In the era of data, it is impossible to ignore the power of a well executed AdWords campaign.
Many who know me, know that my strength lies more in sales than in pure marketing, though I would contend they are closely related functions. My goal is to understand the relationships between specific functions, determine how they apply to my clients, then go find the best people in the world to deliver the results.
With that, I want to introduce you to a young man I had the pleasure of meeting on Google Plus. His name…Imran Sadiq.
His mission… to make every company he works with get better at executing AdWords campaigns.
My Initial Impression
Look, I am not an advertising guy. I don’t come from an advertising background, and frankly, I think most advertising is a waste of money, and annoying as hell.
That all changed when I interacted, over time, with Imran, culminating in some pretty terrific results for a CPA client of mine.
Anyway, I am hooked. The reason I am hooked is because this man is truly remarkable and the results he delivers are almost not believable.
His company is Mindsnebula.
His history is interesting, and detailed, but the part of his history that is most relevant to you right now is this. He was the dude at Google who trained people at Google, and at agencies outside of Google, how to get the most out of AdWords.
So, I decided to create an interview series with Imran to bring some of his knowledge to my audience, and the world, because in all seriousness, you really can’t not know this man if you are doing anything with AdWords.
Who is He?
Here is his CV. You can learn whatever you need to know about the man from his personal website.
The picture on the left is his avatar. The picture on the right is the real him.
The Interview Series
Imran is quite literally a walking encyclopedia of all things online marketing. His knowledge runs so deep that it is often hard to track the direction he is moving in during conversations because what he thinks is a logical leap, is really not to the average person.
That is why I am going to take my time, on your behalf, and pick apart this mans brain, step by step, a little at a time, so that you, like me, don’t get too lost in the incredible level of depth and knowledge.
And I can asure you, if you pay close attention, two things will happen.
- You will learn more about AdWords than you ever thought you could.
- You will want this man in your corner, helping you grow your business.
Luckily for you, I can help you with the second part. The first part is up to you in that I can deliver to you the information, but I cannot understand it for you.
The First Interview
What is the direct purpose of AdWords?
Imran: The purpose of AdWords is to target new and existing customers and/or grow brand loyalty, awareness and presence in-front of the right audiences at the right time.
What is the indirect purpose of Adwords?
Imran: The indirect purpose of AdWords is to grow understanding of specific audience, human response to specific language, colors, video or graphics. Test, retest track, measure or gather rapid data on the effectiveness of a destination, websites, mobile apps, videos and more.
What is the biggest Misconception about AdWords?
Imran: People think AdWords is just a simple advertising tactic that helps you get more people to click on your links directed to your website. This is all true, but AdWords is much more than that.
It is not all about search marketing, keywords and text ads; not only do you get to use multiple ad formats (i.e. lighboxes, html emails, datafeeds) you can target almost any device including iOS, Android, games console, smart TV, kindle and much more.
All this is in addition to what most advertisers know, search, banners, youtube.
What is the biggest mistake people make with AdWords?
Imran: People make the mistake of not having a strategy and then ‘googling it’ to let high ranking and reasonably commercial blogs, case studies and trends dictate the direction of a campaign – falling into the illusion of knowing what you are doing.
Some advertisers don’t start with identifying their own business and customer needs and maybe get intimidated by the volumes of information about AdWords online; experience cognitive overload and allow third-parties to bulldoze potentially uninformed AdWords marketing/spending strategies through.
The biggest mistake advertisers make is learning how to use AsWords as they go along – a strategy can not be created if you don’t know how a system works or what it offers or when the same can be said of a third-party supplier in respect to advertisers business needs.
Not pinpointing digital KPI’s, not having a tracking strategy, not being able to identify failures and not being able to replicate what worked would all fall under the umbrella of variables that count towards the detriment of a campaign.
In Summary
Imran: When AdWords is used correctly, and everything is planned, strategized and crystal clear – the treasure trove of data, research opportunities and metrics given equate to turning customer onboarding/engagement/loyalty into a new currency. The biggest misconceptions are thinking it is easy, or inability to plan, implement and track AdWords success.
Conclusion
I am an AdWords convert. I am also on a mission to bring the real deal to the world given that there is so much money being wasted by people who want to do it themselves but don’t have a clue, and the people who get paid to do it, but don’t have a clue.
All the cluelessness is costing you time and money.
It is the goal of both Imran and I to help you stop wasting time and money, and start growing your business.
Stay tuned for the second interview. This was just a taste of what is to come, and like I said, it’s going to get deep.
