Today may culminate the most unique, and heated, presidential election the U.S. has ever seen. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from history, even in the digital marketing realm. Here are a few quotes from past presidents whose wisdom holds relevance even in today’s PPC world.
1. Keyword Bidding Quote by George Washington
“Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.” – George Washington
Clearly our first president had PPC in mind! Manage your keyword bidding appropriately using bid management goals based on keyword relevance. For irrelevant keywords (those with low quality scores) bid less or pause. For more relevant keywords, increase the bid.
2. PPC Planning Quote by Abraham Lincoln
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I’ll spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln
PPC doesn’t happen overnight. It takes careful planning before activating an account. Be sure everything is in order beforehand by following these three simple, proactive steps outlined by Nate Hollander of Hanapin Marketing:
- Take your target keyword list and test broad match keywords using Google’s autosuggest or a third party tool. Identify any words irrelevant to your business and add them as ad group level negatives to help filter out unwanted traffic.
- Utilize Google Analytics to create customized remarketing lists based on demographics, amount of keyword traffic, social media sources, and time spent on your site.
- Utilize IP exclusions immediately to keep your metrics clean and accurate.
3. Optimizing Quote by Theodore Roosevelt
“The only man who makes no mistake is the man who does nothing.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Keep optimizing that AdWords account! Consistently use tools such as Wordstream & SEMRush (two tools we happily endorse) to ensure your ads, keywords, and landing pages stay up-to-date. Remember: optimization is an ongoing process. Drive for continuous improvement to achieve maximum results.
4. Research and Verification Quote by Ronald Reagan
“Trust, but verify” – Ronald Reagan
While trends and ideas can be perceived as factual, the truth is in the data. Stay on top of your PPC account by continuously researching data to guide and reinforce your strategies.
5. Creativity Quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Be creative! Take some tips from Matt Hopson for innovative ways to maximize your PPC performance on a budget:
- Use ad scheduling to your advantage. Look at the data and try running your ads only at the times your target audience is online and most likely to convert, eliminating unnecessary expenses.
- Explore device and geo targeting to make sure you are maximizing your spending in the areas you are actually able to serve.
- Optimize your ad copy. Utilize keywords, your unique selling proposition, and a strong call to action in your headlines to make sure you stand out against the competition. Test different ads to find the ones that connect best with your audience.
- Experiment with ad extensions to improve your click-through-rate (CTR).
6. Maximization Quote by Barack Obama
“If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress” ― Barack Obama
A PPC campaign can take months of careful and considered optimization before results begin to appear. Coralie Wood of Vertical Leap outlines the following timeline for maximizing your PPC campaign over an eight-month period:
Month 1: Get some visibility and data
Month 2: Refine keywords choices to improve conversion rate
Month 3: Expand the keyword list
Month 4: Increase budget to bring more clicks to the site
Month 5: Focus on top-selling products
Month 6: Boost quality scores
Month 7: Introduce a remarketing campaign
Month 8: Perform on-site optimization
Be patient and you will eventually see impressions, clicks and conversions. All campaigns, presidential ones included, take time…but the results will eventually show!
