2014 is looming just around the corner! To celebrate the start of the New Year and to make sure that 2014 is just as successful as the last one it's important to set yourself new resolutions â after all, it's a New Year, a fresh start and the opportunity to strive!
As a Pay Per Click marketer, you're probably starring at your screen, mouth slightly open thinking “what New Year resolutions can I do that will impact on my career and my clients?” Well, luckily for you, we've answered this question for you. Yeah yeah, we know, we're good to you!
Resolution One: Plan & Prioritise!
Organisation is always important, no matter what industry you work in. But for a PPC marketer it's important to plan and prioritise your work load as this could have a direct impact on your outcomes, effecting KPIs, CTRs, Quality Score, Avg. Position, Actual CPC and much more.
The key thing to remember about organisation and planning, is that it will allow you to identify what has been most effective, what to test and therefore give you the knowledge to expand your campaigns.
Resolution Two: Find & Trial New Features
It's amazing how many updates there are throughout the year, which is why it's so important to keep ahead of the game and keep your finger on the pulse. You need to be aware of any new features, which are announced in AdWords, as this could affect your campaign.
Top Tip: Don't just discard a new feature just because it doesn't sound useful. Test it out and make sure you actually work with the new feature to see for yourself if they are useful or not. What one person thinks is not necessarily what you will think.
Resolution Three: Always Room for Improvement
Don't get lulled into a false sense of security, all because you're AdWords campaign is doing well, doesn't mean there aren't any areas for improvement! It could be that some of your campaigns are seasonal and at certain points of the year you might want to drop your budget for specific keywords. E.G. Swimming costumes might not be very popular at the height of winter.
It might be that, for seasonal keywords, you focus on building your SEO profile with these keywords when you experience a lull or you redirect your spend to other AdWord campaigns which are not affected by seasonality.
Resolution Four: Think Outside of the Box
While being a PPC marketer demands an analytical mind, it's also important to think outside the box and tap into the creative side of your brain. You need to look at what works and think of creative tests and alternatives which could change the dynamic of a campaign for the best.
This could involve looking at new keywords, playing around with your ad copy or trying out a new feature.
Resolution Five: Share Knowledge & Experience
As an expert in PPC it's important that you are willing to share your knowledge and your experience. After all, where would you be if no one shared their knowledge or experience with you? By sharing, you're helping others develop their skill in PPC and you are establishing yourself as an expert – something which should never be undervalued.
There are lots of different sites which allow you to share your knowledge including;
If you can think of anywhere else you can share your knowledge let us know and post a quick comment below!
Resolution Six: Tools = Greater Efficiency
Tools improve efficiency, streamline processes and generally help you to do your job better. It's precisely for this reason why you should set aside a certain amount of time a month to research and find new tools which could help you to do your job better and quicker.
At Anicca we currently find the following tools quite helpful;
- Editor Tools; used to streamline and increase work rate. The PPC managers first port of call in managing account set ups easily and quickly
- Scripts; are increasingly useful for us to modify accounts automatically and make use of additional reporting features
- Automation Tools; are available within AdWords and also through bid management platforms like Kenshoo and acquisio
- Modified Broad Match Tool;Â a quick and easy tool to turn your keywords into modified broad match
Resolution Seven: Stay Calm & Ask Someone
Over the course of the next year, you're probably going to encounter a problem or two. This is completely natural and you wouldn't learn anything interesting if you didn't encounter a few! What defines a good PPC consultant from a great PPC consultant is the ability to step back and look at the bigger picture. Sometimes, it's a good idea to ask someone who doesn't work on the campaign to have a look at it â you never know, it could be something really simple.
Resolution Eight: Expand Your Knowledge
Make time for reading every week â it is the only way you’ll keep ahead of developments in this ever changing landscape. Here’s a few useful places to start your new year reading:
- adwords.blogspot.com
- searchengineland.com
- searchenginewatch.com
- wordstream.com/blog
- certifiedknowledge.org/blog/
Also attend webinars â these are time saving but information rich!
Attend conferences â get out there, talk about what you know, learn from experts. Network with industry colleagues, and share your enthusiasm! If you want to expand your PPC knowledge further, why not sign up for our PPC Boot Camp where you’ll get lots of information and great advice direct from the experts. For more details click here.
Here’s to a prosperous and exciting new year for us all. We look forward to learning from you and sharing our knowledge in 2014!
Happy New Year from all the Anicca Team.
