Note
I'm wrapping up the Google advertising campaign for NAOC2012. As you may have noticed, we have utilized many forms of advertising, over a long period of time. Later on, I may provide a full accounting of the different media, costs, and outcomes during the various campaigns. I am pretty pleased with the way it has went, and even if it was somewhat self-indulgent, it was also effective.
For those who may have conjectured about promoting orienteering, I can only share empirical results (which sort of agreed with my ex ante assumptions--so I feel somewhat vindicated.)
First, no one is searching for "orienteering" on Google. Probably not a surprise. It also doesn't rank that highly on the Display Network, either, so you won't get accidental views that way. I will say that the CTR, at 0.28%, was pretty good, but trailed "adventure race", which had a CTR of 0.31%. It accounted for 7.5% of my total clicks.
The best keyword? "wilderness", by a long shot. 30% of total impressions and 37.5% of clicks.
"tough mudder" and "mud run" were also good, just not quite as good. "adventure run" still has no traction.
Of course, a real analysis of these results would need to control for many factors. This trial used one ad, one set of keywords, and I have no idea about the context of the ads, etc. However, as an anecdotal exercise, it is at least interesting.
I wonder how my results compare to what OUSA has seen?
Also, I was told today that NAOC registrations have exceeded expectations. Only some expectations; mine are still a good bit higher.
Anyway, this is all for nought if you don't have a good product. But, having a great product, which no one knows about, might be worse.