The most important tool for any Google AdWords PPC Manager is Google Analytics, right? Well, maybe not. Maybe Google Apps is just as, if not more, important for the PPC Manager to have set up and functioning on a daily basis if he or she really wants to master the secrets of PPC Management fast.
Fact
One of the most difficult things for a PPC Manager on a daily basis has very little to do with the actual PPC Management of a campaign and everything to do with time management, organization and the meeting of all goals set.Problem
The PPC Manager is a metaphorical juggler. He or she has A/B campaign tests running on a constant basis and might have anything between 1 and 20 campaigns to manage on a daily basis, each with their very own PPC Management test running its course at any given time.
One of these campaigns might be testing advertisement text in an A/B testing framework, another campaign might be looking into different bidding management styles, a third campaign might be testing the different designs of a client’s landing page and so on.
The PPC Manager is the kind of person who has one of those jobs that just doesn’t ever really let the brain relax because there are just too many things to remember, too many variables to try to retain at the forefront of one’s mind for the next day at work. As a result, the PPC Manager can become overwhelmed with all the things that he or she needs to do, how to monitor them, when to change them and so on.
The Curse of the To-Do List
This is why many PPC Managers turn to the comforts of the age-old idea of a to-do list. They sit themselves down at the beginning or the end of the day and make a list of all the different things they need to do on a campaign (which include daily tasks, weekly tasks, monthly tasks and one-off changes all on the same page) and lo and behold, the list is endless.
Before anyone has realized, the day has passed and the PPC Manager is still making the to-do list without actually being able to get on with what is on that list because making the list is taking up all his or her time.
Therefore, even though Google Analytics is the king of all analytical programs and shows the PPC Manager invaluable data on the campaigns that he or she is running on a daily basis, the beauty and power of Google Analytics is wasted on many PPC Managers because the underlying, basic structure of system and order has not been put into place.
Google Analytics is the key to many aspects of PPC Management, but not if you don’t have the time to be able to use it properly on a regular basis and in a productive manner that produces the level of information you need in the record amount of time that you need to be able to produce it.
The to-do list system is too basic for the complex nature of the PPC Manager’s job and this is why Google Apps is the answer. Think about Google Analytics as stage two of your development. Make your initial efforts in PPC Management all about Google Apps and organization on a superhero level.
Google Apps for the PPC Manager
Google Apps has everything that a PPC Manager needs to get organized without losing him or herself in the organization period. It’s easy to lose yourself in a to-do-list and they can be very depressing because it is very rare that we can cross off all the things that we put onto our lists, particularly on a regular basis.
However, Google Apps gives us more scope to organize our PPC Management schedules on a broader scale and to develop routines that work. Here are just a few ideas...
Google Docs
Utilize Google Docs to get everything down into a system that every PPC Manager working for you in your firm can have access to when necessary. Thanks to the fact that Google Docs is an online resource, any changes made to the documents by any member of your PPC Management Team will be instantly available to see by all.
- Spreadsheets are great for logging tasks that need to be done on a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly basis. They are better than the old-school list, because the grid-like format is easier to read and tasks are clearly separated, giving specific timeframes for each one.
- Image Collections are excellent for the management of Display Network Campaigns or any kind of images that need to be used in the maintenance and management of landing pages for all clients.
- Shared Documents Functionality lets you share your up-to-date information and all changes that are made with everyone on your team. Drum in a system to your PPC Managers that at the very beginning of every day, the first thing they do is revise all the documents that have undergone changes in the last 24 hours. It is also important that the people who make those changes highlight what they did in a color so that the information is digested by others at top speed.
- Labeling and Tags is a great way of further streamlining and organizing your PPC Campaign information. Labels can relate to team groups, they can relate to clients, they can relate to a scale of importance or urgency. The focus of the labeling is not important, but the effective use of it is.
This is the perfect way to train your PPC Management brain to switch off at the end of the day and to stop thinking about all things related to PPC and clients. Let Google Calendar be the brain that remembers dates, tasks and responsibilities so that you can have a life outside of Google AdWords from time to time.
- Alerts can be set up to ensure that when you need to change an advertisement on the A/B campaign you have running to test advertisement copy, an alert is sent to your inbox to remind you to do so. This is essential. It means that the things you have to do in a month’s time that you are concerned you are going to forget can be managed more effectively. Google Alerts won’t let you forget the things you need to do.
- The Diary feature is a much better form of the to-do-list, because you can split things up across the days, weeks and months and be realistic about your goals in a pictorial form. Take advantage of the simplicity today.
If you are not a one-man PPC Management Band, and there is a team of PPC Managers working around you or for you, communication is the key. For communication to always remain up-to-date and for communication to work for you in your favor, Google Groups is something you should be taking full advantage of.
You can split up your group into different members of staff to form teams and these teams can receive all the information relevant to them without fearing sharing unnecessary information with other people in the company at the same time. Link your staff up into groups and have them actively use Google Groups as a way of sharing information and communication with each other every single day.
There’s more folks!
Google Apps has more to offer than a stressed-out and disorganized PPC Manager, but we hope that the first ideas shared with you in this article are enough to get the ball rolling at least. Much of what we have shared is common sense, really, but when under pressure and when chasing deadlines, it is sometimes easy to miss the really obvious solutions.
So... think about the exploitation of Google Analytics at a later date. For now, get things working smoother by investing in all that Google Apps has to offer. It is the best present a PPC Manager can ever hope to receive... except maybe a raise!
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