GOOGLE ADWORDS SUCCESS PROFILE
AdWords | conversion optimizer
Now that’s Progressive!
Progressive used the Google Conversion Optimizer to increase conversions by 318% and decrease cost per acquisition by 90%. Who they are {{ {{ {{ {{ {{ {{
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Progressive www.progressive.com Mayfield Village, Ohio Began in 1937 3 full-time, 4 part-time employees 28,000+ employees in more than 450 offices throughout the US Insurance
What they needed {{
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To grow business by generating qualified leads To reduce cost per acquisition To improve return on investment from AdWords campaigns To increase accountability To save time
What they did {{ {{
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Started using AdWords in 2002 Adopted Conversion Optimizer for AdWords campaigns Set up campaigns on Google search and content networks Used the Conversion Optimizer to adjust CPC bids
What they accomplished after one month after turning on Conversion Optimizer {{
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Increased conversions and conversion rate: Boosted conversions 318% and conversion rate 28% which led to more qualified leads Lowered costs: Reduced CPA 90% Increased ROI: The increase in conversions which led to more qualified leads improved ROI Saved time: Devoted more time toward strategic campaign changes More tangible results: Focused on CPA versus CPC Enhanced reporting: Made key metrics available at a glance
Name your price Worried that you’re paying too much for car insurance? Progressive is the only car insurance company that gives you the option to name your price, and then builds a policy to fit your budget. That’s where Progressive and Google have a lot in common. With Google Conversion Optimizer, a free Google AdWords feature that helps advertisers manage advertising costs, Progressive is effectively naming its price on AdWords campaigns by setting a maximum cost-per-acquisition (CPA) bid. Conversion Optimizer sets all of Progressive keywords’ cost-per-click (CPC) bids automatically based on a set CPA goal. “With the Conversion Optimizer, we no longer spend as much time on day-to-day campaign management,” says Marketing Process Manager Pawan Divakarla. “We can keep tabs via the reporting in the Conversion Optimizer and know in an instant if a campaign is profitable or if it needs to be restructured, freeing up time for more strategic work. The Conversion Optimizer has definitely increased our return on investment on AdWords campaigns.”
Faster and better Progressive’s mantra is fast, fair, better. The company aims to meet the needs of busy customers who are cost-conscious and increasingly savvy about auto insurance and good service. Progressive is available to customers 24/7, online and by phone. From auto quotes in about six minutes to superior claims service, Progressive makes it a priority to respect customers’ time. The company’s website is key to meeting this objective. Progressive.com, where customers can obtain free quotes fast, including quotes from Progressive’s competitors, report claims, and more, earned the No. 1 spot on the Keynote Systems Q1 2008 Insurance Carrier Scorecard. To drive customers to the site, Progressive uses AdWords campaigns on Google’s search and content networks. The company takes advantage of many AdWords features, including geo-targeting, local business ads, and conversion tracking. Among the main goals is to acquire qualified leads and new customers by encouraging them to obtain a free quote online. “With the Conversion Optimizer, we no longer spend as much time on day-to-day campaign management. We can keep tabs via the reporting in the Conversion Optimizer and know in an instant if a campaign is profitable or if it needs to be restructured, freeing up time for more strategic work. The Conversion Optimizer has definitely increased our return on investment on AdWords campaigns.” – Pawan Divakarla, Marketing Process Manager
Many of Progressive’s AdWords campaigns are extensive and involve hundreds of keywords. The web marketing team at Progressive had long been seeking a tool to simplify management of sophisticated AdWords campaigns; however, tracking campaigns and bids was, until recently, a time-intensive process. “Manually managing 500 keywords, watching our position in Google search results, and juggling bids—it can be a laborious process,” says E-Marketing Business Development Manager Steve Donatelli. “We told ourselves it would be nice to make some of our campaigns work better, but we simply don’t have time. We wanted a tool that would do it for us.”
© 2009 Google Inc. All rights reserved. Google and the Google logo are trademarks of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
GOOGLE ADWORDS SUCCESS PROFILE
Comparison-shopping About Google AdWords Google AdWords™ is a performancebased advertising program that enables businesses large and small to advertise on Google and its network of partner websites. Hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide use AdWords for text, image, and video ads priced on a cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-perimpression (CPM) basis. Built on an auction-based system, AdWords is a highly quantifiable and cost-effective way to reach potential customers. For more information, visit http://www.google.com/adwords
About Conversion Optimizer The Conversion Optimizer is an AdWords feature that helps advertisers manage advertising costs. Advertisers simply specify their maximum cost-peracquisition (CPA) bid, and the Conversion Optimizer sets all their keywords’ costper-click (CPC) bids automatically. The Conversion Optimizer makes adjustments in CPC bids based on the likelihood that a conversion will result from each ad auction. In addition to decreasing the time advertisers spend monitoring and managing CPC bids, the Conversion Optimizer can help improve AdWords campaign performance. For more information, visit http://adwords.google.com/support/ bin/answer.py?answer=60150
Divakarla and Donatelli first turned to tools from various search engine marketing (SEM) vendors, but they proved disappointing. There was a lag of a day or two in modifying bids, resulting in lost opportunities and increased costs. The SEM tools did not help Progressive optimize existing campaigns to run more efficiently and earn higher ROI. They also did not enable Progressive to easily track the CPA of campaigns—a measure the Progressive team relies on to gauge tangible results. Then the Progressive team read about the Conversion Optimizer on the AdWords blog, and they were immediately sold. The Conversion Optimizer was built into AdWords, it was free, and it would provide an automated and effective way to manage campaigns. To reduce the amount of time it took to monitor AdWords campaigns, Divakarla and Donatelli decided to try the new AdWords feature. They can specify how much they want to spend to acquire each new lead, and Conversion Optimizer adjusts CPC bids, based on the likelihood of a conversion resulting from each of Progressive’s AdWords ad auctions.
Assurance in the numbers To implement Conversion Optimizer, the Progressive team first collaborated with Google to define what constitutes a successful conversion and decided on Quote Start, the moment when a potential customer requests an insurance quote online. They then deployed the Conversion Optimizer code, a process made easier by the ability to nest the Conversion Optimizer tag inside an existing DoubleClick tag. “Google makes it very easy to install Conversion Optimizer,” says Divakarla. “It is a very simple piece of code, and there are many options for implementing it, including nesting inside another tag. Easy installation is one of our favorite aspects of Conversion Optimizer.”
“By using Conversion Optimizer to help ensure that we are effectively managing the hundreds of keywords we use in the long tail of our marketing process, we save time that can be put toward forward-looking activities such as adding more keywords or re-organizing campaign structures. This ultimately results in more advanced marketing, more progress, and better campaign results.” – Steve Donatelli, E-Marketing Business Development Manager
The team first used the Conversion Optimizer for campaigns involving hundreds of “tail terms”—keywords that number in the hundreds and require significant maintenance. Individually the tail terms deliver minimal returns, but collectively they deliver appreciable returns. “By using Conversion Optimizer to help ensure that we are effectively managing the hundreds of keywords we use in the long tail of our marketing process, we save time that can be put toward forward-looking activities such as adding more keywords or re-organizing campaign structures,” says Donatelli. “This ultimately results in more advanced marketing, more progress, and better campaign results.” Right away, the Conversion Optimizer had a positive impact on Progressive’s business. The company increased conversions 318% and conversion rate by 28% which led to more qualified leads and thus improved ROI. CPA decreased by 90%. “With the Conversion Optimizer, we are pumping better and more qualified leads into the funnel. It’s having a positive impact on business growth, while helping us make the most of our advertising dollars,” says Donatelli. The Progressive team also gained increased transparency into the effectiveness of AdWords campaigns. With the reporting feature in the Conversion Optimizer, Divakarla and Donatelli can view key metrics such as CPA at a glance. Accountability is at an alltime high. “When we took the proposal to use the Conversion Optimizer to our executives, our CEO was thrilled,” says Divakarla. “It makes so much sense to define what action we want prospective customers to take and know exactly what we are willing to pay for that action. We will definitely be turning on the Conversion Optimizer for campaigns related to our other lines of insurance.” © 2009 Google Inc. All rights reserved. Google and the Google logo are trademarks of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
