PPC - Pay Per Click Management

I was watching Star Wars (the real ones) yesterday and learned some valuable lessons that apply to the paid search world.  Here are 10 PPC tips from Master Yoda that he has managed to teach us without us even knowing!  Master Yoda teaches us from simple principles how to manage and create amazing PPC accounts that convert.

We all know Master Yoda from our beloved movie of Star Wars. Who doesn’t love that show? I saw this movie and thought of great life lessons that Master Yoda taught us about PPC.  Most of us didn’t even realize that Master Yoda was a pay per click expert. He is also well versed in Adwords, BingAds, as well as working on acquiring new techniques with Facebook and Linkedin ads… all different platforms are important to Yoda!

Here are 10 PPC tips from Master Yoda:

1.  You are not the hero, but your Padawan may be.

Now what Master PPC Yoda means by this is that your first ad may not convert, but your future ads may be much better. It is a simple fact that you have to be testing and coming up with new and better ads daily. Your first ad will typically not convert as well as later ads that you have been testing and improving upon. You must learn and adapt. Padawans (later editions of the original ad) will typically take the good and bad and learn from them, then adapt.  So must your ads do the same. Great ads (leaders) focus on the future, the build amazing experiences and build wisdom into others.

2.  You may be misunderstood.

When Luke first meets the PPC master, Luke doesn’t quite understand what was said.

          Yoda: Help you I can. Yes, mmmm.
          Luke: I don’t think so. I’m looking for a great warrior.
          Yoda: Ohhh. Great warrior… Wars not make one great.

This is a lot like your current PPC ads, many people aren’t going to understand what you’re talking about.

You know your business’s lingo, jargon and slang words.  Most people don’t know what a 30RX Masking Tool is. You have to tell them what it is and make them want it. Sure, you need to have branded terms and speak in language that the “fans” will get, but you should also be writing ads so that someone who has no clue what you do will get it in the first couple words.

Great PPC artists and business leaders are often misunderstood. Sometimes we, as PPC experts, have to step down and think how the average human thinks… then write ads that they willl click on and buy!

3. Be careful of the Dark Side.

Just like with SEO, there is a Dark Side with pay per click marketing. Don’t fall for the scummy techniques that end up eventually getting caught. You know the guys that bid on and put out crap. Don’t take on crappy clients that bid on scummy keywords or things that are not legit. Don’t ever push something that’s questionable in any way. Don’t push landing pages that you don’t feel are morally correct. This may just be a personal preference, but I will never take on a PPC client that is questionable, because it will keep all my ads legit and let me sleep easy each and every night!

          Yoda: Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.

Don’t fear being legit in your ads, stand behind it and it will come back to you ten fold.

4. Your Organization May Produce a Darth Vader.

Yup, you heard it right… your organization may produce a Darth Vader.  If you don’t setup the account right, it is going to turn to the dark side quickly.  Yoda talks about another pay per click expert that he was training, called Anakin Skywalker:

          Yoda: Twisted by the Dark Side, young Skywalker has become. The boy you trained, gone he is… Consumed by Darth Vader.

This is a great example for all of our PPC accounts.  If we are not setting them up right, they are going to be consumed by the dark side.  Make sure you setup your accounts correctly; sometimes you have to go back to the basics of a PPC account.  Separate out your Adgroups, keywords and make sure you’re separating out your campaigns for search, mobile and display.  Don’t be lazy and take the quick and easy route.  Separate things out and take the time to organize your account so that it doesn’t fall to the Dark side; otherwise, it will happen fast if you don’t put in the time.

5. You live in a hole.

When Luke first met Yoda, he kinda made fun of Yoda’s home.

          Luke: I want my lamp back. I’m gonna need it to get out of this slimy mud hole.
          Yoda: Mud hole? Slimy? My home this is!

Yoda points out a killer lesson here for anyone trying to hire a great PPC agency or PPC expert.  Some of the best PPC experts and Agencies that I’ve dealt with don’t live in the greatest city in the world (though some do).  Some of them have some pretty scruffy looking peeps that manage the accounts.  Some of them are green, like Yoda.  You never know where you will find that perfect PPC agency, but choose wisely cause you may end up paying for Darth type services.  Great leaders are never afraid to get their hands dirty cleaning up all the crap out there!  Do your homework!

6. PPC work is never done.

Yoda was 900+ years old when he met Luke.  He was still working.  There is always work to be done in the pay per click world.  You can always be testing out new keywords, ad copy, and landing pages.  If you are consistently putting time into your account they will perform much better than if you occasionally check in on the account.  This is the same with any account.  The more we are testing new things in our accounts, the better they will perform in the long run.  Not to mention the happier our clients will be with us!

Paid search is also always changing.  With all the changes in Adwords, BingAds, Facebook Ads, Linkedin Ads, Twitter Ads, and countless others you have to be constantly changing the way you do things.  You have adapt to the changes in the PPC world.  Adapt or the dark side will take over your ads with vengeance.

7. Get some exercise ya bum.

This is something that you don’t hear that often but Yoda enforces it:

          Yoda: When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good, you will not, hmmm?

Yoda teaches us that one of the keys to maintaining a PPC account is to stay healthy.  That we need to exercise and eat healthy.  When we do this we will have a clean mind that can focus and stay clear.  The healthier we are, the healthier our accounts will be.  Hey, Yoda said it… not me!

8. Rely on your team.

Yoda didn’t learn or work by himself, he relied on others just as much as they relied on them.  Sure, he may have lived alone for years, but he always had the force of his team behind him.  (Just like any good PPC manager should work with his team). One person will never have all the answers, but together a team can do amazing things!

I’ve worked with an amazing team for years.  My team is much like the force, something I can rely on at all times.  Beyond just a PPC account, your team is the driving force behind having a great life.  If you’re part of the wrong team, it’s time you changed your situation and find an amazing team.  One of the strongest teams I’ve met is the team behind Modify Watches.  I’ve had the chance to get to know them and they’ve been amazing.  The interactions, community and overall banter is amazing.  Every team should interact like theirs.

9. Teaching others will help you learn more

I’ve managed pay per click accounts for years, but it wasn’t til I started teaching people that I truly started learning PPC.  It’s when I started teaching that I had to correct all the stupid little things that I had been doing for years that was wrong.  I had to truly learn how to effectively manage a campaign, set it up in the correct method, etc.

          Yoda:  Always pass on what you’ve learned.

After Yoda said that I realized that I really hadn’t learned anything til I stared teaching people.  I was a beginner til I started teaching others.  Try it, you’ll be surprised at how much you learn in a short period of time.

10. Do, or do not. There is no try.

There really is not going half in on an account.  You can’t just try to manage a PPC account.  You either have to commit or hire someone to do it for you.  There are a lot of great PPC experts out there.  For all you PPC experts out there, you need to commit to your accounts.  Don’t be half-assed with your PPC campaigns.  Go into the account daily, weekly or whatever the time frame may be and put some real time and effort into it!

Yoda wouldn’t ever just manage his campaigns, he’d make it rain with them!  Here’s to making the most out of our PPC campaigns in 2013.