Selection of the best PPC manager for business managers… Hot topic! The choice of PPC manager for business managers is obviously essential in determining the success or failure of a PPC campaign in setting and achieving long-term business goals. This one choice can change the course of your business to great success, bringing in many new loyal customers and targeted leads. On the flip side, it can drive your business straight into the ground, footing a large bill to be paid with very little to no results or progress to show for it.
In our early education on how to properly manage a PPC campaign, we begin to realize that a PPC campaign consists of building/developing and managing/sustaining stages. Typically, you can assume most business managers who are looking to hire a PPC manager are either outsourcing a currently available PPC campaign for their business or looking to start a new one. This means that as a PPC manager, your first step is to understand the purpose of this campaign.
👉 What is the business manager’s long-term goal?
👉 What product or service are we trying to promote?
👉 Who is our target audience and what do they expect from us?
These questions will draw a clear outline of the stage one development of your campaign. Step two is explained in great detail in another article I wrote.
But what we can derive from this is the fact that there is a significant difference in expertise required for these two developmental phases of the campaign. In stage one, a PPC manager may be very focused on using keywords and text ads to build a sturdy foundation for a certain product or service and ensure that it is well defined to a specific audience. This is fairly straightforward, and there are many PPC managers who are thoroughly skilled in these areas. This is not to say that this manager would not be useful in stage two; he just might not be the best choice, especially if that manager himself has already felt confusion in the difference between the two said stages.
2. Assessing Agency Candidates
By the time you get to this stage, you will have drawn up a shortlist of potential agencies to manage your campaign.
How did you compile this list?
If it was made up of referrals from friends and colleagues, by cold calling or by marketers tracking you down, it’s time to clear the slate and start from square one – regardless of whether any of the referrals are worth proceeding with.
Understand that the very process of selecting a PPC management agency can itself be a microcosm of a small scale PPC campaign. This shouldn’t make you apprehensive, however you wouldn’t hire just anyone to do just any job – and so it should be with the vetting of potential agencies.
Initial pitches will often be a matter of the agencies quickly spending their “finding out about your business” time before reporting back a day or so later with a broad and somewhat boilerplate strategy. Remember not to disclose any sensitive or internal data relating to your company or campaigns too soon and do also think twice before signing any NDAs – is this agency a known entity or are they the sort that the NDA itself would be an endorsement of their credibility?
2.1. Reviewing Experience and Expertise
Your needs should begin with a strong understanding of the professional’s qualifications and experience. You should ensure that the manager will have a proven track record at creating and optimizing PPC campaigns.
The manager’s experience and success should have created an accumulation of knowledge and skills in the PPC field. It is common to find that many PPC managers have past experience as they may have transitioned from SEO, IT, or marketing roles. This can give them a diverse understanding of the online marketplace and a unique insight on certain campaign goals. It can also mean that a manager may not have the direct experience but may, in fact, have a natural talent or passion for PPC and is looking to make a transition to it as a viable career option.
It is important to establish whether or not the PPC manager has experience with your type of business. Especially for larger campaigns, the marketplace and business demands can vary, and unique models of advertising may need to be followed.
For example, an eCommerce store could benefit from a Shopping Campaign whereas a local service provider may find more success with a high-reaching local campaign. In this case, the eCommerce store owner may want to find a candidate with experience of managing shopping campaigns.
Past experience can be the most telling factor that a PPC manager will be suitable. Always remember to ask for example cases of past success or problems and relate them to your business.
2.2. Evaluating Performance Metrics
Defining performance metrics is very crucial because these are the yardsticks for success. If you are unable to quantify the success, life will become difficult in evaluating the potential of a PPC company. Keeping a clear vision of the PPC campaign model in mind, one can associate certain KPIs with different phases of the campaign.
Define the success yardstick for each KPI. This is how you can segregate good metrics from bad ones. Good metrics are those which measure the success of the campaign phase. For example, to measure the keyword quality, one can associate the KPI of reduced average CPC and increased CTR with it.
Now, to measure the increased sales due to better keywords, we can associate an increase in sales with an increase in projected revenue. So, here projected revenue is the KPI for measuring the success of the keyword phase. This is a good metric. Bad metrics usually ask bad questions, cause data segregation, and can give unclear results.
For example, if one is comparing the traffic from two different sources and adds a code implementing a session variable of 1 and 0 to differentiate visitors coming from two sources, it might give a differing set of traffic data for one set of traffic. This is a bad question and the data will be unclear. So, this method created a bad metric.
One with overlapping results in the form of completed purchases and revenue, without any accountability of an increase in sales. So, source comparison is not a good metric. Always weigh the value of each metric with the cost and time required to implement those metrics.
2.3. How to Analyze PPC Manager’s Case Studies and Success Stories
Radhika Sarraf, of Hire Quotient, a purpose-driven HR Tech firm from Singapore, stresses the importance of analyzing both case studies and success stories. It is important to dig deeper than simply looking at the ‘end result’ of any given account.
Often, the most successful PPC managers produce good results on accounts that were predestined for failure. This is because the market for the business in question was not appropriate for PPC, the product was too expensive, or simply the business did not do the necessary research to try PPC. In these cases, the PPC manager may have done ‘good work’, but came out with bad results.
By looking at such case studies of failure, we can ascertain the types of management that are suitable for that level of market. He can decide whether to employ a manager who has experience with a solid track record, possibly after deciding to try a second manager after a failed account. This decision can bring very similar results to the first choice, but with time, a successful manager will accomplish more results with less work and less trial and error than a less experienced counterpart.
The decision here is obviously dependent on the financial situation and long-term goals for the business. Step four takes us to this very point.
3. Determining PPC Manager Compatibility and Fit
It is almost guaranteed that the wrong decision will be taken by appointing a wrong person, whether that is employing someone to work for your company or using a particular service. It is a common belief that one of the reasons a wrong decision can occur is that there is no way to measure a wrong one against a right one. In terms of service providers, this is simply not true.
The key to success is measuring the characteristics of the individuals and then measuring those same characteristics when seeking a specific service. If the same values are matched, then good results can be expected. A good PPC Manager will also approach the customer and explain this.
Their desire is that the service will be a success and that they can work together with the right level of support. So don’t be afraid to ask questions and ensure that the right fit is there. A big hurdle to this can be the way it is asked. Both parties can be hesitant to not offend the other, and this can lead to not a true answer being revealed.
The PPC Manager can counter this by proactively approaching the customer to clear the air on these issues. By picking the right PPC Manager, the working relationship can be a successful one.
3.1. Assessing Communication Skills
Is the agency accessible? Can the person meet deadlines? Does the potential manager have good project skills? These are all questions you want to satisfy.
This is important to know to establish if the person can communicate in general a well thought out plan for success. A PPC manager will generally have an understanding of traffic trends. If the PPC manager cannot communicate a plan regarding how to capture market share and incremental volume at the expense of competitors, you must question the project plan.
An effective PPC campaign is not about doing large volumes of keyword research and launching a big list of keywords all at once. PPC is about a continuous process of learning, testing, measuring and optimizing. It is important to have a PPC manager that is continuously focusing on improving your campaign, even if you are more concerned with SEO and organic search.
A good PPC manager will embed analytics into everything they do. It will be important for them to communicate their results with you, formalizing different reports and metrics they see as being important for your campaign. If the PPC manager is working for a higher level executive or client with PPC experience, it is important for them to be able to translate results into terms which are relevant for the customer’s understanding.
Make sure that the potential PPC manager is someone who understands the potential equaling six role of PPC in customer value sales cycle. They must communicate how they plan to target both higher level information seekers as well as bottom level buyers who are looking for a specific product to buy.
3.2. Evaluating Cultural Alignment
Many business managers assume that an agency that’s hired to handle PPC initiatives will also be engaged in a fair amount of SEO that they say is “necessary” to support the PPC programs. Often that is not the case, and there are some very experienced and effective PPC managers who are not conversant in SEO.
Some PPC managers believe that a major reason for failure happens when clicks from qualified prospects are directed to poor landing pages. This results in a failure to convert and hurts the PPC program; the visitors are less likely to click similar ads in the future. See resource for an insightful article by Tim Ash on landing page optimization. These are just a few examples of how varied beliefs can be, but the point is that it’s a good idea to delve into in-depth discussions on how the PPC manager feels about the various components of a PPC program.
If there are specific requirements or beliefs held, it’s best to see if the potential PPC management candidates are in agreement. One of the easiest ways to determine which agency will give more emphasis to PPC as opposed to SEO is by looking at those agencies which have a large portion of their own web pages found through PPC ads in major search engines like Google. If they are successful in their own PPC effort, it is indicative that they can do the same for you.
Just as two different people might have opposing beliefs, different companies operate in different ways because they have different constraints.
For instance, Google does not allow bidding on the keyword “Google” and various misspellings and pluralizations of it. This might be an issue for a company with a brand name that’s also a keyword. Other companies have experienced personalities that are near impossible to satisfy. As the saying goes, you can’t please all the people all the time, and often it’s a matter of deciding whether a certain demographic can be reached since the probability is low that it will be feasible to make the target population satisfied with search parameter.
One company representative wanted to target US college students to research and purchase a product that was not directly college-related. He felt that it was too difficult to reach them and didn’t believe it was possible. This contrasts greatly to an education ad put forth by another company that was intended for college students, in which the very large difference in what was being trying to be accomplished. It’s good to know if the PPC manager believes the ad to be worthwhile and feasible, as it may determine their level of dedication to the project.
3.3. Considering PPC Manager Work Style and Approach
Factual details will help you to determine the work style of any PPC manager. A few important topics to cover would be how often and in what detail will he report to his clients.
The level of control you can have over the PPC account can vary greatly depending on the manager’s approach. Some clients prefer to be involved in campaign creation and the set-up process, while others will want the manager to take full control and only inform them when specific tasks have been completed.
Try to establish this level of control early on, as it can become a point of frustration for both parties if expectations do not match. A detailed work log will be extremely useful if any discrepancies/problems arise in the future. Finally, will the work be proactive or reactive? Will the manager stay one step ahead e.g. by preparing for seasonal trends and being aware of industry changes, or simply make changes when necessary?
Think about what level of engagement and or advice you will be getting when the PPC manager has a tough decision to make. If it’s an issue that may affect your company’s branding or what the manager feels is a risky strategy that could easily backfire, you will probably want to know about it. Other clients will be happy for the manager to make any decisions themselves and simply inform them at a later date.
4. Understanding PPC Agency Resources
Understanding the specific resources that your allocated account team uses to manage your PPC program is critical to achieving the best results.
While their technology resources are important, this is an advertising medium and at least 80% of the effort will be human. Is that effort focused on the size of the potential profit from your account? All too often, junior and mid-level staff will be put on accounts to make the business profitable and the results are often all too clear.
You should also request and get specifics about the exact tasks that will be performed by the account manager. For example, administrative tasks such as keyword and ad copy development can often be done offshore at a much lower hourly rate than say creative improvements and strategic consultation.
Having your account managed by higher paid employees could be a good thing if the right strategy is being implemented. This is a simple matter of asking what cannot be outsourced offshore and emphasizing the importance of high-level strategy and long-term results for your business.
This of course leads into the question of whether you are buying a direct service or a result. This is something you should be understanding from any engagement with an agency. If errors during your account can be costly and result in a large loss of money with little results, a performance-based agreement may often be advisable with the risk taken by the agency.
Often though, it is not the best long-term strategy for the agency is incentivized to make more money off the mistakes. Any agreement must have clarity on what the desired results are and what the measures of success will be. For either type of agreement, the single most important factor in the success of your account is who will be doing the work.
4.1. Examining Team Structure and Size
When considering an engagement with a paid search team or agency, it’s critical that you understand how that organization is structured. Search marketing is no longer a one-person job. It has become a discipline best managed by a team of specialists. Top search engine marketing (SEM) and pay per click (PPC) experts have moved away from being jacks of all trades and masters of none to compartmentalizing their search marketing activities into silos, much like the search engines themselves.
The five primary silos of search marketing consist of:
– Business and industry knowledge – Competitive and marketplace intelligence – Keyword research and selection – Content creation and optimization – Performance analysis and ROI measurement
Within each of these silos is a myriad of tasks and activities that require unique skill sets and resources. It is highly unlikely that one person will be an expert in all areas. Therefore, an organization that has a team of specialists and resources behind them holds a distinct advantage over a one or two-person shop. A PPC manager must be adequately staffed to manage the entire spectrum of SEM activities, or else there will be a compromise in some area. Be sure to investigate how the search team is structured and if there are dedicated resources to each silo. Ask if the team is:
– In-house – Housed within the client organization, but staffed by agency employees – Completely outsourced to an external agency
If the team is in-house, there may be communication and coordination advantages as well as an increased vested interest in the success of the search campaign. However, smaller companies and some larger ones do not have the resources to staff and maintain a top-notch team. An agency with a team of specialists could be a cost-effective way for these clients to gain a competitive advantage.
4.2. Reviewing PPC Manager Technology and Tools
Of utmost importance for a PPC campaign is the technology behind the drive. The effectiveness of the campaign can only be measured if the technology to measure ROI, track user behavior and build statistical data is in place. PPC managers should establish what programs or technology they or the PPC management firm has in place to measure marketing results. For example, implementation of a tracking pixel that builds regional statistical data on user behavior can be extremely effective when initiating a Geo-targeted campaign.
If a PPC manager is looking to attain traffic from a specific vertical a good option would be to implement a technology which will serve the ads only on websites which are in that sector. As weight is attached to detailed reporting, managers should ensure they or the management team are well versed with the user interface of the program being run. This should increase the chances of campaign success as time can be saved on refined editing and issues can be quickly identified and rectified.
4.3. Assessing PPC Reporting and Analytics Capabilities
A transparent and detailed analytics and reporting process is an essential element of an effective PPC strategy. The first aspect to consider is the level of access the PPC manager can provide. Ideally, the given access should be ‘read-only’ as this allows for added security on the client’s end.
However, providing access to a Gmail account may be necessary so that regular updated reports can be sent through Google Analytics. Make sure that scheduled report sending is enabled as often you may find that a PPC manager has forgotten to send through a report.
Regular reports are a crucial aspect of managing a PPC account; they allow for the progress of the campaign to be evaluated effectively and show which strategies have been effective or ineffective in improving campaign performance. Regular automated reports save the client and PPC manager valuable time, ensuring detailed analysis of the campaign can be performed on a frequent basis.
The PPC manager should set up one main report on the progress and a range of custom reports for deeper analysis.
The depth of knowledge in analytics can be a hard thing to gauge on a PPC manager. Often, analytics is outsourced to a third-party contractor on the basis that it is too complex and time-consuming. It is worth asking the PPC manager to complete the Google Analytics Individual Qualification, a course and exam which provides a standard of knowledge in online analytics and demonstrates competence in Google Analytics. Any knowledge in analytics is valuable, and a PPC manager who has a sound understanding of analytics will be able to carry out more advanced analysis and provide recommendations that can improve the overall performance of the campaign.
5. Defining Scope and Budget
Key points during defining scope and budget for a project are as follows.
What is the current situation? This covers the rationale for spending on PPC advertising. Opportunities that exist in the market will be assessed alongside changes in the competitors’ advertising strategies and the effects upon them. A projection on the effect of market activity will then be drawn and based upon this, the PPC campaign should be geared to meet the desired effect.
Opportunities that the PPC campaign needs to emphasize or create can be split into two categories: branding and market awareness, and direct marketing. The balance between the two may change for different products or depending upon the current situation of the organization.
For instance, a new business may assign the entire budget of a product launch into direct marketing, wishing to affect sales activity immediately. An established business may use PPC advertising to give an older product a sales boost before the release of a new product range, therefore having a balanced effect on both branding and direct marketing.
The effect on the target market and the desired effect through the PPC campaign need to be established and taken into account when creating keyword and ad text strategy.
5.1. Identifying Campaign Objectives and Goals
Each campaign has one vital aspect before launching, and that is a clear plan of what the campaign is supposed to achieve. Stating aims and objectives can be a simple process; however, ensuring the campaign is tailored towards achieving those objectives can sometimes be forgotten. The PPC campaign manager needs to understand what the business is aiming for in order to reproduce the same results using their own methods.
A good consistent line of communication between the campaign manager and the business is essential to ensuring the campaign follows the plan. This can be done in various ways, i.e. the business can set the manager task deadlines, ask for specific updates and reports on progress, or even leave the campaign manager to it, using their own judgement to achieve the objectives.
👍 TIP: Build a list of what each aspect of the campaign is supposed to achieve (e.g. Market brand X to women age 35-55, Increase traffic for motor insurance quotes, etc.). And keep the list as a constant reference point when building the campaign and also for the end of month reports and analysis to check if each task was a success.
5.2. Determining Budget Constraints and Expectations
There are a few basic principles to follow when determining your budget for paid per click advertising. The most common mistakes occur when the formula used to determine the click value is too basic.
A click from a potential customer searching on the term ‘car insurance’ is worth a lot more than someone searching for ‘car warranties’, yet many businesses are using the same value per click for both terms. This is a common mistake but can be avoided by using the Overture bid tool estimators as a guideline.
If you sum the estimated clicks for the term ‘car insurance’ and multiply it by the value from the bid tool, you have a daily budget for that term. Repeat this process for each term, and it will give you a good idea of the amount your PPC campaign will cost you. After doing this, if you find the total monthly cost is much more than what you are expecting to pay, you may want to look at lowering the value of clicks for higher competition terms until the total cost is acceptable.
5.3. Discussing Pricing and Payment Models
Your PPC manager is a form of supplier, and like all suppliers, they have to be paid to produce a service. Managers and bid managers have their ways of setting up payment to meet the business’ needs. Numerous payment options are available that are centered upon two models: the straight-fee pricing model and the performance-based pricing model.
The straight-fee model is determined through a quote for a flat monthly fee based on the estimated time that campaign maintenance will take. This model can be flexible and potentially more lucrative for the PPC manager in the short term if campaign sophistication results in less time required for management.
The performance-based model involves paying the PPC manager a fee based on a certain metric. This can be anything from paying per keyword analysis, paying for each click that the PPC manager’s ads attain, or paying for a percentage of the revenue generated by the PPC manager’s ads. This model can have its advantages in promoting efficiency and aligning the interests of both parties, but it also has the potential to backfire if the PPC manager is targeting to raise volume at the expense of ROI in order to increase his fee.
6. Conducting Interviews and Reference Checks
The interview process is a critical component in the selection of a potential PPC campaign manager. Due to the newness of the employment market for PPC campaign managers, the questions asked and the qualities being looked for are not set in stone.
Qualitative research in the form of 12 in-depth interviews with successful business-to-business PPC campaign managers did, however, shed some light on key qualities and suggested questions that could be asked when interviewing a potential PPC campaign manager.
According to the interviewees, successful PPC campaign managers should be in possession of the following qualities:
Industry experience and knowledge, analytical skills, and a sound understanding of statistics, and finally, motivation and willingness to see work through to completion.
A variety of questions can be set in order to gauge the presence of the aforementioned qualities in a candidate.
For industry experience and knowledge, the interview suggests a simple task such as having the candidate explain the market position of the company. If the candidate is unsure of the position or how to find out such information, it is a clear sign that he or she is not fit for PPC management.
An example of a question tailored toward analytical skills and statistics would be to have the candidate explain a statistical test of his or her choice. If the candidate has a sound understanding, he or she should carry the conversation for quite some time. A poor understanding will be evident, and the candidate will likely become flustered.
Due to the nature of motivation and accountability, it should be quite easy to gauge one’s willingness to follow through on a task. For example, an interviewee suggested posing the scenario of a failed campaign to the candidate and looking for suggestions on why it failed and how to correct it. If the candidate is apathetic or cannot give a solid answer, then it is clear that the task of overseeing his or her own actions is too difficult to accomplish.
6.1. Preparing Interview Questions
Preparing interview questions is a crucial step in the process of selecting the best PPC manager for business managers. The interview questions should be designed to assess the candidate’s experience in managing PPC campaigns and their ability to analyze data effectively. Some questions to consider include:
- Can you describe your experience in managing PPC campaigns?
- How do you analyze data to optimize PPC performance?
- What strategies do you use to improve click-through rates?
- How do you ensure your PPC campaigns align with business goals?
- Can you provide examples of successful PPC campaigns you have managed?
- How do you stay updated with the latest trends and changes in PPC?
- How do you track and measure the success of your PPC campaigns?
- What tools do you use to manage and monitor PPC performance?
- How do you handle budget constraints while maximizing ROI?
- Are you familiar with different PPC platforms and their targeting options?
There might be several key questions to ask during the interview process. Some of these questions may include asking about the candidate’s previous experience managing PPC campaigns. or in-depth knowledge of various PPC platforms such as Google Ads and Bing Ads. Your goal is to find a candidate who has a strong understanding of PPC advertising and the ability to optimize campaigns. Dont be timit to ask about their knowledge of different bidding strategies and campaign tracking.
6.2. Conducting PPC Manager In-depth Interviews
The key to interviewing prospective PPC managers effectively lies in the quality of the interview questions and the depth of the subsequent discussion. Ask every prospective hire to bring examples of reports they have generated and the tools that they use. You should get spending reports, some sort of bid management report or tool, and the keywords that the client is actively bidding on. You also need to know how they managed the accounts that they were working on and some of the changes that their management resulted in. This will give you great insight and should provide some good material for the interview.
The aim of the interview is to delve deep into the vendor’s past experience and current knowledge. It sets out to uncover what the candidate actually did and what the outcomes were in specific situations. Ask what the vendor would do in a specific situation and see if they provide an answer directly related to their experience. You want to avoid hiring anyone that might be using your account to gain PPC knowledge to use on other projects in the future.
A common way that interviewees answer questions about what they would do in hypothetical scenarios (that they have not previously experienced) is by giving a textbook response that is based on general PPC knowledge but proves no in-depth understanding. This is not useful, so try to get real examples.
6.3. Contacting References and Previous Clients
To pad out a PPC manager’s resume, they may list large numbers of clients they have worked with. This can be relatively meaningless, especially if they were attracted through direct sales or were short-term clients. Long-term clients in a manager-client relationship are far more indicative of a successful campaign, so make sure to clarify this as you contact their references.
Ask the manager to provide a few references from long-term clients. Contact these references directly to ask about the manager. A good PPC manager will have many long-term clients who have solidly positive things to say about their work. If the manager cannot provide many solid references, or the references have a mixed or negative opinion, it is a sure sign that the manager is not right for the job.
Attempting to contact previous clients that the manager did not refer can also provide unfiltered information; if you can find contact information for a previous client through browsing the manager’s past work experience on LinkedIn, for example, this can be a good resource.
7. Negotiating PPC Manager Terms and Agreements
When you have decided on the PPC manager you would like to hire, the work isn’t finished. It’s time to discuss terms as well as agreements. This is an extremely crucial stage because: this is the final phase of your “purchase” prior to you’re fully underway with the PPC campaign and keep in mind, there are disparities among what both you believe you’re purchasing. The majority of advertisers simply want “top rankings” and are enquired about budget. Typically, PPC Managers will make an effort to “max out” the advertisers budget to be able to maximize the commission incomes.
With an action plan already made it will be easier to quantify a PPC manager’s efficiency at this stage. Predetermined what you would like to attain beforehand with the budget will give clarity to whether the goals are practical as well as the results accomplished toward the end. Come up with the number of clicks, sales or leads you would like to get from this campaign.
This makes it easier to assess whether the project is a triumph and is where you will identify whether the PPC Manager is good value for money. If the targets are not being achieved, action plans can be determined to set things right and draw the campaign closer to success.
Another important task at this stage is the creation of a keyword list. Utilizing an initial brainstorm, most PPC managers will put together a random assortment of keywords using various tools. You can ask the manager to compile the list as well as research completed to ensure your knowledge on the industry and target market has been correctly digested. Some keywords may have already been researched in the past and it is a good idea to grant access to previous data to see whether they are appropriate to use. This requires a balance; you don’t want to devalue the PPC manager’s work, yet the key concern is cost effectiveness and maximizing ROI.
7.1. Discussing Contract Length and Renewal Options
When hiring a PPC manager, you can go the contract or no contract route. A long-term search marketing presence is essential to fully capitalize on efficiency, competition, and ROI of most PPC campaigns. For businesses that opt to sign a contract, it is crucial to fully understand the duration of the contract, termination process, and any penalty fees associated with ending the contract early. It may be beneficial to hash out a short trial period, with an understanding that a successful trial will lead into a longer commitment.
Auto-renewal terms often go unnoticed or are forgotten about at the end of a contract. This can be a nasty surprise if a business was anticipating a contract end and is overly burdensome if the PPC manager did not perform up to par. An annual or bi-annual evaluation of the PPC campaign and the service of the PPC manager should be put into place to assure that both parties are happy with the current strategy and results. Reason being, the relationship and a job well done can last longer if everything is going swimmingly, but getting out of a contract that has gone sour should not be a financially difficult feat.
7.2. Addressing PPC Performance Metrics and KPIs
Setting out performance metrics and KPIs for the business and the PPC manager is also important for getting the agreed results. The old saying “what gets measured, gets managed,” is really important here. Key is to align measures of PPC success with what the business wishes to achieve. A company setting out to build brand awareness will want very different things from a PPC campaign compared to one who is looking to generate sales on a website.
One of the most common mistakes is to set out very wide-ranging objectives and then try to cover them all with one PPC campaign. For example, a recent website client of mine stated that they wanted to “increase brand awareness and generate business sales with a particular focus on widget x.” They were keen to get the PPC manager to drive sales of widget x as, if this product was successful, it would lead to more work for the website company creating more of these widgets.
Unfortunately, they felt that setting up separate campaigns for the different goals would be too expensive and time-consuming. I advised that trying to cover all these objectives with one campaign was a low PPC ROI and that they should start a separate project to increase widget x sales.
Now that we know what we want to achieve, we need to ensure that these objectives are profoundly clear to both the business and the PPC manager. A great way of building consensus on this stuff is to document it in an email or better still, in a meeting with both sides taking notes. These notes should be formalized into a clear set of campaign objectives and stored in a place where they can be regularly revisited.
7.3. Negotiating PPC Manager Service Level Agreements
A service level agreement (SLA) is an agreement between the client and the PPC manager, which stipulates all deliverables.
It is normal practice for clients to ask for an SLA, but many PPC management companies who are not used to dealing with large clients may not have a process in place to handle this. When negotiating a successful SLA, you should ensure the resulting document is as detailed as possible – leaving nothing to subjective interpretation. This helps to avoid confusion on what is expected and when, and also provides a clear benchmark for you to measure the success of the campaign.
Mistakes in timescales and deliverables can be very costly, so avoid grey areas at all costs. An example of a popular phrase to avoid in SLAs is “optimization of the campaign”, this can mean many things to different people, so ensure the exact methods are stated in the SLA. Be aware that commitments to levels of performance may incur extra costs if not reached, as you may be forced into spending more time on a campaign than expected. Make sure a clause is in place to review such situations and that any extra work is agreed upon.
8. Finalizing the PPC Manager Selection Process
All discussions with candidates should be completed and notes compiled by this stage. Any remaining queries can be ironed out with a follow-up phone call or meeting.
Review each candidate against the designated rating system that you worked out in step 1. If you are having trouble comparing them, you might want to take the exercise one step further. Using a separate sheet, factor the expected time investment required according to your in-house contact.
There are three simple rating levels: (+) very high, (.) average, (-) low. Cross-referencing time against cost will provide a simple indication of profitability. Without a doubt, this is a factor that will directly affect your working relationship with the manager, so you need to be realistic.
Finally, compile a shortlist. From this, you will need at least one backup. At the last minute, you can be left high and dry, so with a second standing reserve, you will still be in a comfortable position.
Now you are ready to contract your chosen candidate. Always make them aware that your final decision is pending their decision or availability. If unsuccessful, inform them of this and keep open the possibility of work in the future. Now, you are almost ready to hand over the reins.
8.1. Conducting Final Assessments and Comparisons
Letting the PPC manager prospects or candidates who have partaken in the preliminary assessment know that there exist numerous qualified candidates selected to be thoroughly vetted based on the outlines of this article.
This process is equally important (to the preliminary assessment) due to the fact that a PPC manager is only as good as his/her last set of marketing campaign projects. Evidently, some of the most experienced PPC managers could have recently made drastic changes, such as joining a new marketing firm or company, as an employee in hope of an easier job, better pay, etc. In any case, a PPC manager should be assessed as a new candidate any time they change employers or marketing firms.
Step one in this process is informing the candidates about the fact that this is a second stage assessment and an explanation of its importance, with the exception of hiring a PPC manager who has already had experience in successfully managing a marketing campaign project with your business/brand/product.
8.2. Making the Decision and Notifying the Chosen Candidate
The decision process now begins. Making a decision would obviously involve giving the offers that would lead to hiring the PPC manager of choice. However, there are subtle ways to do this which may affect the final outcome. We strongly encourage businesses to give a deadline of a week for a response after the offer has been given. A good PPC manager will be working and may not be able to respond straight away. However, if their services are not gainfully employed at present they will still re-contact to ask some questions and make an informed decision based on the choices they have.
Inform the rejected candidate as soon as possible. It may be hard to do this as it is human nature to delay having this tough talk. Ignoring a candidate for a week may, on the off chance, cause a PPC manager to change his mind, returning to inquire about the skill or the possibility of working with an employer who has forgotten the rejection and given no offer to another candidate.
This would cause the employer to have to reply giving a rejection after the candidate has already changed his mind; it is a waste of time and integrity for everyone involved. Plan in advance the method of contacting the chosen candidate and ensure that the rejected candidate will be notified on the same day and in the event of an unforeseen circumstance at a later time, the first thing on the next day. This will help to avoid the situation described above.
8.3. Communicating with Unsuccessful PPC Manager Candidates
This is a crucial yet challenging process. Initial contact – If utilizing an application process, ensure that you message all unsuccessful candidates informing them of your choice. If you have been working closely with a certain candidate to the extent where both you and the candidate know the candidate is no longer being considered, then it would be courteous to inform the candidate on an informal basis. Email/Phone call – If you have many unsuccessful candidates, then it may be best to send a final group email addressed to no one in particular.
This should be brief and thank all candidates for their application, providing very brief yet useful feedback and encouraging the candidates to reapply in the future. If you have a situation where you have gone through multiple interviews with a candidate and have not contacted them for a while, it is best to give them a call.
Post-interview feedback methods are generally going to be the most informative for the candidate. This should be done over the phone and be sure to outline points where the candidate excelled in the interview. The feedback should then be concluded by explaining that the successful candidate was simply more qualified for the position and that you hope to keep in contact and offer more opportunities to the unsuccessful candidate in the future.
This is the most delicate situation to deal with, especially if you have a good connection with the candidate. You may feel guilty as you do not want to let the candidate down. It is important to uphold yourself and take control of emotions and remember the decision is for the benefit of your company.
Final Words, Recap and Expert Tips
Ppc management can be important to any business regardless of the size. It’s essential to select the best business for your business among the large range of firms offering the same services. The objective for all the business managers is to generate profitable revenue. The web world is full of advice such as “Don’t ever give Google Ads campaign to a person working for house or a small firm”. This is not always true and doesn’t provide guarantee of success.
Job from freelancer or a smaller firm could save money for your campaign and also could provide fruitful results. Some business managers with bad experiences of small firms might not agree with this. It is said that usually a contract to big firms result in more satisfied work. This does not provide 100% guarantee. With the control you can have a display in the image and text ads displayed throughout the internet. You can manage your spending limit for the image and text ads separately. This option is good for a businesses aiming to brand and with high marketing expertise.
Ads can be targeted to a certain language and location and cost may depend on the bid or conversion CPC- Cost Per Click or CP CPM-Cost Per Thousand Impressions. High-end advertisers can now look forward to improvement in ROI by the quality-based pricing. This is where you only pay for the click or impression with consideration of the value which it can provide.
For a more descriptive information and guide on how to do it, it’s probably best to give contract to a firm. After consideration of this, selecting the best PPC management to outsource the work is the most important. Whether you are going to move an in-house team onto a project or hire an external firm, the management must be effective and efficient. Sufficient training must be provided to your staff or the agency provided with confident and efficient help on the PPC experts from Google Ads. Always ensure to understand the role and importance of each feature in Google Ads.
The following are recaps and tips summarized with information above.
– Don’t rush into hiring a big firm for they are big. The cost may be inefficient for the work done. – Do not underestimate small firms or freelancers. A cheaper cost and good management can achieve the same or even better results. – Always ensure communication and advice with current agencies or team to understand the full benefits of AdWords. – Provide training to staff or sufficient information to the agency on the importance of all detailed features said above.
Good luck on your journey to finding the perfect PPC manager for your business! Remember that the success of your PPC campaigns ultimately depends on the skills and expertise of the PPC manager you hire.
