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How to test (and perfect) nearly everything in PPC

Columnist Andreas Reiffen adapts his talk from SMX London 2017 into a handy "how-to" for search marketers looking to improve ad performance through testing.

Andreas Reiffen on July 27, 2017 at 2:15 pm

PPC (pay per click) is a key component of many online marketing campaigns. And while it can drive significant revenue, it’s also one of the most expensive ongoing costs in a campaign. Therefore, it’s key that you test your ads regularly, to make sure you aren’t letting any conversions slip through the cracks.

Testing and optimizing is an important part of our job as digital marketers. And I’m not just talking about perfecting your ad copy.

At SMX London earlier this year, I gave a talk on how we design and implement tests at Crealytics for both Text and Shopping ads.

Carrying on from that, this post will cover three methods you can use for successful testing, two types of testing to help you take performance to the next level, and five common pitfalls that testers often run into. I’ll also illustrate these points with examples from our own internal testing efforts.

Deciding which method to use

Designing a good experiment is actually the most important step in getting actionable results. Which testing method you use will depend on what data you have available and what variables you are trying to test. In general, there are three basic types of testing methods:

Drafts and experiments
Scheduled A/B tests
Before/after tests

Each of these methods comes with pluses and minuses.

[Read the full article on Search Engine Land.]

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Andreas Reiffen

Andreas Reiffen is an entrepreneur, marketing technologist and thought leader in data-driven advertising. Between 2006 and 2008 Andreas operated as a PPC super affiliate working for Zappos and other retailers. In 2008 he founded crealytics, the Berlin-based provider of camato, the leading Google Shopping Tool to automate PLA campaigns and improve performance. Several of the largest international Ecommerce retailers are using camato to manage Google Shopping in more than 100 markets across the globe, generating over $3B in revenues per year. camato has been shortlisted for numerous awards in 2016 including European Performance Marketing and Drum Search.