The Client
Founded in 2007, Talentsoft is the European leader in cloud-based talent management and learning software. With over 11 million users in 130 countries, Talentsoft is a key player in human capital management solutions. In 2021, the company was acquired by Cegid.
The Challenge
Talentsoft approached us to help manage their existing Google Ads account to increase the total number of qualified leads generated, while reducing its total monthly advertising budget. At the time of our takeover, the client’s cost-per-lead (CPL) was too high to be profitable and their conversion rate was just 0.96%. They also wanted to improve the way they track each lead and conversion. They’d been working with an agency who “set it and forgot it”.
Services Provided
- Conversion goals and tracking implementation.
- Keyword research and market analysis.
- Google Paid Search and Display Retargeting.
- Landing Pages and Conversions Optimization.
The Solution
Step 1: Google Ads Conversion Implementation With Google Tag Manager
Having proper tracking is vital for measuring success with a campaign – if you don’t have it set up correctly, it’s impossible to optimize in scale.
They were tracking anything and everything as a conversion in Google Ads on top of other distinct issues with the data. When we looked into this, we found that when someone visited their landing page, not even taking action was counted as a conversion.
We set up all the important conversion points: free trial signup, Demo form and contact form ‘Submit’. When we set up conversion tracking – we only track confirmed leads so we know for sure the correct action was taken and can optimize accordingly.
Once we mapped out all the conversions points and put them into a Google spreadsheet, we then implemented them on site using Google tag manager.
Step 2: Adding New Keywords & Implementing a Negative Keyword List
From our initial research, we discovered a wide range of keywords that we could target with. Also, with the input of the client, we narrowed down our focus on specific keyword groups that we thought would work best. We created a new list of keywords that we felt were competitive as well as high-intent.
We also did keyword research for negative keywords before launching the new campaigns. This is what we call “pre-optimization” and helps to save a ton of money.
More importantly, it ensures the ad groups are not competing with each other – and the same goes for campaigns. This is why a negative keywords list is so important.
Step 3: Campaign Restructuring & Expansion
In order to more efficiently manage the different groups of keywords, we created an additional 10 campaigns with over 30 new Ad Groups for each targeted country.
This expansion allowed them to bucket keywords logically, target ad copy more effectively, and create a structure that anyone in the marketing department could step into and manage.
Step 4: Ad Copy Improvement
The ad copy needed to be revised and refreshed. Multiple versions of the ads were created and we then rotated the ads simultaneously in order to gauge both the CTR and conversion rate. We always split test 3 ads per ad group to see which headlines work best.
Step 5: Elevating the Landing Pages
We used a landing page for each campaign and constantly looked to expand more. Their designs are tested continuously, starting with basic copy modifications, then moving to testing images and/or videos, social proof elements, and adding contact form fields to the pages.
Put simply: a landing page should clearly represent what’s being offered, emphasise the benefits, and must be optimized for both mobile and desktop devices.
Results
Through our streamlined process, we were able to dramatically improve the numbers of sales qualified leads for this account, reducing the original cost-per-lead by 57%.
This was all thanks to our proven process which takes into account all aspects of lead generation: from market research & account auditing to keyword research & optimization, to proper tracking, to optimization and scaling.
- Cost per acquisition lowered by 57%.
- Conversion rate improvement of 79%.
- Search ad click-through rate improvement of 48%.
