Google Ads (2023)

Key stats:

• 937 clicks

• 267k impressions

• 6 conversions

• $303.18 cost per conversion

• $1,819 cost

January, as expected, was off to a slow start as people returned from the holiday periods. The account registered an increase in clicks (+53%) and visibility (+279%) as we gradually scaled the budgets when demand started to pick towards the end of the month.

Discussion Points

Overview of Leads

This month, the account recorded 6 conversions in total, 5 of those were from Form Submissions and 1 from Calendly bookings. Further to the call in the last week of January, the logins to check the backend of these submissions were of YouTube (which could be the same) but we are unable to log into it as the password wasn’t shared. Are you able to share these logins and permission to view the password with my email (sana@simpledigital.net.au) please?

2023 Plans & Calendar

I have attached a copy of the slides presented on 24 Jan to this email, so that it helps in creating a calendar of the busy months that will allow us to plan the budgets accordingly. Also, it would be helpful to indicate if you plan on running any offers or promotions around the busy period.

SEO Introduction

Matt has been in touch with Mike, our SEO contact, who we believe will add great value to the current website. He will do the introductions shortly. 

Email Tracking on GA
Here's the link generator that can be used to add tracking parameters (UTMs) to your emails. You can use this generator to create new URLs and paste it into the final landing page section.

Once these tracking codes are added, you will start to see the channel specific source appear on Google Analytics, rather than it all being grouped under ‘Direct’ which seems to be the case now. You can read more about how to use tracking parameters here.

Videos

This was briefly touched upon in the last call, so it has been added here as a general reminder for the year to send us any new videos that we can use, that highlights team building and corporate workshops along with any social proof/interviews.

Key stats:

• 1,086 clicks

• 2.316k impressions

• 4 conversions*

• $481.09 cost per conversion

• $1,924.35 cost

Discussion Points

*Delay in Conversions

The account has recorded a surge in clicks (+16%) this month, especially from the brand campaign. Though the number of conversions reported on the ads account is 4, it is expected to increase in the coming days as Google is now taking about 21 days to record all conversion data into the account (see screenshot below). We are experiencing this across most of our clients, but the good news is that March is already looking much better in terms of reported conversions.

Reviewing the performance dashboard in a couple of days will give us a more accurate picture of performance in February.

Leads Breakdown

From the 4 conversions recorded, 3 were from Form Submissions and 1 Click to Call. 

We’ve tried reviewing the backend to verify the conversion figures but the dual authentication has made it difficult to log into the account. I am coordinating with James to gain access to this account once the verification comes through. It would be great to have ongoing access to the backend so that we can verify the conversions as we see them on the account.

2023 Plans & Calendar

Did you have a chance to review your plans for 2023? Looking forward to receiving the calendar of events so that we can support it with ad activity.

Videos

We’ve reviewed the testimonial clips shared by Nicki last month, and here’s a list of a few that we can test. It would be great to add an end card with 'my adventure group' logo and a CTA (e.g. Call us Now) to these videos but they are totally optional if its harder to process this.

Key stats:

• 1,116 clicks

• 1,855,402 impressions

• 5 conversions

• $472.19 cost per conversion

• $2,360.96 cost

Discussion Points

Leads Breakdown

From the 5 conversions recorded, 3 were from Form Submissions, 1 Click to Call and 1 Calendly booking.

As discussed in our meeting last week, we are working on an automated approach for identifying and recording leads and will keep you posted as it progresses. In the meantime, we will keep an eye at the monthly tracker for 2023.

Gift Opt-In List

Could you please send the list of people that have opted-in to receive the free gift via this link?

The CSV file should contain the following:

• Email

• Phone

• First name

• Last name

• Country

• Zip
  
  

Here’s a template.

Budget

In the meeting, James also mentioned that the monthly budgets should be increased to a range of $3-4k during high peak periods. Can you please confirm this through email and adjust the thresholds in the calendar to ensure that everyone is in agreement?

Videos

Across most of our clients, we have noticed that Google is increasing its preference for the Performance Max campaign type. Since Pmax uses a cross channel strategy covering all google networks (search,shopping,youtube, gmail, and so on) from a single campaign, we can treat it as an awareness (top of funnel) campaign too. Videos that visually showcase the brand and its services can serve as a good entry point into the customer journey.

Here are some video ideas that must be categorised into the services we are focusing on (keynotes, workshops and teambuilding adventures):

1. Use testimonials (people believe other people)

2. Use James selfie style videos (trust, engagement) - what is the offer, HOW will it help them.

3. Example of past events (more social proof, increase imagination of what our event will look like)

Let us know when the other videos are ready so we can add them to the accounts as well. If possible, please prioritise keynote over the others.

Please keep in mind that they must be uploaded to a YouTube channel (can be unlisted). Short and catchy 15-30 second videos in landscape (1920x1080) format are recommended.

Power of Free

Since people love the word ‘free’ and it is a common practice to put people at ease when making a booking, we’d recommend updating all the CTAs on the website to include the term ‘free’. For instance, instead of ‘book a call with Cas’ on the main homepage, change it to ‘book a free call with Cas”. In order to get more from the existing clicks, we need to focus on increasing the conversion rate and this could be a great test!

GA4

One of our main focus areas this month is documenting our tracking requirements for GA4. We have planned out the following conversion actions and basic audiences to track after the move but please let us know if there are any that should be added/removed from this list.

Keep in mind that not all audiences/conversions will be tracked through GA4, some will be tracked in Google Ads directly.

Key stats:

• 1,234 clicks

• 1,855,248 impressions

• 7 conversions

• $364.72 cost per conversion

• $2,553 cost

Discussion Points

Overview

We are gradually building momentum with the ad spend, especially with the introduction of new campaigns that allows us to test new assets as well. 

This month, we launched a new campaign type to promote keynotes: Performance Max. To recap, this campaign type uses a cross channel strategy covering all google networks (search, shopping, youtube, gmail, and so on) from a single campaign, we can test using this campaign type to increase awareness (top of funnel). Eventually, this campaign can also replace the current Video campaigns that target YouTube only. 

To improve the campaign strength, I’d like to follow up on the video assets requested in the last report. Let us know if they are ready so we can add them to the account and scale budgets further as we enter the peak month of May.

Leads Breakdown

All 7 conversions this month were from Form Bookings. Let us know how frequently the monthly tracker will be updated so that we can keep an eye on actual conversion rates.

We’ve conducted an experiment to test if a ‘maximise conversion’ bid strategy can help elevate performance of the brand campaign. With this, the test campaign generated 2 leads as opposed to none from the original campaign. We will continue to run this test for a few more days before implementing changes to the original campaign. Note that we are able to experiment one element of difference at a time with 50% budget split, this gives both campaigns a fair chance to perform and generate data.

Gift Opt-In List (reminder)

Following up on this as well: could you please send the list of people that have opted-in to receive the free gift via this link?

The CSV file should contain the following:

• Email

• Phone

• First name

• Last name

• Country

• Zip

Key stats:

• 1,556 clicks

• 2,185,392 impressions

• 3 conversions

• $1,167 cost per conversion

• $3,502 cost

Discussion Points

Overview

The account has witnessed a massive increase in traffic (+26% clicks) and visibility (+16% impressions) this month, which has enabled us to utilise most of the budget allocations. However, the reported conversions from May is well below the average of 7 conversions per month since May 2022. It's important to note that the Google Analytics tracking was broken for a substantial portion of May, which has an impact on the reported number of conversions. 

From the 3 leads, 2 were form bookings and 1 was a calendly booking. 

We are also in the process of setting up and configuring GA4 for our purposes. We will use this month to compare GA4 and the old UA tracking and identify any discrepancies in data. At the end of the month the UA tracking will cease working and we will switch the GA4 tracking to primary. There will be some differences between the two which should become more clear towards the end of the month. We will aim to cover this in the June report.

In the backend, how has the level of enquiries and form submissions been? Pleased to see that one of the conversions from Google Ads from May has already converted into a lead.

Thank you pages

For accurate tracking, we would recommend that all forms have a thank you page. Currently, the only form with a thank you page is the one of the homepage.

If possible by next week, could you please have thank you pages created for the below forms:

Action Form Thank you page URL

Speaking Request https://www.myadventuregroup.com.au/speaking-request/ https://www.myadventuregroup.com.au/thank-you2/

Contact James https://www.myadventuregroup.com.au/contact/ https://www.myadventuregroup.com.au/thank-you3/

Keynote Video Asset

While the Performance Max campaign (that uses a cross-channel strategy to serve ads from a single campaign) has proven successful for many of our other lead gen clients, unfortunately, your account has not experienced the same level of success. We have made a couple of tweaks to the ad copy to promote the ‘free discovery’ call angle. 

Could you please upload the below video on YouTube and share a link with us?

• https://vimeo.com/showcase/5000360/video/251136710

Key stats:

• 1,479 clicks

• 2,285,988 impressions

• 7 conversions

• $524.67 cost per conversion

• $3,672.71 cost

In June, we resolved the issues with thank you pages and together ensured that all the relevant tracking was in place. Considering this and the switchover to GA4 on the 1st of July, our numbers could be largely under reported. There have been some important updates with GA4 which also affects our reporting, we have listed the details below.

Discussion Points

Update on GA4

As of the 1st July we set GA4 conversions to ‘Primary’ in the account as Google has long communicated the UA tracking would cease on the 1st July. We are surprised to see that the previous version of Google Analytics (UA) is still processing data and conversions which now puts us in a situation where some UA conversions are still being tracked alongside GA4. Google has not officially extended the cut off but will be rolling out the change across this month. 

This is a challenge for our planning as we no longer have a clear date when the change will occur. So for the moment we will continue with both UA and GA4 tracking and make adjustments in our reporting at the end of the month.

How these changes might impact conversions and account performance:

• Reports - Numbers may be higher while UA is still processing and then drop considerably when it stops. As mentioned above, there may be some conversions double counted due to both GA4 and UA tracking being active. We will do what we can to adjust for this at the end of month.

• Google Algorithm - Many of our campaigns rely on accurate conversion data to function correctly. When there are large increases/decreases in conversions it can cause the algorithm to overreact and increase/decrease our bids. This should smooth out over time but expect some fluctuations in performance over the next few months.

• Settings - While we have tried to maintain the same tracking as before we have also reviewed our definitions of conversions and in some cases how/when they are triggered may be different. We regularly check our conversion definitions so this is nothing new, however, as these are new conversion events being processed by a new system there will be differences.

• Ongoing changes with GA4 - GA4 is a work in progress and is changing all the time. GA4 tracking seems to have changed since we first set it up in preparation for the changeover. For some accounts we set it up many months ago and there was a significant difference in UA and GA4 conversions being recorded. Over time the gap appears to have reduced which indicates that Google has been making changes behind the scenes

We will continue to compare GA4 and the old UA tracking and identify any discrepancies. We will try to keep you informed about what we are seeing with your account but please be patient with us as this is a significant change with wide ranging implications.

Expansions

This month, we have also introduced Call Ads into the ad account as a test. Call ads are designed to encourage people to call your business and can appear only on devices that make phone calls. When a potential customer clicks your ad, the ad places a call to you from their device. 

We have also expanded our search campaign by adding broad match keywords. Google is recommending the use of Broad Match keywords as it allows the algorithms to learn faster and find additional auctions that can help you reach your growth objectives.

In July, we will also be testing the newest Google Ads extension, lead form extensions, which eliminate the need for users to fill out a form on your landing page by allowing them to submit their contact information directly on the results page.

Key stats:

• 2,489 clicks

• 821,040 impressions

• 17 conversions

  • Adjusted - 13 conversions

• $229.62 cost per conversion

  • Adjusted - $300.27

• $3,903.56 cost

July was a big step forward for the account. Since resolving the tracking issues, we are seeing a significant increase in the number of conversions attributed to Paid Search. Moreover, the demand was high enough to hit the $4k spend mark and the average CPC was reduced by 37% leading to 68% more clicks at just +6% cost. We have included some important updates regarding GA4 below.

Discussion Points

Update on GA4

As mentioned last month, due to some miscommunication from Google, there has been some overlap in UA and GA4 conversion tracking leading to some double counting at the start of the month. We have adjusted for any double ups in the figures above.

The good news is that GA4 is tracking fine and we are seeing comparable conversion numbers between UA and GA4. So aside from the slight hiccup at the start of the month the transition appears to have been a smooth one.

There may still be some adjustments required but at this stage it looks like we have been able successfully navigate this transitional period without major issues.

Overview

The inclusion of broad match keywords has proven highly effective for the account. In the first month, it has recorded 6% CTR and 3 additional conversions.These keywords have further led to a remarkable 300% surge in both clicks and impressions, resulting in a substantial influx of traffic to the website, as seen on Google Analytics.

We have also duplicated top performing ads and used the free consult landing page for an A/B test against the homepage. We will need to conduct this test for atleast 3 months before drawing conclusions, but the early results look promising. 

The Performance Max campaigns are also starting to gain momentum, achieving twice the number of clicks and 3 conversions, mostly from Keynote. Below is a screenshot of top performing videos from this campaign:

Location Campaigns

When we launched the campaigns, we decided to focus the locations campaigns to target Australia, Sydney and Melbourne. However, over the past 3 months, we are seeing volume from other regions of Australia such as Perth (24 clicks), Brisbane (22 clicks) and Adelaide (21 clicks). Do you generally receive alot of enquiries/bookings from these regions? If so, we can include it into our targeting to ensure that we are actively bidding for these keywords. 

Key stats:

• 2,074 clicks

• 379,979 impressions

• 12 conversions

• $332.25 cost per conversion

• $3,987.40 cost

This month PMax: Team Building Outdoor campaign achieved the highest number of conversions, followed by brand and Speaker Location campaign targeting AU, Melb and Sydney. We have added a second campaign targeting Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane - we will report on how it is tracking in the next report.

Discussion Points

Search Terms

We noticed that Julie Cross, a speaker who offers similar services to yours, has been appearing frequently on our search queries. Is this worth considering as a competition? Let us know so that we can either add her to our targeting or exclude it.

Ad Improvements

This month, we are working on refining the ad strength to achieve an excellent status, as well as ensuring that your logo is visible every time your ads are displayed. To do this, could you please send us the symbol/monogram version of your logo (this one: ) in the PNG version that can appear next to the business name.

AESOP

We’ve noticed that you’ve received an enquiry from AESOP attributed to Google ads, this could potentially be a huge opportunity with a well-known brand. Could you please give us more insights if this lead has been converted? If so, it is worth requesting them for testimonials and building content upon delivering the keynote.

Key stats:

• 1,447 clicks

• 531,179 impressions

• 15 conversions

• $236.67 cost per conversion

• $3,550 cost

There has been an increase in conversions this month, we have reviewed the tracker and can see that there has been one WON lead among other enquiries. We have started dropping the budgets as we head into the last quarter which is historically quieter. 

We’ll discuss other details in our call on the 19th of October at 1pm.

Discussion Points

Reviews Landing Page

Has there been an update on a landing page for reviews? We had provided some feedback on the last version but it does not seem like there has been any changes yet. Let us know if there is a timeline of when this will be ready.

Key stats:

• 1,182 clicks

• 1,046,231 impressions

• 10 conversions

• $309.36 cost per conversion

• $3,093.59 cost

As we are coming out of the peak season, we have seen a drop in demand and conversions across the account. Subsequently, we have dropped the budgets in the short term to increase ROI, as discussed in the last call.  

Discussion Points

Search Volume

Regarding the inquiry about high volume keywords for ‘experiences’ and ‘workshop’, I have attached the raw data containing keywords and their volume from the last 12 months, and highlighted a few standouts. The trend appears consistent with SEO keyword rankings, and we have shared this information with Mick too.

Experiences:

• Team Experiences

• Team Building

  • E.g. Michael Crossland

• Team Building Experiences

• Team Building Offsite

• Team Offsite

• Corporate Retreat

  • E.g. Matina Jewell

• Team Expeditions

  • Low volume, but noticed Samantha Gash uses this. 

Workshop:

• Workshop

  • Commonly used e.g. Rachael Robertson & Matina Jewell

• Corporate Workshop

• Corporate Training

• Corporate Seminar

• Team Coaching

One other aspect that stood out when looking at competitor websites are podcasts. Podcasts can be particularly helpful in building brand awareness, establishing expertise and enabling engaging storytelling. Content from podcasts can also be repurposed across various other channels, such as social media, blogs and newsletters, thereby maximising its impact. A great way to start would be to occasionally invite someone who has attended any of James' events and discuss the impact it has had on their team. 

Examples:

https://kerwinrae.com/unstoppable/

https://www.samanthagash.com/podcast/

http://kurtfearnley.com/contacts/

Cold Outreach

One of the topics that was discussed in the call was about cold outreaches and the business blueprint workshop by Will Wang. We have created a documentation summarising his last workshop: Latest Tactics to Generate More B2B Leads & Sales.

Zapier Integration

Zapier has a 14 day free trial that allows you to connect and integrate ActiveCampaign with thousands of popular apps. After that, their starter package starts at $32/month. More here.

Please let us know if this sounds reasonable and we can look into it further.

LinkedIn Ads

We have found someone who can offer LinkedIn Ads, we are talking to them further about their pricing and packages and will keep you posted on what we find.

Lead Forms

Let us know when an event, webinar or workshop is arranged so that we can start testing lead forms through ads. 

Example - https://kerwinrae.com/events/

Scoreapp

The starter package of using scoreapp is about 24 euros/month. More here. 

Here are some examples of quizzes designed using scoreapp, and how it would be relevant for your business.

Once the questions are ready, we can consider building the form for free on jotform as a test.

Customer Match List

Could you please share an updated list of clients/newsletter subscribers/cold leads, with atleast 1,000 contacts?

The CSV file should contain the following:

• Email

• Phone

• First name

• Last name

• Country

• Zip