Targeting competitors names

by tbk125
6 replies
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We have a marketing plan with Hearst media. They were targeting our own name for Google adwords. This seems stupid to me, I suggested we target our competitors business name so we appear when people search for them.. Is this a good or bad idea? The sales rep was opposed to doing so.
#competitors #names #targeting
  • Profile picture of the author amcg
    Originally Posted by tbk125 View Post

    We have a marketing plan with Hearst media. They were targeting our own name for Google adwords. This seems stupid to me, I suggested we target our competitors business name so we appear when people search for them.. Is this a good or bad idea? The sales rep was opposed to doing so.
    Targeting your name is stupid, it's what you are selling or offering service wise that will interest customers. Likewise, targeting competitors seems a waste of money in this regard.

    I find many of the old media companies e.g Hearts and Yell here in Europe i.e book directory and paper press companies don't understand digital marketing. (and hence their current difficulties)
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  • Profile picture of the author tbk125
    I apologize for not previously stating. This is a local brick and mortar business we are advertising... so I believe many of the customers search the business names just to find their address or phone number.

    Regardless of this being a brick and mortar business I still would like to know if it is a bad idea for a e-commerce site.
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  • Profile picture of the author LynxForte
    Tbk125,

    Speaking from experience, targeting your competitor names is a bad idea.

    1) It's more expensive for you to target their names in PPC - your QS for the pages is not what it should be.
    2) It's a poor practice to try to target competitor names in general (read: ethics).

    Solution: build the brand. Social media, blog, keep in touch with newsletters, optimize each product page, and so on and so forth.

    If you want to beat your competitors, you need to simply show that you are better than them in terms of service, shipping policies, returns policies, more in touch with your customers via social networks, etc. Focus PPC on your category, brand pages for traffic and popular product pages for sales.

    Final word - don't go after your competitors in PPC. Hope this helped.
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  • Profile picture of the author kjamesnv
    Originally Posted by tbk125 View Post

    We have a marketing plan with Hearst media. They were targeting our own name for Google adwords. This seems stupid to me,
    Targeting your own name is an EXCELLENT idea. We bid on many keywords but our own name is consistently our best performer. It also helps the QS of your overall account.

    Regarding competitors keywords it all depends on how much you have to bid. If there is little or no competition for those words then it may be a good idea. This is something that should be tested.
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    • Profile picture of the author tbk125
      Originally Posted by kjamesnv View Post

      It also helps the QS of your overall account.
      What is QS?
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  • Profile picture of the author LynxForte
    tbk125,

    QS is short for quality score.

    I'm not trying to be rude, but it's best explained here: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2454010?hl=en
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