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bantar Community Regular

bantar

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If you become a PPC expert, then you are ahead of the game!   I fear that the game has evolved and sprouted some sharp knives that one must avoid.  Google is always playing cat-and-mouse with those trying to game the system.  So, once you land on a strategy, it gets reworked by Google.  

You and I, both have very healthy advertising budgets.    In this response, I'm going to champion a good advertising budget and push back on the need to DIY.    I could likely DIY this, but I just don't find it enjoyable.    I used to DIY my pool, but I was terrible at it because it wasn't enjoyable and I was lazy.  My paid experts seem to be lazy too (but that's an angry story for another day!).

For the rest of us, whom are either too lazy or busy to do this (I'm both), there can be value in hiring a competent PPC advertising expert to help you.  This is important, because bad PPC is very costly.   Good PPC is less costly.   Knowing how to tune the the results to get optimal costs takes skill and time, as some of the tuning comes from trial and error, feedback and trial and error some more.    Things that impact your costs are your Google Website score, Google Ratings, the quality of your ads, the quality of your landing pages and how well things that are searched are matched.   Ultimately Google ADs are a computerized bidding war.  My costs for a top advertising position for a given search term are lower with good fundamentals. 

For reference, I'm paying $350/month for managed Google PPC advertising.    Last month, I spent $700 on ads, which resulted in 7,716 impressions (# times one of my ads was presented) with 619 clicks @$1.13/click ($700/619) and 260 calls-to-action $2.69/calls-to-action ($700/260).  (I think the 2nd costing method (actions) is a better way to score success).   Do this wrong and you can easily pay 10X for the clicks and thus get less clicks overall.    I'm not tracking the actual conversions and true cost of conversions (because I don't want to invest that next bit of effort to do so and don't think I need it.  Yes, I'm violating the marketing rule that says you track every conversion).  I get monthly status reports with tons of data that I could review.  Instead, I have my ad manager interpret the results for me and send me a monthly summary in addition to the raw data.  She tells me how we are doing compared to previous months and where we are making changes, etc.   Reading the raw data can be overwhelming and interpreting it correctly more so.   I may spend 15 minutes on the detailed data reports.

With Google, we can specify a targeted ad budget and they reduce the number of impressions shown to stay within or close to your budget.   The real challenge is finding someone who is actually competent with PPC.  There are many who say that they are the best, but are they???   How can you tell?

Secondly, I'm not investing in SEO for my website.   It's hugely expensive to fight your way to the top.  I'm using advertising instead.   Now, there are some SEO principals that you must mind and it wouldn't hurt to have your website cleaned up to at least a C+ grade.  I follow an SEO technical forum, but do not have any desire to be an expert on this topic.  I try to pick up the latest buzz only.    

If someone had some good data, it might be interesting to see if using a hyper-SEO optimized website service such as Kukui @ $1000/month (or more) is more valuable than advertising?   I know nothing about this topic or vendor.

 

P.S.  Not that long ago, I was only paying $300/month for this SAME service.   They had the audacity to raise my rates!   😡   Later, I followed suit.  😇

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      It always amazes me when I hear about a technician who quits one repair shop to go work at another shop for less money. I know you have heard of this too, and you’ve probably asked yourself, “Can this be true? And Why?” The answer rests within the culture of the company. More specifically, the boss, manager, or a toxic work environment literally pushed the technician out the door.
      While money and benefits tend to attract people to a company, it won’t keep them there. When a technician begins to look over the fence for greener grass, that is usually a sign that something is wrong within the workplace. It also means that his or her heart is probably already gone. If the issue is not resolved, no amount of money will keep that technician for the long term. The heart is always the first to leave. The last thing that leaves is the technician’s toolbox.
      Shop owners: Focus more on employee retention than acquisition. This is not to say that you should not be constantly recruiting. You should. What it does means is that once you hire someone, your job isn’t over, that’s when it begins. Get to know your technicians. Build strong relationships. Have frequent one-on-ones. Engage in meaningful conversation. Find what truly motivates your technicians. You may be surprised that while money is a motivator, it’s usually not the prime motivator.
      One last thing; the cost of technician turnover can be financially devastating. It also affects shop morale. Do all you can to create a workplace where technicians feel they are respected, recognized, and know that their work contributes to the overall success of the company. This will lead to improved morale and team spirit. Remember, when you see a technician’s toolbox rolling out of the bay on its way to another shop, the heart was most likely gone long before that.

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