
 
In all seriousness, I would say that you might want to check out the AdWords help. They have a TON of material about how to build PPC campaigns, kw selection, bidding, etc.

MSN has something similar.

Facebook removes the element of keyword bidding, but adds the variable of images in each ad.


Also - after reading the intro stuff spend a few hours reading threads on here - there are some golden nuggets about strategies / tactics for various platforms.
 
I asked this quite often when I was starting out and EVERYONE pointed me towards the official Adwords learning center. So I'll have to second this and say it's pretty thorough, tons of videos, constantly updated.

You might look into some help with Facebook as well as it's a bit different but fully worth your time.
 
I read nicky cakes guide to PPC and that helped a lot. I also watched a case study included in pay per click formula 2.0 (but sadly he either didn't finish the case study, or the version I have is incomplete).

My biggest issue right now is choosing where to start my first campaign.

I know with Google you need a landing page and somewhat fleshed out website to get a good QS. That's not really an issue outside of extra work since I do do (heehee) SEO but it does add another factor into the equation. Nickey cakes admits he has never had a profitable search campaign so while initially I was thinking Google, it might not be the best for my first.

Facebook sounds interesting but I have never even USED facebook so I don't know where and how ads appear. I believe they are image ads too and again, that adds another layer. Can you direct link on facebook?

I was thinking of running MSN search ads since (I think) you can direct link. That seems simplest for getting my feet wet.

I'm leaning towards someplace where I can direct link. Any suggestions?
 
Compound said:
In all seriousness, I would say that you might want to check out the AdWords help. They have a TON of material about how to build PPC campaigns, kw selection, bidding, etc.

MSN has something similar.

Facebook removes the element of keyword bidding, but adds the variable of images in each ad.
Click to expand...

Absolutely correct. Also start Facebook or Google advertising with some free credit which they offer in the form of vouchers. Then go ahead with your 'burn-the-cash' method.
 
Ran my first campaign tonight.

Is $0.02 EPC and $1.40 CPC good?

:love-smiley-083:<---- me again

A few questions:

How long does MSN Ad Center take to update its data?

With tracking 202, how does it know your CPC? I put in $1.40 (since that was 20% of my payout... my max CPC) but I'm sure I ended up getting clicks that were cheaper than that. How does that work?
 
So MSN updated overnight and only sent 44 clicks to the offer. This agrees with what my affiliate network says. Tracking 202 reported over 6 times that many clicks. Combine that with my large estimated CPC in tracking 202 and I ended up not doing as terrible as tracking 202 was reporting live.

$33.44 spend for $7 payout. I understand I want that to be reveresed, but you gotta start somewhere. I'm just stoked that I got a conversion!

So Tracking 202 is rubbish for MSN AdCenter - I guess it can't filter out bot clicks. I don't feel like editing the database everyday to do it myself.

Onto Bevo and then maybe CPVLabs.

Any comments besides trying to sell me vouchers?
 
Nope, direct linking. I thought I would keep it simple. That's also the reason I chose MSN Ad Center over Google.
 
I'm not a fan of direct linking, but it depends on your offer. If you don't mind burning through a few hundred dollars you should be able to get enough to data to start adjusting your bid prices and trimming keywords to get it profitable. Are you sure it's being promoted profitably through PPC? Some offers just suck, and some offers only work on certain types of traffic. How thoroughly did you research the type of offer you wanted to test? Have you talked at all with your AM about it? What network are you running with?
 
Yeah, I did the no landing page thing just to keep it simple. I am "qualifying" my traffic by letting them know in the ad copy that it's a product, and a purchase is required. At this point CTR isn't the issue. It's CPC spend, keyword choice, and conversions.

I really don't mind burning through a few hundred dollars. Like I said, I'm pretty solid with SEO and have income to "invest." I was going to spend $100 to get data but pulled the plug last night once tracking 202 showed I was up to $300. Now MSN is reporting $33.50 spend so I think I might adjust later today and let it go the rest of the way to get data.

I did a cursory search of the offer and saw nothing similar at all. In all honesty this offer might suck. I did no research, pretty much just picked one. Matter of fact, it's not even the right "season" (if you can call it that) for the offer. My whole point was learn how to promote an offer on search using some tracking software and see some data. I succeeded but I'm either using tracking 202 wrong, or it blows.

I'm afraid of my AM. Don't want to look like a newb (which I am). Like I said, I know about IM, just not PPC and CPA marketing. I suppose an email asking what offers are doing well in search wouldn't hurt. I already sent an email yesterday asking some Q's for my organic sites and haven't heard back yet. Don't wanna be needy.

It's an Epic Direct offer. I got in based off my organic sites.

Thanks for the help.
 
Davebot said:
Yeah, I did the no landing page thing just to keep it simple. I am "qualifying" my traffic by letting them know in the ad copy that it's a product, and a purchase is required. At this point CTR isn't the issue. It's CPC spend, keyword choice, and conversions.

I really don't mind burning through a few hundred dollars. Like I said, I'm pretty solid with SEO and have income to "invest." I was going to spend $100 to get data but pulled the plug last night once tracking 202 showed I was up to $300. Now MSN is reporting $33.50 spend so I think I might adjust later today and let it go the rest of the way to get data.

I did a cursory search of the offer and saw nothing similar at all. In all honesty this offer might suck. I did no research, pretty much just picked one. Matter of fact, it's not even the right "season" (if you can call it that) for the offer. My whole point was learn how to promote an offer on search using some tracking software and see some data. I succeeded but I'm either using tracking 202 wrong, or it blows.

I'm afraid of my AM. Don't want to look like a newb (which I am). Like I said, I know about IM, just not PPC and CPA marketing. I suppose an email asking what offers are doing well in search wouldn't hurt. I already sent an email yesterday asking some Q's for my organic sites and haven't heard back yet. Don't wanna be needy.

It's an Epic Direct offer. I got in based off my organic sites.

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

I can assure you 202 doesn't suck. A lot of people in this industry owe our first born children to Wes for creating it. That being said, you have to make sure you're using it right. Based on what you're asking, yes you'll have to go in and update your actual CPC if you want it reflected in the charts, but a lot of people are more interested in conversions and CTR for particular keywords so they only update the actual CPC when pulling reports. For your actual spend, you always look at your traffic source regardless.

If you're really trying to learn and buy data etc you should try an offer that's actually working. If you lose money on an offer that you know is working with your traffic source, at least you've eliminated two very important variables - ie. does the offer actually convert, and will it convert with this type of traffic. That will allow you to focus on other variables such as keywords, bids, Adcopy, day-parting, geotargeting etc.

Try getting one of your Affiliate Managers on AIM to be able to ask questions and bounce ideas off of because sometimes email takes too long. Don't feel bad about sounding like a newb because you are. Everybody was at some point, and the only way you're going to learn is to try. It's in their interest to work with you if you show you're willing to put in the time to be successful.
 
What he said ^^^
And just to clarify the fundamentals. Make sure your tracking is working. In other words. You should be able to tell which keyword generated your conversion.

Then keep spending money and you can start pausing keywords that are clearly losing money.

If you get to the point where you want to quit or can't afford to lose any more money, pause all keywords except those that converted. Run your converting keywords by themselves and you may be in the black.

You can adjust bids at a keyword level to pay more for your best keywords and less for mediocre keywords.

Then you can work on split testing ad copy and expanding your keyword list to include phrases very similar to your converting keywords.
 
I found where I can filter clicks based on 'real clicks' which only gives an IP credit for a single click. It still was nearly double what MSN was reporting though.

I asked tracking 202's support and they said that MSN bots are click happy and that it can't filter them out and they suggested the 'real clicks' filter. They said that as the campaign gathers bot clicks it'll eventually start to match what MSN is reporting.

Now that I know that I suppose it's something I can deal with.

I let it run up to $100 and ended up with 2 conversions. One keyword could possibly work out, but volume would be a serious issue. I adjusted my bid, only activated a few keywords related to the converting ones, increased my budget and am now waiting for "budget pause" to end.

I also talked with my "AM". Turns out that Epic Direct has a team that handles the low level support then pass on the important stuff to the AMs. That makes them much more newb friendly since I'm not bothering the same person over and over.

I found out that Epic Direct has a bi-monthly download of the highest converting offers for different traffic types. It lists 11 offers, a few of which are geo-targeted (seriously, how do you target South Africa?).

So I guess now I'll get another campaign going selected out of the top 11. I see other people running the same offer on MSN. I guess I compete head to head then?

Thanks for the help. Without you two I'd be still talking to myself (and the voucher guy).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Unarmed Gunman
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom