Google AdWords
Who they are
  • EmailCash.com.au - part of the PermissionCorp group of Companies
  • www.emailcash.com.au
  • Sydney, Australia
  • 54 employees
  • Online rewards programme

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What they needed
  • To expand their free rewards programme membership
  • To enlist more reward partners
  • To maximise results from their advertising spending
  • To manage the online acquisition process efficiently
What they did
  • Adopted Conversion Optimiser for AdWords campaigns
  • Used Conversion Optimiser to set maximum CPA bids in three operational areas
  • Used Conversion Optimiser to set marketing benchmarks
What they accomplished
  • Increased conversions: Used Conversion Optimiser to set marketing benchmarks
  • Lowered costs: Reduced cost per acquisition (CPA) by an average 30 percent
  • Improved efficiencies: The same number of staff (a small team) managed the ad group campaigns as the company tripled in size and expanded internationally
  • Industry recognition: Company gained national visibility and garnered numerous awards

The Conversion Optimiser: Rewarding

EmailCash used Google AdWords’ Conversion Optimiser to increase conversions by 20% while decreasing cost per conversion by 30%.

Since its founding in 1999, EmailCash (now called RewardsCentral) has become the largest permission-based email marketing company in Australia. As part of the PermissionCorp.com group of Companies, EmailCash is also one of the largest online shopping networks in the region, and the largest marketing research panel in Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan, with a recent expansion into the United Kingdom.

A marketing mix to drive revenue goals

EmailCash’s primary business is its free EmailCash rewards programme, where consumers earn points for reading emails from marketers, completing online surveys or making purchases online from a list of participating reward partners. The company’s revenue-driving strategy is built around three key objectives: increasing consumer traffic to the site, increasing members sign-ups and offering members enjoyable and rewarding ways to interact with the site.

 Google AdWords quickly became an important tool in our marketing mix. It has contributed to our growth and our market share in all three lines of our business."

- Jeffrey Glazer, Director of Marketing and Sales

To meet these objectives, the company is always looking for ways to get the word out about its services. In 2000 EmailCash’s director of marketing and sales, Jeffrey Glazer, contacted Google to evaluate how Google’s products could help EmailCash drive its revenue goals.

EmailCash decided to first set up a Google AdWords™ account and began running online ad campaigns in concert with its offline advertising efforts.

"In particular, the AdWords Conversion Optimiser tool has been essential in helping us maintain a strong position amongst the competition," says Glazer. Conversion Optimiser, a free AdWords feature for managing cost per acquisition (CPA) bids, enables EmailCash to specify a maximum CPA bid for each of its ad groups. The Conversion Optimiser uses historical information about a campaign to find the optimal cost-per-click (CPC) bid for an ad automatically each time it's eligible to appear, thereby saving EmailCash valuable advertising money.

"The Conversion Optimiser has saved my team precious time during rapid expansion," continues Glazer. "I set well-defined parameters in terms of our maximum cost per new acquisition, and Conversion Optimiser has allowed us to achieve these benchmarks seamlessly."

Measurable return

Since commencing use of the Conversion Optimiser, EmailCash has seen conversions increase by 20 percent, whilst cost per conversion has dropped 30 percent. Additionally, impressions have increased, and CPA levels are well below marketing benchmarks. "We appreciate the ability to control our spend and set a maximum CPA bid, especially because our ultimate goal is to achieve a CPA within a certain dollar range," Glazer says.

In addition, Conversion Optimiser’s automated process saves EmailCash employees a significant amount of time. While the organisation now consists of 54 people, only two people work full-time to manage all the online acquisition campaigns. "If it weren’t for Conversion Optimiser," says Glazer, "we would need at least one additional full-time Ad Manager for our international markets, maybe more."

"Regardless of the power of the technology, it is ultimately about people working with people to ensure that the technology is employed effectively," asserts Glazer. "Our success has been achieved with the help of the Google team on the ground. They took the time to understand our business and make the most appropriate product recommendation – which for us was Conversion Optimiser."

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About Conversion Optimiser

The Conversion Optimiser is an AdWords feature that helps advertisers manage advertising costs. Advertisers simply specify their maximum cost per acquisition (CPA) bid, and the Conversion Optimiser sets all their keywords' cost-per-click (CPC) bids automatically. The Conversion Optimiser makes adjustments in CPC bids based on the likelihood that a conversion will result from each ad auction. In addition to decreasing the time that advertisers spend on monitoring and managing CPC bids, the Conversion Optimiser can help improve AdWords campaign performance. For more information, visit http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=60150&hl=en_GB.

About Google AdWords

Google AdWords™ is a performance-based advertising programme that enables businesses large and small to advertise on Google and its network of partner websites. Hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide use AdWords for text, image and video ads priced on a cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-impression (CPM) basis. Built on an auction-based system, AdWords is a highly quantifiable and cost-effective way to reach potential customers. For more information, visit http://www.google.co.uk/adwords

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