Playing the Outfield:
Far-Out Keywords that Capture Consumers
If you’ve ever watched or participated in a baseball game you know how lonely it can be to play the backfield. Often you’re playing the waiting game while the big action happens up front around the diamond. However, when that ball soars towards the outfield and all hopes are resting on the lone ranger, doesn’t that turn out to be the most beautiful play of all? The outfield play is the one that’s recapped on the game wrap-up show, late night news, and sports page headlines.
Think of your PPC keywords in this way--You’ve got some sure-fire keywords that always perform well and return high profits and conversions; these keywords would be inside the diamond playing those high-performance positions. The high success rate of these star keywords is driven by your target market’s knowledge of the vertical you are advertising in and your brand. But are you playing the outfield, or missing part of the game?
Whether you’re playing the outfield or infield, you’ve generally got two categories of keywords: action-oriented keywords and focus-oriented keywords. In both categories, customers know what they’re looking for but they are using less than sophisticated searching patterns to hit on exactly what they’re looking for. Playing the PPC outfield requires knowledge of your competing teams, your target audience and insight into the “batter’s” search behaviors.
In the outfield, action-oriented keywords generally have a higher search volume, lower ROI, and tend to be more information-oriented. Consumers will be searching on “transmission repair service” followed by “transmission repair prices” and finally broadening the search to “transmission repair”. Notice the overly broad keyword searches here – there isn’t even a car make or model associated with the search - these keywords would likely return books on transmission repair and even schools teaching transmission repair. This search pattern demonstrates examples the mindset of the consumer search behavior; at this point they’re comparison shopping and are ready to make a purchase based on price and value.
Focused-oriented keywords playing in the outfield tend to require more persuasion, bring a new customer in from one of your competitors, and offer a lower ROI than your MVP keywords. In this instance, the customer has found your business and is focused in on your category. They may have seen your ad displayed alongside a competitors, but was won over with compelling ad copy. You have to snag this type of customer with key points on how your business outperforms your competitors – bring your value-add right to the table and drive your point home with a solid website featuring your products and services.
Without getting bogged down in the details, the takeaway point here is this: don’t fall asleep and miss out on the stray ball that finds its way out to you. Sure, you could argue that with an admittedly low ROI, outfield keywords aren’t worth your advertising time or budget. We say any conversion that exists is worth fighting for. You’ve got to bank that your customers aren’t always the most savvy with their search terms, and you can be one step ahead of them by anticipating this and playing in the PPC outfield. With the right ad headline, copy, and offer that stray ball may just be from your new MVC – Most Valuable Customer.