The other day I was reading an article about how babies have different personalities and different ways to nurture each type of personality. This got me thinking that our PPC accounts can also be grouped into similar personality types, and as PPC managers we have to adjust our strategies accordingly to make them profitable.
Want to know your account better? Find out if your PPC account falls into any of these personality types described below.
1. The Happy Account 
This account is like a happy and easy going baby. It works well from the get go. It generates high quality traffic and the cost per clicks and click thru rates are good. Every improvement to this account makes it even more profitable.
Strategy:
Even though this account is a low maintenance account, don’t ignore it. Give it a little TLC regularly (manage bids, add negatives), and it will continue to be profitable. You can also use this account to test new PPC features such as ad extensions and product listing ads.
2. The Predictable Account
As the name suggests, this account is very predictable. This account has predictable high and low seasons or trends. We see this behavior in retail accounts which generally have high seasons during Christmas and Valentine’s Day.
Strategy:
Use this predictability to your advantage,
1. Prepare your account to take full advantage of high seasons. Increase bids and budgets during the high seasons and lower them during the low seasons to meet the ROI goals.
2. Launch remarketing campaigns and display network campaigns to generate more traffic during the high season.
3. Analyze the trends. Use day parting and geographical targeting to make the campaigns more profitable.
3. The Energetic Account 
This account is a very active account. It generates lots of traffic and has multiple campaigns, keywords and ads. New keywords or ads get lots of impressions and clicks, so if you are not watching, this account can become unprofitable very soon. Just like an energetic baby, this account needs a lot of attention to keep it out of trouble.
Strategy:
Monitor the account closely.
1. Manage budgets and bids closely since they have significant effect on campaign performance.
2. Plan ahead and prepare your account before any major seasonal highs or lows.
3. Perform experiments on keywords, adgroups and ads before adding them to your account.
4. Set alerts and rules to notify you of any problems.
4. The Moody Account
Just like a moody baby, the performance for this account is very unpredictable. One month the conversion rates are great and every one is happy, the next month they plummet without any obvious reason. I see this behavior in accounts which have low traffic and fewer conversions.
Strategy:
Basic strategy for this account is to make the campaign predictable.
1. Avoid broad match keywords since you have no control over the matched search terms. Use phrase match, exact match and few broad match modifier keywords.
2. Use lots of negative keywords.
3. Avoid using this account to test new PPC features. Add new features to this account when you have seen significant improvements in other accounts.
5. The Grumpy Account 
This account is a high maintenance account. No matter what you do, it seems like this account is never happy. Improvements to the account, such as adding negative keywords sometimes have adverse effect on campaign performance. But once the account shows progress, it is very rewarding. I have seen this behavior in accounts which sell high end goods or technical products.
Strategy:
Meet the basic need of the account.
1. Study the customers and industry. Do an in-depth keyword research to find out what your customers are searching for.
2. Use long tailed keywords and avoid head terms if possible.
3. Add industry specific keywords like product names and terms with industry specific jargon to the campaign.
3. Add industry specific jargon to the ad copy to attract the right audience. You may have a lower click thru rate, but the quality of traffic will be better and more likely to convert.
Understanding your account’s personality type and finding the strengths and weaknesses of your account can help you make the account more profitable.
So what is the personality of your PPC account? Is it a happy account, a moody account or does it have multiple personalities? What are your strategies for dealing with your account?
Reference article: https://www.pnmag.com/parenting/your-babys-personality-type
This post is from Archana Pawse of Mission Web Marketing, an Internet marketing agency located in Santa Barbara, California. Mission Web Marketing offers an assortment of web marketing services, including Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click Marketing and Web Development. Archana has Google Adwords, Google Analytics and Microsoft Adcenter certifications.
