When it comes to marketing in today’s world, there is no greater tool than the internet. The internet, and the technologies that display it, create an instantaneous network of connection that allows individuals to communicate rapidly. While not without its pitfalls, this instantaneousness of outreach creates a wealth of opportunity for promotion. In fact, numerous different marketing agencies—near every at this point in time—have added at least one internet marketing branch to their diversity of options.
Yet, simply knowing and understanding that the internet is a tool for marketing does not an internet marketer make. On the contrary, just as there is a diversification of printed materials and marketing techniques, there are also great opportunities for specialization in internet marketing as well, including the position of PPC manager.
For laymen and those not familiar with internet marketing, the term PPC can be a very foreign concept and seem more jargon than value. For those looking to enter the internet marketing field, however, being involved in PPC for a career can seem like a lucrative opportunity for success, and it is…if you have what it takes. There are several necessary features that are consistent across PPC managers in the industry. Therefore, to help you better understand if there is potential for you in this field of work, this article provides you with an AdWords quiz to discuss and analyze the personality and work characteristics that make someone, on average, a good fit for this career. First, we ask the question then explain the real answer and why it is what it is.
Question 1: What Is PPC?
A) Pay Per Customers
B) Pay Per Click
C) Pay Per Cookies
Answer 1:
To first know if you will be a good manager, you must fully know and understand just what PPC is. PPC or pay-per-click is a type of online marketing strategy in which an individual pays to have his or her page promoted on a search engine site. The website receives a royalty of sorts each time a user clicks on said advertisement and follows the link that the customer or advertisement creator wanted said customer to visit. It is, in a more aptly put way and aside from the typical acronym, the cost spent to get a click on a website.
Question 2: What Types of Sites Does PPC Work With Typically?
A) Search Engines such as Google and Bing
B) Competitors Websites
C) Any Website
Answer 2:
For this question, answer 1 is correct and any PPC manager needs to know and understand this fully. PPC strategies are best utilized and best incorporated into search engines. These search engines are important and carry advertisements well for a variety of reasons. Firstly, they have their own methodology of analyzing search results and can, with the right PPC manager and plan, greatly target your customer base. Further, the cost put into placing an advertisement on this site can reap tremendous and profitable results. A PPC manager should understand common search engines of use to help promote and target their advertisement strategy. They must definitely understand Google and Google AdWords, too. If you want to be a PPC manager and are unfamiliar, you are not quite ready…yet!
Question 3: A good advertisement purchased at the best price is enough to make it to the top.
A) True
B) False
Answer 3:
A PPC manager will have to know and understand the bidding process when it comes to getting an advertisement placed on a search engine site. They must compete against other advertisers for the best placement via a monetarily beneficial bid. Yet, money is not the only consideration when it comes to getting an advertisement placed. On the contrary, there are many different factors that a PPC Manager needs to be aware of in order to get the placement on a search engine that they want.
Firstly, the bid must be on the keywords of value. That is to say, you essentially by the search words that you think your audience will search. Then, when this is searched, you will be at the top of the list in the advertisement section, if you are the highest bidder. Yet, the highest bid does not the highest listing make. On the contrary, quality matters. You cannot simply pay for a particular placement or keyword search. You must adhere to SEO principles with the use of the right keywords and stylistic choices, too. If you do not consider this, you will not be listed as high as you would like.
If your advertisement, including the words that you use and the content of the page that you are directing traffic to, does not meet quality standards, you will rank lower in the advertisers list—if at all. Therefore, do not simply expect to pay your way to the top. It will not work and you will be left with less money and less time. If you did not know this and answered true, than it may be time to brush up on your PPC skills before pursuing a career as a PPC Manager.
Question 4: PPC requires adaptability and consistent monitoring.
A) True
B) False
Answer 4:
For some work environments and niches in the labor market, tasks can be allowed to sit. That is to say that daily monitoring of activities on certain aspects of a job or certain areas is not necessarily a requirement. A few days can pass, even weeks, and things can be updated then. That is not the case with PPC management.
PPC managers that have been in the industry for any length of time know and understand that the day to day monitoring of these pages is essential. There is a constant flow of work to be done and activity to be monitored. But why? When compared with other marketing channels or activities, PPC is highly active. Changes can occur from day to day and this can lead to an overwhelming number of problems, but also many solutions. Because PPC can change from day to day and even hour to hour, that means that it is a highly responsive means of marketing. If you are a PPC manager, you need to stay up to date because you can shift strategy quickly. This is an essential benefit of PPC management and why you should have answered true in the aforementioned question.
Question 5: The role of PPC should be:
A) Wide and varied, to attract the most traffic to your site from multiple channels.
B) Narrowed and focused, so as to target your specific end result and the right individuals.
Answer 5:
The role of PPC should be narrowed and focused. You need to identify the end goal project and you need to set substantial and quantifiable end results. For instance, if you want individuals’ to purchase a particular service from your site, a PPC manager may want to set product sales of that particular item as the end goal. This helps to narrow focus and keep a clearer pathway for success. Therefore, in answer or response to question five you should have chosen number 2.
But, to simply say it should be narrowed is to only provide half of the explanation. You may wonder why wider is bad or—more aptly put—a bad fit. A wider approach to a PPC campaign or one that has no end goal and results-driven target, as any PPC Manager will tell you, is confusion. A wide net cast into the water will not let you really understand what the goal is and what you want to achieve. That means that you will struggle to identify whether or not you are succeeding or failing because you truly do not know what you are reaching for, and neither will your team. Therefore, you need to ensure that you have a narrowed goal as opposed to a wider one.
Question 6: Which One of the following is a type of PPC campaign option:
A) Campaign Specific
B) Keyword niche
C) Direct response
D) All of the above
Answer 6:
If you are a PPC Manager or want to be, then you likely answered the question six with answer (4) all of the above. There are many different ways in which you can narrow your PPC campaign because there are many different types of PPC campaigns that you can choose from. The most popular are: campaign specific, direct response, and keyword niches.
Campaign specific PPC advertising campaigns are for those that want to do a quick or short term advertising schematic. These are for the campaigns that may want to rush to promote a cause, for example, or quickly bring notoriety to an issue. An advertising campaign that is developed can be up and online in a matter of two days or less, therefore, PPC managers can use this type of campaign for a quick blip on the advertising plan. This is perfect for a cause driven website or organization that does not rely on profit margins to succeed but rather donor support.
A direct response PPC campaign is a bit different and is more along the lines of work with profitability driven industries. A direct response PPC campaign expects individuals to DO something or wants them to do so. Whether it is purchasing a product or providing an email address for a newsletter, this campaign has a strategic and sales aspect to it. It is perfect for large and small retailers alike.
Keyword niche campaigns are a bit different. These advertising schematics are developed for those that want to capitalize not so much on a particular product, per say, but on a particular audience. When individuals search a keyword or phrase, a targeted PPC campaign will see an advertisement pop up based upon that search. In order for this occur, said keyword or phrase must be connected to that particular advertisement. Therefore, those that are looking to capitalize on a particular search would do so by leading a targeted keyword niche campaign.
Question 7: Which term describes you best?
A) A Go-Getter
B) Laid back follower
Answer 7:
If you picked answer (1) a go-getter, you just might be an ideal candidate for a PPC management position. Of course, you need to know and understand all you can about the terminology and criteria of PPC internet marketing, some of which was noted above, but that can only get you so far. A PPC manager must, must, must be a go-getter. They need to be someone who is consistently looking for new ways to improve and someone that is persistent in the cause. To be complacent is to lose opportunities for your clients and you and that is never good.
A go-getting PPC Manager must be willing to ask for help or find the answers. PPC is ever changing, as many technology fields are, and there can be very different opportunities tomorrow than there existed today. Therefore, individuals who are looking to become a PPC Manager must stay up to date on the latest information, researching and ensuring that they have everything they need to move forward. If they do not have that, though, that is okay! PPC Managers do not and should not work in a vacuum. Therefore, they must be willing to ask questions. To do so is not to admit weakness but to admit strength and shows that they will do anything for their client. If you did well on this test and feel you have the right spirit and personality for the job, you may be a very good fit for this position. Now you can get learning!
About The Author
