don't start a bidding war

What does it mean to bid on competitor terms?

Ever wonder why when you search for your favorite company in Google, that sometimes an ad shows up above their listing…

And the Google ad usually says something along the lines of…

This is paid placement and Y company is bidding on X’s brand terms.

So anytime someone searches for…

• X company name

• X company name alternatives

• X company competitors

Then Y is showing up.

Why this isn’t a good idea… for most people

You may be wondering, well, what’s the big deal with that?

I’ll tell ya.

If you do this early on, then your competitor is going to notice.

They aren’t dumb. Even if they don’t search in Google ever for their website - someone will say something to them eventually.

Then 1 of 2 things will happen:

1. They will begin bidding on their branded term - thus driving your CPC up (meaning you will need to spend more money to get the same # of clicks)

2. They will both bid on their branded term AND bid on your branded terms (meaning you will spend more money to get the same # of clicks AND you will need to spend money to stop your competitor from stealing away some clicks).

So where does this leave us?

Well, the only person that wins in this case is…

Google…

Yep, Google gets all that money.

SOOOO

What’s the moral of the story?

You need to be in a unique scenario for bidding on competitors to make sense.

Here are the scenarios

1. You competitor has forced your hand and is already bidding on your terms - tough, you gotta fight

2. You are a disruptor in an old, super niche market - stir things up. You have everything to gain and your competitors have everything to lose.

Particularly, in scenario 2, most clients I work with have a lot to gain.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

What does it take to have successful competitive campaigns?

Well, if you want to actually convert any of the traffic you steal from a comeptitor then you need to talk the talk and walk the walk.

Meaning, if you steal a click from your competitor, they better enter a great comparison experience.

I am talking about:

• Comparisons

• Quick points on your key differentiators

• Empathy of your customer’s pain points with X software

If you nail this landing page, and potentially have a soft CTA in the form of a free trial (for PLG) or a lead magnet (for SLG) then you are well on your way to stealing market share.

But just remember…

If no one has stirred the pot and perhaps you have multiple small, disruptive competitors in your market - then be careful.

If you guys fight each other - there is a huge chance all of you will fail.

And Google will just take your money.

Need help setting up competitive campaigns?

If you identify with 1 of the 2 scenarios above then let me know!

I’d love to answer any questions you have about setting up these campaigns properly.

Yes, there is a way to do this without spending absurd amounts of ad budget

But I will save that for another post/our convo.

Until then.

To Your Success,

Ian “Make Peace Not War” Binek