As a PPC manager I often have the following dialogue with a client:
Client: I ran a search yesterday for “Brand Name” and saw that we are running PPC ads even though we already rank #1. We don’t want to pay [Avg. Bid Amount] for clicks we’re going to get anyway.
As you can see, this isn’t really a dialogue. Ideally it would go more like this:
Client: I ran a search yesterday for “Brand Name” and saw that we are running PPC ads even though we already rank #1. Do we need to pay [Avg. Bid Amount] for clicks we’re going to get anyway?
Me: Actually, for clicks on your brand name the average cost is under [usually between $0.05 and $0.25] and your result will almost always be #1, ahead of your competitors, and allowing you to occupy twice the “real estate” on the SERP. It’s like a cheap insurance policy against your competitors stealing clicks.
Client: But don’t people usually click the #1 result?
Me: Most do, but for searches on your brand name we want to capture as close to 100% of the clicks as possible. They’re already looking for you. Not to mention that we have full control of what a paid ad says and can send people directly to a landing page with [contact form, registration, special offer, etc.] instead of just plopping them on the home page.
Client: Okay. Let’s keep bidding on [Brand Name] then. Thanks for explaining that.
Bidding on Your Brand Terms
In summary, there are many reasons to bid on your brand term:
- Double the “real estate” you occupy on the 1st page of the SERP
- Stay ahead of competitors bidding on your brand terms
- You control the copy 100%
- Send visitors directly to landing pages/conversion pages
- The clicks are usually pretty cheap (think insurance policy)
Anything I missed?
