After doing our in-depth weekly analysis of our client PPC campaigns we come across some very interesting numbers that allow us to understand how users behave on our clients’ websites. Today I would like to go through a little example of this with you.
By using simple KPI’s generated through Google Analytics and Google Adwords we have been able to ensure PPC is applied strategically within our clients’ marketing mix.
So, getting to the point:
A client of ours has a website which sells shoes. After analyzing their Google Analytics we noticed a trend. When comparing PPC traffic with non-PPC traffic (organic, direct, referral etc.), we have seen that there is a huge difference in the % of New Visits which are coming through PPC (85% New Visits) and non-PPC (55% New Visits).
This basically means that we are generating a lot of new visits to our clients’ website from PPC, which is a common trend. We then have a couple of metrics in Google Adwords which have caught the eye when studying the results. There is a big difference between the number of Conversions (1-per-click, 846) and Conversions (many-per-click, 1692) generated. This means that for every click through PPC that generates a conversion (the sale of a pair of shoes) within a 30 day period, this same user comes back to our clients’ website (through a source which is NOT PPC) and buys another pair of shoes (this is just an average).
Bearing in mind that for every conversion that comes directly through PPC results in 2 conversions on the website and 45% of the visits that come to the site through non-PPC sources are repeat users, it is clear to see that there are is a big percentage of users that are finding our clients site primarily through Adwords, buying a pair of shoes and come back to the site through other sources such as Direct or through branded keyword in SEO (we figured this out after analyzing the keywords) and buy another pair of shoes.
Reaction
With this in mind, how do we react? Gathering metrics together and analyzing these metrics is useless unless you are able to react to them. In this case what options does the client have? Firstly, I think the messaging has to be very clear. We know that PPC is what is getting “New Visits” to the site so this source should be used in a way to attract as many new users/clients as possible, special offers in Text Ads have to be put in place to entice the users to get to the site with appropriate Landing Pages with these specific Special Offers visible to persuade the users to purchase a pair of shoes. We know that once we get a user to the site and convert them there is a good chance we could get them to come back to the site and purchase more shoes. PPC can be used to sell the “entry” products.
Secondly, once the user is on the site and has bought a pair of shoes, it has to be very clear how they can get back in contact with the client. So for example, when a user makes a conversion, the “cross-sell” should be very visible. Other shoes that could interest you are the following…, or here is a special offer if you buy another pair of shoes from our site.
For this client a CRM system is also invaluable as they would then be able to acquire client data (from users who have purchased a pair of shoes) and get back in touch with them as they know that their clients are very likely to buy from them again as they have “super” shoes.
