SEM Strategy With Robert: Search Guru Extraordinaire
Robert, MSI’s Search Guru Extraordinaire, brings over a decade of experience in all things paid search. He’s the go-to resource for building robust strategies to meet goals across the funnel, such as driving impression share to hard-to-reach audiences, incorporating complex custom intent or conquest strategies, and exceeding expectations in driving growth across revenue goals or lead quality.
A recent win was helping Montclair State University right-set lead quality across lead generation campaigns within paid search. Check out the case study below to see the fine-tuning strategies we implemented to increase overall lead volume, with a focus on lead quality.
75% Improvement to AVG CPL in 6 mo.
799% Increase In Leads YoY
107% Increased Enrollments YoY
Goal
Reverse the upward trend of invalid and unqualified leads across a diverse portfolio of graduate programs to improve overall enrollment growth.
Solution
After reviewing historical performance across past campaigns, ad groups, and keywords, we formulated a test-and-learn strategy involving different campaign types, bidding strategies, and budget allocations. Due to the individualized nature of each graduate program (whether on-campus or online), a blanket strategy was not feasible.
The strategy roadmap involved running Responsive Search Ads and Dynamic Search Ads, with an additional layer of testing using Performance Max campaigns. This allowed us to test multiple campaign types and bidding strategies. Initially, we launched campaigns with a maximize clicks bid strategy to gather sufficient conversion data. Once we had enough data, we were able to run a max conversion bid strategy and tested different target CPA levels for each program to find the optimal balance between lead volume and cost-efficiency, while also considering lead quality.
The path to quality leads continued with implementing offline conversions as an additional layer of signals to further fuel the different campaign types, which was done on the individual program level to ensure we were reaching the right users. This multi-faceted test-and-learn strategy ultimately led us to learn what budget levels were sufficient for each program, along with the optimal bid strategy for each.
Key Take-Aways
Tailored Strategies are Key: A one-size-fits-all approach is ineffective for generating leads for niche graduate programs.
Data-Driven Optimization: Testing various bid strategies and target CPAs is crucial to maximize lead volume and quality.
There is No Right or Wrong – Until You Test: Many times, we have heard you shouldn't do things a certain way. A colleague or even Google will question an approach you may want to test. In search you are only bound by your imagination. Go against the grain and you may see you have discovered a winning strategy for you or your client.
Offline Conversion Integration: Incorporating offline conversion data into Performance Max campaigns refines targeting and budget allocation.
