A quick primer on the reasons one should include a paid search campaign as part of an Internet marketing mix. Oriented toward Google AdWords, but applicable to other paid search outlets. Data-driven examples are provided as part of an overall rationale; lots of links to articles and resources are also included. Beginner-to-intermediate level.

1. Never Mind That Google Is Taking Over
The World – You Should Still Do AdWords!
Presented to the
Smithsonian Marketing IdeaFest
10/28/2015; Updated 11/03/2015
@balpert

2. 2
What is Google AdWords? / How does it work?
 Search Ads – the reason
Google can do all that other
neat stuff.
 2014 revenue = $66B
 $59B (89%) came from ads
 “Auction” model – you bid
on keywords.
 Highest bid doesn’t always
win!
 Jargon alert:
 Pay-per-click (PPC)
 Paid Search
“Quality score” determines ad position,
display frequency and cost:
 Landing page quality
 Keyword relevance
 Ad CTR
 Ad copy relevance

3. 3
Paid search enables you to…
 Buy targeted exposure to people who care.
 “Search ads reach people who are already in a highly receptive
mindset.” (source)
 Control your message and brand.
 Control your ad budget really precisely.
 Manage a campaign based on data, not intuition.
 Get search engine exposure in competitive areas.
 Paid search ads appear without an accompanying organic search
result on the page 81% of the time. (source)
 89% of the traffic generated by search ads is not replaced by
organic clicks when ads are removed. (source)

4. 4
Even if you’re crushing it organically…
 It still benefits you to run search ads.
 In cases where an organic and paid listing DO coexist, a
large percentage of ad clicks are incremental.
 Translation: even when you have the #1 organic
position, if your ad goes away, 50% of your previous ad
clicks are not replaced by clicks on the organic result.
 Organic listings 2-4: 82%
 Organic listings 5+: 96%
 Source 1 (Google)
 Source 2 (Searchengineland)

5. 5
AdWords can help if you…
 Have highly targeted needs
 Tailor ad copy and landing
page to audience
 Need to promote
branding/awareness
 Tailor ad copy and landing
page to brand message
 Have poor organic exposure
(or are launching a new site
with no organic listings)
Search ads lift awareness
by an average 6.6
percentage points (source)

6. 6
OMG Google for Non-profits!
 Would you like to add $120K to your
marketing budget?
 Google for Non-profits can provide up-to $10K
per month in free search ads!
 Yes…
 It’s hard to get through to them.
 You’ll need to appeal a rejection due to our shared
Tax ID.
 But…
 It’s free money!
 It can be done.
 It IS being done at SI.

7. 7
Stuff to consider
 Getting a real campaign together is, well, work.
 BUT… it’s creative, fun stuff!
 You can tailor it to your available time.
 You can spend all 40-plus-hours optimizing it,
tracking conversions, etc., or…
 “Set it and forget It”.

8. PPC Resources
 Google for Non-profits
 The Big List of PPC Resources and Articles (Moz)
 PPC Hero
 AdWords Keyword Planner
 Search Engine Land
 Search Engine Watch
8

9. Thanks!
9
Brian Alpert
@balpert