Sometimes, even for the largest of companies, adjustments and changes in one place can have unexpected consequences. Certainly as the world’s largest advertising network continues to turn the screw on advertisers, the cracks are appearing.
When we first started using Google Adwords, in the early days, it was clear that this was a gravy train for most of our clients – simple, easy way to generate income and business.
A broad match keyword is one which initially matched based on the words appearing in any sequence or spacing in a phrase. So, for example, if your broad match was for: Car Finance
Your advert would appear for phrases with ‘car’ and ‘finance’ in them. From ‘how can I finance my car‘ to ‘What kind of car needs finance?’
However as Google had searches to fill, and also realised that it was a pain to manage misspells, it broadened the reach of ‘broad match’ to being:
“Broad match lets a keyword trigger your ad to show whenever someone searches for that phrase, similar phrases, singular or plural forms, misspellings, synonyms, stemmings (such as floor and flooring), related searches and other relevant variations.”
What this means is that actually, no longer is the match broad, it is ridiculously broad. It means that your keywords could appear for phrases like ‘cat finance’ or ‘van financing’. Making ‘broad match’ look more like ‘vague match’.
Until early this year, there was still a way to get broad match to work. This meant doing three things:
And that was all right for the recent past, but now the final nail has been driven into the broad match coffin – the reduction in listing numbers in February.
This tactical move from Google was designed to limit the amount of positions for Pay Per Click so that advertisers would be forced to pay a premium for advertising or find somewhere else to generate business.
However the knock on effect is that because the targeting is so loose, and cost has risen, the return on investment is no longer there for most broad match phrases. Most advertisers should be looking very carefully at the performance of these kinds of matches.
Of course, this suggests that this kind of ripple effect is down to a sequence of unfortunate events over which Google has little or no control. Yet we know this is not the case, that Google checks everything, tests everything and launches based on it’s data.
What this change has effectively done is squeezed more out of the busy and competitive phrases, but at the expense of longer tail income. It’s a challenge: search overall is slowly sinking and Google needs to continue the momentum or their share price will suffer.
We maintain that this is, however, a short term decision and will have a negative impact in due course. It is relying on the inertia of advertisers not to spot that they are suddenly paying more for less.
However there is a problem: the one piece of data which Google cannot work out through short-term testing is long term trends and effects. Inertia is not permanent, and customers will get wise (some fast than others) to the lessening performance.
Given all the tools we have at our disposal, tracking, attribution and conversions, we can see enough to tell us when something needs to be optimised ‘out’.
And, so it’s time to publish the obituary for broad match. It was fun while it lasted.
Goodnight and thanks for all the clicks!
The practice had just recruited a manager and was looking to bring together all their enquiries and proposals into one place. We recommended, configured and launched a CRM for them that gave them visibility over all their leads.
As they developed their services, and added to their team, we let them adapt and shape the process to remain ahead of the pack.
With a growing sales team, and a range of clients and business partners with differing demands, we needed to not only store records, but also to drive the business forward.
We set up the various Opportunities, Tasks, Tracks and Tags to match the way in which the business went about the value chain and to segment their prospects and customers. We imported all the data from their previous CRM to track and store everything. We helped with adoption, and now no lead or opportunity goes to waste.
Flexspace was a merger of a much smaller business and an established portfolio of commercial spaces. It needed a modern brand which combined some of the palettes of the established businesses, but also developed something fresh for future marketing.
The combination of blue, yellow and white is strong and yet flexible, offering a distinctive and confident brand, whether on a billboard or website.
Taking on an unexpected full rebrand in thirty days was not necessarily part of the remit, but we’re always up for a challenge.
New iconography in place with a subtle and yet distinct nod to hydraulics and the ‘D’ for Domin. We also founded and formed a proper brand book to ensure that consistency remains in place for cross-media activity.
When it comes to mergers and acquisitions, clarity of message and presentation is paramount. We worked closely with the client, writing a script, choosing a voice-over artist, stitching together images, video and illustrations.
The two videos were short enough to share on social media, but professional enough to take pride of place on the website – raising the profile and credibility of Unloq and with more to come.
With such an amazing range of locations, catamarans and experiences, Nautilus gives us an extravagant range of media to work with. Yet, we never forget the purpose.
High-quality enquiries booking premium courses to learn how to become a skipper. That’s what it’s all about.
With a number of local teams, we needed to come up with an ad strategy that ensured that the value of the job, and the journey time would make profitable commercial and residential enquiries for Chargebase.
A lightweight, geographically tight, precisely worded set of campaigns was plugged into the business. And the lights went on!
With 50 locations, an average of 100 units per location and four different types of units, with most being filled by short term tenants, we needed to create a flexible advertising structure that would work for Flexspace.
Every month we switch regional, location, unit and specific promotions on across the board to match the tactical advertising from their in-house team. Their website is the single largest lead driver in their business. You’re welcome!
It’s always exciting working on a new venture. Chargebase has developed a direct-to-market proposition for car chargers, as well as a turnkey approach to home electrical work.
From developing their branding, building two distinct websites with two different online lead generation strategies, we have worked with the management team to launch a one of the South East’s leading EV specialists.
We have moved HCL from an expensive exercise in bug-fixing of two frustrating shopping sites to a rapidly growing successful online enterprise.
There are two brand new shops, generating four times the revenues of the previous incarnations, as well as a lead generation website covering their offshore and seawater protection systems for wind turbines, electric cables and offshore constructions.
Storing business data is easy, it’s tough to make it accessible as and when it is needed. We worked closely with Unloq so not only do they track all projects, contacts, businesses and introductions, but also these are all within reach. Company records are enhanced using API and AI technology.
We have also joined up digital signing, mailing data, contact records, online dashboards and project tracking to make sure that all is synchronised and efficient.
An engineering firm wanted to build business but also be equipped to grow. With a new practice manager in place who was committed to digital transformation, we integrated CRM, task management and project tracking systems to create a system that works for them.
It now tracks quotes, commissions business, pushes through deadlines, keeps clients aware of progress and helps them deliver high quality structural engineering projects on time and on brief.
With a number of local teams, we needed to come up with an ad strategy that ensured that the value of the job, and the journey time would make profitable commercial and residential enquiries for Chargebase.
A lightweight, geographically tight, precisely worded set of campaigns was plugged into the business. And the lights went on!
With 50 locations, an average of 100 units per location and four different types of units, with most being filled by short term tenants, we needed to create a flexible advertising structure that would work for Flexspace.
Every month we switch regional, location, unit and specific promotions on across the board to match the tactical advertising from their in-house team. Their website is the single largest lead driver in their business. You’re welcome!
It’s too easy to be carried away by the lifestyle and adventure of the Nautilus crew, from the Pacific to the Med, they deliver award-winning sailing experiences.
However, we are not helping them sell holidays, they sell skipper courses so that clients can sail their own yachts and catamarans. So the content is geared around this. It’s still beautiful, but it speaks to the right audience.
What is there not to love about kids and garden play? The photos are great, settings wonderful and the structures are pretty awesome. But, to be honest, you can’t have photos of children included and then all the structures are based around the same ‘ingredients’.
So, you need to become storytellers, as tree houses and adventure play is about the joy and fun to be had by small and large adventurers as their ideas spark into life. It’s the story we tell!
Having worked with Flexspace on two iterations of their website the biggest challenge has been leveraging their sites and types of property to build a range of keywords to reach business owners.
Whilst the first website was effective in building traffic, we learned so much from that process that round two (six years later) was another step uo. Structure and internal linking was optimised for a wide range of relevant keywords which built a steady flow of converting organic traffic to Flexspace.
In my line of work, each visit is valuable due to the specialized nature of the field. Instead of prioritizing quantity, we put more emphasis on the quality of inquiries.
Through our analysis, we identified specific keywords that were highly effective in generating leads for Nautilus. To capitalize on this, we created two separate websites catering to different audiences and tailored them to different sets of keyword clusters.
It should be simple to find leads for EV charging in the South East of England, but sometimes what looks easy is, in fact, a real technical challenge.
Firstly, whilst there is a lot of searching for EV points, we only want to target those who want an installation. Secondly, we also need to avoid congested areas where there is only on-street parking. Finally, they had a preference for commercial, not residential installations.
Not so simple, but we plugged away and found a steady flow of electric leads.
Having worked with Nautilus Sailing for over ten years, through three websites where we developed and optimised a highly effective lead generation system, we have helped them grow from two locations to eight. From two instructors to a team of ten.
They focus on running the finest skipper school on the planet, we get them the customers who want the best experience.
Whilst Nautilus is setting the standard for real-life skippering courses, they recognise there is a substantial audience for online learning.
Having established their new website, we integrated their online courses and set up several routes into registering or trying their online masterclasses as well as tracking paid enquiries into the system to measure relative performance.
If you’re challenging an established industry where cost, supply chain and value is a mystery, then what better way to differentiate than do the opposite.
We created transparent pricing, clear discounts, delivery expectations and global dispatch. Each product had about a thousand combinations, so clients could order exactly what they wanted.
Offering short leases and contracts to small and startup businesses leads to challenges for Flexspace. Every unit is up for renewal every year. Furthermore, with standard attrition within small enterprises, there is always space coming available.
Yet, with a building database and a ready list of prospective, as well as existing clients, we have advised them on systems and strategies to convert more of their database and to see problems for fill rate before it becomes a critical problem.
With a growing reputation, but skippering being seen as a one-hit sale, it seemed that repeat business would be a challenge. However, Nautilus had two strategies we were able to support with very effective marketing campaigns.
Firstly, they now have an Alumni network called ‘The Tribe’ who regularly go on flotillas with each other, coordinated by Nautilus. Secondly, they have catamaran deliveries where different teams are assembled to take their boats point to point, often across oceans – another level of experience!
Flexspace was a merger of a much smaller business and an established portfolio of commercial spaces. It needed a modern brand which combined some of the palettes of the established businesses, but also developed something fresh for future marketing.
The combination of blue, yellow and white is strong and yet flexible, offering a distinctive and confident brand, whether on a billboard or website.
Taking on an unexpected full rebrand in thirty days was not necessarily part of the remit, but we’re always up for a challenge.
New iconography in place with a subtle and yet distinct nod to hydraulics and the ‘D’ for Domin. We also founded and formed a proper brand book to ensure that consistency remains in place for cross-media activity.
It’s always exciting working on a new venture. Chargebase has developed a direct-to-market proposition for car chargers, as well as a turnkey approach to home electrical work.
From developing their branding, building two distinct websites with two different online lead generation strategies, we have worked with the management team to launch a one of the South East’s leading EV specialists.
We have moved HCL from an expensive exercise in bug-fixing of two frustrating shopping sites to a rapidly growing successful online enterprise.
There are two brand new shops, generating four times the revenues of the previous incarnations, as well as a lead generation website covering their offshore and seawater protection systems for wind turbines, electric cables and offshore constructions.
Tree houses and climbing frames are really easy to share, every family loves some active play. However, for Gardenatics we needed to make sure that we selected the right strategies for the right platforms.
In particular, the Pinterest channel we created for them gave great scope and leverage for the brand, as photos of builds were pinned far and wide and, given the bespoke nature of the constructions – future customers knew the best brand to help them with their garden was, of course, our client.
With Nautilus the content is amazing, with videos and photos of the most amazing destinations. The temptation is just to use the eye-candy and forget the reason.
The secret to our work is selling the ‘why’ first. The dream of adventure, of being your own skipper, of choosing your trips, of seeing that first dawn on an ocean where it’s just you, the GPS and a destination over the horizon. That’s why they sail.
Our client had already adopted some systems, and whilst using cloud-based technologies, it was still mainly mail, calendar, documents and spreadsheets.
We worked closely with them first putting in place a CRM, then a no-code platform to run their projects and have continued to make them more efficient, paperless and collaborative than ever before.
When we initially worked with Nautilus, they had grown successfully on an inbox and a spreadsheet. For a small business, that makes sense and keeps it simple, but it becomes harder the more conversations, quotes and bookings are managed.
It became clear that they needed to collaborate and track more.
With an envious Tripadvisor rating, their customers expect the perfect experience. Having scoped out their requirements, we helped them choose the right CRM and then helped scope it out to fit their needs perfectly. Now their office team of four can work together, using a range of communication channels to get the job done.
One extensive website with an enormous range of pages and content, where offers adapt every month to the demands of the clients, and capacity changes meaning that conversions never stay the same.
So, we report and analyse every month, understand how the different areas of the website are performing, receive briefings from our client and adapt for the month ahead.
Two websites offering a wide range of services, where quality leads are of high value, but there are large volumes of time-wasters, it is vital to ensure that every lead is accounted for.
Our ‘secret source’ for them tracks from Ads, Organic, Google Analytics 4 and in their CRM to make sure that we know exactly the cost of every good opportunity. In that way, we can flex accordingly.
Mergers and acquisitions marketing imagery rife with stock photos of business meetings, office blocks and cityscapes. But Unloq is different. The name is the focus: to unlock opportunities, unpick information and open up value for clients.
So the imagery is simple, clean and relates to the process of unlocking rather than the environment. We recommended striking black and white imagery that nails the brief, engages the viewer and turns attention to messaging and actions, whilst complementing the brand palette.
Structural engineering is a challenging sector to visually attract as well as get a message across. The process is dry, technical … and when being installed is just plain muddy.
However, the end result showcases the hard work that has gone before. Beautiful outcomes are the result of painstaking planning and meticulous production. We use imagery of the future to create that desire today.
The practice had just recruited a manager and was looking to bring together all their enquiries and proposals into one place. We recommended, configured and launched a CRM for them that gave them visibility over all their leads.
As they developed their services, and added to their team, we let them adapt and shape the process to remain ahead of the pack.
With a growing sales team, and a range of clients and business partners with differing demands, we needed to not only store records, but also to drive the business forward.
We set up the various Opportunities, Tasks, Tracks and Tags to match the way in which the business went about the value chain and to segment their prospects and customers. We imported all the data from their previous CRM to track and store everything. We helped with adoption, and now no lead or opportunity goes to waste.
High-value, low-volume email marketing requires a specialised approach. One that speaks the right language to partners, clients and prospects, whilst underpinning the values that make Unloq’s services unique.
With split lists, containing some shared and some unique content, we have created variety without the overhead of coming up with three completely new emails every time. Precise, targeted and confident – just like our client.
With a large list of past customers and prospects, all with a passion for sailing, we need to ensure that the emails are engaging and entertaining but also focus on growth opportunities.
Coming up with creative angles is our speciality. Whether promoting new catamarans, new locations or even online courses, we change tack frequently to ensure that we never hit the doldrums.
Driving traffic with no clear understanding of revenues or profitability
Intent led, tracked and accounted for profitable marketing spend
An unsteady flow of low-quality enquiries yielding little business
Motivated enquiries, in the buying cycle, who fit your ideal target market
Business critical tasks relying on staff time, subject to user error
Make processes more efficient, thorough, predictable and measurable
I spend most of my development budget fixing errors and bugs
Fast and reliable cash-generative e-commerce and lead generation websites
My organic traffic is not translating to the bottom line
Rankings with purpose, targeting your converting keywords
Dated branding which doesn’t match the quality of your business
Modern, digital, flexible brand, guidelines, messaging and identity
Low resolution homebrew quality with little impact
Short, sharp videos designed specifically for the right media channel
Marketing visuals that fail to engage your audiences
Smart, precise imagery demonstrating design with purpose
Lack of regular contact with previous customers and clients
A clearly segmented customer base with fine-tuned strategies for repeat business
I have analytics, but it doesn’t help with our decision-making
A connected analytics layer providing confidence in tactical and strategic marketing work
Vaguely written aggregated words with little meaning
Refined, considered and targeted persuasive copy with calls to action
Finding it a challenge to come up with quality ideas and engagement
Well-considered, precise, relatable and polished content
Occasional ad-hoc generic email communications
Focused varied marketing content, adapted to suit customer profiles
A store where most of your budget fixing bugs and maintaining
A store where the stock, turnover, margins and yield dwarfs the marketing spend
Leads and customers are mainly in spreadsheets and inboxes
Win and retain more business by selecting the right CRM and systems
Outdated systems with inaccessible or incomplete information
Joined up, cloud-based systems which optimise operations
