During this week’s PPCChat session, host Julie F Bacchini sought experts’ views on the PPC industry and its downfall, do PPCers think the current PPC skillset is dying and what are the PPC skills of the future.
Here is Sarah’s post:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sarahstemen_do-you-think-ppc-is-a-dying-industry-i-have-activity-7231618308670734336-pHb1
Q1: Do you think the PPC industry as we know it is dying – yes, no or not sure? Do you think the current PPC skillset is dying – yes, no or not sure?
I broke this into 2 parts because it leaves more room for nuance, which we will discuss in the upcoming questions. @NeptuneMoon
Does dying == changing? If so yes, but going away forever and leaving nothing in its place, no. @Pete_Bowen
I do not think the PPC industry is dying. But it is changing A LOT. Current/classic skillset? Yes, that is dying. @NeptuneMoon
PPC as defined as Google text ads = yesPPC as defined as paid media = not at all, but practitioners refuse to embrace change. @navahhopkins
I think there’s a separation now in between the small business and the big business mentality. Large businesses are worried about the strategy and the big picture and small businesses are really worried about out ppcing things. I don’t think PPC can stand alone anymore, so a little bit of transparency behind the poll and post today. I do think the solo ppc person who is “really good at ads” is definitely dying. @runnerkik
I think the core issue is PPC practitioners got very comfortable with “easy mode” text ads and now we need to balance more technical skills (server side tracking, consent mode, feed management) along with embracing truly creative skills (video, visuals for PMax/Demand Gen). That’s not the same as auction price management and keyword surgery. @navahhopkins
Not dying.Evolving.At a pace which can be considered similar to going from horse-carriages to cars. @alimehdimukadam
Everything digital is in a constant state of change (if it’s not changing, it’s decaying) so you could make the case that everything is dying a little all the time.PPC is changing more rapidly of late, so it feels much more noticeable right now. @robert_brady
I’m…. deeply unsure where this thought comes from. The models laid out in Doubleclick and AdWords are still inexorably linked to monetization on the web. The frameworks of the long-tail and programmatic are more entrenched than ever. @ferkungamaboobo
It has changed a lot already in past 2-3 years. Recently took over an account with Manual CPC, SKAGs, ETAs, Bid Adjustments, wasn’t working. I modernized (automated most things) it and it started working. Made me think it’s as if I had a completely different job compared to the previous guy. @JawadZaheerKhan
It’s evolving to something totally different. The type of PPC managers needed 10 years ago aren’t the types needed now, and won’t be the types thriving in 5-10 years. @TheMarketingAnu
@JawadZaheerKhan “Made me think it’s as if I had a completely different job compared to the previous guy.” – very good description of the changes over the last few years. @Pete_Bowen
In 2022 I did a talk about this exact topic using PMAX (a new campaign type back then) after seeing a LinkedIn Post claiming digital advertising is becoming eaiser and therefore Paid Media marketers will become extinct.No, we’re not dying. We’re simply adapting and changing, or evolving as @alimehdimukadam has said. We’ll no longer be spending hours fretting over manual bid adjustments and writing individual ad copy. We’ll look at feeding the automation machine with clean and useful data to power the machine learning, while using AI to spot trends. @C_J_Ridley
As @navahhopkinss says, it’s gotten a lot more technical now. Most of my time is spent thinking ways of creating and managing a data pipeline from CRMs to Google Ads. @JawadZaheerKhan
Q2: Why do you think the PPC industry as we know it is dying or not dying?
Because human behaviour is evolving and requires a more visual approach than the old text ads. Not everyone begins searches on a text-based search engine anymore. I also suspect that we’ve officially hit the limit on bad actors manipulating brands without austere regulations. Those regulations will force a lot of change. @navahhopkins
The pace of change we have seen from the platforms has really, really accelerated in the last few years. And it shows zero signs of slowing down. So, while dying is a clickbaity way of describing it, it is foundationally shifting in ways that will make it very, very different from what it has been historically. @NeptuneMoon
I feel like an alien. I can’t think of anything fundamentally different about the way I was taught to do ads in 2010 compared to now. Maybe I just had a really future-focused mentor. @ferkungamaboobo
The underlying business model is still there and probably will be for a while (although don’t quote me on this) so I think the pace of change will feel fast but be slower. @Pete_Bowen
@ferkungamaboobo nah – I’m honestly with you. But most aren’t in that boat. @navahhopkins
Because AI and machines will never be able to fully understand the context around the products and services they are promoting. They’ll never be able to spot errors in their systems. Just like airplanes still need an experienced and trained pilot at the wheel, while flying in auto-pilot.If something goes wrong, you’ll need an expert to be on hand to assess the situation and fix itMarketers will be needed to test conversion tracking is working as intended, we’ll still need to connect different software together, and we’ll still need to educate AI the difference between milk chocolate and chocolate milk. @C_J_Ridley
I personally believe this to be the main reason: Levers that can be pulled within an ad account & outside of account. What has changed now is that you can no longer rely only on in-platform levers for success. A lot of it now is off-platform which a PPC/Paid Media person should know. It’s expansion of the skill set or being T-shaped. @alimehdimukadam
Some tools are different, the way some things work is a bit different. But like… my main flaw of what I learned first was that it wasn’t tied to real marketing and the 100+ years of advertising. @ferkungamaboobo
I was explaining to a client this week that having me train his family member to be a junior PPC person wasn’t really going to be much use because accounts don’t have a lot of junior-level work in anymore. Now you need someone with a deep understanding to spot potential problems and fix actual problems. @Pete_Bowen
@C_J_Ridley this is exactly the whole premise of Fred’s book (he did a great article recently on it) https://searchengineland.com/ppc-digital-marketing-restaurateur-human-role-444655 @navahhopkins
A lot of this is also completely out of our control. Platforms are motivated by avoiding regulation and legal actions and profits. Period. Both of those things have also picked up steam in the last few years. So they are changing how their platforms work, and how we work within them, to serve those two masters/goals.End result is that the way you planned for and executed PPC 20, 15, 10 or 5 years ago is not how you do it today. @NeptuneMoon
@navahhopkins I’ve read the book and references it in my PPC Live UK talk you could say I’m a fan. @C_J_Ridley
Unfortunately, the jack of all trades though becomes a master of none. So as a PPC search manager working on your own being good at running Google ads isn’t enough…then businesses are prey to agencies who “offer it all” but have big service issues and quality issues. Also, I often asked myself. Would I tell my kid to go into this field? And I would them to run sadly. Because I loved this industry! @runnerkik
It’s interesting @runnerkik – I run an apprentice program to help people get into PPC and they do decently well. but it’s very much focused on paid media over “pure” Google text ads. @navahhopkins
@navahhopkins I actually agree there because more jr people thrive doing ppc and it could be a different perspective shift. @runnerkik
Let’s be real about something else here too… what we as an industry have sold to clients for the past 20 years largely does not exist or is on its way to not existing. And what I mean by that is PPC ads working essentially instantly, endless growth opportunities with nothing more than more budget to spend, accurate and actionable attribution, the list goes on…What we can deliver and how we deliver it has fundamentally changed, IMO. @NeptuneMoon
@ferkungamaboobo There has been no fundamental change in how ads/marketing is supposed to function. I would say that we are now waking up to true “marketing fundamentals” that stand the test of time for PPC to work effectively. Advertising as a subset of marketing. Due to ZIRP, Privacy, Easy conversion tracking, low competition etc, a lot of people started believing marketing is a subset of advertising. @alimehdimukadam
“Dying” has such a negative connotation. I’m optimistic about the changes our industry is undergoing and I believe many of them are necessary. Many of them are improvements. Some of them are less desirable, but all in all, I believe the PPC industry is evolving in a positive direction. @robert_brady
I also think we as a PPC industry are very good at complaining, but we don’t actually act (take our money to other platforms). So there’s a bit of a toxic relationship developing where we passively aggressively tell our partner (Google) that they’re making us miserable, but then we buy them flowers (continue to advertise), so the complaints turn into noise. I think if we want ppc to survive we need to get better about actionable critiques and move $$$ when we’re really unsatisfied. I looked into it this morning and if everyone took $500 off Google per month that would be $3.5 billion. not a huge dent in the 235 billion they see, but still interesting. @navahhopkins
Well, and that’s $1500 oor so of business revenue off a solidly-run account, which is nothing to P&G but everything to even a relatively large company. @ferkungamaboobo
@navahhopkins I’m guilty of this. A challenge for this idea though is getting clients (those who hold the purse strings) on board with our proposed move. Many like familiarity and the results they receive and therefore won’t want to move away from an established ad platform. We as advertisers may want to move budget away from Google Ads but we can’t if our only argument is “Google makes us miserable” I agree with the notion though and I think we can do more to influence shifts away from ad platforms we have genuine issues with. @C_J_Ridley
I will grant you @navahhopkins that we do enjoy a good bitch and complain session around Google Ads. No question about that. But working with clients who are clearly not Google Ads’ target advertisers and trying to make sure they are not getting regularly screwed by platform decisions can be brutal day in and day out. It’s ok for us to say out loud that Google, as a mature ad ecosystem, makes choices that impact different categories of advertisers differently. They never say that of course, everything they do is equally awesome for any advertiser as far as they are concerned. And the reality on the ground is that it is not. That is where the grumbling lies, oftentimes. At least for me. @NeptuneMoon
Sure – it’s just if all we’re going to do is complain (as opposed to act through regulation and/or shifting spend) eventually they will stop listening because they know they have us. I’ve been preaching “beyond Google” for years and most advertisers I work with see better results by having some Microsoft/Meta exposure – Amazon is starting to be interesting too. this is why I think PPC is dying – because most people see PPC as Google text ads but paid media is thriving @navahhopkins
I am bullish on organic social!! @runnerkik
@navahhopkins With their market share, they already do “have us” no matter how much we like to pretend otherwise. And therein lies the rub. Clients could really not care less about moving spend because of Google changes or policies UNLESS it impacts their bottom lines. @NeptuneMoon
Oh, see I think social media is a ship with no fuel. Dead internet theory is real. @ferkungamaboobo
I personally think brands need it ALL and we can help dictate the % mix. @runnerkik
I am totally in favor of not putting all your advertising eggs in one basket too! @NeptuneMoon
@ferkungamaboobo do you lump all channels in there or are there specific ones? Full disclosure – I hate Reddit and Twitter is now there too. @NeptuneMoon
Is Google so huge that they don’t listen to customers (advertisers) anymore? While I agree that moving budget/regulation will change Google’s behavior, I hope that Google listens to our feedback (complaining) and can see the validity in some of the issues being raised. @robert_brady
This is silly prognostication that is probably wrong — social media, the way I was taught it in 2010-2015, that’s not viable IMO. The inventory is too polluted and drop-off rates among rising demographics is serious. Where it’s not at its end is doing the kinds of things that ALWAYS worked. Influencer marketing works because you’re there already, and now the person that you’ve built affinity for says they use it. There’s traps there — the podcast host that says it somehow has used every meal plan service under the sun for years is a good example… @ferkungamaboobo
The best PPC marketers are those that are comfortable telling a business no if they strongly believe a particular ad platform, budget or strategy is a poor decision. The best PPC marketers will recommend SEO, Content, Social Media, Email Marketing and other marketing channels to ensure the client gets the best result for their business. @C_J_Ridley
But like, yeah there’s mastodon and threads and cohost and bluesky, but they’re all posting in a way that isn’t totally aligned with how people outside of the marketing bubble actually act. @ferkungamaboobo
@ferkungamaboobo I mostly agree with that – the only things I’ll add is that social networks have data we outright shared vs search which took our data. As such I think there’s a lot more targeting and control we’ll have there. @navahhopkins
Tiktok is a bit different, but I think that’s more like YouTube than social media per se — LonelyGirl13 could never but absolutely would have. @ferkungamaboobo
Q3: What do you think our jobs will look like in 5 years?
Disclaimer: in five years I will hopefully be running my dog rescue….Paid media will be about understanding people and audience targeting (to the best of our ability). It will also rely heavily on creative with a strong technical support. @navahhopkins
I’d respond but figured AI might do it for me. @JeremyKrantz
“Omni-Channel”More of strategic oversight/restaureteur/architect roleDeveloping cross-platform funnels integrated with CRM’sLot more user experience, data & landing page focused. @alimehdimukadam
I fully think that in 5 years much if not most of running ads on digital platforms will be highly automated. Advertisers will enter in basic information like website, goals, geographic target areas and budget and the machines will do the rest. So, to be of value to clients, our roles will involve making those inputs wisely and then working with the client on all the pieces that the machines/AI will use to create and manage advertising for the client. Including positioning of your product or service and your website content and experience. @NeptuneMoon
I’ll be a stay at home, mom. Full disclosure here, I built my career getting really good at Google Ads. Now am I a fantastic marketer who understands every piece of the pie and user intent and all the good things? yes.But the larger skill set (we all know is necessary) leans towards a traditional job which I adamantly reject at this point. Especially at an agency!!! So I think this is where the pickle.is for many of us experts. We built a career we’re getting really good at one thing and firmly believe that we need to be good at CRO, analytics…etc but as experts we know we don’t have 15 years left to do that. I’m 45. Now, will I pick up the phone for a high hourly rate and diagnose the problem, that agencies continue to mess up time and time again…yeah lol @runnerkik
In 5 years, we’ll have less in-platform data and will need to focus more on how to leverage Paid Media to amplify and support the other channels. Paid Media Marketers will need to evolve into Strategists that take an Omni-channel approach to businesses and ensure the correct levers and data points are being utilised to maximise the returns from machine learning in ad platforms so it complements the other channels. As @runnerkik said, not all of us have the time to become a Generalist that can do everything, but we all have the time and the skillset to become a Strategist that can coordinate and collaborate with CRO, data analysts and SEOs to ensure an omnichannel solution is provided to the client with Paid Media baked into itAnd I think Ginny Marvin’s preface quote to Frederick Vallaey’s book sums it up. @C_J_Ridley
@runnerkik Partially agree. This is also where AI can also be put to use by us and not just by platforms. You’ll have AI-assistants that are CRO focused, Data-analytics focused, and you just need to prompt them to do the heavy-lifting for you. @alimehdimukadam
I was a generalist and a DARN good one! Still am I did everything I could to specialize lol but generalist roles are great “in house” jobs. And full circle. Also really good Omni channel agencies are too expensive for the small businesses!Which leaves small businesses out x2 since big G isn’t helping them. @runnerkik
Yes, this is true for omni-channel agencies & small-businesses. @alimehdimukadam
See that’s where I feel weird. Maybe I’m just a scrub with no real skills – totally possible! – but I was in SEO, Paid Search, Social, Tracking and Analytics, Display, Video, OTT, Email, uh, idk a 15th thing — I don’t think this stuff is that different at all and the root cause analysis is either points “you didn’t do a basic, day-one thing” or “you have something that has nothing to do with whether or not your keywords are matching, it’s actually a fundamental business problem” @ferkungamaboobo
I do end up inadvertently becoming a generalist of sorts for some clients which ends up increasing work load at my end even if the engagement is only for ads.But I can’t run ads effectively if other areas aren’t fixed…..so… @ferkungamaboobo True in most cases. @alimehdimukadam
@alimehdimukadam you need to add that work into your scope as it is needed. A 10 minute tag troubleshooting is one thing, but helping fix a pageflow to be competitive is another. @NeptuneMoon
I know we only have four more minutes to go, but I do think it’s worth noting how incredibly useful specialization will STILL be. It’s just the specialist skills (design, coding, CRMs, etc.) aren’t always what we love doing. So the real money to be made is in gamifying those tasks so people like doing them, and/or finding the joy in them. I personally wasn’t a math/science kid, but I forced myself to work on those skills to be useful in marketing…and made it fun by seeing the stories in the data. @navahhopkins
@navahhopkins Yes, and taking pieces that maybe we have been doing without charging (like competitive analysis or CRO) and building that out as a primary offering. @NeptuneMoon
So the future still has room for specialists – we just might not be those specialists yet. @navahhopkins
@NeptuneMoon Yes, thank you for reiterating. working on it. It’s my kryptonite. @alimehdimukadam
Yeah, I’m absolutely not saying that there aren’t people who are more skilled or whatever, but 99% of businesses need the basics. You don’t need an ESP designed for a 10,000-person list if you’ve only ever had 10,000 customers. @ferkungamaboobo
Q4: What are the PPC skills of the future? And how do you feel about learning them (if you don’t already have them!)?
Website experience, product/service positioning, competitive analysis, copywriting and analytics/data analysis are the PPC skills of the future. And maybe the equivalent of prompt engineering within ad platforms as automation takes everything over? Being over 50, this is all fine for me as I grew up doing a lot of this before PPC. But for those who went right into PPC I can see where a lot of this are things you understand conceptually but don’t know how to advise or work in/on. @NeptuneMoon
Having grown to expert status and STILL having imposter syndrome. I feel uncomfortable starting over and getting into something new. That said I think VIDEO is huge, because the real way for people to get to know your expertise, especially as a consultant, which is really what you and I are @NeptuneMoon is to talk about it. My clients after talking to me know I’m not BSing them. Lol @runnerkik
PPCChat Participants
- Julie F Bacchini @NeptuneMoon
- Peter Bowen @Pete_Bowen
- Navah Hopkins @navahhopkins
- Sarah Stemen @runnerkik
- Ali Mehdi Mukadam @alimehdimukadam
- Robert Brady @robert_brady
- Reid Thomas @ferkungamaboobo
- Jawad Zaheer Khan @JawadZaheerKhan
- Anu Adegbola aka PPC Live founder @TheMarketingAnu
- Chris Ridley @C_J_Ridley
- Jeremy K. @JeremyKrantz
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