Case Study on Security System Advertising - asecuritylab.cz

Intro

The Czech company Security Lab sells and installs security systems, video surveillance, and access control. Their industry is quite popular and competitive. Therefore, high-quality PPC advertising is just as important here as a user-friendly website. Before the client contacted us, they had collaborated with various local agencies and freelancers. But their results really missed the mark due to the high cost per lead 🤔. So security Lab approached us through a recommendation. We’ll explain further how we started, collaborated, and the results we achieved.

For anyone who doesn’t want to read the whole case study, we provide the results from Google Data Studio in the screenshot:

Initial Data

• Client’s website – asecuritylab.cz
• Advertising system – Google Ads.

Initial steps:

Work on the project began in November 2020 with a budget of 8-10,000 Czech crowns per month. During this time we set up and launched search campaigns, remarketing, and Google Shopping.

After two months of work, the client paused things due to the pandemic, using the time to make improvements to the site in order to improve conversions. Additionally during the pause, the client launched a few search campaigns and Smart Shopping independently, but the updated advertising didn’t live up to expectations, so at the end of May 2021 we re-started our partnership.

Objectives

We had a clear goal ahead of us – to set up PPC advertising that would ensure a constant inflow of customers at a low conversion cost. To do this, we decided to approach the issue comprehensively and set the following objectives:

• Attract new customers with search ads in Google Ads
• Bring potential customers back to the site via remarketing
• Increase sales with Google Shopping and Smart Shopping
• Build brand awareness using YouTube Ads

Course of Action

The work on the European project has a number of unique features, primarily related to the language barrier. Since we didn’t know Czech, and the advertising had to be understandable to users and relevant to their needs, we:

1. Put the settings in English, and prepare ad texts in English as well. At the same time, we got an English-Czech translator involved in the project and set clear requirements for the number of characters and keywords in the ads and extensions.
2. After setting up, negative keywords were added to exclude inappropriate traffic. To do this, requests that needed to be eliminated were translated using Google Translate.

Implementation

Search Ads

Initial we made several search campaigns:

• Campaigns for ‘Cameras’, ‘Standalone Cameras’ and ‘Baby Monitors’ led to the matching product categories
• ‘Ajax’, which led to the brand’s equipment
• A ‘General campaign’ with general queries such as ‘security systems’, ‘home security systems’, ‘wireless GSM alarms’, etc.

During the second stage of the partnership, after a pause, we reviewed the effectiveness of the campaigns and search queries. As a result, we reconfigured search ads by:

• Discontinuing the general campaign, which brought in a lot of clicks, but rarely led to targeted action.
• Also discontinuing the ‘Ajax’, ‘Standalone cameras’ and ‘Baby monitors’ campaigns.
• Adding campaigns for ‘IP Home Monitor’ and ‘IP Doorbell’ as a product test.

We work with search campaigns according to our corporate strategy:

1. We started with manual strategies. We set bids manually for each keyword. In this case, the account has 3229 queries. We enable the ‘Enhanced CPC’ option, thanks to which the system would raise bids if it increases the likelihood of targeted action.
2. We set up conversions. For Security Lab, conversions included:
   • Filling in a form on the site
   • Submitting the quiz form
   • An order (for this we added a “thank you for your order” page)
   • Clicking on the phone number on the site (since call tracking wasn’t used)
   • Clicking on or copying the e-mail (especially relevant for Europe, where e-mail is often used)
3. We created automatic rules to lower the bid by 10% if the impression percentage rises above 85%, and increase the bid if this indicator falls below 75%.
4. When there were enough conversions to trust smart strategies, we switched to Target CPA. This time, the transition was completed 3 months after the start of the second stage of cooperation.

This strategy allows us to deftly manage the advertising budget, gradually increasing the number of conversions, all while optimizing their cost👌.

Working with Ads

In addition to setting up conversions and gradually switching over to smart strategies while working with search campaigns, it’s important to prepare ads that will push users towards targeted actions. To do this, we used the following extensions:

• Structured snippet
• Phone number
• Promotion: 100% free consultation
• Location
• Quick links on more motivating pages like ‘affordable prices’ ‘function and attractive’ ‘wide selection’ ‘free consultation’ ‘delivery’ ‘high quality.’
• Specifications (Warranties, Fast delivery, Functionality, 100% safety, Free consultation, High quality, Affordable prices, Wide selection)

Remarketing

The campaign for returning visitors who did not make a purchase was set up at the first stage of the partnership. After the pause and work later resumed, we left it and added 2 more remarketing campaigns:

• Dynamic remarketing. We set up personalized ads for users who are already interested in the products offered on the Security Lab website.
• YouTube remarketing. We configured the display of Security Lab ads for anyone who was on the company’s website. Ads are shown on YouTube while watching other videos, as well as on partner sites where the video is allowed. The main goal of this campaign was to promote the brand, but in addition to awareness, it also brings in conversions.

Google Shopping and Smart Shopping

The Google Shopping campaign was set up at the first stage of work. To do this, we used a feed with 584 products, generated automatically in the client’s CMS.

Already during the second stage, we switched to a smart shopping campaign, which works on the basis of smart strategies. The system selects products and bids based on machine learning, so, before enabling Smart Shopping, we needed to collect conversions for a regular Google Shopping campaign. Shopping ads are shown on the Search Network, Google Display Network, YouTube, and Gmail throughout the Czech Republic.

Moving from Standard to Smart Shopping has reduced the cost per conversion from 335 CZK to 224 CZK.

Results

Work on the project continues today as we test new campaigns, track their effectiveness, and adjust existing campaigns. Gradually, the advertising budget increased to 10,000-12,000 CZK.

The search campaign “Cameras” generates the best results: 180 conversions at 222 CZK.

The numbers for the other campaigns also met the client’s expectations as well as ours:

• Smart Shopping 80 conversions at 224 CZK each.
• Remarketing 6 conversions at 413 CZK each.
• YouTube remarketing 4 conversions at 672 CZK each.

It’s worth mentioning that due to the lack of call tracking, some of the conversions are missing from the reports. And this means that the real price per lead is even lower.

Conclusion

Security Lab is a case that confirms once more that maintaining PPC settings is just as important as professional settings. The customer, like us, isn’t interested in the race for the number of conversions. Instead, they’re interested in their quality and their affordability. As such, after setting up, we analyze each campaign in detail, reallocate budgets, and switched to smart strategies in time. All of this allows us to get the desired results and build stable, long-term cooperation with the client 🤝.