Leveraging Scripts for Enhanced Insights and Optimization in Paid Search
By Vitya Vijayan, Global Head of Search & Social, M&C Saatchi Performance
Our agency tagline is; ‘The minds behind the machines’ because one of our USPs is the people who work on behalf of our clients. Our teams always seek new methods to ensure client campaigns are effective by combining their expertise with the software and tech available to achieve profitable results.
One example of our ‘minds behind the machines’ approach comes from the Search & Social team, who continually test innovation to ensure client campaigns are even more effective and efficient than ever.
In this test-and-learn example, the Search & Social team worked on three scenarios using scripts to develop enhanced insights and optimize campaigns. The first two examples are related to Performance Max (PMax), Google’s automated machine-learning campaign tool, and the final example is related to Search.
Background
Scripts are code that automates tasks within ad platforms like Google Ads. They can help manage and optimize campaigns by adjusting bids, pausing underperforming keywords, generating reports, and more. Scripts are particularly handy for assisting with manual, repetitive tasks and making real-time adjustments based on predefined criteria.
Use Case #1: Testing PMax scripts to remove Irrelevant Keywords for a B2B client
The Challenge:
The client is a B2B software company, and the website contains a wealth of information related to the product and content that serves broader marketing purposes. Our Search & Social team runs PMax campaigns, and due to the nature of the platform, granular PMax insights are not easily accessible on the Google dashboard. This limits the optimization levers available and relies on diligence from the team to identify causes of poor performance.
With the implementation of the PMax script, we identified irrelevant keywords that were triggered on PMax campaigns. After analyzing the issue, we saw that articles featured on the client’s website included irrelevant keywords, which was what was triggering poor performance.
Solution:
The Search & Social team used a script to identify and exclude irrelevant website URLs from the campaign, which ensures PMAX does not use data from these web pages.
Results:
After excluding the URLs, irrelevant keywords were no longer triggered for the PMAX campaigns, resulting in more efficient media spend.
Use Case #2: Using PMax scripts to prevent a decline in campaign performance for a B2C client.
The Challenge:
The client is a B2C e-commerce business. Their consumers seek rapid customer service and product delivery, and Performance Max is an essential channel. Our team saw that campaign performance was slightly declining, but the lack of granular reporting available in PMax made it challenging to understand what was driving this dip in performance.
Solution:
Using the PMax script, the team isolated profitable product SKUs and cross-referenced this with the product feed. The team discovered that profitable products were often out of stock, which explained the dip in performance. Therefore, we reacted rapidly—sharing this information with the client so they could prioritize getting products back in stock as soon as possible and keeping these product lines well stocked.
Results:
Once profitable products were restocked, PMax experienced an immediate uplift in revenue.
Use Case #3: Google App search script to resolve broken URLs
The Challenge
The client is a multinational utility provider. The team encountered multiple broken or erroneous URLs during a regular ad copy update. The team realized these meant ads were not being served due to broken and unapproved URLs on existing ads.
Solution
The team built a link checker script set to run daily and rapidly identify broken URLs as a preemptive measure. This script crawls campaigns to identify any issues and highlights where there is a problem with a URL.
Results:
Broken URLs are quickly identified for the client, ensuring that all ads run for the campaigns to spend and the platform to optimize with.
In Summary
“Scripts have proven invaluable tools in automating manual tasks within Performance Max and search campaigns, allowing our team to focus on strategic optimization. By leveraging scripts, we’ve not only saved time but also enhanced the precision of our campaigns, ensuring that we deliver the best possible results for our clients. These examples highlight how combining human expertise and automation can drive significant improvements in campaign performance, ultimately leading to more efficient and profitable outcomes. As we continue to innovate, scripts will remain a key component in optimizing performance max and paid search strategies.
Vitya Vijayan, Global Head of Search & Social, M&C Saatchi Performance.
