CHECKLIST FOR GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT

This is the final of six posts to delve deeper into each of the six steps of our free available guide - "6 Steps to Assessing Your Online Marketing Spend". If you haven't already you can sign up below to download this guide.

The final step of the guide we share a checklist to ensure you are getting the basics right to a successful running marketing campaign.

We feel this checklist is so important to implement we thought we’d share it again on our Blog. The below checklist covers what is needed to ensure you are getting the basics right to a successful online paid marketing campaign.

TOOLS

• Google Analytics – an analytics platform setup correctly is a must

• Google Data Studio - data visualisation reporting tool

• Google Tag Manager – manage on-site tags

• Google Keyword Planner – research keyword volumes & new ideas

• Facebook Ad Library – review competitors ad creatives

• Page Speed Insights – review page speed & identify issues

• Third party app tracking platforms such as Appsflyer

TRACKING

• Auto-tagging enabled for both Google & Microsoft Ads

• UTM Parameters setup for all active Paid Social campaigns

  • Include source, medium, campaign, ad set & ad name

  • Implement dynamic parameters when possible

• Channel tracking is being pulled through in Analytics

• Cross domain tracking setup (if subdomains being used)

SETUP

• Consistent campaign structure across each platform

• Search – campaigns segmented by target country, match type and keyword type (Brand/Generics/Competitor)

• Social – broader structure to allow the pixel to optimise, campaigns segmented by country & Remarketing/Prospecting

REPORTING

• Google Data Studio in use to visualise data & automate reports

  • Worth investing the time in building reports to save time longer term

• Using one source of truth for conversion data

  • Pull conversions from Analytics for all channels to avoid multiple counting

• Reports setup include by platform & day, by campaign type and/or keyword and budget trackers

COVERAGE

• Keyword coverage not too broad reducing overall PPC conversion rate

• Reviewed Keyword Planner for expected search volumes & new ideas

• Setup Microsoft Ads daily import from Google to update keyword coverage & ads

• Targeting large enough audience through Paid Social and not too granular

BUDGETS, TARGETS & PLAN

• Budgets aligned with expected seasonality

• Allocated budget in line with expected campaign performance

• Allocated testing budget - test to learn & grow

• Set realistic targets - see step 2 in upcoming action plan

• Marketing plan in place for upcoming months

If you haven't already, sign up below to access the full FREE guide to "Assessing the Effectiveness of your Online Marketing Spend".