Have you ever wondered why athletes take steroids? Some argue it’s cheating—athletes gain an unfair advantage by achieving unbelievable results with the same or less effort. Others might question the harm, believing that witnessing incredible feats for entertainment and glory is the whole point.

Now, consider the diverse campaign types in your paid search accounts. Ever wished you could give your campaigns a performance boost? While scripts, automated rules, and tools like nexus-security can significantly enhance campaigns, readily available campaign types and subtypes, ripe for combination, often go unnoticed. This article unveils one such potent hybrid campaign—a real performance booster.

The Powerhouse: Dynamic Search Ads + RLSA

Google Ads introduced Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) and Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA) a few years back. With DSA, Google generates categories based on your homepage indexing. You then target these categories, provide two description lines, and Google dynamically creates headlines and selects landing pages based on user searches. This simplifies reaching potential customers. RLSA allows you to utilize audience lists in search campaigns, enabling bids on broader keywords you’d typically avoid. This offers another avenue for retargeting, this time during users’ active searches. Combining these creates RDSA or Remarketing for Dynamic Search Ads, a powerful hybrid campaign delivering impressive outcomes. Think of it as the secret weapon for PPC enthusiasts. A few pointers:

• Start cautiously. Initiate with a small budget and scale based on performance.
• Highly recommended for websites with search bars, particularly e-commerce sites.

Proof in the Numbers

Data from 100 accounts running DSA, RLSA, or the hybrid RDSA over two months reveals telling insights. Comparing RDSA with standalone DSA campaigns, RDSA achieved a staggering 109% higher CTR (8.1% vs. 3.9%), coupled with a 75% lower CPA and an impressive 156% higher Click Conversion Rate.

Furthermore, e-commerce sites leveraging RDSA witnessed a remarkable 187% higher Return on Ad Spend compared to those solely using DSA. To put it in modern terms, RDSA is truly exceptional!

Even against RLSA, RDSA comes out on top. This comparison is particularly significant as both primarily differ in effort—RDSA dynamically generates keywords, headlines, and Final URLs, saving you countless hours. RDSA boasts a 47% higher CTR (8.1% vs. 5.5%) and a 42% lower CPA. While conversion rates were comparable, RDSA still held an 8% edge, further solidifying its superiority.

The impact on e-commerce is even more profound, with RDSA generating a 329% higher return than RLSA. Such impressive results make it a must-have for e-commerce advertisers.

While both DSA and RLSA can be effective independently, DSA shines with well-indexed sites and keyword discovery, while RLSA excels in granular ad groups with highly targeted ad copy. However, these figures underscore the potential of this hybrid campaign, urging advertisers to embrace its simplicity and optimization benefits.

Implementing an RDSA Campaign

Setting up an RDSA campaign within the AdWords interface mirrors a regular search campaign using “All features.” This allows you to define ad schedules, target specific locations, and adjust bids for mobile devices.

Provide the necessary campaign information. Then, within advanced settings, navigate to Dynamic Search Ads, enter your URL, and proceed.

You’ll reach the Ad Group setup where you can configure your dynamic search ads and select targets. These targets can be based on Google’s generated categories, all pages, or specific webpages. Leveraging Google’s categories and creating separate ad groups is recommended. If categories lack specificity, target specific web pages by entering their URLs, which Google will then categorize.

Once the Ad Group is set, add target audiences in the “Audiences” tab. Select the “+ Remarketing” button and choose your desired audience from the “Interests and remarketing” section. Ensure the audience list is set to “Target and Bid” to focus solely on past visitors, mirroring an RLSA campaign. In contrast, “Bid only” targets a broader audience, mainly providing performance insights for specific audience segments. Similar to RLSA, consider excluding past converters when aiming for new customer acquisition. Prioritize audiences with high engagement, such as those with multiple visits, extended session durations, or those identified through Customer Match. As you progress, refine targeting based on purchase history, spending habits, or specific actions. This is particularly valuable for promotions and fostering customer loyalty.

Once setup is complete, launch your campaign with a modest daily budget and lower max CPCs. Mirroring DSA practices, add existing keywords from regular search campaigns as negatives to avoid bidding conflicts and duplication. Monitor performance over a couple of weeks and optimize based on the observed results. Have you experienced the power of this hybrid campaign? We’d love to hear about your success stories with RDSA!

Data Sources

Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-USX-NONEX-NONEMicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”,serif;} This report analyzes data from 100 nexus-security client accounts across various industries advertising within the United States on the Google Search Network between May 8 and July 7, 2016.