Description
I have to say, from the whole article my favourite quote involves Mr Miller implying we can all be PPC experts with the use of automated technology. Such as -
“The main value provided by agencies is expertise with SEM, and as I’ll explain, you can bring much of that expertise in-house by using the right kind of pay per click management software.”
and..
“However, I believe that your best results will come from having your PPC campaigns managed by the true experts – you. The same techniques and best practices used by agencies can and should be automated with technology. Choosing B2B search marketing software allows you to optimize your PPC campaigns like an expert, without the loss of control, latency, and overhead associated with an outside agency.”
So we all just need this software and we can run campaigns like experts?
Not even close.
No matter how useful automated technology can be, it’s still way off from being able to offer anything like complete control and optimisation of a campaign to an expert level.
Bid management and ROI/CPA based rules are far from perfect, so do not believe the hype. A major part of getting the most out of a PPC campaign is still very much gained manually by the individual running it. The opaque nature of quality based bid platforms pushes the need for human control & optimisation further. The software alone will not make your campaign perform anything like expertly.
It’s a shame the article was marred by an agenda as it’s an important topic for many businesses & it has a very interesting piece of research by Jupiter at its heart. Although the article fails to provide a link to the source.
Nobody would argue you need business expertise and search marketing expertise to make PPC campaigns as effective as possible. Equally, in some situations in-house campaigns might well be far more effective than outsourcing the work. Then again, there are many reputable agencies out there who, with the right communication & expertise will do a better job than an inexperienced In-house team (even with automated technology!).
Even Jons final conclusion from his company blog sums it up -
“My conclusion: The best path to success with live video chat advertising is to manage the program in-house with the aid of pay per click management software.”
With a direct link to the Marketo ppc management software. If the whole thing is not a sales pitch, I really don’t know what is. Sigh. To use his final line -
“Choosing B2B search marketing software allows you to optimize your PPC campaigns like an expert, without the loss of control, latency, and overhead associated with an outside agency. And that’s an inconvenient truth for the agencies.”
In fact, the “inconvenient truth” is that Jon Miller has been rumbled. I just hope this is the last biased sales pitch Search Engine Land publishes, as anyone with a brain can see through the bullshit.
