PPC (pay-per-click) specialists take care of everything regarding the digital pay-per-click advertisements of a business. They are vital players in any digital marketing strategy.
From research and strategy to implementation and analytics, PPC specialists build advertising strategies from scratch. Some PPC specialists take on even bigger roles and create the ad content as well.
Although large companies often choose to have in-house PPC specialists, these experts usually take on multiple accounts at once. If the scope of one project is not excessively wide, the specialist won’t need a whole day to manage its online ads. Instead, PPC specialists go for freelance projects or work for digital marketing companies.
A big part of roles in digital marketing requires creativity. Even though many may think that PPC specialists only take care of the analytical part, the reality is different. The scope of a PPC specialist is broad and covers too many areas to count. It requires a special skill set, including creativity, attention to detail, understanding of psychology, and of course, knowledge of how digital advertising platforms work.
What is PPC?
PPC (pay-per-click) is a form of advertisement whereby the business gets charged a CPC (cost per click) only when their ad gets clicked. This model is different from other advertising models like PPM (pay-per-impression), whereby advertisers pay for every 1000 impressions.
PPC ads allow PPC specialists to precisely target the audience, track their actions, analyze the performance, and much more.
The PPC model is used by Google, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and many other platforms, but the most popular one by far is Google. Ultimately, a PPC ad is a way to purchase clicks instead of trying to generate them organically through SEO or other means. PPC specialists bid on certain keywords, and if their page is relevant, they will appear in the search results above organic pages. Nevertheless, the algorithm is not so cut and dry.
Responsibilities of a PPC specialist
The general job description of a PPC specialist revolves around managing online advertising campaigns. A considerable part of their tasks relate to research, analysis, maintenance, and optimization. Here’s what the day-to-day responsibilities of a PPC specialist are.
Keyword research
First things first, a PPC specialist must determine which keywords they want to compete for. To do this, the expert has to get in the mindset of the target customer and pinpoint exactly what that person would search for in hopes of finding your product.
Each keyword has its own CPC (cost per click), but the specialist has to choose only relevant ones for two reasons – reaching the ideal target and appealing to the search engine algorithm.
Choosing all the keywords related to your product still won’t make your campaign successful. You also must keep the searcher’s intent in mind. That’s why you can also add negative keywords to your campaign. These are the keywords that you don’t want to “rank” for. For example, if you’re selling “kitchen cabinets,” you wouldn’t want to bid for “kitchen ideas.” Someone looking for just ideas is probably not ready to purchase yet, and it’d be too soon for them to see your ad. Those searchers may be less likely to convert, so you can block your ad from them to prevent wasting your ad spend.
Analyzing trends
As a PPC specialist, you must follow search engine trends. You might catch a change in the algorithm and decide to shift your campaign, ending up with one that performs even better. Since algorithms are constantly changing, keeping an eye out for new updates can benefit you.
Aside from platform trends, you should also keep an eye out for trends related to your campaign. If a particular keyword becomes popular during your campaign, you’ll want to catch it and consider including it in your targeted keywords.
Writing content for ads and landing pages
Although some companies may hire copywriters to create the content for ads and landing pages, many PPC specialists also assume that responsibility. Since they are very involved in researching the topic and understanding the searcher, it becomes easier for them to create a copy that’ll address the customer’s pain points.
First, they write the short text ad content to reel the customer into the brand’s landing page. Second, they try to close the deal and convert the customer into a buyer with careful wording and attractive deals.
Planning, creating, and managing campaigns for clients
Once the required material is ready, the PPC specialist has to plan the campaign’s duration, decide on bids for keywords, and input the rest of the necessary info. Naturally, the expert needs to be aware of how to set up optimized campaigns and be attentive not to miss any steps. PPC specialists also take care of setting up payment methods and managing the client’s account.
Analyzing campaign results and optimizing performance
A massive part of running successful campaigns with impressive KPIs is knowing how to maintain the ad’s performance. PPC specialists need to analyze campaign results not only at the end but especially during the campaign. They need to catch expensive keywords, remove the under-performing ones, and regularly follow their performance.
PPC specialists also need to watch out for the Quality Score of their ads which indicates the “rating” of the search engine. Since Google and other search engines want to show only relevant content to their visitors, the platform gives your ad a Quality Score, according to which it decides whether to put your or your competitor’s ad first.
Creating campaign reports and recommendations
Last but certainly not least, the PPC specialist needs to report the campaign results to the client. They must show exactly where the client’s money went – how many clicks they got, how many converted, which keywords worked best, etc. Based on the performance of the campaign, the experts also give their recommendations on future improvements.