Broad vs. Exact in Brand Campaign

[danny.wood]

Hey guys,

I was looking through my "Brand" campaign, and I noticed that my costs are running a little higher than I'd like to be spending. I've got my brand search term (Strutta) set on broad, since I just recently started the brand campaign about 2-weeks ago. However, I've noticed that I'm spending around $1 on most clicks even though my QS is at 9/10.

In my previous experience, I've been able to pay pennies on brand search terms. I know that I have a competitor that's trying to snipe my brand searches, but I don't really want to be paying this much for branded clicks.

Would it be a good idea to check my search terms, build out a larger list of exact match terms, and just go with exact match? Do you guys usually use broad in your Brand campaigns, or exact?

[zoicaremus]

Hello Danny,

First let's see what exact match terms were triggered your broad branding keyword.

Go to that adgroup, select Keywords, select a longer timerange (it does not work for today), then click on Details -> Search Temrs -> All.

Any particular combination that makes up for the high spendings?

[Chris_CM]

Hi Danny,

Depending on the budget for branded campaigns, we utilize a mix of broad modifier (ex. +example +brand) and phrase match (ex. "example brand").  Generic broad match can cause you to pay for queries that may not be as well targeted as you expect.  For example, a former client had a broad match for Delaware Secretary of State and ended up paying to appear for the query Delaware State Fair, which wasn't ideal in the financial services business.

I would recommend looking at your specific terms that you're paying a lot for keeping in mind your organic results.  If you are trying to cut costs without seriously hindering your exposure, I would recommend determining which search queries you are paying for AND organically showing up above the fold and possible cutting spending on those specific keywords.

This will allow you to cut down on the number of branded keywords that you need to pay for, and you will still have a result in view for those queries.

Hope that helps!

Chris Wilson

[IrvCo_Interactive]

I think it's always a good idea to check your search terms report regularly! You should do it and add in exact match terms that are highly relevant and also block out things your broad match term is bringing in that are not relevant with negative keywords.

I had one client that even though their brand name was unique for their industry, it was being used in other, non related industries. They were in building services but their brand name set to broad match was bringing in traffic for backpacks, car modifications, all sorts of not relevant stuff. Don't pay for that stuff! Block it out with negative keywords.

[danny.wood]

Thanks all who replied!

Our brand term is pretty specific ("Strutta") so I decided to try it as exact match for a while with a few variations (geographic, service related, etc.) I'll see how that affects traffic, QS and cost