Good pay-per-click managers are hard to come by. They’re like the complimentary upgrade to First Class on a flight; the Mayfair piece on the McDonald’s monopoly board; and the Apple iPhone screen that doesn’t crack or break: extremely rare.
If you’re looking for an excellent PPC manager to take over a department in a digital marketing agency, pick up a large number of clients, and manage accounts flawlessly across the board - well, you’d be forgiven for wanting to bury your head in the sand before you even begin your search.
The digital skills gap in the North
One search of any recruitment website in Manchester or a nationwide job board, and it’s clear that there’s an obvious skills gap in the digital sector.
Nowhere is this more acute than with paid search roles.
There are a wealth of job opportunities available up here in the North West for those with the qualifications and expertise, but just not enough people to fill them. The explosion of the Digital North has meant a rapid growth in business, both in-house and agency side, with job positions created but not enough appropriate candidates to occupy them.
It isn’t like this skills gap has gone unnoticed; there’s plenty of discussion on it. The problem is how to address it now. Education both at school and university can change; in fact it needs to given that many graduates are unaware of what the day-to-day job of a PPC managers comprises, or even what the actual role entails.
But this takes time. Time is also necessary to train and nurture junior PPC executives, who may be showing talent but don’t yet have the experience or the expertise to manage multiple PPC campaigns. And growing their skills takes time and capacity away from managers who are already too busy managing client accounts.
High demand for excellent PPC managers
Research conducted by The Candidate shows that the skills limitation in the pay per click discipline is one of biggest growth barriers to a number of agencies in the region.
Demand for Pay-per-click expertise far outstrips supply. You don’t need an economics degree to realise the impact this has on businesses, and what it does to associated costs.
So why are PPC managers so sought after? Well we may be a little biased, but it’s probably because they are so amazing. An excellent PPC manager, the kind that all agencies really want to have, will be able to:
Deal with both clients and agency colleagues, managing external demands with the internal requirements
Competently manage a number of campaigns, from small scale niche accounts to £50k+ a month ad spends without batting an eyelid
Organise and motivate a team underneath them, training and developing juniors to excel in their roles
Look at spreadsheets, crunch the numbers, and get an amazing analytical insight in seconds
Coordinate new pitches and win new clients
- Tell you how all the latest trends will affect Adwords, before you even know what they are!
Fierce inter agency competition
Given their exemplary skill (obviously!) it comes as no surprise that competition to get these PPC managers is extremely fierce. Indeed, if it weren't for the fact that everyone in the digital marketing industry enjoys having a drink together, then there might be an all out war.
Attractive incentive packages have grown and grown in recent years, with a battle of the perks common place amongst digital marketing agencies recruiting for PPC managers in Manchester.
If you play your cards right, not only could a good candidate expect a decent salary, they should also get days off for their birthdays, early finishes on Fridays, free drinks, meals, parties, events - pretty much anything you can think.
Even if an agency finds themselves hiring a great PPC manager, things aren’t over. Retention is just as difficult as recruitment, with poaching a common tactic across the digital marketing industry.
As media giants have moved in (more so as the Northern Powerhouse continues to develop), smaller agencies could see their workforce quickly depleted, with highly skilled pay-per-click team members being enticed away to bigger promises, greener grass and sandier shores.
This poaching and churn of staff is so commonplace, that many agencies let team members go straight away when they hand in their notice, rather than have them standing in the coffee room, talking to others about their new job, and taking more staff with them.
And it’s this high turnover that puts the fear into many agencies, becoming one of their biggest operational worries. How will they continue to service their PPC clients if their manager suddenly decides to leave for another job?
Consistent reliability with Glowworm
Well this isn’t Hollywood. It’s Manchester. There doesn’t have to be a doomsday scenario where Adwords accounts suddenly crash and burn, clients ring up fuming, and the agency loses business and goes bankrupt.
Not at all. Because all you really need is a bridge for the skills gap.
Here at Glowworm Digital, we’re the best bridge ever built.
We provide PPC support for digital agencies because we know how important it is to keep servicing clients at the high level of attention and detail that they require. With our help, you’ll be able to forget about the digital skills shortage and:
Cope with demand and continue to grow your PPC department
Deal competently with high staff turnover and have fully qualified Adwords experts on hand
Keep continuity with all paid search accounts and maintain client happiness
Have a reliable, expert, and stable team in place, for whatever you need
We’re not tempted away by shiny gift boxes or the promise of daily fresh fruit. We’ll always be there for you and your PPC clients. We’re like that group of Friends in a coffeehouse or like a beloved pet that’s always waiting for you to come home. You know the cuddly, YouTube-sensation types.
Before we get all emotional watching cats fall asleep, pick up the phone and call us on 0161 605 0898, or contact us to drop us an email and arrange a meeting. You’ll be able to watch as many funny animal videos as you want then, knowing that your PPC department is always in a safe pair of hands, no matter what skills shortage you may face.
Banner image source: Wikipedia