When we set up Pay Per Click (PPC) accounts for our clients, typically ads appearing in search results through Google Ads, we often stress the importance of setting up the account properly. We spend a lot of time in research mode, choose very specific keywords for very specific reasons, carefully craft ads in ways that we know resonates with users, and are very particular about landing pages. The time we spend on this, along with a long history of running PPC campaigns, helps our campaigns to be very effective right from the start.
So if the campaigns are so effective because of initial research and effort, shouldn’t that be enough? What else is there to do?
That’s the thinking that can often get people into trouble. And it’s why we actively manage our campaigns.
Active vs. Passive Management
A quick word of warning – there are a lot of companies that will essentially “passively” manage an account. You’ll see this all over, and they won’t call it passive management, but it’s essentially a “let it run” style of handling your account.
You’ll typically see this happen with very large companies, typically coming from the traditional media space and wanting to get involved with digital. Account managers will sometimes handle 100+ accounts at once, leaving little time to give attention to your account. Fees are often high, and you get little for your investment.
Note that there are a lot of really good companies out there as well, some large and some small. Just make sure you ask some leading questions to find out how they’ll manage your account. You want someone is going to be making routine changes and actively looking for ways to improve your performance.
Why Is Active Management Needed?
Anyone who is managing your PPC campaign should be actively managing your account. There are a handful of reasons for this:
- Your Competitors Are Constantly Changing – New competitors will continually be appearing in search results, changing the landscape. They may bid higher, causing you to need to reevaluate your bidding strategy. They may make claims in ads that you’ll eventually need to counter. There are a lot of things that happen, and you need to be aware and take action. Also realize that a “competitor” isn’t just someone who you may see as a threat. A competitor is anyone else competing for the same space/keywords as you. For example, Wikipedia may not stealing your business, but if they are taking your customers eyes away from your site and on to theirs, they need to be seen as a PPC competitor and you need to act accordingly.
- Customer Behaviors Change – People don’t search the internet the same way they did before. Approximately 17% of searches are estimated to have never been performed before. People are searching in more personalized ways. Just the growth in mobile searches alone in the past 5 years and the impact that is having on search is huge. As customer behavior changes, you need to be able to keep up with your campaigns to make sure they have an impact.
- Google Is Constantly Evolving – Google adds new features in its ads all the time, ranging from new ad extensions to length of ads to the way ads physically look in search results. Outdated ads are typically not nearly as effective, and new options create new opportunities. Don’t miss out on opportunities because you set up your ads at some point in the past and assume they’re good enough to keep running.
- Your Campaign Will Always Have Room for Growth – As much as you think you know about your customers, there will always be room to grow. It is critical to do testing with keywords, ads, targeting, etc. Sometimes you can see growth spikes by trying something new and unconventional. Often what you’ll see is incremental growth. Small changes compound and make a big difference over time. Continue to make small changes, test out new ad copy, and try some new keyword variations. This is how you effectively grow instead of have stagnating results.
Find the Right Partner
If you want good results and a high ROI on your PPC campaigns, you need to find the right partner. If you need some help, let us know. We’re happy to walk you through what you should be looking for and can help you maximize your results. Just fill out the short contact form, or give us a call or text at 908-343-3820 (yes, you can text our office if that’s better for you). We’ll make sure your campaigns are running like they should be!
