5 Techniques for Effective PPC Communication

When conveying critical information about your PPC campaign to your client/supervisor, clarity is often lost in spreadsheets, strategic jargon, and mountains of statistics. As an SEM manager, it is your duty to aggregate data from numerous sources and craft a narrative so that executives who aren’t knee-deep in PPC (pay per click) every day have a solid comprehension of how your campaign is going.

Picture yourself as a medical professional. Doctors need to be able to convey complicated information in an easy-to-digest manner with a palatable delivery. After talking with your doctor, you should have a clear understanding of the problem, the solution, the next steps, and the expected outcome.

Ideally, if your doctor has a good bedside manner, you will come away with a sense of peace knowing that the person you trust has a handle on the situation and they are looking out for your best interests. You should approach communication within the SEM field in a similar manner.

Why Clear Communication for PPC Managers is Critical

PPC is your world. It is in your blood. You live and breathe PPC every day. However, other people in your organization don’t feel the same way. Maybe they understand that paid search advertising is critical to the growth of the business, but they probably don’t want to wade into the minutia of bid modifiers and Quality Score. That’s why they have you.

Keep in mind that your supervisor/client is busy. PPC isn’t the only thing they have to think about on any given day. They want to be able to get a snapshot of account health, current initiatives, and future endeavors.

When your reports, summaries, and other forms of communication are clear and concise, they should feel that you have everything under control — very similar to a doctor visit. Even if you have seen poor performance recently or there have been unexpected fluctuations, the objective is to create a sense of trust with your client/supervisor.

The Communication Techniques You Should Master

Control the Narrative: Statistics and trends need to be put into context. They need to have reasons and explanations. Similar to a painting, graphs and charts convey information but they can also be left open to interpretation. This is where your SEM knowledge is extremely important. Whether trends are positive or negative, you need to provide a frame of reference.

Provide Strategy Details: Determine the level of detail your client/supervisor needs in terms of strategy. Some supervisors/clients want to get into the weeds regarding strategy, and if this is what they need to feel confident, then guide them into the thicket. Your supervisor/client may want just the high-level details; if so, make your summaries brief.

Celebrate Big Wins: Don’t be afraid to boast your successes. Be somewhat judicious so as not to declare every positive occurrence as a major victory. This will lead to positivity overload and could eventually become static chatter. When PPC tools and reports show you’ve reached a milestone tied directly to your current PPC goals, make sure these receive special attention. Remember, don’t be shy! Just don’t overdo it.

Raise Red Flags as Needed: At some point something will go wrong in your account. It may be external such as a seasonal shift or a change in the competitive landscape, or internal such a test or bid change that didn’t go as planned. Either way, this is when your communication should be sharpest.

No one wants to receive bad news. But the manner in which the news is delivered can significantly cushion the blow. Don’t look for flowery language or excuses or blame others. Give details on what is broken, how you plan to fix it, and how long the plan will take (just like a doctor!). Have all of these details determined before initiating the conversation.

Re-Sell Yourself: Every interaction is a chance to re-sell yourself to your supervisor/client. Even simple emails can reinforce your supervisor’s/client’s feeling that you are the right person/agency to be managing this PPC account. Don’t take this opportunity lightly.

In Summary

Every element of PPC campaign management is important. As an awesome campaign manager, you bring great value to the internal elements of PPC: keyword research, ad writing, bidding strategy, analysis, etc. The external element of campaign management, broadcasting what is happening within the accounts to your client/supervisor, is just as important — perhaps even more so.

BCI offers expert PPC campaign management. Ready to get help? Contact us.

Joseph Kerschbaum joined 3Q Digital in April, 2013. Even though he has been working on SEM campaigns for almost 10 years, and he has worked with hundreds of clients in almost every vertical imaginable, Joseph loves that he learns something new in this industry every single day. Joseph is a regular contributor to Search Engine Watch, Website Magazine, Visibility Magazine, among others. Joseph is also the co-author of the Wiley/Sybex book, “PPC Advertising: An Hour a Day.” When Joseph isn’t at home hanging out with his awesome wife and amazing 2-year-old daughter, he is a regular speaker at industry conferences such as SMX, SES, OMS, among others. Some might say that Joseph is a rare bird in the sense that he works in the SEM industry and he is a published poet and spoken word artist.

See Joseph's author page for links to connect on social media.