How to stop wasting brand search spend – and save it with automation

What if you could automatically turn off bidding on your brand terms when no other rivals are in the picture, and you’re already positioned number one organically? The savings could be substantial. 

It all starts with Lone Rangers.

Who is that masked figure? Lone Rangers defined:

A ‘Lone Ranger’ is a brand search term for which you are the sole paid search bidder and for which you have the #1 organic position. In other words, why pay for clicks on a term you’re winning for free?

Lone Ranger keywords are those you would win without bidding

“Lone Ranger” terms drive millions in wasted brand paid search spend. They’re brand terms you win organically and for which you’re the sole bidder for paid ads. Many brands keep spending on those terms simply because monitoring and identifying them 24/7 used to be a time-consuming hassle. But not anymore.

Why rein in Lone Rangers? 

Lone Rangers represent a no-downside opportunity to reduce wasted spending on terms where you don’t face competition. You can pay for the click or pay nothing; either way, you win the click organically. 

Maintaining Search Engine Results Page domination may still be fruitful for brand experience, but the costs can and should be reduced until another competitor appears. Savings can even be reinvested into areas of greater growth.

Adthena’s Lone Ranger reports show the number of Search Terms where you alone are showing a paid ad and have the top organic spot and your potential savings from the last seven days. Additionally, with Brand Activator technology, you can fully automate the process of pausing and restarting ‘Lone Ranger’ keywords.

What’s Brand Activator?

Brand Activator is a brand new feature on the Adthena platform that automates the entire process of monitoring, pausing and restarting Lone Ranger campaigns. 

What’s the purpose of this automation? To prevent you from a) wasting budget or b) losing market share. What’s the desired outcome? To stay on top of your paid search game and dominate your competitive landscape.

How does the automation tool work? 

Brand Activator is automated around the clock, meaning that no manual labor is involved, saving time and costs. (We heard that sigh of relief). The tool automatically deactivates and reactivates bidding to ensure full optimization of brand clicks and market share. 

Here’s a step-by-step process of how it works:

1. 24/7 monitoring – Adthena finds Lone Rangers terms you’re winning organically with no rival bidders.
2. Automatic deactivation – Bidding on Lone Rangers is automatically paused and added to your negative keyword list. 
3. Automatic reactivation – Bidding is reactivated if a competitor starts bidding. 
4. Monthly reporting – Adthena provides analytics to track your savings and identify other areas to reinvest.

Save now, reinvest later

You’re in charge of what you want to do with the savings – whether that’s to save budget or reinvest elsewhere for greater ROI. Using Adthena’s Whole Market View technology, you could reinvest these savings back into your paid search strategy on higher-performing search terms to boost overall Return On Ad Spend (ROAS).

How can you benefit from it?

With brands operating on tight PPC budgets and economic uncertainty, taking control of Lone Rangers, either manually or through Brand Activator, can be an easy and no-risk way to reduce wasted spending. This opportunity for significant growth is a no-brainer. 
Interested in learning more about what Brand Activator can do? Check out this easy guide to learn more.