Eversince the demise of my movie/music download campaigns I was left with only 1x successful campaign. This campaign has been doing very very well and churns out more than my previous monthly salary. In fact at least 5x more. Why am I complaining? Well the problem is this…if that one campaign goes bust for any reason (e.g another Google slap, decrease in conversion for whatever reason etc etc and the list goes on) then I’m left with nothing - zip. I’ve for the past month been trying to create another successful campaign just to diversify and reduce risk. The result? Absolutely horrendous.
As many of you may have read I’ve also tried CPA networks. I keep asking myself over and over again why I’m finding it so difficult to replicate the results of my first campaign. Sitting at my PC 12 hours a day didn’t help so I took a break. Took a full day off watching tv, reading my favourite books and enjoying my Star Bucks caramel macchiato.
Funnily enough… it just hit me. As most brain buzz’s do - when you’re away from your PC. I realized (an in fact I believed I’ve mentioned this somewhere in my previous post) that I just didn’t have a solid enough system and got lucky with my 1st campaign. I had realized that I lacked a system about a week ago but this time I realized that my system wasn’t really a system. I sat down with a pen and paper and drew out my entire process map. An actual step by step system from start to finish. I also jotted down all the tools I’d require to keep track of my tasks. This system is pretty much a funnel. Everything starts at the top and what comes out of the funnel is basically profitable keywords.
The lack of a system is what I believe to be the #1 reason people fail at affiliate marketing with Adwords or any other PPC for that matter. You may think you have a system (like I did) but I soon realized it wasn’t really a system. What do I mean by this?
Well I knew I had to monitor and track each keyword, I also knew I had to split test ads etc but….what my system didn’t have was the actual specifics of each task. For example, how often do I monitor each keyword? When do I delete the keyword? My new system is like a flow chart detailing everything. All I need to do is follow it step by step. I did exactly that and now my campaigns are turning a profit - finally! The reason they didn’t before was because :-
1) I was paying too much for certain keywords
2) I didn’t delete non-performing keywords
Sounds like really basic stuff but when you have a lot of campaigns running it actually because a messy task and you tend to leave things out. I didn’t realize that I had non-performing keywords running for weeks simply because there was a flaw in my monitoring process. These were basically sucking out my profits. I’ll put up my system in the next post (after I’ve scanned it in) but for now I’ll give you the main steps :-
Step 1 - Research keywords
I use Under Cover Profits to monitor a whole bunch of keywords. After 12 days if the competitors ad is still running then I figure the keyword is profitable and I then add the keywords to my campaign.
Step 2 - Create Campaign
When I create my campaign I basically use my competitors ad grouping and ad copy technique. I group my keywords the exact same way my competitor did and use their same ad copy with minor changes to make it my own. To get round the Google double serving policy I use my own domain and frame redirects. All keywords are tracked using both Google’s conversion code as well as with the Xtreme Conversions tracking software. In terms of CPC, I start off high at 0.50 per click and slowly reduce the CPC based on conversions. This way you will initially lose money on the campaign but start profiting once you delete all non-performing keywords and lower your bids accordingly.
Step 3 - Monitor Campaign
Every week I monitor the campaigns and for keywords that have not made a sale in 200 clicks - off it goes. I’m then left week after week with more and more profitable keywords. At the same time I keep on adding new keywords that I’ve uncovered with Under Cover Profits.
Thats basically the jist of my system. Its a lot more detailed that those main steps as for each step I have a tracking tool to make it easier for me to track what I’ve done. I’ve also realized that with this system I’m less emotional. I use to raise and reduce bid prices whenever I felt like it and as soon as I’d made a sale I increase the bid drastically in the hope of more sales. And mind you…none of this was tracked. I’d also get impatient and add on untargeted new keywords just to get lots of clicks. If you’re anything like me and can relate to what I’m saying then you desperately need a system! I’ll try to get it scanned asap….till then….have a good weekend and be patient! I know I’m not!
April 21st, 2007 at 12:40 am
I have did several months of link flopping from PPC to CPA. Here’s some of my advice:
1)Try various search engine. MSN Adcenter works best for me, and allow the ads-links to be redirected to the affiliate page. You only need a domain and do a 301 htaccess redirect.
2)Be creative and test,test,test. Don’t go after the saturated stuff (ringtone, giftcard, etc). Go for something different. Nobody can tell you what works and what not. You can only tell yourself after series of testing.
3)Don’t give up. Most people gave up within the first month or two. But those that persist in the long run, are the profitable one.
Anyway, good luck.
P/s: Like your content. Added you in my blogroll.
June 14th, 2007 at 11:23 am
Well, I agree with you that the top reason for people who fail in PPC online advertising is “lack of a system”. However, by this meaning, I think it is too general. Many success affiliate marketing entrepreneurs have their own the following system/strategies:
1) Keyword research strategies
2) Campaign management strategies
3) Keyword bidding strategies
Apart from those strategies, I also believe that the additional reasons could be:
1) They drive visitors to the poor/low conversion rate landing page.
2) They write the non-attractive ad-copy.
3) They lack of powerful software to help them out such as tracking, campaign management software, spy software, etc.
That’s all for my opinion!
Anyway, thank for your sharing. It is helpful for others.
Cheers,
zMillionDollars