Hi all! This article will be dedicated to beginners who are just starting their journey in learning Yandex Direct. In it, using the example of advertising campaigns, we will consider typical mistakes that most users do.
Ads in the Yandex advertising network and on search have completely different ad formats with their own settings, display algorithms, performance indicators, and optimization. Mixing them together would be a big mistake. We need to set up separate ad campaigns for search and .
You can change the campaign display settings in the “Strategies” section
To do this, click on “Edit” and in the window that appears, select the desired display strategy
Disabling the “Advanced Geographic Targeting” setting
To do this, go to the "Change settings" section.
If you have a tick in front of the item “Extended geographic targeting”, then we urgently remove it!
Availability of rate adjustments
To set bid adjustments, go to the “Impression Management” section and select the appropriate section
In the menu that appears, you can make adjustments for goals, age, and device type. If you know your target audience well, then even without analytics tools on your site you will be able to set the correct bid adjustments. Sometimes you can make adjustments to rates based on the services or goods provided. For example, if you're in the business of selling cars, then it doesn't make sense to be exposed to an audience under the age of 18.
The presence of negative words in Yandex Direct
It is important to know that negative keywords in search campaigns are essential. Without them, your ads will be shown for irrelevant phrases, which will lead to unnecessary spending.
You can add negative phrases at the level of ads and campaigns
For YAN, use the “Forbidden sites and external networks” function
Unfortunately, there are times when our ads are shown on websites that generate inappropriate traffic. By analogy with negative words, you can stop showing up on unnecessary advertising sites.
Using "Retargeting"
If to speak in simple terms, retargeting is an advertising campaign in YAN. Its purpose is to return users who visited your site, but did not leave the order. In order to be able to use retargeting, you must have goals set up in the metric.
You need to create a separate AC and, in terms of audience selection, create a selection criterion for people who were on your site, but did not take the targeted action.
To the site in without fail analytics services must be connected.
For analytics advertising campaign use Yandex Metrika and Google Analytics. Without analytics, launching an advertising campaign is undesirable. With its help, you can see how expedient it is to conduct a particular campaign. You can track performance down to the keyword.
Now consider the checklist at the keyword level
1. Your semantic core should be divided into groups and have a logical structure.
For convenience, I use a specialized program. It allows you to significantly speed up the process of grouping keywords.
In turn, requests can be divided into different groups: branded, commercial, general, target and navigation.
1.1 Branded queries have the highest conversion rate at the lowest cost per click. It is possible on brands of competitors. However, you cannot mention someone else's brand in your ads.
Example:
Branded query "Google Adwords"
1.2 Commercial requests, as a rule, contain: buy, order, wholesale, delivery, etc. They show the willingness to purchase a product or service and the user.
Example:
Commercial request "Buy a bike"
1.3 General Inquiries The title speaks for itself. Based on such requests, it is impossible to draw an accurate conclusion whether the buyer wants to place an order or is simply looking for information.
Example:
General query "Satellite dish"
1.4 Near-target requests. These are queries that are not directly related to your topic, but may lead to interested buyers. For example, you have a sports equipment store. Your goal is to find people who are interested in your product. To do this, you need to understand what needs your products can cover. For example, with the help of exercises on the horizontal bar, you can get yourself in shape for the summer. To do this, we tune in to an audience of people who want to be fit for the summer.
Example:
Near-target query "How to pump up the press"
1.5 Navigation questions that have a GEO reference. For example, to the city, metro station, district, etc.
Example:
Navigation query "Buy flowers on Petrovsko-Razumovskaya"
5. Was a cross-backing track made? Have duplicate ads been removed?
6. Do you know what an estimated rate is? Are you using different bids and positions for your keywords?? Is it full?
12. Phone number added?
13. Is it indicated in the ads?
14. Are you testing different ad variations? Do you know exactly which ads perform better?
15. Is there an additional link in the ad? Does it have a key entry or does it show a USP?
16. Is the daily budget cap worth it?
17. How often do you add?
18. Do you link with an advertisement to the product that is being advertised?
19. Do you use near-target queries in your search?
20. Do you know which ads benefit from being shown in the guarantee and which ones in the ?
YAN settings checklist
1. Have unique ads been created for the company in YAN? Are you sure you didn't copy it from a search?2. Does your first headline complement ? If yes, change. There is no second heading on YAN.
3. Is there a negative word? If there is, we remove it. Only in extremely rare cases can they be used.
4. Missing cross-backing track?
5. Do you do A/B testing? Do you know exactly what type of ads is more profitable for you?
6. Does the headline grab attention?
7. Do you know how to watch competitor ads in YAN?
8. Do your ads stand out from the competition?
9. Have different announcements been made for different target groups (eg age groups)?
10. Added age adjustments? For example, if your target audience is definitely over 18, then it makes sense to ban ads under 18 from showing.
11. Does YAN have sitelinks and a display link? In them useful information? Is your offer better than your competitors?
12. Does the site have a mobile version? If not, we reduce the adjustment for impressions on mobile devices.
13. Do you know exactly which advertising platforms your target users are coming from? And which sites bring the most targeted actions?
14. Added to the banned list?
15. Do you have retargeting set up?
16. Is retargeting set up separately for each type of product? Does it lead to the corresponding section with the product?
17. Do you have separate cart retargeting?
18. Are they registered everywhere?
19. Is the budget distributed correctly?
20. Do you use the settlement rate for companies in YAN?
21. Do you know what Cahors analysis is? Do you use it when “following” customers?
22. Do you use segments?
23. How well is segmentation fragmented? Do you think it's all taken into account?
24. Are you familiar with the term LAL? What segments do you use it for?
25. Do you know what DMP is? Do you use this segment in your campaigns?
26. Are you familiar with? Do you use ?
27. Do you know what associative conversion is? When determining the effectiveness of campaigns in YAN, do you use it?
Test advertising campaign
Goals and objectives of the test advertising campaign
The task of any test advertising campaign is to understand how much your audience will be interested in your promotional offer. Your goal is to test different ads, as well as identify approximate cost ad clicks and further conversion into an order for a product or into a group subscriber.
Audience segmentation
Segmentation is division target audience into parts by a set of common parameters. The purpose of segmentation is to compile a USP for each different audience and increase conversion due to this, and segmentation also allows you to assess the interest of different audiences in your product.
Types of audience segmentation exist visibly or invisibly, and each of them will be effective depending on the situation. The most common types of segmentation are division by GEO, gender, marital status, age and profession.
Try to always segment the audience by gender, firstly, men and women react differently to visual elements, but most importantly, the bid competition for an audience of different genders has significant differences.
Necessarily divide the audience by device type, the ad looks differently on mobile devices and desktop devices. In addition, it is much easier for users who see advertisements from computers to strike the advertisement and hide it, thereby reducing the rating of the advertisement.
The main rules for conducting a test campaign:
- Create several advertisements for one segment, ads must differ in text and / or image;
- The segment should not exceed 20 thousand people;
- The test ad is unrolling at recommended rate, because Depending on your bid, your ad will be shown to more or less quality audiences. Therefore, when setting the recommended bid, you will show ads to the most engaged audience, and at a higher bid, your ad will be unrolled with more high speed and you will quickly know whether it is effective or not.
- Always set the total ad limit, it is calculated as follows:
For side format is the audience size in thousands multiplied by the recommended bid.
For promo posts always expose limit of 1-3 impressions per person, for ads side format-100 impressions per person.
How to evaluate the effectiveness of tests?
The effectiveness of an advertisement consists of several indicators. The first is the click-through rate or CTR (click-through rate). CTR is calculated using the formula number of clicks on an ad / number of impressions, measured by CTR as a percentage. The second is a further conversion to ordering a product, joining a group, or any other action.
There are situations when ads with a high CTR give expensive subscribers. And ads with a lower CTR are clicked less often, but more often they join a group or order a product. In the latter case, the effectiveness of the ad will be lower, and the conversion will be higher. Therefore, it is important to track both indicators: CTR and conversion. And based on the data obtained, draw conclusions about the advertisement.
Using the results obtained after testing, you will only have to set up the main advertising campaign for the entire audience using the most successful ads.
Carrying out the main advertising campaign
Scrolling the current segment to the end
In this case, everything is quite simple, we select the most successful test segments until the audience is fully covered. For example, we made a couple of thousand impressions to an audience from a segment of 20 thousand people. The recommended rate for this segment was 300 rubles per 1,000 impressions, because depending on the bid set, the ad will be shown to a more or less high-quality audience. Therefore, when setting the recommended bid, you will show ads to the most engaged audience.
Ads of the main advertising campaign are recommended to be rotated by 50% of the recommended rate, in contrast to the test campaign, where ads are rotated at the recommended rate, because. in this case, it is important for you to cover the entire segment, and not test creatives on the most involved audience. As a result, the test advertising campaign will turn into the main one.
P.S. Remember that if the ad is scrolling too slowly, then you can always increase the bid so that your ad wins the Vkontakte advertising auction and scrolls faster.
Segment expansion
In this method, we have to combine several similar audience segments into one, but at the same time make sure to leave a division on men and women, as well as mobile and desktop devices.
Firstly, men and women react differently to visual elements, but most importantly, the competition of the bid for the audience of different genders has significant differences. Separation of the audience by device type is mandatory, because Ads look different on mobile devices and desktop devices. In addition, it is much easier for users who see advertisements from computers to strike the advertisement and hide it, thereby reducing the rating of the advertisement.
How to expand a segment?
In this case, the expansion of the segment can be achieved by increasing the age range of the audience to 30 - 36 years. Or removing the “sports” interest, which will increase the number of audience in the segment. After that, we begin to unscrew the advertisement with the most successful creative to a new audience.
What bid should I choose for the main campaign?
The size of the rate regulates the speed of unrolling the advertisement. Set your main ad campaign bid 50% below the recommended price, if you want to speed up the turnaround, then increase the price so that your ads win the competition and show up faster.
note that advertising cabinet VKontakte works according to the auction system, the recommended price can change both up and down, so do not be afraid of changes in the cost of advertising. Well, be sure to follow the progress of the advertising campaign, at least once a day.
An SMM specialist tried for you
Launching an advertising campaign is not an easy task, because for an effective start you need to take into account a whole set of factors. For convenience and to save your time, we at Aori have compiled a simple checklist that will allow you not to forget anything important.
Stage 1. Preparation
At the preparation stage, you should carefully check that all the necessary metrics, analytics systems, landing pages are connected and working properly. Otherwise, your advertising campaign may be useless.
Analytics counters are installed on the site: Google.Analytics and/or Yandex.Metrica.
All offers have corresponding landing pages.
Call tracking installed and working (if your topic has a share of orders by phone)
Stage 2. Working with the semantic core
If earlier it was possible to effectively promote with the help of several high-frequency queries, now you should approach the choice of keywords very carefully - analyze not only your ad, but also the ads of competitors that have already been launched
The semantic core has been assembled: high and medium frequencies have been selected (for example, through Wordstat).
Weeded out low-frequency requests
A list of minus words has been compiled (which will allow you to remove inappropriate impressions)
Campaigns are divided into "Affiliate Networks" and "Search" - for the first use high-frequency queries, for the second - mid-frequency or low-frequency
Stage 3. Compilation of ads
At this stage, again use the results obtained during the analysis of competitors. A poorly designed advertising campaign is equal to failure.
Selected illustrations that your competitors and partners do not use
Compiled ad texts: headings, body text, additional links and clarifications (callouts)
Generated UTM tags for each ad
Required networks and sites selected
Ad display time and display geography are configured.
The cost of display has been set, limits have been set for each campaign
Stage 5. Analytics
Analyzed the effectiveness of keywords (disabled ineffective ones, added new ones)
In this article I will make a list of actions (with short explanations) for setting up Yandex Direct in search and YAN. In the future, I will try to open the checklist and do something like lessons, step-by-step detailed search settings and YAN.
Checklist for setting up search advertising in Yandex Direct
1. Dive and meditate on business topics. Find out what a product or service is. Even if you are setting up only YAN, the first item is required.
2. After we have analyzed the customer's business, a list of phrases for which this business is searched for in search engines will appear. Let's call the received phrases basic masks.
3. With the help of basic masks, let's collect the semantic core for Yandex.Direct search. I have already painted in detail about the collection of semantics
For search advertising, I often make 3 ads per group
Often I am guided by one rule when grouping keywords - do not get the status of "low impressions". If a keywords have a frequency of at least 100 per month, I make 1 key - 1 ad.
Because I make small groups of keywords, then the ad titles are relevant to all the keys from one group. In the texts of Yandex.Direct search ads, there are usually facts, some advantages.
"Low prices" "Excellent quality" "Individual approach" - don't write like that. No need. Better think and write a few benefits.
I will not undertake to describe a spherical ad in a vacuum. But such an announcement is made weakly (figure No. 1). And not only because of "fast delivery" and "low prices".
Typical search ads with "fast deliveries" and "low prices"
5. Made ads, ads need links, and it's better if the links are with utm-tags. We take a link to your site, landing. We go, for example, to adpump, and make links with tags there for all ads in groups.
7. We write texts for quick links. In quick links I write more often:
- Benefits
- what are the best-selling goods (locomotives)
- less often, the names of related goods, services
Upload the resulting file to Direct Commander and make settings. Someday I will make a separate article about the settings.
8. Filled ads in Commander, made settings. Don't forget to put a list of negative keywords and do a word remap (crossminus).
9. It remains to add clarifications and Yandex business card (I do this after uploading campaigns to the server, it’s more convenient for me). Done, search ads have been created.
Checklist for setting up YAN
The first 3 items are taken from the list above.
We take the keywords and continue working in Excel.
4. Traffic from YAN is conditionally cold. Because the user is not interested in our product at the moment when we broadcast ads to him. Yes, in some form, a person was interested in the product before, but now he sits in contact, checks mail, and so on. You need to attract attention with catchy headlines and bright pictures.
We write headlines in YAN
5. Use a lot of tricks to write headlines.
I often use question headings (Looking for concrete in Saratov?, Change the oil in your car?, Looking for screw piles in Krasnodar? etc.).
Headlines with benefits - "Yandex Direct from beginner to pro in 1 month individual work” (part of the title will be in the picture).
Also, I use simple headings and focus on the picture.
Pictures for YAN
6. I make pictures in YAN in two formats - standard (square) and widescreen (rectangular). I consider it necessary to process the pictures in Photoshop, make the frame a bright color and write catchy words over the picture.
Yes, this chaotic sheet is a Yandex Direct checklist. How could you guys, how could you 🙂
I summarize:
Taxi, the beacons are placed, the information from the article is enough to set up Yandex Direct and not miss important points. Collect complete semantic cores, thoroughly clean them of garbage, group keywords, write relevant ads for them, make catchy headlines and attractive pictures for YAN. Don't forget utm tags, especially if you use Yandex.Metrica, Analytics, third-party call tracking and other services.
Make ads to the maximum - add sitelinks, display links, refiners to them. For August 2017, Yandex.Direct rolled out the second heading in ads and the text is now a little longer. Use all the features of Yandex Direct to the maximum. In search advertising campaigns, don't forget about negative keywords and backtracking. I also partially minus keywords in YAN.
All points, over time, I will write in more detail. There is no point in blowing up the hellish sheet of text here. Only the settings in Direct Commander are missing from the checklist. You need to devote a separate article to this (with screenshots, etc.).