June 9, 2022
To Stop the CMO Revolving Door, Bring Brand and Performance Together
Metric Theory has a robust training program, during which all of our incoming analysts learn basic and advanced PPC topics before taking on their own account assignments. I’ve had the pleasure of managing three classes of PPC Analysts at Metric Theory, and with each class I learn a few more tricks to train our new analysts more quickly and effectively. Here are my top 5 suggestions for anyone training the next generation of PPC pros.
Face time is one way to help PPC rookies learn faster. Photo via Pexels.
Hands On Approach
Learning through doing is hands-down the fastest and most effective way to teach PPC. The first time I ran a training on AdWords Editor, I read through a 30-slide presentation full of screenshots. By the end, I’m not sure any of my trainees remembered anything.
Today I spend 15 minutes on the condensed version of the deck, and then have the analysts follow me step-by-step through a live upload. The retention rate has increased significantly, and more recent classes of analysts are no longer asking basic questions about AdWords Editor after their first assignment.
Make it Fun
Back-to-back training sessions can be pretty brain-intensive, even (or especially) for the trainer. I’m fortunate that my colleague Katie Brady designed a few fun games to mix up our training program. She designed an entire Jeopardy game based on PPC topics, with the buzzer, the music, and the whole shebang. Quality Score on its own is pretty boring, but it’s much more interesting when you receive 400 points (and defeat your co-workers) for answering a question about it.
Practice Makes Perfect
Our analysts cover a number of advanced PPC topics within the first few months of training, and some just require much more practice to retain than others. Google Shopping, for example. You never fully understand what product groups are, and why they matter, until you dive into a real campaign. When it comes time to train on Google Shopping, I collaborate with our in-office Shopping specialists.
Our Shopping specialists designed an entire series of trainings with specific follow-up exercises to provide a more wholesome overview of this tricky concept. Now, instead of learning about Shopping early on and then growing progressively fuzzier on the concepts, our analysts progress steadily through more difficult Shopping exercises until they are ready for live Shopping campaign work.
1-on-1 Time Matters
Providing timely feedback to help analysts identify areas for improvement is just as important as teaching PPC concepts. Feedback comes in many forms here at Metric Theory. Our analysts receive daily feedback on their execution of account work from Account Managers. On a monthly basis (if not more frequently), we have casual check-ins to communicate success and focus areas to the analysts, and to allow them to express any questions or concerns.
On a quarterly basis, we have more formal reviews that cover a range of topics aimed to help provide a gauge on how the analyst is progressing in the role, including accomplishments, areas of increased focus, and suggestions to improve performance. Although this may seem like a lot of feedback, frequent advice and pointers are essential for helping analysts develop into confident account managers.
Accountability
One of my favorite aspects of PPC is the sense of fulfillment from knowing that I play a critical role in my clients’ success. I want my analysts to feel the same about their work. That’s why our analysts follow up on their account work, and why we challenge them to understand the wider business implications of their assignments. Doing 10 ad group breakouts is not very exciting, but watching those new ad groups drive conversions gives analysts a feeling of accomplishment stronger than any positive feedback from their manager.
As you’ve probably noticed, training at Metric Theory is by no means a one-woman show. Our entire Account Services team is dedicated to developing and growing our analysts into successful account managers by helping to train the next generation through analyst shadowing, topic-specific trainings, and assignment feedback. Training has been one of the most gratifying experiences for me in my career, and using these tips, you too can develop PPC novices into goal-crushing, PPC account managers.
