Below is a guest article by Christopher Gutknecht :
This article is about creating and setting up a performance alert system for Google AdWords . The existing alert sources such as AdWords , Google Analytics , intellIAd and Econda are examined in detail and a draft is outlined of how a large number of possible alerts can be brought into a meaningful structure and how the working method can be adapted to this. The focus is on online shops with a turnover and sales focus. Many alerts can also be used for non-shops, marked with "Ecom" in the alert overview below.
Table of contents [ Hide ]
1 Better safe than sorry
2 Alerts are proactive filters
3 Possible Alerting Tools for SEA Accounts
4 Conception of an Alerting Framework
5 Daily Alert Management
Better safe than sorry
The trigger can be an angry email from a customer or supervisor: "{Screenshot}. Please adjust asap and set up an alert or something similar so that this doesn't happen again!" The reaction: "Sc§?%$, I missed it! Otherwise I always look at it!" The alert or filter is set up, but is forgotten after a few weeks.
Some SEA managers don't see the need for alerts. The answer is: " I just look at the account performance and look at where there is a need for optimization. You eventually develop a pretty good feeling for that. I look at the account every day anyway, and my filters are stored there too. "
The danger with this method: A SEA manager can only ukraine phone number data internalize a certain number of perspectives, i.e. process filtered views, in addition to limited time for large accounts . The experienced ones go through the saved filters with a certain priority and frequency. So why alerts?
Alerts are proactive filters
How do you know whether it's worth using certain filters, for example " Active ads with CTR < 0.5% "? Wouldn't it make more sense for the filter to proactively deliver the list and, conversely, remain silent if there are no problems?
Systematic alert management is based on this idea: Alerting is proactive “management by exception”, the filtering of deviations from defined rules.
The basic idea is that the top-down view "based on feeling" mentioned above should not be replaced, but only supplemented. This is because the unbiased view is valuable, but at the same time not systematic and sometimes incomplete. There is a risk of getting too hung up on small improvements in the first observations and getting lost in the details.
The alerting approach presented below will particularly benefit SEA managers with limited time and large accounts, e.g. more than 50 active campaigns per account with a corresponding five- or six-digit number of keywords. This is where systematic management by exception becomes indispensable. Alerts are particularly helpful at the deeper ad group and keyword levels, where a high-level view falls short.