Gee, “White Paper” is now a Negative PPC Keyword!
KoMarketing Associates, an online marketing services firm in Waltham, MA, has issued a list of over 200 Negative Keywords that search engine marketers should not use in their PPC advertising campaigns. The list is made up of 12 categories:
Avoiding Job Seekers
Reference Keywords
No Research & Stats
We Don’t Provide Education
No Bargains
Avoiding Price Shoppers
Avoiding DIY
Selling Commercial Software
Manufacturing & Industrial
Product Materials
Legal/Law
Other Negative Keywords B2B Marketers May Consider
The category named “No Research & Stats” references the terms “white paper” and “white papers”, as words that should be avoided in a PPC ad. The category includes this description:
“Assuming you have a limited advertising budget, avoid people doing research, and make sure your are using your advertising $$ to generate sales and qualified leads:”
Now color me suspicious, but it seems to me that that offering a free white paper in a PPC ad is a great way to accumulate clicks and leads. After all, didn’t Michael Stelzner of the Writing White Papers blog essentially build his business based by offering a free white paper “How to Write a White Paper” in a PPC Google ad?
I have to disagree with the hypothesis presented by KoMarketing Associates. The idea of using a white paper in a PPC ad, whether it is free or not, is a great way to attract eyeballs and build clickthroughs while providing a measurable ROI for your PPC ads.
Also, the fact that they have included the terms “white paper” and “white papers” in the category called ”No Research & Stats”, tells me that they believe white papers are relegated to scientific research, instead of being a legitimate medium for business and/or technical marketing.
Just when you thought white papers have made it into the marketing mainstream, there are always a few that still have to be brought up to speed.
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January 23rd, 2008 at 11:29 am
Hi Jonathan,
I just wanted to clarify for your readers that white papers are not “negative”, or a poor online marketing vehicle. Of course they are terrific marketing tools!
The list I provided was a jumping-off point for people to consider in terms of ways to “trim the fat” in their pay per click advertising.
If you do not provide white papers, then it is a good idea to prevent your ads from showing up when people are looking for white papers. Especially if your ad budget is already spread thin attracting leads via other keywords.
If you do offer white papers, then create a specific campaign (and ad groups) promoting the white papers. Target phrases with the words “white paper” and “white papers” in them. And, make sure to customize your search engine ad copy to the specific white paper, and make sure to send users to a page that offers the white paper.
Hope this makes sense.
And thanks for reading the post I wrote and for creating this dialogue!
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Hi Andy,
Thanks for clarifying that point on using white papers for PPC advertising.
Jonathan
April 10th, 2008 at 11:07 am
PPC is a lead generation point. It can be useful for headline and copy testing. Bid on a few of your popular keywords, and rotate several different headlines and body copy in the href=” http://www.netcallidus.com/Pay_Per_Click/index.html “> PPC ads.