2 replies to this topic

[DJKay]

Hi,

I need to move an adwords campaign for a site into a new adwords account. Obviously, there will not be any history in the new account, so conversion optimizer won't work initially, nor will CPA which is how they have the account set up currently (if I remember, we will need a month's worth of data).

I copied the account over using the adwords editor and I came up with errors on my campaign, basically because I need to go in and set a max cpc. Ran a report and the max cpcs are running .25 to .75 cents. The most costly click in the bunch is only 1.44. The CPA is 24.94 I was thinking at setting the max cpc at 2.00 or just to be sure we can pick up that click for 1.44 because CPA won't be running.

Anybody have any suggestions or past inferences from doing this. Thanks in advance.

DJKay

[Alan Perkins]

Hi DJKay

I don't use CPA but have been managing Adwords accounts for many years so, in the absence of a reply from anyone else, I'll reply.

You look to have a good handle on what's needed. The main thing you haven't mentioned is Quality Score. If the keywords had a good QS in the old account, you may need to bid significantly more in the new account in order to maintain positions. Given that you know your target CPA and your historic conversion rate per keyword, you can work back to determine an average CPC per keyword, then add a bit to determine an initial max CPC per keyword. Push that target CPA as high as possible to get the account started, then bring it down over the first few weeks.

BTW the reason I don't use CPA is that I tested it when it was first released and hated the loss of control and performance. But if it works for you, great!

[DJKay]

Hi Alan,

Thanks for posting a reply. Yes, you are right, I did not include QS in my approach, thanks. Also, at my last gig, when CPA came out, I tested it and found it did not work for me in that scenario as well, so I never used it. In my last gig, I was dealing with very high cpcs of 25 to 30$ a click. I practiced a very aggressive content syndication strategy there and were optimized for long tail phrases. We only bought the product phrases that were aligned with the advanced stages of the sales funnel process. The product was enterprise software (saas & license for behind the firewall). The price points were very large, the sales cycle was 3 to 12 months and the focus was lead generation. I am providing this background as a back drop, to say that in this scenario, it actually drove my costs up, not down.

When I went to other conferences and talked with other sem professionals (particularly those working in the B2B space); I found that it did not work for them either. I did find other SEMs who said it did work in consumer product scenarios where there are tons and tons of versions of keyword phrases (and don't cost as much) where it did work.

The CPA at this current gig was set up before I got here. As a side note, once I get the new account set up and running; I want to try that new functionality where you can test parts of your adwords campaigns against eachother...with the idea that I would do a portion using CPA and a portion doing it the old fashion way to see what works best.

I could understand where it would not work for you; you have been doing this stuff for so long, that its probably all a matter of feel for you in some ways...as I said, it did not work either at my last gig and since I am a marketer, I feel a responsibility to test it, one way or another. Thanks,

DJKay