PPCChat | Activating Funnel Data with PPC | 11 Sep, 2018

This week’s PPCChat session was hosted by Heather Cooan. PPC experts discussed about managing PPC and non PPC channels to target full funnel, using data from PPC, marketing to customers via PPC and more.

Here is the screencap of the discussion that took place.

Q1: Do you manage multi/omni-channel campaigns? If so, what is the channel mix?

We’re mainly PPC, but we also manage SEO and content marketing for some of our largest clients. I’d say 70% PPC, 15% SEO, 15% content. – @gilgildner

I doooo – currently ppc, e-mail, social, paid social, direct mail (I know but it works with this particular demo). A lot of my clients are multi-channel because of the nature of my work as an account director/strategist and the freedom I have to pull from the toolbox of platforms – @amaliaefowler

Yes. Email, chat, social, paid social, PR, influencer, etc. Rarely do I wok in only PPC. – @HeatherCooan

Previously I was more in different search channels, now I’m developing the whole shebang more or less from the ground up – @ferkungamaboobo

We have one or two multi-channel campaigns – national/local SEO link building and PPC to generate reservations/sign-ups. – @marccxmedia

We sure do! Because we are a B2B business, we manage primarily @facebook + @LinkedIn campaigns. We sometimes also add Instagram. – @noveldo_com

Most things I do involve working people down a funnel however, many clients aren’t using automation as well as they can. I’ve never had a perfect sync with other digital teams where it’s a coordinated effort progressing through the funnel. Obviously that’d be ideal –  @markpgus

as some of you know, I switch agencies this year. I do ppc, social, programmatic, sponshorships, and as a team, we do all that plus podcasts, radio, tv and OOH. it’s WILD! – @JuliaVyse

I only manage paid search and paid social, but I do work closely to coordinate efforts with other channels like email or text/SMS. I also do local search visibility on the organic side for businesses with physical locations to make sure all that is in order! – @NeptuneMoon

yes, variety. The big ones are TV+Digital, fewer and fewer print+digital except for healthcare.  – @JonKagan

Pay Per Click – 40% Paid Social – 40% Programmatic Display – 20% It does vary a lot by client – @jimbanks

PPC – Paid Search/Social – mix varies by client – @akaEmmaLouise

Q1.5: Are you using marketing automation in the mix? How?

Some clients have drip emails that go to leads we generated. Not much of that at moment, but we’d like to see more. – @heyglenns

If you mean clicky funnel software – no, although we’ll interface with our customers if they use it. We usually build our own stack instead of using an all-in-one solution. – @gilgildner

Yes and no. For our clients, we use a ton of workflows through our @HubSpot website services, but for ourselves I believe we under-utilize this concept. We do often schedule social posts ahead of time, though. – @noveldo_com

We use some automation when it comes to PPC bid strategy, as well as ad testing. – @marccxmedia

no and it’s a giant hassle. I’m building the performance side of the business up and we haven’t landed on an automation platform that meets our needs.  – @JuliaVyse

Q2: If you only manage PPC, how do you collaborate with other digital channel managers?

We’re a relatively tiny company so I’m usually actually focused on SEO, while my partner is focused on PPC and our writer is focused on content. When it’s so small, it’s easy to collaborate! – @gilgildner

In our experience with PPC for clients, we actually do basically all the legwork. But I believe that really depends on the client. The more flexibility we have, the better the campaign can be, in my opinion. I do not manage exclusively PPC, but do wonder how many of us marketing professionals are exclusively PPC focused – @noveldo_com

Carefully, and as much as the client will allow I prefer direct contact, so no middle man and then we come back with the solution and are on the same page – makes it easier to push things through that need to be pushed through – @amaliaefowler

We set expectations with the client up front that we will need to be included in strategy meetings with other teams including sales. – @HeatherCooan

Tagging your URLs are a MUST, and passing that info through a form in B2B is too. The segmentation, I can do in my channels can be used by others if we tag everything! THEN YOU CAN LIMIT THE FIELDS IN YOUR FORM. If your LI campaign targets CEOs you don’t need to ASK  –  @markpgus

We have in-house CRO for most clients; also collaborate with SEO agencies (when client connects us) or in-house design/email/content teams. Definitely using Analytics for maximum transparency. Also, if CRM supports tying back to original source, we optimize with backend data as much as possible. We’re been trying to embrace attribution for other non-trackable channels (e.g. Spotify–no pixel yet). – @akaEmmaLouise

We are @HubSpot partners and feel that it’s much better to include marketing automation, PPC, Paid Social is not a magic wand. You need good landing page, good user experience, good handoff, good follow up, good analysis and marketing automation ties it together. – @jimbanks

For the search one ones, we meet regularly to discuss how we impact one another – @JonKagan

Q2.5: What are the biggest challenges when trying to collaborate with other digital channel managers?

My struggle’s usually with clients big enough to have a dedicated marketing team. In-house teams who don’t understand PPC usually have concrete ideas of how it should work – and are almost always wrong! – @gilgildner

Without a doubt, the final step – hitting the START button. Sometimes collaborating teams just need that external person or consultant or force to get them to commit and publish the ad. – @noveldo_com

like any relationship, not setting expectations/boundaries and communication.  OH YEA and if they don’t tag URL’s with agreed upon UTM parameters and specific (word is escaping me, but nomenclature?) then it just messes everything up and I get grumpy – @amaliaefowler

in this world there are other channel managers that straight up don’t know what I do. I have to build SEM 101 into our sessions just so they get what the hell I’m talking about. – @JuliaVyse

I like to really assess the players carefully and then personalize my approach. Some are much more open to collaboration than others. It’s definitely not “one size fits all” in these situations!  – @NeptuneMoon

The struggle is working the relationship and collaborating. You don’t want to step on toes, but you don’t want to waste time working on strategy for a channel you’re not getting paid for –  @markpgus

Building strategies that work for all purposes.  – @akaEmmaLouise

Te biggest challenge is internal – the incentive to point fingers is so strong, you have to make sure to always be the adult – @ferkungamaboobo

Agreeing the share of the spoils is the hardest. Every team has targets they are trying to hit, so claiming credit often means attribution models creak. – @jimbanks

trying to explain to one another how the metrics are different by channel – @JonKagan

Q3: How are you utilizing multiple PPC channels to target the full funnel?

Using PPC is perfect to gather data to inform other, more long-term strategies like SEO and content marketing. You can see what terms and subjects convert instantly – then add those to the longterm plan! – @gilgildner

using audiences from LinkedIn to build search traffic is big for us. As is using videos to create engagement and then retarget for regular performance campaigns. Plus, we have a cool display – sponsorship – social- search path that works for some clients. here’s a tip from the pageant world: shout out the other team first. I point out what they did, why their creative/videography/cool sponsorship/exclusive whatever was bomb, and I thank them for making my job which was easier. – @JuliaVyse

It varies from client to client but I love building audiences! Especially with the expectation to get them to convert during a promotion. Bring in low converting Non-Branded/Competitor searchers and then brand education for a week and then a 30% off sale after that –  @markpgus

We primarily have Search and Call Only campaigns with a variety of keywords and intents to capture those in Awareness, Consideration, and Purchase (or in this case, Reservation).– @marccxmedia

Heavy up on remarketing and audience segmentation – @JonKagan

Setting up your “default” channels in GA correctly so you get a truer understanding of traffic types and mix is a great starting point. Out of the box GA is moderate at best. – @jimbanks

All the remarketing!!! But seriously — using GTM to create events for engagements at different parts of the funnel (read content, request info, sign up, etc) and build audiences off of that. Engagement audiences work for more than just Facebook. 🙂 – @akaEmmaLouise

We use @LinkedIn ads to target high quality leads and @facebook because of its massive reach potential and low CPC. – @noveldo_com

Q4: How are you utilizing multiple PPC and non PPC channels to target the full funnel?

We run several campaigns with Google/Bing targeted those ready to buy, FB/LI for those who are probably interested, and branding-focused content marketing/SEO for those who are merely looking. – @gilgildner

We actually signed on one of our clients through our ebook – they downloaded it and liked what we had to say. – @noveldo_com

Taking non-PPC channels into account, we’re working to boost organic rankings and traffic, as well as referral traffic, to target those in the Awareness and Consideration phases through link building..– @marccxmedia

I feel like Facebook has brought the concept of campaign objectives much more forward. Having a mix of initiatives designed to reach people at most stages of the funnel is critical. You can’t fill the bottom if you’re ignoring the top! Giant difference maker in the bottom line for clients is a quality CRM tool on their end that is set up properly and actually consistently used. Have seen a lot of success with boosted posts or events on Facebook for restaurant clients lately – @NeptuneMoon

we focus on coverage (TV) then engagement (video/display) then action, and we build audiences through the whole process. – @JuliaVyse

One of my favorite mixes at the moment is to amplify influencer marketing collateral with organic and paid social and video. I also love to run ppc campaigns (multiple channels) to opportunities while sales is working them. Pimping trust signal and feature content. – @HeatherCooan

Getting email flows nurturing, SEO for top level informational queries and for solving bottom funnel intent, and Branding everywhere. Tag where you can! And conquer! –  @markpgus

Everything you do has got to line up towards one of the goals you’ve set and tell your story. Hardly any journeys happen in one session any more, so you need to be continually passing the baton on and tell them what you want them to do next – @jimbanks

we try and focus channels by certain levels of the funnel to literally pull them down the funnel – @JonKagan

Q5: How are you using data from your database in PPC?

Remarketing! Email lists are some of the most valuable things you can have. Affinity audiences, intent, FB, etc etc etc. – @gilgildner

We link all of our ads to landing pages, where we can track the activity of visitors. For leads who fill out landing pages, we send personalized video emails that have really seen a positive response so far. – @noveldo_com

we have customer email lists in most campaigns. For some of my restaurant clients, we have emails via wifi use, and encourage them to return. – @JuliaVyse

Custom & matched audiences all day erry day. This is why I’m such a stickler for database segmentation and lead scoring – @HeatherCooan

Great question. We use data for exclusion, upsell, cross-sell, lookalike audience, LTV, audience analysis, cross-channel campaign. You are turning 3rd party data into 1st party and then leveraging it. – @jimbanks

Using points deep in the funnel to build lookalike/similar audiences off of for prospecting! High LTV lists FTW –  @markpgus

Customer match, lookalike, remarketing, and exclusions where necessary! #ppcchat – @amaliaefowler

Custom audiences (and exclusions) all the way. Primarily use customer match for building lookalikes–best targeting we’ve found for FB prospecting in most cases – @akaEmmaLouise

Q6: How are you utilizing PPC to market to current customers?

We don’t, often – the majority of our clients are high-margin, single-sale types. Not many recurring SaaS- or service-type clients. – @gilgildner

We just recently ran a lead generation campaign targeting the Boston area during the #inbound18 conference specifically to connect with companies considering doing business in Europe. – @noveldo_com

I love to run usage tips and tricks campaigns for SaaS clients! – @HeatherCooan

I don’t really because most of my clients are lead-gen that are only interested in new leads and new prospects but I want to hear this answer! Also I just lied, around holidays/for promotions I’ll use it with DSA-RLSA audiences – @amaliaefowler

I use map-based ads in @GoogleAds holla for the promoted places! and I layer it with people who took an action within a certain amount of time. Come back to us! For my financial clients, member referral bonuses are not bad/not great on fb. – @JuliaVyse

Boosted posts and events to the FB audience of “people who like the page + their friends” has gotten tons of engagement for very little $$ lately. – @NeptuneMoon

remarket remarket remarket (and then look alike audiences) – @JonKagan

We tend not to. If we have something worthwhile talking about or promoting, we’d rather talk to them, than a crafty ad campaign. We use email to send out NPS to make sure we are not dropping the ball, but no paid media. – @jimbanks

Target people that haven’t opened our promotional E-mail. Find those that haven’t been opening their E-mails and get them re-engaged. PPC is a GREAT way to “win back” unengaged people on your E-mail list! –  @markpgus

Remarketing with Display ads and targeting a current/returning customer audience works. – @marccxmedia

PPCChat Participants:

• Heather Cooan – @HeatherCooan
• Julie F Bacchini – @NeptuneMoon
• Amalia – @amaliaefowler
• Jim Banks – @jimbanks
• Mark Gustafson –  @markpgus
• Noveldo – @noveldo_com
• Jon Kagan – @JonKagan
• Julia Vyse – @JuliaVyse
• Emma Franks – @akaEmmaLouise
• Gllenn Schmelzle – @heyglenns
• Gil Gildner – @gilgildner
• Marccx Media – @marccxmedia
• Doug R Thomas– @ferkungamaboobo