Shownotes
Explore the basics of competitive analysis in this easy guide. Learn from Regina Bellows, Executive Director of StarterPPC, on how to understand and succeed in a competitive environment. Watch this video now.
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0:00 The Basics of Competitive Analysis
4:20 Analyzing your competitor’s product images
6:45 Exploring the Google Ads Transparency Center for competitive analysis
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11:53 Importance of assessing and adjusting headlines in ads
16:59 Keyword research
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Transcripts
with starter PPC.
2
:Today we're going to talk
about competitive analysis.
3
:Do not skip this step.
4
:You guys, every time you get a new
client or if you're thinking about
5
:starting a new company, you should
do this before as well as during.
6
:we typically do two checks, right?
7
:One is going to be, when we get
a new client, we're going to,
8
:begin with competitive analysis.
9
:we do this to get a sense of our client's
new industry, where our client is
10
:positioned within that industry, what
the competitive landscape looks like.
11
:it gives us an idea of the various target
markets and angles that can be chosen
12
:and, which angle our client is going after
so that we can help them lean into that.
13
:it helps bring up some red flags early on,
if the competition looks fierce and our
14
:clients not stepping up to the game, then,
right away on day one, we're like, Hey,
15
:we are a little worried about whether this
is going to work with Google ads or not.
16
:Here's what we suggest that you
very quickly work on because we
17
:have 2 weeks until we go live with
the ads and we give them a list.
18
:and then we might do another
competitive analysis.
19
:We almost always do.
20
:About 45 days in, if it's not working.
21
:so if the ads aren't working, or
we're not performing or we're not
22
:hitting goals, I would say about
a month and a half in 45 days.
23
:We're going to sit down and do, a
second check on the competition,
24
:and look for red flags that maybe we
missed the first time now that we know
25
:more about the performance now that
we have more conversion history, and
26
:try to go back and figure out what's
going wrong so we can plug that hole.
27
:If it is working, then typically that
second competitive analysis check
28
:doesn't really happen that early on.
29
:It would usually be, six months in
when the company is growing and it
30
:hits like a roadblock in its growth.
31
:Or the performance plateaus that we're
starting to, lose margin as we grow.
32
:And so we might need to go back and say,
okay, how can we be more competitive?
33
:let's see what the competitive landscape
looks like now, has it shifted?
34
:So I'm going to walk through
a couple of examples with you
35
:guys to show you, how we do this.
36
:We don't use any tools.
37
:I think we used to use spyfu.
38
:com.
39
:there's even a free version of spyfu.
40
:SpyFu tries to take, some guesses at,
what keywords your Competitors are
41
:targeting, how much their ad budget
is, in the end, it's all just guesses.
42
:And honestly, we've found that
we can get that same information,
43
:just more relevant to our client,
just using Google's free tools.
44
:I'm going to put my face to the side here
and open what I have pulled up right now
45
:is the Google ads transparency center.
46
:this is relatively new.
47
:I hope that's not an incorrect statement.
48
:I just found out about
it about a year ago.
49
:I don't know if it existed before that.
50
:and I'm going to show
you guys how it works.
51
:it is, I would say the main tool
that we use for competitive analysis.
52
:let's say we get a new client and
our new client sells tooth powder.
53
:tooth powder is toothpaste,
but in the form of powder.
54
:So what we would do is we
would open up a fresh tab.
55
:With Google pretending we are,
a potential customer and we're
56
:searching in the same words that
the potential customer would use.
57
:So maybe like best tooth
powders for whitening teeth.
58
:might somebody search for when
they're looking for this product?
59
:and then We look at a couple things
in the search results, right?
60
:So the first thing I'm going to
look at is usually the pictures
61
:because this is a product.
62
:the picture in the shopping ads
is the most important thing.
63
:sometimes you might notice That some
pictures are vastly better than others.
64
:so let's say this first one is our client.
65
:I would say that's a great picture.
66
:You can read what it is.
67
:you can clearly see the product.
68
:You can even see the size
before having a click.
69
:That's good.
70
:You guys, we don't want.
71
:To get a bunch of clicks
because every time somebody
72
:clicks, you pay for that click.
73
:So you only want people to pay if
they're pretty sure they're interested.
74
:And so it's very important to
show them as much of, the product
75
:in a clear way as possible.
76
:whereas this, I'm not so sure
I can see what I'm getting.
77
:This is a kit and not necessarily
powder, but I can't see
78
:what even comes in the kit.
79
:I don't love that picture.
80
:this one is Very far away.
81
:I don't love that.
82
:But I would assume they're going
after a slightly different target
83
:market here than Our client.
84
:This isn't really our client, but I'm
just pretending this is our client.
85
:so our client, is going
after a wider audience.
86
:I would say, and here we've got
a lower price point of only 10
87
:for 9 ounces, whereas this one.
88
:I'd have to click on it to see how
many ounces, but it looks like it's a
89
:little bit more of a high end brand.
90
:They're going after a younger audience.
91
:They've got a more stylized picture.
92
:If this was my client, I would say
great picture, but I zoom in a little
93
:like, why is there so much white space?
94
:these shopping ads are very small.
95
:it's important to minimize white space and
zoom in on the product as much as you can.
96
:So that's the first thing I look at.
97
:are my clients pictures, if it's a product
up to par and, can I glean what market
98
:they're targeting with the pictures.
99
:here, I would just say it's like a
wide A white audience, and that's good
100
:because they have basic price point.
101
:So that's fine.
102
:the next thing I'm going
to look at is the text.
103
:So this is the Google
ads transparency center.
104
:And the way you get to it is
you click on the little three
105
:dots next to the search results.
106
:and it's going to show you more ads
by this advertiser, which I just
107
:think is the coolest thing ever.
108
:now in this case, because I clicked on the
three dots next to shopping ads, I can.
109
:Click between all of the shopping
ads and the search results.
110
:And, maybe I want to see
more by, what was it?
111
:Primal life bite.
112
:I want to see more by bite.
113
:So I'm going to go here, click on
bite and then click, see more ads.
114
:This advertiser has shown.
115
:And if that advertiser has completed
their advertiser verification,
116
:which is something that.
117
:if you run Google ads, you already know
that Google is really cracking down on.
118
:So pretty soon everyone will have.
119
:if they've done that, then you
will be able to see more ads.
120
:So wow, 86 ads that they're running.
121
:some look like they are, search ads.
122
:So we could try to find those search
ads if we wanted to click on them and
123
:see what landing page they're using.
124
:I don't think you can see the
landing page inside of the Google ads
125
:transparency center, unfortunately.
126
:Hi there.
127
:Quick interruption.
128
:Do you know the main thing that
prevents small business owners from
129
:getting their Google ads account into
a position to grow and scale budget?
130
:A lot of businesses, especially
those that are just starting
131
:out, have limited budgets.
132
:And so because of this, they're turned
away by most ad agencies because most ad
133
:agencies have minimum budget thresholds
that they're willing to work with.
134
:So what happens is the business owners
end up learning Google ads themselves.
135
:And the problem with that is
that most of the advice online is
136
:geared towards larger accounts.
137
:Okay.
138
:And the advice doesn't have any of those
strategies or tricks that can kickstart
139
:the algorithm into giving a small
account a leg up over larger competitors.
140
:So it often just doesn't work.
141
:And the business just ends up
losing money month over month.
142
:If this sounds familiar,
starter PPC can help.
143
:We offer Google ads management services
that are designed for accounts that
144
:have between 1000 and 5, 000 budgets.
145
:Because all of our clients are just
starting out, we've come up with ways to
146
:keep our management fees significantly
lower than most agencies, because
147
:we know that every dollar saved on
management fees just goes towards
148
:the ad budget, which is going to help
the algorithm gather speed and power.
149
:So if you're serious about growing your
business and you'd like a team of Google
150
:ads experts to help you without breaking
the bank, check us out at starter PPC.
151
:com.
152
:Okay.
153
:Back to the video.
154
:some display ads.
155
:This looks like a shopping ad.
156
:this is a great look and
they're running some dynamic,
157
:dynamically generated headlines.
158
:DSA ads, those are called.
159
:So this is just a great starting point.
160
:If you find competitor that
you want to dig in and see
161
:some of the text they're using.
162
:and gather some ideas.
163
:it doesn't have to be a shopping ad.
164
:For those of you that are lead gen,
you're like, this isn't relevant to me.
165
:Why is she showing me this?
166
:what you can do is you can scroll
down until you find a search ad.
167
:Now, because I searched for tooth
powder, I think this is going to
168
:be a very difficult ad to find.
169
:Sometimes I have to scroll to
the bottom of the page nowadays,
170
:because Google is so slow.
171
:Really leaning into this
whole, shopping thing.
172
:Yeah.
173
:Let's try the bottom.
174
:I can't find a single shot, a
single search ad for my best tooth
175
:patterns for whitening teeth search.
176
:any of these really, I think we'll take
you to the ads transparency center.
177
:So it doesn't have to be an ad.
178
:This is an organic search result,
but Oh, they're not running ads.
179
:All right.
180
:Let's try a different search.
181
:Let's pretend we have a client
that sells rug cleaning services.
182
:So we're going to search
for rug cleaners near me.
183
:No shopping ads this time.
184
:surprise.
185
:Now this is a competitor near me.
186
:I'm in San Diego.
187
:you might want to type near and then
put the, city or town that the client's
188
:business is in if you want to see their
direct competition, So then here I can see
189
:more ads that this advertiser is running.
190
:Okay.
191
:14 ads.
192
:They've got some video ads.
193
:Very nice.
194
:I think this is a video
ad attached to a maps.
195
:Maps listing is really important.
196
:I've gotten some really good insight
from the ads transparency center because,
197
:for example, we had this client that
was selling, like advisory services for
198
:people who wanted to invest in real estate
and they wanted to open I'm blanking on
199
:what it's called right now, but people
that specifically wanted to invest in
200
:real estate and, sell it and transfer
the money to a new real estate, company.
201
:And in order to do that, they
have to open like a Delaware
202
:statutory of trust or whatever.
203
:And, even though our
clients could work with.
204
:Anyone the world, I think, and
advise them on how to do this.
205
:The people who were searching were
thinking that they had to work
206
:with somebody who was familiar
with the laws in their city.
207
:And so I didn't know this because I'm
not in that industry, but apparently a
208
:lot of the searches, are location based.
209
:And the only way I figured this out was
I was doing some competitive research
210
:and I happened to notice that some of the
competitors were dynamically inserting
211
:the searcher's city into the headlines.
212
:so we went to our ads and tested that out,
inserting the city into the headlines,
213
:just like we saw the competitors doing
and voila, our click through rate went up.
214
:You just never know what
you're going to find.
215
:I'm not just examining the pictures, you
guys, but I'm also examining the ad text.
216
:I'm looking for, themes
along the competitors.
217
:So I can really get a good understanding
of this industry and what's been
218
:working for the competition.
219
:pricing's a big one.
220
:I already touched on that.
221
:if your pricing is significantly
higher than direct competitors.
222
:Why is that?
223
:Is there a reason why, are you
targeting a high end audience?
224
:if not, you have a major problem, right?
225
:you have to go to your manufacturer
and try to figure out why your prices
226
:are higher than your competitors
can afford to sell it for.
227
:Oh, and going back to add text,
228
:most important ad text, if you are an e
commerce brand is your product titles.
229
:I'm not talking about the product
titles that are shown on your website.
230
:I'm talking about the product
titles that are shown on your ads.
231
:And these are two different things
because you can always have one
232
:product title on your site and
then override that for your ads.
233
:And I highly recommend doing this
because, your website might want to
234
:have a shorter titles, to keep the page
shorter and pull the description up.
235
:since everybody already knows your brand.
236
:they're already on your site.
237
:You don't have to put the brand
name in the product title.
238
:However, on the shopping ad, I would say
about 80 percent of the time you want
239
:to add the brand name into the title.
240
:I don't know why, but
it just seems to help.
241
:I really can't point to, why that is.
242
:We have to put the brand
name at the end of the title.
243
:except for in some industries, like if
we're doing competitive research and
244
:we can see that everybody has the brand
name at the beginning of the title.
245
:That's probably because the people
searching are looking for known brand
246
:tend to be looking for known branding.
247
:So you want to act like you are also a
known brand name, even if you're a small
248
:business and you're just starting out.
249
:So certain industries have certain
quirks like that really important
250
:to examine the competition.
251
:also examine their landing page.
252
:And the only way to really know what
landing page they're using is to click
253
:on their ad, which spends their money,
unfortunately, and it's rude, but it's
254
:the only way to truly see what landing
page, as you can see here, they are
255
:not using the homepage of their site,
even though the ad looked like they
256
:were using the homepage of their site.
257
:so they've created a
landing page just for ads.
258
:Do you want to do that too?
259
:maybe not.
260
:this is conversation for another
day, but this is part of what we are.
261
:What we're looking at, is we're comparing
what landing page are we planning on
262
:using versus what landing page, what is
the competitive landing pages look like,
263
:and is it up to par doesn't have to match
perfectly, but, do we think has similar,
264
:call to actions and is it just as good.
265
:Buttons above the fold, things like that.
266
:I'm trying to think if there's anything
else I want to run by you guys.
267
:there's so much to consider.
268
:I think that's everything.
269
:So I hope this has been helpful.
270
:when it comes to keyword research, I would
say that's a topic for another day, but
271
:it does fall under competitive research.
272
:And what I mean by that is you
want to do your keyword research
273
:around the same time that you're
doing your competitive research.
274
:So you go into the Google ads
keyword planner tool inside of your
275
:account, pull up keyword suggestions
and try doing a few searches using
276
:those keywords because those are the
keywords you're going to be targeting.
277
:And those are the keywords that
Google ads algorithm thinks
278
:that your website targets.
279
:And those are then the keywords
that you want to use to conduct
280
:your competitive analysis.
281
:all right.
282
:I think that's that.
283
:Thanks for watching.
284
:Good luck.
