Turbocharge Your PPC Beta Testing Initiatives

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Oct. 10

I’m a huge fan of beta testing. If you’re a large spending advertiser on Google AdWords, Bing Ads, or both, you probably have had (or will have) opportunities to get involved in beta tests. What are beta tests? They offer the opportunity to help search engines by testing brand new features before they get released to the public.

Beta Testing

I have developed an entire strategy around beta testing and am thrilled that my good friends over at PPC Associates ran my guest post today about Getting The Most Out of Beta Tests. This post covers the basics of why beta tests are great and then goes into six specific beta test tips. The tips cover beta testing strategy and how to achieve the best possible results (both in the short run and long run). Moreover, the post covers ways to give back to search engines so you continue to get invited to exciting beta tests. I highly recommend checking out the post, it’s one of my best guest posts (in my opinion).

I wanted to sincerely thank PPC Associates for running my post. Their blog is amazing and is part of my daily reading. Make sure to head on over there and bookmark their blog. If you’re looking for an SEM agency, PPC Associates is one of the best so you will certainly want to reach out and schedule a consultation. Also, you may want to check out my other recent guest posts on the PPC Associates blog:

Image in this post © PPC Associates

Posted in: Search Engines | Tags: , | Comments: Be the first person to comment!

It’s All About The Wide Tail of SEM

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Sep. 21

I’m a huge fan of PPC Associates, one of the best SEM Agencies around. PPC Associates took the Silicon Valley by storm earlier this year with their Billboards on 101, one of my favorite offline marketing campaigns of this year. Over the last few years, I’ve gotten to know David Rodnitzky (CEO of PPC Associates) quite well, and I’m here to say that he is a true leader in our industry. This all brings me to the topic of today’s post: My review of Introducing the Wide Tail of SEM eBook.

I’m a big proponent of reading eBooks and whitepapers about online marketing. The beauty of our industry is smart people are always willing to share their perspectives and insights. Via their eBook series, PPC Associates does just that. Here’s what to expect in their wide tail eBook:

  • An explanation of why the long tail is losing its power, except in a few rare exceptions.
  • The emergence of the wide tail and how it differs from the long tail.
  • How savvy marketers are changing their perspective from the long tail to the wide tail.
  • Several trends that comprise the new wide tail phenomenon.
  • Best practices for managing the wide tail.
  • 13 pages packed full of SEM insights.

I really enjoyed this eBook because the content is great and because it’s a well-written quick read. I recommend taking some time today to download and read Introducing the Wide Tail of SEM. It’s free!

Wide Tail Download

Image in this post © PPCAssociates.com

Posted in: Whitepapers | Tags: , | Comments: 3 comments so far, join the discussion!

PPC Account Assignments As A Narrative

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Jun. 19

Hey everyone, PPC Ian here. Today, I’m thrilled to share a guest post from my friend Todd Mintz from PPC Associates, Silicon Valley’s SEM Agency. You can read all about Todd in his bio at the end of the post. Todd, thanks for the great post and I hope you all enjoy.

“Buy the ticket, take the ride.” – Hunter S. Thompson

PPC Associates

I’m going to have a new paid search client assigned to me shortly. Each client offers a distinct set of challenges and objectives, but the general framework of every new engagement remains the same.

I will be dropped into the middle of an ongoing narrative, and I’m not only expected to learn the characters and become part of the story but actually take control of the plot and create a positive outcome where temporal happiness and satisfaction is achieved.

A basic narrative structure has three components: Setup, Conflict, and Resolution. Unless the account is brand new, chances are that most of the setup has happened well before the new account manager comes on the scene…and even with a new account, one could say that the setup that led up to the agency engagement occurred when the business was formed.

Now, if the setup was conflict-free and everyone was happy and content, the business wouldn’t need to engage an agency (or a new agency, as the case may be). The conflict facing the business could be any combination of poor PPC results coupled with failed relationships with consultants, less than stellar employee management/oversight, competitor conumdrums, overall lack of knowledge and experience, or a combination of all the above.

Much of the earlier pre-engagement narrative will be anecdotal to the new account manager. He/she must build relationships with each of the stakeholders in the story which will, in effect, be creating minor subplots leading to the creation of a solid structure for the plot to proceed comfortably without costly detours.

The expertise of the new account manager is his/her ability to write a positive outcome to the tale. What makes up account manager expertise? Part of it is his/her technical ability to manage the accounts in a profitable manner that meets the aims of the business. Part of it is to manage the personalities that are part of the process…getting them to contribute to the effort to the best of their ability while making sure they feel valued as people and as teammates. Part of it is to manage the internal stakeholders in the agency…in my case, our wonderful production staff, our design team, and the other office personnel who might interact with the account. Finally, part of it is totally out of the account manager’s control…things such as marketplace events or client circumstances that might impact the paid search efforts but can’t be helped by the consultant.

The skillful account manager can take any plot circumstances and weave an ending that can satisfy all the characters as well as most audiences. Hopefully, the ending will be “totally groovy and far out” for everyone involved, and all can live happily ever after.

Once in a while, the narrative doesn’t end in the manner hoped for…in those cases, everyone can learn from the poor outcome and take those lessons to apply to the next narrative…where I will be dropped into the middle of an ongoing narrative and I’m not only expected to learn the characters and become part of the story but actually take control of the plot and create a positive outcome where a sort of temporal happiness and satisfaction is achieved.

Todd Mintz

- Todd Mintz is a Senior Account Manager at PPC Associates, a digital marketing firm with offices in the Bay Area and downtown Chicago. Todd has over 10 years of experience in search marketing and has used Google AdWords since it began. He also is very visible in the SEM social media space and is a curator/contributor at MarketingLand and one of the founding members of SEMpdx (Portland’s Search Engine Marketing Group).

Images in this post © PPCAssociates.com

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The San Francisco Giants and Online Marketing

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Apr. 25

BaseballHey everyone, PPC Ian here. Today, I’m thrilled to share a fun guest post from my good friend Hillary Read, Marketing Manager at PPC Associates. Let’s jump right into it…

With baseball season upon us and San Franciscans sniffing rawhide, it’s time for a fun blog post: if the Giants starters were SEM channels, which would they be? (Based on Ian’s recent weekend musings about trips to AT&T, I’m guessing he’ll like this topic.)

One fan’s take:

Tim Lincecum – All the rage. The people’s choice. A merchandise-moving combo of style and substance. And like Timeline and its page-loading issues, Timmy’s fastball doesn’t get there quite as quickly as it used to. Yeah, he’s the Facebook of the starting five.

Matt Cain – Steady. High-performing. Reliable. Consistent. He’s not the flashiest choice, but he sure gets the job done. Sounds like AdWords to me.

Madison Bumgarner – He’s young, he’s developing, he’s already had a big impact, and just about everyone (Giants check-writers included) is betting on him going from star to superstar over the next year or so. Madison = mobile.

Ryan Vogelsong – He’s been around for a while (longer than you’d think). And while his performance used to be underwhelming, he’s better than he’s ever been, thanks to a trickle of adjustments and improvements, including better (retargeted?) control. Display it is.

Barry Zito – He was a whole lot more valuable 10 years ago, and just when you’re ready to write him off for good, he pulls out a gem and keeps hope alive. Do you Yahoo, Barry? (They also love him on Pinterest.)

Batter up…

- Hillary Read is the Marketing Manager at PPC Associates and is thankfully not in charge of any SEM accounts. But she is a huge baseball fan.

Image of baseball © iStockPhoto – 33ft

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David Rodnitzky Interview, PPC Associates (2 of 2)

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Feb. 14

David RodnitzkyHey Everyone,
Today, I’m thrilled to share part 2 of my exclusive interview with David Rodnitzky, CEO of PPC Associates. PPC Associates is Silicon Valley’s SEM Agency. Before reading this post, I encourage you to first read Part 1 of my David Rodnitzky Interview. Part 1 of the interview is totally awesome and is not to be missed. Without further ado, let’s jump into part 2 of this amazing interview…

Is PPC Associates hiring? If yes, how can candidates get in touch with you?

To some degree, we are always hiring, though it depends on the level of experience. For candidates with 3+ years of SEM experience, good quantitative skills, and a client-focused attitude, we hire 365 days a year. Moreover, for the right candidate, we offer 100% telecommuting and to date have hired senior folks in Portland, North Carolina, San Diego, and Ottawa.

In general, we’ve grown pretty fast so regardless of your experience, it’s probably worthwhile to submit a resume, because if we aren’t hiring today, there’s a good chance we’ll be hiring in 30 to 60 days. I think the best way to submit a resume is to send it to careers@ppcassociates.com.

Any advice for entrepreneurs starting their own business?

PPC Associates Ad

Well, to some degree I don’t consider myself a true entrepreneur, so I have to tread carefully here. I tell people in Silicon Valley you either mine for gold or sell Levis to the miners, and I’m the latter!

For a service business, I think the two pieces of advice I have are to 1) remember it’s a small world and 2) pay for the right people. Regarding the first point, the vast majority of our new business comes from existing or former customers. So by treating clients right and trying to build lifetime relationships instead of short-term profit, you have a greater chance of succeeding long-term.

Regarding the second point, I’ve learned the hard way that you get what you pay for when it comes to building a team. Initially, we tried to build our business with recent college grads and overseas remote employees, but the amount we saved in salaries was offset by the extra management we had to apply to these team members. We probably didn’t overwhelm our clients with amazing service and results either, which is simply unacceptable.
So we now live by Malcom Gladwell’s notion that you need 10,000 hours of experience to be a true expert. To hammer this point home to potential clients, I always ask them to imagine that they’ve been accused of a horrendous crime that they did not commit (yes, I know, I scare potential clients). In such a circumstance, would they hire a recent law school grad for $25/hr or a criminal attorney with 10 years of experience at $250/hr? They then understand why we are so picky about who we hire, and how we can get the results we can get for clients!

Any campaign management tips for PPC professionals?

Test, test, test. Oh, and keywords are a fictional concept invented by Google (or maybe GoTo). Queries are what you need to optimize against, not keywords. We’ve written a lot of great whitepapers on our Web site that are all free – check these out and you can learn a lot about my philosophy around campaign management.

How do you see the SEM industry evolving?

I believe that traditional SEM is dead. Buying keywords and creating text ads is just one part of what SEM is today. Today you need to have expertise in search, social PPC, YouTube, mobile, display, landing page optimization, analytics, and attribution, to name just a few. To be great at SEM today, you have to understand the entire conversion funnel and touch every part of that funnel.

The SEM industry is evolving in the same way that many other professional fields have evolved historically – specialization and sub-specialization. In 1860, if you had a headache, you’d go to your local doctor and he’d try to diagnose your problem. Today, you might go to your general practitioner, who would refer you to a neurologist, who might send you to a movement disorders specialist, who might further refer you to a Parkinson’s Disease expert. The same thing is happening in SEM. We have Facebook PPC experts, YouTube pros, GDN gurus – it’s impossible to expect one person to be an expert at all facets of SEM anymore.

Any closing thoughts for PPC Ian readers?

Keep absorbing everything you can about SEM – the deeper you dig into it, the more you realize how much more you have to learn. I’ve been doing this for 12 years now and I feel like I learn something new every day!

Thank You, David!

David, on behalf of all PPC Ian readers, I want to sincerely thank you for the amazing interview. I’m certainly inspired and truly enjoyed the interview. PPC Ian readers, make sure to check out Part 1 of My David Rodnitzky Interview (if you have not already) and also don’t forget to stop by PPC Associates, Silicon Valley’s SEM Agency.

Images in this article © PPC Associates.

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