Simternship Performance Report

Overall Campaign Strategy & Performance

At the start of the simulation, my main focus was on choosing the right keyword and making sure the information I ptovided matched my audience needs. I wanted to get things right from the beginning and build a strong foundation. But as the rounds went on, my priorities shifted. I started thinking more about generating revenue and making money from my campaign. That’s when I realized how challenging display ads could be, I struggled with making them effective, and it showed in my results.

By the final rounds my strategy’s changed again I focused on fixing past mistakes and making sure everything was accurate. I made a lot of adjustments based on my results after each round, but round 8 was where I changed the most. I noticed some small errors that I had overlooked, but they were actually affecting my performance in a big way.

Looking back, this experience taught me that I need to review my work more carefully, more than once or twice to catch those little mistakes before they turn into big problems. I also learned to be more patient with the process and not rush through important steps.

Ad Types & KPI Insights (Search, Display, Shopping)

Going through the marketing simulation taught me a lot about how different ad types perform and what it takes to manage them successfully.

To start, managing search ads and shopping ads came naturally to me. I found them easy to work with, and they delivered strong results with very little confusion. I didn’t struggle with either, and they helped me generate revenue throughout the simulation.

On the other hand, display ads were a challenge from the beginning. No matter how much I adjusted, I couldn’t figure out how to make them profitable. They ended up being my worst-performing campaigns. I had trouble understanding how to design them effectively or reach the right audience in a way that led to conversions.

The format that performed best for me was definitely search ads. They brought in the most revenue, and my top-performing campaign overall was the search ad for Tom and the backpack in the final round. Throughout the simulation, both Tom and Mindy were strong customers, but by the end, Tom’s campaign pulled ahead in terms of results.

When it came to evaluating success, the most useful KPIs were revenue and conversions. These two metrics gave me the clearest picture of how well my campaigns were actually performing.

I also realized how important targeting and messaging were to the outcome. By clearly understanding who my audience was and tailoring my ads to their needs, I saw stronger results, especially in my shopping ads for both the backpack and messenger bag. This helped me earn more revenue and increase conversions overall.

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Keyword Strategy & Bidding

When it came to choosing keywords, I focused on creating a mix of both low-competition keywords and high-competition ones. I wanted to reach different types of customers while also keeping my ad spend balanced. This mix helped me try to get the best results.

At first, I didn’t organize my keywords very well. I didn’t coordinate them with the ad group pages or even match them to the headlines. But as I went through more rounds in the simulation, I started making sure that my keywords were better connected to the ad group and the ads themselves. This made a big difference in how my ads performed.

For my bidding strategy, I followed the technique we learned in class, bid higher on high-competition keywords and lower on low-competition ones. This helped me avoid wasting money and kept my campaigns from having any negative results.

One thing I struggled with was when reviewed my results I missed some keywords that were actually costing me money. For example, keywords like “women’s duffel bags” and “travel day pack” gave me negative revenue because people were clicking but not converting. When I reviewed the results and used the simulation’s feedback, I was able to catch those and make better decisions in the next rounds.

By the end of the simulation, I had cleaned up my keyword list and removed anything that wasn’t helping. All of my final keywords were giving me positive revenue, conversions, and clicks, which felt like a big win after all the adjustments I had to make along the way.

Landing Page Effectiveness

My landing pages played a big role in how well my ads performed. They helped me bring in more revenue and conversions, especially when I started making changes based on what I saw in each round of the simulation.

At first, I didn’t pay much attention to how my landing page connected with my ads. But as the rounds went on, I realized that adding more relevant keywords to my landing page made a big difference.

I learned that ad-to-page alignment is really important. When a user clicks on an ad, they expect the landing page to match what they were searching for. If it doesn’t, they might leave right away. Making sure my landing pages matched the message of the ad helped improve the user experience.

The metrics that helped me decide what to change were revenue and conversions. After each round, I would check to see if the new landing page was performing better. If the changes led to higher sales, I kept them. If not, I made more adjustments. This trial-and-error approach helped me figure out what worked best.

Overall, I learned that even small changes to a landing page can have a big impact—and that keeping it aligned with my keywords and ad message is key to success.

Conclusion & Strategic Reflection

If I had one more round in the simulation, the first thing I would do is carefully go over all my work to make sure everything was in the right place. In round eight, I realized that I had accidentally placed Sue in the wrong campaign, she was in the Messenger Bag campaign, but all her keywords, features, and even her landing page were built for the Duffel Bag. That mistake cost me a lot in terms of revenue. I’d also go back and double-check my display ads, making sure each person and product was matched correctly, and that nothing was mixed up.

One of my biggest takeaways from this simternship is that I need to slow down and pay closer attention to the details. Double-checking things like ad alignment, audience targeting, and campaign setup can make a huge difference. A small error can seriously affect performance and I learned that the hard way.

This experience really opened my eyes to how detailed and strategic digital marketing needs to be. I also realized that working with keywords isn’t my strongest area, but I’ve learned so much from this simternship. I now have a much better understanding of how ads, keywords, landing pages, and targeting all work together to drive results. Even though it was tough at times, I’m glad I went through it because it gave me real insight into what goes into building a successful digital marketing campaign.