Here’s the problem. Most people don’t actually understand PPC. Many aren’t even sure what PPC is. In many minds it’s like the functionality of a TV set – you just turn it on and BAM, it works!

Well, surprisingly enough that’s not the case. That’s why I’m here to tell you about the basics of PPC and why you should care.

PPC….What is it?

Here is a handy-dandy (extremely brief) overview of what PPC is.

At its core, PPC is a 3 part process:

1. Advertisers create ads to show in search results and select the keywords they want associated with that ad.
2. Advertisers set how much they want to spend each day + how much they want to spend every time an ad is clicked.
3. Search engines show the ads when relevant searches that match the advertiser’s keywords are shown.

At its core, PPC is that simple.

However, these days the search engines are constantly tweaking search results. Here are just a few of the multitude of examples:

Traditional Result – Text ads at the top of the page and in the right navigation area

Product Listing Ads – Image ads with product name, price and source

Sitelinks – Links to pages on a given site that can be included as part of an ad

So what’s with all of the variations? Well, their outward goal is always to provide users with the best possible search experience. That said, ads are often very prominently displayed whenever possible in order to “contribute” to the experience. Why not enhance usability and make $50 billion dollars like Google did from advertising revenue in 2013¹, right?

Why should we care?

PPC marketing is the way of the future – now!

In all seriousness, marketers are beginning to understand the massive value in PPC marketing. A recent PPC Hero survey found that Internet advertising will make up nearly 25% of the entire ad market by 2015! Furthermore, 72% of PPC marketers have plans to increase PPC budget this year.

One massive reason for the increase in focus on PPC is how quantifiable it is as a marketing option. A whole plethora of key performance indicators can be easily tracked such as clicks, average cost per click, the conversion rate, and total conversions. Most importantly, revenue and return can be tracked in almost real time.

PPC is also great from a branding perspective.  Why make it hard for customers to find you? For a much lower price than you pay for non-branded terms, you can get top branded paid results to accompany a top branded organic listing. On that note, if there’s a short-term slogan, sale, or incentive, that can also be easily advertised via branded.

Microsoft is a great example of maximizing available branded real estate. They use sitelink extensions (both paid and organic) and are not afraid to display incentives with non-branded terms.

Naturally, if competitors are bidding on your branded terms you don’t want them to have the top spot and steal traffic. Luckily search engines tend to give an advantage to brands. Plus, it’s way cheaper to bid on your brand than it is for competitors to pay to show up for your branded terms.

What’s the magic tonic that brings ads to life?

We’ve now covered what PPC is and why it’s important. Let’s now delve into how the PPC magic is created.

Actually, for most advertising platforms, it’s pretty simple. Each domain (www.yoururl.com) normally has 1 domain per account (more are possible, but not advised). Under this account, there is a campaign. Let’s use bedding as an example. A campaign is composed of a set of ad groups that share a common overall theme, such as “Pillows” or “Blankets.” The ad groups (an ad group contains ads, keywords, and bids) share a budget, targeting based on geographic location, and some other settings. They hold settings like daily budget and ad scheduling. In general, campaigns organize services or products you offer.

Below the campaign level is the ad group. The ad group level is where product type is distinguished. Using our bedding example one group could contain “Down Blankets” with another one covering “Fleece Blankets.” Specific keywords, ads, and bids fold up into each ad group.

The final level is ads and keywords themselves. When searched for, the keywords push to an ad. Settings for how exact a search query must be in order for the ad to display can easily be modified by campaign, ad group, or even individual ad, those are called match types.

Here’s a visual aide to clarify the typical levels of a given account:

Recap

Here’s a brief reminder in case you opted to scan through this post.

A. PPC is a 3-part process:

1. Advertisers create ads and select associated keywords to be displayed in search results

2. Advertisers set the daily and per-click spend of an ad

3. Ads are displayed by the search engines when a relevant search matches an advertiser’s select keywords

B. There are many ways in which ads are displayed by the search engines including traditional, shopping, and site links, to name just a few.

C. You should care about PPC because it’s a growing and proven method of advertisement, results can be easily quantified, and PPC can help grow and protect your brand name.

D. Most PPC platforms are set up in the following top-to-bottom fashion:

Account > Campaign > Ad Group > Ads + Keywords

Please feel free to share any comments or questions you may have below.

If you only remember one thing from this now long-winded tutorial it should be that PPC is great and your company should be doing it.

The post Pay Per Click Advertising Explained by a Non-PPC Person appeared first on Portent.

It’s undisputed that other areas of the digital marking world, like SEO or PPC, are valuable to your website and your business because those are areas that increase traffic to your website, and often lead to more conversions. So, why is it that social media gets a bad rap? Why do I continue to work in a field that is constantly the underdog? Short answer: I believe in the power of social media for businesses, and I believe in doing it right.

I’m going to discuss three reasons why social media (and social media strategists) matter in the digital marketing realm, and perhaps educate other sectors of the digital marketing space who think that we just “play on Facebook all day.”

Social impacts all sectors of digital marketing

When working at a digital marketing company like Portent, there are several departments to help clients with many different online strategies. It can be argued that social can affect all of these different departments.

Content and social fit together like peanut butter and chocolate – we’re pretty good individually, but together we’re magical! Creating content that is easily sharable on social is exactly what your online marketing campaign needs. You want audiences reading and sharing your content, which is where social comes in. Posting a link to your content isn’t going to cut it anymore. It takes some great messaging, smart timing and an eye-catching format. Marketing your content effectively across your different social media platforms can give it that extra push, and hopefully others start sharing that content with their friends.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and social, while once separate, have come together quite nicely. Links and interaction on social media can make a considerable difference on a website’s search rankings, making an optimized social media page beneficial for SEO. Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest can make significant differences on SEO, especially if they are set up properly and you are posting sharable content to these sites.

Pay-per-click (PPC) and social are becoming more closely related than ever. The big social networks are using targeted paid ads on their platforms so that your content can reach more people (at a price). The gold can be found when organic and paid social come together on high quality posts. In fact, according to new research from Marin Software, search campaigns perform significantly better when they are managed alongside social campaigns (average of 26% higher revenue per click, in fact).

Social media can even impact website design. Social follow and share icons across your website are important. What’s even more important is putting them in the correct places. We want people to visit your new website, and also easily find your social networks and share your content on social directly from the site. In addition, social can help with testing new websites. Do all social buttons work? Do all social sharing buttons go to the correct places? Does your website’s look and feel coordinate with your social media channels? Are your website URLs up to date in your social media profiles so that social users can easily find your site? All of these things matter to create a cohesive online presence, and stellar experience for the user.

Social is constantly changing

Social media marketers are fully aware that the social media landscape is always changing. With new social networks popping up all the time and well-established social networks like Facebook and Twitter changing their layouts and algorithms, how are companies possibly able to keep up? That’s where we come in! It’s our job as social media strategists to know the ins and outs of these different social networks, and to help clients (and the companies that we work for) work through the changes.

We also develop our fortune telling skills (Oh, that paperweight? I think you mean my crystal ball?). We must predict what will work for our clients in three months, rather than relying on today’s best practices. We also help early adopters decide where the potential benefits outweigh the risks of trying something new or different in social.

Not only do the social networks change – the audiences evolve as well. With more and more people flocking to social media (72% of all internet users), it’s important to understand your audiences. You can’t just think of them as your social media audience. You have to think in terms of your Facebook audience, your Twitter audience, your Google+ audience and so on. Your social media strategists spend hours on these different social networks, and they understand these different audiences – use their knowledge while marketing your content across multiple platforms.

Social without a strategy can fail – big time

It’s not enough anymore to simply push your content out onto social media and hope for a good response. It requires a lot of effort. A successful social media strategy requires time to grow and maintain your audience, learn what they engage with, and execute based on how they operate.

Social isn’t an immediate source of revenue for companies (generally, it’s second-hand ROI). So, clients often ask me “why should I hire a social media strategist?” A presence on social media can help you build trust with your audience, and, if done correctly, turn that audience into lifelong customers.

Social drives micro conversions

Social media may not directly drive sales (at least, not always), but social is a key driver of micro conversions-actions that users take before making a purchase. These can include email list opt-ins, social follows, new visitors to your website, lead generation, etc…In essence, social media can drive users to become familiar with your brand and, hopefully, lead them to become a future customer.

In social media, you need to map out your goals, build a strong foundation, and then begin building on that foundation with a strong strategy. That’s what social media marketers do. Yes, we love to play on Facebook (and Twitter and Pinterest and…). But, we spend most of our time studying, learning and improving ways for you to grow your business using social media, so you don’t have to. That’s why you need us.

The post Why Social Media Strategists Matter in the Digital Marketing Realm appeared first on Portent.

Over the years, however, I’ve developed some project management skills that have come in very handy with the little one.  Below are five of the biggest.

1. Write it down, somewhere

Parental brain exists. Whether it is due to lack of sleep or too many to-dos, you can’t remember everything. So write it down.

I use Evernote for my client agendas, recaps, and things I need to remember. I also create shopping lists, make journals for what I want my daughter to learn someday, plan parties that may or may not happen, and generally ramble.

2. Plan in extra time

Ever since a long-term client told me how much she appreciated me being early to meetings, I’ve made it one of the things I just do. If I am late, or even on time, I feel terrible. And so far, there have been only a handful of times with my newborn that I’ve been late. I actually remember more times where I’ve been early, with husband and daughter in tow, and have arrived before my friends/family with no kids! How do I do this?

Well, at work, I give myself 15 minutes before a scheduled call to prep docs, load the screen share, and dial in. I find if I have less than 15 minutes, I feel rushed and often have technical issues. At home, I plan an hour before things to start the process of getting going. Sometimes, we wait around twiddling our thumbs (or the baby chews on mine).

3. It takes a village

Raising a child for the first time is like walking in a forest with no lights. Unless you have a guide, you will trip over a lot of roots. Baby group classes have stopped me from thinking that “no one has ever experienced this” (that and random 2 a.m. searches for “my baby does ­­­­________”).

Running successful Internet marketing projects also takes a lot of super-smart people. Fortunately, we have that at Portent, and getting different departments to weigh in on things (even when they aren’t part of the project) can help bring better ideas.

4. Build relationships

I’m surprised by how many of my clients are interested in baby updates on our regular calls. Almost every one includes a “how’s the baby?” But when you build great relationships with clients, they do care – and the work we do together improves. Here at Portent, I feel like we do a pretty good job of that. We genuinely like our clients.

5. Get creative

Sometimes you just have to have fun. Being too focused on a specific contract or to-do list can stifle creativity. You may need a break from your ordinary routine to move a campaign further.

With my daughter (and any baby really) I always find it amazing just how silly adults can be. We make up songs, make funny faces and noises, and generally do ridiculous things just to make those little faces light up!

These are just a few of the things that have helped me as I have taken on this new role of parent. If you are a parent, what are some things that you’ve learned in your work life that have helped in your parent life? I’d love to hear and learn from you, so please share in the comments.

The post 5 Project Management Tips from Portent’s Newest Mom appeared first on Portent.