Focussed keywords versus more branding exposure?

Just something I am mulling over.

[Mark_A]

We used to have lots of broad match keywords and the click ratios were all low, 1-2% and less.

However we had a lot of branding exposure (not clicks) to a wider range of people who might learn to associate the brand name with the type of products we are selling.

Then there was the optimal ad design for saving money, the one that just says :

widgets are us,
all types & colours
tel: [phone]

Which if course is not permitted by google :-) sadly.


Anyhow, now I have tightened the keywords by making most of them phrase match, our exposures have gone way down and our clickthrough ratio is way up.

But what about it, is there a branding effect of higher exposures which one loses by focussing keywords?

[RhinoFish]

yep, but it's a busy world, people are exposed to brand names all day long. so unless you're at least moderately big or are targeting a narrow repeat buyer niche, your lost branding impact will be very minimal.

G rewards the rifle and punishes the shotgun - the gains you get by ditching the shotgun will vastly outweigh the lost collateral spray.

[netmeg]

There's lots of ways to do both. You could try some display ads in the Content Network. You could test some campaigns on some of the broader keywords with low CPCs and see what sticks.

What you have to do is figure out where your target audience is, and get yourself in front of them there. Sometimes it's not Google. I have some clients who sell scientific instruments worth thousands and tens of thousands of dollars, and I have a hard time making them believe that there aren't millions of people looking in Google for these products every day. These products are so niche that almost every keyword or phrase I try gets a "low search volume" tag. Other types of services and products are better offered in the Content Network or even Facebook, because people might not yet know to look for them in Google.

And absolutely get to know the Ad Planner. It's an invaluable tool, once you learn your way around in it.