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Every PPC campaign requires a roadmap.
You cannot board a bus to an unknown destination with your eyes closed.
Sit with the client, find out what they want to achieve, come up with a workable strategy and execute it.
As the PPC manager, you will need a guide through the PPC account so that there is an easy transition if you are taking over from another agency.
Accounts change hands all the time. It is nothing new.
So what do you do when this happens?
Creating a new PPC campaign is easier than optimizing a pre-existing one.
Taking over an account is like working through someone else’s thoughts, strategy, and approach.
In this article, you will learn how to give agency access to Google Analytics. We will also discuss how to effectively transfer a PPC account.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to transfer access.
When inheriting a pre-existing account you should note the following:
Set clear and realistic expectations when taking over a pre-existing account it could mean one of 2 things:
Think about what this means for you as the new account manager.
The client expects you to find the existing gaps and fix them. There is no shortcut.
When taking up the account make sure the goals are realistic.
Some clients have very high expectations. You need to be on the same page on this.
Ask a series of questions on what success with the account looks like for them.
Most clients will say they want to make profits but spend less.
That is the dream of many businesses.
So what is unique about them? Let them paint a picture of their expectations for you.
Once you have that, be clear and what you can deliver, what you need and how the campaign will be executed.
Make sure all this is in written form so that you have a place to refer to if any concerns arise.
This is the roadmap we mentioned. It should be your constitution.
Trust me, none of these steps are unnecessary. Some clients are difficult. They will blame you when things go wrong, even when it is clearly their own fault.
You do not want to find yourself in this position.
They say the devil is in the details.
Once you understand how to give agency access to Google Analytics, it is time to determine what realistic goals are for the account.
What unit of measurement do you use to find out what is doable, and what is too ambitious?
As a professional in this field, it will be your duty to determine this based on your expertise.
How quickly can you expand this campaign? How long will optimization take?
When dealing with clients, service providers are told that they’d rather under promise and over perform.
Clients appreciate honesty. Inform them of what to expect.
Create a goal plan for the first 6 to 12 months.
“Begin with the end in mind,” Stephen Covey.
Create the plan with the performance expectations of the client as the end goal.
The plan should be detailed but flexible.
When it comes to timelines, show the client why you chose the specific time frame and why it is realistic.
If you take time to create a plan, with the clients’ needs, and goals, you will be on a journey to success.
PPC campaigns are great for companies. However, you need to understand how it fits in the bigger picture.
When taking over a pre-existing account you need so much insight into the client. Sometimes clients struggle to give information.
If you find yourself in this situation, contact the previous manager for directions.
Here are few things to note before contacting him or her:
You will encounter any of these cases when taking over an account:
In most cases, previous managers give access to PPC accounts without a problem.
What about the small percentage that doesn’t? What do you do?
Sadly Google does not easily give someone else access to a Google Ads account.
You are required to answer a series of security questions to get access.
However, if you were not present when the account was being set up and the information was not stored then you have a problem.
But do not worry yet, there is a solution.
Google Ads account is linked to a credit card, right? If the card belongs to the client then you will get access. Whoever owns the card and pays for the clicks is technically the owner of the account.
To get access via the credit card, you will have to answer some security questions regarding the card to receive administrative access.
Google will require the exact amount of the last billing on the credit card or debit card. It requires the date of the transaction as well.
If the billing was via invoicing, the amount and date will have to be provided.
You will be required to submit the reference number and amount of the last payment if the billing was via bank transfer.
For the credit card, Google will require you to provide the name of the card user as it appears in the card including the expiration date. You will not share the credit card number.
For a debit card, you will submit the debit card issuer name as it appears on the card and the expiration date. You will not share the debit card number.
If your client was involved in the PPC campaigns they will be able to answer these questions.
History is important because it helps analyze part events and their relationship with the present. When taking over an account, understanding its history will help make the account successful in the future. It acts as a mirror that shows you the current reflection so that you know what to change moving forward.
To collect history, here are key metrics you will need to consider in your review:
Track the traffic patterns of the account to see when they increased and decreased. Observe how keywords performed and explain to the client why they might have been a sudden drop in traffic. Was it due to how the account was being managed or to seasonality?
This is affected by different issues. If your client made changes on their website, this has an impact on the PPC campaign. It could be positive or negative.
Google Analytics gives you a report of the bounce and conversion rate. If there was a drastic change you can pinpoint what led to this change.
If your client had an account before there was a budget set and the expected return on investment (ROI). To excel in this area understand where the company is with cost-per-lead and ROI. If your client has been making an improvement every year, then you need to maintain it and even surpass it.
Another metric that is important is ad text. This shows you ads that performed and those that did not. You can also see which call-to-action performs well. Use this information throughout the account to get a higher clickthrough rate (CTR).
I’ll call this the most important dimension because it probably is. Get data on specific keywords and see how they performed. This will save you the time you’d have spent on generating keywords that might not have attracted quality leads. This data will help you build a powerful keyword list for your future campaigns.
It doesn’t matter whether you are creating a new account or have inherited an already existing one, the start point is the same.
Many people make mistakes in PPC campaigns because they do not conduct proper follow-up. Once in a while open the account and check whether Google Ads conversion tracking is well implemented. Here is what you should be looking out for:
You should always enable conversion tracking and execute report to keep check on the conversion data. It should be available on each search engine. If it is, ensure that you understand the anatomy of a landing page and it has been set correctly.
If the page you open asks if you want to sign up for Analytics follow these steps:
How to Link Google Ads Account to Google Analytics
When you finish linking an account, you will have all the data from Google Ads on the Analytics report. Sadly, pay-per-click sources are not included. If you do not fix it, the traffic sources appear as “organic” in Analytics. You can use custom URL tags to remedy this.
Lucky for you this process has been made easy by Google.
Using Google URL builder you can create the URL tags for your PPC campaign. The goal is to tag the traffic you get with the source and medium to ensure all the data is captured in Analytics.
If you took over an account that had multiple campaigns, you need to check each setting individually.
Budget options vary. Check how much was set on a daily basis to determine what your expenditure will be for the campaign. If the amount set is too low, the ad will not have much impact because once the amount is depleted the ad stops showing. On the other hand, if the budget is too high you might end up biting more than you can chew.
It is best to split out the campaign targeting for better control of the budget. This means having each campaign targeting set to Search and Display separately. Also check what devices the campaign is displaying on; computers, mobile, or tablets.
Unless you are running a huge international campaign have your language set on English only.
Location is an important aspect to look out for. While different campaigns might target audiences locally, regional, or nationally ensure you are target specific. If for instance, the campaign is for clients with food chains in major cities like New York and California, there is no point in including Nebraska. You want to get the most out of the campaign. Do your best to minimize unqualified traffic.
In terms of scheduling, leave the settings as they are. Checking for the best time for the ad to be displayed is an in-depth process so return to it when you have more time.
Keywords can make or break your PPC campaign. That is why you need to be very tactical while creating keyword lists. Inheriting an existing account is more challenging because you need to scan all the keywords that have been used in the account. You have to research what keywords work best and eliminate the low- performing ones. To conduct a thorough keyword research use these methods:
Since companies update their websites often, look into the new content to find new keywords that can be added.
Keyword tools make your keyword research process a painless one. One such tool is PPCexpo Keyword Planner. It is one of the best research tools that is very user-friendly.
This is equivalent to keeping your enemies closer. Go to competitors landing pages and see if there are keywords you might have missed. Go to their landing page and in the web browser click view source code. This will show you the keywords they are targeting.
Long-tail keywords are so underrated. Most people who use long-tail keywords are at the end of the buying cycle. You want to take advantage of this by mixing general keywords with long-tail ones.
Forgetting to put keywords of the client’s company is a grave mistake. Even if you are already ranking organically, have branded keywords in every PPC campaign.
When creating keywords, put yourself in the shoes of your target audience. Think about what you would type in the search box to find your clients’ site without typing their brand name.
The Google Analytics report is full of helpful information on keywords people are using when searching a particular product or service.
This helps you find terms users are typing on search pages. You can run a search query report to find out what people typed on the search box to arrive at your site. The report will tell you how many times people clicked on the ad, how many times someone saw the ad and any conversions you received.
If you are running an agency, you will find yourself overwhelmed by tons of accounts and campaigns you are handling. To save yourself the agony, use the PPC Signal tool.
This tool will work for you 24/7 finding out the ambiguity in the campaign.
Ambiguity is the greatest enemy for any marketer. Why? Any grey areas mean the potential loss of money.
Through its AI, PPC Signal will then give you a warning in advance so that you can make the necessary corrections. Complete overview of your campaigns’ behavior will be available in the dashboard when you use this tool and at first glance you can immediately get the idea which campaign is performing and which needs attention.
Working in PPC account management will expose you to different working scenarios. Sometimes you will have to create campaigns from scratch, other times you will take over a pre-existing account.
Your role will be to conduct effective tracking to ensure everything runs smoothly. Do not be shy about seeking guidance from the previous manager. Just ensure you are respectful and professional. If you are the previous manager, find out how to give agency access to Google Analytics.
After tracking, optimization organization is the next step. Giving agency access to Google will not be as challenging as transferring ownership of a PPC account. After taking over, you will need to optimize and expand your campaign.
To get started, use the PPC Signal tool. It utilizes AI to help you identify ambiguity in the campaign so that you can salvage the situation before it’s too late.
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