First EVER Paid Campaigns (7Search PPC to CPA offers)

[Angelman]

Hi and thanks to everyone for making me welcome on this forum, it's great to be a part of it.

I have been in the "reading and researching" phase of my internet marketing journey for quite a while now, although I have a couple of niche sites that I've worked on in the past, plus I tried my hands at monetising quite a high traffic football (soccer) website last year, which was quite an experience!

But I've gradually come to understand the benefits of moving towards a paid traffic model for my business, but having always been somewhat scared of taking risks, I have resisted jumping in with both feet for a few months now. Well yesterday that all changed when I launched my first ever PPC campaign via 7Search.

NB. I needed to finally take some action and actually get a campaign or two up and running, so I spoke to my affiliate manager at CPATank and asked for the top converting zip/email submits. I am well aware that email submits aren't a long term strategy, but seriously, I just needed to get my foot on the ladder!

Some general details:

- Using 7Search, limiting each campaign to $10 per day
- Have enabled sub-id blocking and day parting on my 7Search account
- Offers are from CPATank and are high converting zip/email submits according to my AM.
- I am tracking (or trying to track!) the campaigns with BevoMedia

Campaign 1 (Gift Card Email Submit) - Payout $1.50
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I did my keyword research using the 7Search tool initially and then added some more relevant terms using another keyword tool. Attempted to add about 250 kw's to my campaign, 7Search cut that back to around 90. I am now at 116 keywords in this campaign, and after 24 hours, it is clear that less than 10 of them are getting clicks. My top bid is $0.07 to try and get some volume (and data) in order to make some quick decisions.

KW1 has 81 clicks and 1 conversion, cost $5.50
KW2 has 25 clicks and 1 conversion, cost $1.49
KW3 has 15 clicks and no conversions, cost $0.75

The rest aren't really worth mentioning.

Now I do have AFFID and RID tracking set up on this campaign, so I will be able to see where so-called 'bad traffic' is coming from, but I don't know at what stage I can consider a source to be bad - the most clicks that any one AFFID/RID has got so far is only 6 clicks! I presume I need to just keep sending the traffic and getting more data in this case.

So, figures for this campaign:

Spent = $8.04
Earned = $3.00
TOTAL = -$5.04

Not sure what to make of this just yet, although the kw with 81 clicks needs a close eye keeping on it.



Campaign 2 (Gaming offer - Zip Submit) - Payout $1.50
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After reading a little bit more about the ins and outs of 7Search from those with more experience, as well as observing my first campaign, I decided to start off this second campaign with a drastically reduced keyword list. Using the 7Search kw tool only I added 27 relevant keywords that get a decent amount of searches. My top bid again is $0.07 in order to get some exposure.

This has only been running for about 5 hours, so no real data to speak of, but I have been encouraged by a couple of early conversions:

KW1 has 11 clicks and 1 conversion, cost $0.73
KW2 has 3 clicks and 1 conversion, cost $0.18

Long way to go with this campaign before I get any solid data. Also a slight problem with this campaign is that I am having trouble passing the AFID and RID from 7Search through to my BevoMedia tracking, this is going to cause problems the longer the campaign stays running as I won't be able to identify bad traffic, so I have posted to their forums for some help with it.

Still finding my feet with everything, feeling quite overwhelmed at times as its all so new to me, but glad to have these 2 campaigns up and running.

Any advice/help/tips gratefully received. I will keep this thread updated whenever I have significant data to share.

 

[mootonandy]

I am at a similar stage to you. Just began my first campaign yesterday. I got 2 conversions at $1.40 each and spent $4.59 to get 77 clicks. Not sure yet how I am going to turn a profit at this stage.

 

[Angelman]

UPDATE

OK, So my first campaign has been running for 48 hours now, here are some details:

CAMPAIGN 1

Clicks = 284
Conversions = 3
Earned = $4.50
Spent = $17.89
Total = -$13.39

KW1 = 166 clicks, cost $11.52, 2 conversions
KW2 = 63 clicks, cost $3.76, 1 conversion
KW3 = 32 clicks, cost $1.60, 0 conversions

I have blocked a couple of sub id's that were sending a fair bit of traffic and not converting. Problem being I think this will drastically reduce the traffic received! I have also dropped a lot of keywords that arent receiving traffic.

I have spent a chunk testing KW1 and got a good number of clicks, but not sure what to do with it now. I have customised the ad copy for this KW to see if that makes a difference. KW2 looks like it would benefit from further testing.

My second campaign has been running 24 hours now, here are some details:

CAMPAIGN 2

Clicks = 182
Conversions = 5
Earned = $7.50
Spent = $11.63
Total = -$4.13

KW1 = 76 clicks, cost $5.28, 1 conversions
KW2 = 26 clicks, cost $1.56, 1 conversion
KW3 = 25 clicks, cost $1.95, 3 conversions

So KW1 is getting lots of clicks but not great conversions so far. KW3 looks to be showing the most promise. KW1 and KW3 are highly targeted to the offer. KW2 is a more generic keyword. I am top bidder for KW1 and KW3. KW1 clearly has a decent volume, has attracted a lot of clicks, but is not converting so well.

SO this is my current progress on the above 2 campaigns. As I am very new to PPC, tracking etc etc, I would welcome any assistance in getting my head round some of the above data and deciding what to do with it in order to try and optimise the campaigns. Thanks! Will keep this thread updated as often as I can.

 

[MrGrey]

Looks like you're spending way too much on some keywords even though they have some conversions.

I'd suggest starting with lower bids than 0.07 and gradually increase them if you don't get much traffic.
Also, decide what's the max you're willing to spend per keyword and stick to that, e.g. if you have 1.20 payout and want 20% ROI shut of keywords that go above $1 without conversions. Sounds like you will need to spend $100's if you have lots of keywords but as you saw already most keywords won't give you any volume or clicks and it will be only a few that have clicks and convert. At the same time you need to decide you campaign budget and move on to other offers if you reach it and your ROI is below your target.
You might've heard it before about the "rule of thumb" that out of every 10 campaigns 8 or 9 will fail but you'll find some winners as you keep going and over time those winners will make you money back and gradually grow your profits. I've seen exactly that on 7Search.

 

[Angelman]

Thank you very much indeed for your reply. I had actually been thinking that my bids were on the high side. I think I was caught in the mindset that if I was the high bidder I'd get more exposure, but having looked at how the ads are displayed/arranged on 7Search. It looks like you can still get some traffic all the way up to pos. 7 or 8.

So, I should keep my bids low and see what traffic they bring. Thanks!

EDIT: I have lowered some of the bids that were on the high side, I will monitor the affect that has on traffic.

 

[Angelman]

UPDATE

Campaign 1
----------------

Running for 5 days now.

Clicks = 339
Conversions = 5
Earned = $7.50
Spent = $20.52
Total = -$13.02

KW1 = 209 clicks, cost $13.51, 4 conversions
KW2 = 71 clicks, cost $4.12, 1 conversion

Blocked quite a few subid's that weren't converting but this seems to have severely limited the traffic I am now receiving. I've also changed a couple of keywords to phrase match which I know will reduce traffic, but I was getting too many irrelevant clicks. I have a fairly large negative keyword list too.

Not many conversions at all on this campaign, there really is only a couple of main keywords getting any traffic, and of the ones that do, conversions aren't great. Wondering my best course of action now... tweak ad copy? rotate in a different offer? Or wondering if now might be the time to forget about this campaign. Any thoughts, advice or suggestions are most welcome?


CAMPAIGN 2
------------------

In its 4th day now.

Clicks = 494
Conversions = 9
Earned = $13.50
Spent = $27.34
Total = -$13.84

KW1 = 175 clicks, cost $10.22, 2 conversions
KW2 = I dropped it. Too many clicks, no sign of any more conversions
KW3 = 134 clicks, cost $8.31, 6 conversions

A number of subid's have been blocked, plus I reduced bids on some of the keywords based on advice from MrGrey, I've also added some negative keywords. Traffic has dropped off quite a bit over the last couple of days, but still seen a couple of conversions from my main keywords. Still seem to be spending quite a bit more than I am making back so not sure whether to wait it out for a while longer (now I've blocked some bad traffic), or pull the plug. Again, advice, thoughts appreciated!

I started a third campaign a couple of days ago, targeting UK traffic, and I am split testing 2 separate offers, traffic seems to be trickling in, but I've made a couple of conversions, not really worth sharing the data here yet, but I will certainly do so when it gets a bit more exciting.

I'm actually away on holiday right now, so managing the campaigns is a bit tricky, but I'm trying to check in at least a couple of times a day to make alterations!

 

[Angelman]

QUICK UPDATE

No conversions on ANY campaigns in the last 24 hours. I think I may have throttled the traffic too much with a mixture of subid blocking, lowering bids and changing match types. Have cut a load of useless keywords, tweaked bids on popular keywords that have previously had conversions and opened up the match type back to "Broad" for a few keywords. Will see what the next 24 hours brings. Any thoughts on my campaigns so far I'd be very grateful to hear them. Cheers!

 

[david15923]

hm... I think you can't do much with this campaign really. You don't have much volume, the volume you have doesn't convert well so IMO you should move on. The only way to get it converting would be to do some sort of landing page but again, it isn't worth it for the payout/ammount of traffic you are getting.

 

[Coke]

I have just setup my first 7search campaign like you yesterday. So far I've spent $2.84 and earned only $1.5. Received 82 clicks and the conversion rate is just 1.22%. I don't exactly know what I'm doing wrong. Good luck with your campaigns

 

[Randize]

Try to angle lower CPC campaign, and do whatever you can to increase your CR.

If you can't find the solutions, pause it if you still want to run in the future, delete it if you never want to see it again. Don't fall in love with it and don't waste time waiting if you can't solve it, nothing's gonna change if we don't change something. Move on to create another campaign, perhaps some inspirational idea will come to you that might be able to save the campaign. Cheers

 

[K]

You have to think outside the box, there is plenty of traffic on 7Search you just have to think of clever ways to target it and then make the most out of it!

 

[Angelman]

Thanks Randize and K for your replies. With these being my first 7Search campaigns - actually, my first ever paid campaigns of any kind, I'm sure I'm guilty of being too 'obvious' in my targeting and execution of the campaign. Must work on that.

I don't want to risk "falling in love" with these campaigns, but wonder if I should continue working on them. Is it best to look for other angles, clever ways to target the traffic by adding new keywords to the existing campaigns, or is it better to start afresh with new campaigns do you think?

 

[Randize]

Like I said, nothing's gonna change if nothing is changed.

The purpose of angling creative campaign is to lower you CPC, since PROFIT = EPC - CPC. Hope that make sense to you. Just bare in mind about the volume you have for the campaign.

 

[Angelman]

UPDATE

Thanks to everyone for their replies so far, this has been a very good learning experience.

I stopped Campaign 1 and Campaign 2 as they just weren't converting enough for the number of clicks that were being sent to them. My CPC's for teh top keywords were just too high and lowering them, or switching match types was just throttling the traffic too much.

Campaign 2 showed some promise, but alas I made the newbie mistake of "falling in love" with the campaign. I kept it running (at a loss) thinking that the conversions for my top keywords would magically come along. Well, they didn't come along, not consistently enough anyway, and as Randize rightly pointed out, nothing would change without me making changes to my tactics for the campaign, and I feel I had tweaked and experimented enough (testing ad copy, match types, blocking badly performing subids) to consider the campaign a loser.

I do have a Campaign 3 that has been running a week or so now, It's a UK campaign and traffic is quite low, but the numbers are a little more encouraging. I will post up some stats for that soon and you can all see what you think! I have also just put up another campaign, so I will see how that works out over the coming days.

So far, I am enjoying the experience of going through the process. When the process becomes second nature I will make sure I concentrate even more on how to angle the campaigns to try and get lower CPC's that bring decent traffic volume - as that seems to be the area I am struggling with the most right now.

 

[jefferydean]

Check your clicks. I had a campaign that was almost profitable when I look at my clicks I could see that their were multiple clicks from the same ip addresses. I spoke with 7search they told me to send them a copy of the report and they will look over it and give me a refund on the fraudulent clicks. I believe this will put me in the black.

 

[Angelman]

Thanks Jeffery, I will certainly look into that.

 

[Angelman]

UPDATE

So here are some details of my Campaign 3 that I have been running for about a week now.

Campaign 3 (Beauty Niche - Email Submit - UK ) - Payout $1.00
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Been testing out quite a substantial keyword list on this, but narrowed it down to 4 keywords that are getting impressions and clicks. All kw's are set to Broad match and average CPC is about $0.05. I have blocked some poor performing sub-id's and have a few negative keywords set up. Also, I am split testing 2 similar offers in this campaign. So far one is converting better, but with conversions being so low, it's hard to make an accurate decision over which offer is the winner or has most potential

Some stats:

KW1 has 169 clicks and 4 conversions, cost $9.90
KW2 has 16 clicks and 1 conversion, cost $0.88
KW3 has 13 clicks and 1 conversions, cost $0.64
KW4 has 12 clicks, no conversions, cost $0.57

Figures for this campaign:

Spent = $12.29
Earned = $6.00
TOTAL = -$6.29

Still struggling a little in working out how long to leave campaigns running, or how many clicks to a particular keyword to allow before taking some action to try and improve things. Generally just analysing the data and acting upon it, I seem to still be struggling. Eg. KW1 above is getting the vast majority of the traffic and the clicks, but conversions have slowed. I have since tweaked ad copy to try and get more clicks, but not sure what my next move should be.

Also, the UK traffic seems to be pretty low for this particular set of keywords, in fact that's another area I am struggling - getting sufficient volume in order to start making decisions.

So I'm still in a bit of a muddle with all this, but still pleased I have tested some campaigns and gone through the process. Just wanted to update you guys with my progress.

 

[fblast]

i think i should also join it.

 

[david15923]

IMO, if you don't have good volue you shouldn't test is a lot because if you are only receiving traffic from 1 keyword you probably won't be able to optimize.

Keep going and good luck

 

[Angelman]

UPDATE

Hi everyone. It's been a funny couple of weeks, my kids are off school for the summer holidays and it's tricky sometimes to put in a good shift of work, but I've been running and monitoring my campaigns as best I can.

The 3 campaigns I have mentioned in this thread so far are now all stopped. Some showed half decent promise (I thought), but others just ate up my budget and just didn't see good conversions at all.

Up until this morning I was testing 2 new campaigns, but I logged into my CPA network to find the offers for one of my campaigns had been paused - so I immediately paused the campaign and stopped sending traffic to it.

My other campaign that is still running has been showing a bit of promise, but I have optimised it down to where there seems to be only ONE keyword getting any traffic and conversions and not many at that! I'm continuing to optimise it and will keep running traffic to it for a while longer, but I think I am backing myself into the corner a bit as the volume just isn't there. I will review my latest stats for the campaign and perhaps post them up to see what you all think.