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Understanding and analyzing ad campaigns is a delicate blend of art and science, pivotal in media buying. The challenge isn’t just to run a campaign but to ensure its effectiveness through rigorous assessment.
Analyzing an advertising campaign should be a regular habit. While letting a campaign run and hoping for the best is tempting, proactive monitoring is key. Ideally, you should have a benchmark, whether a certain number of clicks (typically in the thousands) or a budget threshold (around 3-4 times the cost of a lead).
Here are five easy steps you should take in every campaign analysis:
- Evaluate ROI
At the center of every campaign analysis lies the ROI assessment. This key metric provides a clear picture of the campaign’s profitability.
- When ROI is negative without conversions, it suggests a mismatch between the traffic source and the ad or that your ads may be misconfigured, leading to costly leads.
- A break-even ROI (100%) suggests your offer holds potential but needs further fine-tuning.
- A positive ROI indicates that your creatives and offer are synchronized effectively, and it might be time to scale up.
2. Check Your Ad Network’s Recommended Metrics
Compare your CTR with the network’s recommended rate. A higher CTR means your ad campaign is performing exceptionally. A lower rate may indicate the necessity of creative modifications.
Minimal conversions despite numerous clicks signal issues at the landing page level. If the CPC aligns with your budget and you’re obtaining the desired clicks, you should proceed to the next step.
3. Examine the Landing Page
The landing page can make or break your campaign. To have a proper understanding of its effectiveness and flaws, check the following:
Conversion Rate
How many visitors turn into leads or customers? A low conversion rate can indicate a mismatch between the ad promise and the landing page content.
Preliminary Page Performance
Monitor the transition rate if you’re using a preliminary page before your main landing page. If users exit at this stage, it’s time to reevaluate it.
Technical Check
Ensure the clicks register correctly and everything is operational. Ensure no broken links, slow-loading pages, or technical glitches turn away potential leads.
Alignment with Advert
If visitors are promised a specific offer in the ad but encounter something different on the landing page, this disparity can cause a drop-off. Consistency is crucial.
Additionally, by setting up a simple campaign flow, like a single opt-in offer combined with a push notification funnel, you can determine where users abandon the process, allowing you to rectify potential problems based on drop-off points.
4. Collaborate with the Affiliate Program
If you’ve ticked all the boxes but still encounter issues, liaise with your affiliate program. They can provide insights on call center operations, call timings, call recordings, and more. Sometimes, the problem isn’t with the campaign or landing page but lies in the subsequent stages of the customer journey.
5. Optimize Your Campaign
Campaign optimization is the final step when you implement changes to the campaign based on gathered insights.
There are two notable methods that you can use:
Creative-First
Ideal for beginners, this approach focuses on creative adjustment primarily. Optimize the creative using A/B testing, then make changes to the general settings and return to creative adjustment based on the data.
Settings-First
Perfect for seasoned media buyers, this method revolves around tweaking campaign settings. It involves adjusting broad settings, analyzing traffic, and, lastly, segmenting campaigns based on varying targeting choices. The culmination is optimizing your conversion funnel by playing with pre-landers, CTAs, and other conversion-boosting elements.
Analyzing ad campaigns may seem daunting, but it’s an invaluable skill that drastically improves your online advertising efforts. Over time, identifying weak points becomes intuitive, allowing for swift, effective iterations. By regularly analyzing and optimizing, you can ensure they’re making the most of their advertising budget and engaging their target audience effectively.
