This represents a brief explanation and update on Google metrics and what is commonly called “Google Learning Phase.” It is designed to create a better understanding of how an extremely complex and ever-changing Google universe works when it comes to paid traffic, particularly during the early phases of campaigns in the new age of AI.
Impressions, clicks, and conversions are three important metrics to review for each of campaign. Impressions represent how many times an ad is shown. Clicks represent how many times people interact with your ads. Although there are more interactions than clicks now with certain ads the term has widely stuck so we continue to use it for clarity.
The higher level of clicks indicate that your ads resonate with your audience and get their attention. Conversions become the next step –how many of those people interact with your ad and take a trackable action to demonstrate a true interest in your services. The two primary conversions we generally look for with dental campaigns are phone calls and form submissions. So a conversion can be thought of as a solid “lead” given that those are the prospects that we track from the initial viewing of an ad to making contact with your practice.
Now, on to the learning phase details. Accounts go through several learning phases. When new campaigns first start, they enter an official Google recognized learning phase for the first week to week and a half. During this time performance is low as Google uses AI based algorithms to identify when and where ads should show. The number of ads shown is minimal and the clicks/conversions on those ads is generally poor.
Once Google completes this initial learning phase ads start to ramp up and get a lot more placements. As long as the campaigns are well structured we see clicks and conversions increase. Google no longer considers the ads to be in a learning phase even though in reality there is still a substantial amount of learning going on while performance continues to grow–driven largely by AI and AI metrics.
The first month after the Google learning phase is termed our initial learning phase. We monitor your account heavily during this time to watch for things that are and aren’t working so we can aggressively add negative keywords blocking off-target ad placements. Negative keywords are vital to preventing wasted spend. We start accounts with a few pre-determined lists that help block the most common Keywords although every market and practice is different. This takes time. So while your account will show performance over the first month you experience a larger percentage of wasted spend until we collect enough data to identify the required negative terms to add.
In the second month metrics improve and wasted spend typically reduces to under 5% once the identified negative keywords start to take effect. This may result in fewer ad impressions. However, a higher percentage of those impressions result in clicks and a higher percentage of those clicks result in conversions.
By the third month we look for 30 conversions on at least one campaign. This is important to adjust the bidding strategy to improve performance. Campaigns always start with a goal to maximize conversions but with less data the system tries to get any conversions it can. As a campaign matures and we see at least 30 conversions a month this indicates there’s enough data to set a target CPA.
CPA is the “Cost Per Acquisition” or how much each conversion costs. The CPA varies from market to market and from search term to search term. By setting a target CPA this enables Google to use its AI driven algorithms to focus on search terms that not only get conversions – but those which convert at the best price for your budget.
Here’s where this gets tricky. Before setting a given CPA we must determine what a reasonable CPA is for a particular service. That’s why we consider the full first 3 months to be a learning period. This period collects enough data to responsibly set that Target CPA and laser focus campaigns on the right audience and search terms that produce the most bang for your buck.
This makes up the 90 day learning phase. The good news is that this time period doesn’t mean there are no results during this initial phase. It simply explains that performance takes time to ramp up. Even past the 90 day time frame, we continue to improve results as Google learns what does and doesn’t work effectively in your market for your services.
When taking over an existing account, we recommend a slow transition. We keep the existing campaigns running to maintain your baseline performance while new campaigns ramp up through the learning phases.
At the end of the day, two things are critical. First, it is imperative to recognize that this is a very complex process that is constantly changing and cannot be rushed. There is no way to “game” the system. AI drives behavior and results. Second, ad campaign management requires ongoing, laser-focused attention to maximize returns and optimize ad spends. With an understanding of these two key points, Google ads represent one of the essential tools for digital marketing and new patient acquisition in the dental industry.