This is an article designed for PPC Managers, PPC Advertisers who are working alongside PPC Managers in order to promote their business or service and anyone else who happens to be involved in the PPC efforts of both small and large corporations.
Too often, people who know very little about PPC Advertising are either put in charge of the PPC Management of a company or the PPC Expert is continuously invaded by ill-informed suggestions (or, better said, demands) made by those in the company who have the power to exercise a lot of control over what goes on. Unfortunately, these people rarely have any idea about the ins and outs of PPC Management.
For this reason, the following five Pay Per Click Management Myths have been listed in order to highlight some of the most common ways in which inexperienced staff in a company can ruin a PPC Advertising Campaign because they only understand results and data available from a very basic point of view.
1. More is Better
Just because you have lots of people working on a PPC Advertising Campaign, this does not mean that the results will be better. If one element of your PPC Campaign begins to do really well, this is no reason to begin throwing manpower at it from all directions.
Too many people focusing on the same thing can cause a lot of problems. Too many cooks spoil the broth and all that.
Equally, when one element of a PPC Campaign is working well this does not mean that all efforts should be streamed to run wild with this element, ignoring other possibilities in the meantime. Variety and experimentation can be the source of success when it comes to PPC. Therefore, avoid overdoing an element that shows promise. Be careful of doing something too much; of wearing it out so much that it dies.
2. Fixing the Easy and Most Visible Problems is the Most Effective
Inexperienced PPC Managers or members of a company who are working alongside a PPC Manager, inputting ideas, tend to think that the problems which are most visible are the problems that should be tackled.
Unfortunately, this means that problems within a PPC Advertising Campaign that are perhaps hidden a little deeper below the surface are not looked for; they are not even considered.
This lack of focus on those all important details in the work of a Pay Per Click Campaign can be dangerous and it demonstrates a thorough lack of understanding. If a campaign is not working, avoid accepting the most obvious cause as the answer to all your problems. PPC Management is technical and very complex. You must be well trained or at least learn to follow the advice of someone who is well trained, even if your inexperienced instincts are telling you that the most glaringly obvious problem is the root cause of the issue.
3. All Data is Relevant
PPC Advertising Campaigns need time to run for a while before data can begin to be useful and accurate. If you make changes to your PPC Advertising Campaign, those changes need to be given a fair run before you decide that they are not working for you in your favor.
People who are inexperienced in the arena of Pay Per Click Management are impatient and believe that the data they receive in the first week or even within the first few days of a campaign is data worth analyzing. This is not always true.
Some PPC Campaigns need to be given more time to run their course. Only then can truly effective data be gathered for analysis that is meaningful.
4. Knowing your Competition is Helpful
Lots of inexperienced PPC Managers and PPC Advertisers spend lots of time worrying about their competition. They look at what their competitors are doing, what kind of advertisement text is being used, when and where their advertisements are being impressed and more.
While this may be useful in some respects, it is a far better use of your time to be concentrating on the positive elements of your own campaign. Ignoring your competition is not what is being suggested here. However, putting more effort into your own affairs is recommended.
The less time spent on your own PPC campaign and the more time spent on observing the efforts of others only means that you are easily distracted from following both your instincts and from working on a campaign that suits your business. It as opposed to recreating the campaign of another and trying to make it fit the style of your business and website.
5. Planning Ahead Creates More Success
Just like the stock market, predictions can be made but not so far ahead. PPC Managers need to work with short time frames and cannot be asked to predict what they are going to be suggesting to you regarding your campaign two or three months down the line.
To make these kinds of predictions is very difficult for a PPC Manager as the market changes constantly. Requesting that your PPC Manager makes a plan for the months ahead and then sticks to this plan may help you, the PPC Advertiser, to feel more in control and aware of what is going on with your advertising budget, but it is not going to help the PPC Manager to create a successful campaign.
In fact, these kinds of demands are likely to constrict the creativity and skill of your PPC Manager. Try to avoid making such precise demands on your PPC Manager and refrain from asking for concrete plans of action months in advance. In this kind of work, it is simply impossible.
