1. Enable conversion tracking
You can't manage what you can't measure. With this in mind, it is absolutely critical that you enable Google's conversion tracking code in your landing pages to start tracking your cost per conversion.
You can even just tracking conversions from clicks to key landing pages that don't collect lead info - but this is still essential to creating a CPL or CPA (cost per action) benchmark for testing against.
This will also allow you to ramp up your budget spend once you've achieved a positive ROI and target CPL rate.
2. Use phrase or exact matching
If you are still using broad matching on your keywords, then you are throwing away lots of expensive/valuable clicks. Be sure to add quotes (e.g. "email marketing") to enable phrase matching, or square brackets for exact matching to avoid buying single keywords that are untargeted (broad matching would mean your ads would show up for both "email" searches and "marketing" searches - which is much too general). I always recommend that a good portion of your keywords should be phrases with 2 or 3 words at least.
3. Target geography and language
To improve lead quality and boost traffic, create a new campaign for each language and geographic target you are after. This ensures
that the right ad is being shown to the right contact in the right country. It is also essential that you customize language specific landing pages to international leads.
4. Filter content network traffic
If you have checked the Google Content Network box on a keyword campaign, you must set up ways to control this higher volume, lower quality traffic. One way is to set specific lower CPC bid pricing for content network ads vs the core Google search ads. This way, you will be less likely to blow your budget on non-targeting network web sites. There is also less competition for some content network web sites, so setting a lower CPC (or CPM) rate doesn't mean you will compromize your ad positioning.
5. Buy CPM with placement targeting
Choosing specific web sites on a CPM basis using a "placement targeted" campaign, in addition to CPC keyword campaigns, will often lower your cost per lead metrics. Start tailoring your ads and landing pages more specifically to suit the content and nature of those web sites. Don't be offering a free white paper on web site security if that is what is being offered already at the web site where your ads are appearing. Try text, image and video ads in your Ad Groups for content sites that you are running impressions on. Filter out user generated content, and sites with dubious, profane content using the filter tools provided. Remember, this isn't a CPC campaign anymore where you pay for each click, so really ramp up your call to action to generate clicks (since you only pay for impressions) to drive traffic to a low-field, single-minded and highly optimized landing page.
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