PPC is becoming more competitive and the competition is becoming smarter. Many are left wondering how they will be able to defend against rising costs while remaining a step ahead. It is actually quite simple. Leverage the hard work of the competition within your favor.

This can be accomplished via the development of a PPC competitive intelligence report.

This document of research is vital in helping you do more of what works in addition to the identification of any and all weak spots.

Conducting competitive intelligence reports at systematic intervals is impeccably powerful in regards to the guidance of your own strategies. The insights derived from the report regimen will help with the following:

The optimization of your creative testing process
The fine tuning of bidding strategies
The discovery of new keywords and their placements
The ability to tailor your offer or pricing to become increasingly competitive

The intelligence that is gathered is able to have a tremendous impact on your campaigns and account. It is definitely worth building this measure into a regular process that should be run once every six to eight weeks.

This is especially crucial when taking on a new client, it is important to learn how the company will compare against its competition before beginning the main optimizations. Keep in mind that the very best media optimizations will not work for a new client if their competitors provide a much more interesting or stronger ad copy.

Overall, knowing what is out there will further poise your client for greater success which will transfer into greater success for your company as well.

The following will guide you through the very best ways to get started:

– Decide who is to be on the list – In order for the report to provide the best results, it is crucial to find the appropriate competitors to research.

– Ask the correct questions – The most important question that needs to be asked is “What do you most hope to gain from it?”

Additional questions that may be able to assist you along the way include:

What are the prevalent themes across the ad copy?
How are they positioning their product?
Are they utilizing ad extensions?
Are any sales being offered?
How do they position their ad copy for branded searches as compared to non-branded searches?
What is their sales offer?
What type of content do they have on their landing pages?
Put it all together in an actionable report

Ed Stapleton Jr.