The Role of Brand Campaigns: Balancing Benefits and Budget Efficiency

Brand campaigns are a staple of performance marketing for sports betting operators, with many investing heavily in brand-building strategies. But this spend often means they must bid on their brand terms to convert, without leaving the door open for competitors to swoop in with aggressive promotional offers. Bidding on branded keywords keeps competitors at bay and ensures that high-intent users land on the right platform. But while these campaigns provide clear advantages, they also come with inefficiencies, primarily wasted ad spend on navigational traffic from already acquired customers.

This blog breaks down the power of brand campaigns, the hidden costs of navigational traffic, and practical ways to improve spending while maintaining visibility.

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The Case for Brand Campaigns in Sports Betting

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1. Defending Your Brand Against Competitor: 

‍Your brand name is a valuable asset, and if you’re not bidding on it, your competitors will be. Without branded campaigns, rival operators can hijack your traffic, enticing users away before reaching your site.

2. Capturing High-Intent Users:

When users search for your brand, they’re already engaged. Branded search ads ensure they find you first, boosting conversion rates and reducing friction in the customer journey.

3. Supporting Multi-Channel Marketing Efforts: 

TV ads, sponsorships, and influencer marketing all create brand awareness, but where do users go next? Search engines. If your ad isn’t there when they look for you, you risk losing the momentum built by your broader campaigns.

4. Controlling Your Messaging: 

Unlike organic listings, paid ads let you customise headlines and descriptions. Highlight exclusive promotions, time-sensitive offers, or new features to drive immediate action.

5. Keeping Competitor Bidding in Check:

If you don’t protect your brand terms, competitors will bid on them, potentially pushing your organic result down the page. Owning the top spot ensures your traffic stays yours.

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The Hidden Cost of Brand Campaigns: Navigational Traffic

While brand campaigns are effective, not all clicks bring value. Many are from existing customers using Google as a shortcut to log in. These clicks don’t generate new business but still rack up costs.

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How Navigational Traffic Wastes Budget

• Users Clicking Just to Log In – Many bettors don’t type in the full website URL; they search for it and click the first result. If that’s a paid ad, you’re paying for a click that should have been free.
  
  
• Inflated Campaign Metrics – High CTRs and low CPCs make branded campaigns look like top performers. But if a large portion of those clicks are from returning users, the real impact is much lower than it seems.
  
  
• Google’s "Brand Tax" – Google’s auction system forces brands to bid on their names to stay visible. Without branded ads, competitors will take the top spot, increasing acquisition costs.
  
  
• Draining Budget from Growth-Focused Campaigns – Every dollar spent on existing customers searching for your brand is a dollar not spent on acquiring new bettors or reactivating dormant accounts.

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Why Google Requires You to Bid on Your Own Brand

Google’s system isn’t built to protect brands, it’s built for competition. Here’s why operators must bid on their own name:
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1. Competitive Neutrality – Google’s auction system allows competitors to bid on branded terms. If you don’t bid, you risk losing traffic to rival ads.
   
2. Revenue Maximisation – Encouraging brand bidding drives up competition, ultimately increasing Google’s ad revenue. It’s a strategic play, not a mistake.
   
3. User Experience – Paid ads provide more detailed, custom messaging than organic results, ensuring users find the most relevant content.

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Brand Campaigns as Part of a Bigger Strategy

Branded search isn’t an isolated effort, it’s a reinforcement tool for your entire marketing strategy.

• TV and Radio Campaigns : A spike in branded searches follows mass-media ads. A strong brand campaign ensures these users land on your platform, not a competitor’s.
  
• Sponsorships and Sporting Events: Big matches drive brand interest. Branded campaigns let you capitalise on increased search volume in real time.
  
• Influencer Marketing: Influencer endorsements often lead to brand searches. A branded ad ensures that interest turns into conversions.
  
• Consistent Promotional Messaging: Align your search ads with your broader marketing efforts to keep your offers and branding consistent across all touchpoints.

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Navigational Traffic: The Costly Problem Operators Need to Solve

Operators are spending millions on clicks that don’t generate new business. Excessive login clicks, hyper-engaged users, multi-visit navigation … These issues aren’t just minor inefficiencies—they’re budget killers.

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Examples of Navigational Traffic Issues

Excessive Login Clicks

‍One operator saw a user click on a branded ad 55 times just to log in, inflating ad costs unnecessarily. The same user also arrived organically 28 times, proving these clicks were non-essential.

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Hyper-Engaged Users

‍Another customer used branded search ads to log in 242 times over two weeks. That’s 242 unnecessary paid clicks from a single user.

Watch this video to learn how using paid ads affects how much it costs to get new customers, especially when they keep coming back through your Google ads. This quick video breaks it down for you!

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‍Multi-Visit Navigation

‍Users often return through branded search ads multiple times a day, each click adding to the campaign cost without adding value.

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How TrafficGuard Helps Operators Eliminate Waste

TrafficGuard cuts through navigational traffic waste with smart solutions that protect ad budgets without sacrificing visibility.

• Click Frequency Rules: TrafficGuard filters out excessive clicks from users who repeatedly use branded ads as a login shortcut. By setting click frequency limits, operators avoid paying for non-incremental traffic.
  
  Watch how Click Frequency Rules prevent wasted spend:

• Shadow Campaigns: Instead of running a single high-cost branded campaign, TrafficGuard deploys a duplicate campaign with lower CPC settings. This redirects non-incremental traffic into a cheaper alternative while keeping high-intent users on the main campaign.
  
  See how Shadow Campaigns optimise spend:

• Predicted Smart Ranges: TrafficGuard’s IP intelligence condenses millions of IPs into predictive ranges, filtering out known sources of non-incremental traffic before they impact budgets.

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See real results from our customers:

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Brand Campaigns Done Right: Protecting ROI Without Paying for Inefficiencies

Brand campaigns are a necessary part of digital marketing, offering control over brand visibility, protecting against competitor bidding, and supporting multi-channel campaigns. But without the right strategy, they also waste budgets on navigational clicks that add zero incremental value.

By implementing Click Frequency Rules, Shadow Campaigns, and Predictive Smart Ranges, operators can keep their branded campaigns profitable, without burning budgets on existing users.

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Ready to overcome audience-building challenges? Connect with us today!

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FAQs

1. Why is it important to address navigational traffic in brand campaigns?
   Navigational traffic inflates costs by consuming budgets on clicks from existing users who would have accessed the site organically. Addressing this issue allows operators to allocate resources more efficiently, focusing on acquiring new users or reactivating dormant ones, ultimately improving campaign ROI.

2. How does TrafficGuard differentiate between valuable traffic and navigational traffic?
   TrafficGuard uses advanced click frequency invalidation rules and IP intelligence to identify patterns associated with navigational behaviour, such as repeated logins through branded ads. By implementing these rules and leveraging tools like shadow campaigns, TrafficGuard ensures that ad spend is directed toward incremental traffic rather than wasted on non-incremental clicks.
   
   
3. Can shadow campaigns impact the visibility of my brand in search results?
   No, shadow campaigns are designed to maintain the visibility of your brand in search results while reducing costs. They work by redirecting non-incremental traffic to a lower-cost campaign, ensuring your brand remains prominent without inflating ad spend.

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