Amy outlined the results of an experiment that would lead to the conclusion that the exact match type performs better than the phrase match type which in turn performs better than the broad match type.

This is an intuitive result. The exact match will attract more targeted prospects than the phrase and the broad. Of course there is a direct relationship between how targeted a prospect is and conversion rate.

This is all good and well but from a practical sense can be misleading. An interesting addition to the tables of results would be quantity of sales from each match type. Sure, exact match may convert better, but when you are converting a significantly lower amount of prospects (lower impressions/lower clicks), the actual number of sales may be negligible.

Companies with deep pockets who want more sales wouldn’t mind a lower conversion rate (higher cost per sale or lead) so long as the ROI is positive. In the end it’s all about ROI.