Why Should I bid on my Brand Name in my PPC Campaigns?

Written by Marie
March 26th, 2010

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Comedian Russell Brand

Why Should I bid on my Brand Name in my PPC Campaigns?

Increasingly advertisers want to know why they should spend PPC funds bidding on their own name.  Or, perhaps the more pertinent question is – why do most of my PPC conversions come from my brand name and what does that really say about my campaign’s performance?

As a PPC marketing professional I have been battling with this dilemma for some time and have come to the following conclusions.

Bidding on your brand name is good because…

1. You are not number 1 for all versions or misspellings of your brand name.
2. Your brand name is not unique, a truth you will have to accept.
3. You may want to be found worldwide. Being number 1 on google.ca is different to being number 1 on google.com.
4. Competitors may be bidding on your brand name and stealing your traffic.
5. PPC ads allow you to use alternative messaging to your organic listings.

Getting all your PPC conversions on your brand name seems bad because…

1. You wonder why all those other keywords you are paying for result in no leads or bookings or purchases.
2. If you were not bidding on your brand name, your PPC campaign’s cost per conversion would sky rocket.

So what’s the problem?

The CPC for your brand keywords is really low and overall you spend relatively little on them. The real issue is the perceived underperformance of all the other keywords. In a nutshell, the rest of the campaign sucks and you are paying for it. Or is this really the case?

Have you considered the Online Buying Cycle?

Do you picture a user making a search on Google, clicking though on your ad and then proceeding through the purchase process? If so, this may be the reason you are disappointed with your PPC campaign. That’s just not how it works.

Users are slow to buy. Online shopping involves a great deal of research and comparison. In fact the following phases in the Search Buying Cycle have been identified

1. The Interest Phase

- I search using broad keywords – e.g. gifts / baby gifts

- I am presented with an enormous array of results, and then start to apply some filtering.

2. The Research Phase

- I start to search more specifically – baby boy clothing gift, baby boy gift Vancouver, unusual baby boy gift delivery etc.

- I visit numerous sites.

- I familiarize myself with new sites and new brands.

3. The Buying Phase

- I know what I want. This may be much later than the research took place.

- I search to find the site. Maybe I use the brand name.

- I go through the purchase cycle and create a conversion.

Your PPC Campaign Should Target All Phases of the Buying Cycle

Bidding on a wide range of relevant keywords which target all phases of the buying cycle is important. Displaying ads to users in the Interest and Research phases can pay off in conversions down the line, even if these are on your brand name.

Although, the results are most easily tracked through conversions, there is also a lot to be learned from PPC Returning Visitors in your analytics.

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