Optimizing PPC Accounts With Demographic Data
Let’s see first how Google collects data and then you will see some examples of how you can optimize PPC accounts better.
Google collects three kinds of data:
1. Things You Do
Your location
Your device information
IP address and cookie data
Websites you visit
Keywords you search for
Videos you watch
Ads you click on
Any time you use a Google service, it collects data about you and your searches.
2. Things You Create
Contacts and calendar events you add
Photos, videos and docs you upload
Emails you send and receive via Gmail
So Google collects data about all the things you do when you are signed into your Google account and even if you aren’t signed in, Google may make educated guesses about your gender, age, location, etc.
3. Things That Make You “You”
Your name
Your gender
Your birthday
Your country
Your E-mail address and password
Your phone number
When you sign up for a Google account, these kinds of demographic information are required to enter.
Optimization Within Demographic Data
When logging into your AdWords account, you’ll see the results of data tracking. But what can you do with this?
For example, if the account shows that the 65+ segment converted zero times YTD for 2017, after having spent $100, we might consider assigning the 65+ segment a negative bid adjustment and monitor closely to see if the performance changes.
Let’s see another example. In case you see that males clicked 35 times with a conversion rate of 0.79 percent, while females clicked only 23 times with a conversion rate of 0.46 percent and Unknowns clicked 28 times with a conversion rate of 0.23 percent, you might want to adjust bids up for males and down for females and unknowns.
In both examples, you should prefer to take the cautious approach of adjusting segment bids instead of excluding them entirely because things can always change in ways you can’t predict. It’s still safer to make bid adjustments, monitor, and adjust rather than exclude segments entirely.
Some Additional Optimization Tips
1. Segment into Separate Ad Groups
You can split ad groups into smaller groups and then create dedicated ads and landing pages for each group. This will allow you to fine-tune your bids and potentially personalize your messaging! This kind of approach, however, can quickly get cumbersome, so don’t rely too heavily on it.
2. Talk to Your Clients
Your most valuable resource in interpreting your data is your clients. If you check Google Analytics and still can’t explain what you’re seeing, your clients can probably make a good guess. Indeed, in some cases, your client might give you a good reason to take actions that aren’t suggested by the data at all.
Use Your Data Wisely
Almost certainly, audience demographics and data will continue to be a serious topic in 2018, so it is very important to understand how Google collects this data, and what some of its possible issues are. By doing so, you’ll be better prepared to optimize PPC accounts — no matter what the future brings.
