Concepts, cheat sheets and a framework to turn your PPC analysis into impactful insights and recommendations.

1. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
How to turn your analysis into impactful recommendations
Cheat Sheets to
turn Reporting
Squirrels into
Analysis Ninjas

2. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
Today’s topics
Part 1:
• Squirrels, Ninjas and Robots
• What’s not to like about (most) reporting?
• Do’s and Don'ts of tactical & strategic reporting
Part 2 – Helping you write reports that drive action:
• Tools and cheat sheets to find causal factors
• Another cheat sheet for 130+ PPC recommendations and impact estimates

3. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
About Me
• Co-founder and CEO of TrueClicks, a PPC auditing and monitoring
tool that’s currently in private beta
• Worked in PPC since 2006, including 8 years at iProspect in
Amsterdam
• Wrote the Complete AdWords Audit Series, currently publishing
an updated second edition
@wijnandmeijer | wijnand@trueclicks.com

4. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
Reporting Squirrel Analysis Ninja
“Reporting Squirrels spend 75% or more of their time
in data production activities. The primary
manifestation of this is in creation of reports for their
direct leader, or team or division or bunch of people.”
First, some definitions…
“Analysis Ninjas spend 75% or more of their time in
analysis that delivers actionable insights. The
primary manifestation of this is expressed in English
(or native country language).”
VS
12 SignsTo Identify A Data Driven Culture

5. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
And just in case you like squirrels (they’re cute, I know)
How FastWillYou LoseYour PPC Job to a Robot?A comparison of 5 MarketingAreas.
If your job description looks like this:
Compile and compute data according to statistical formulas for use in statistical
studies. May perform actuarial computations and compile charts and graphs for
use by actuaries. Includes actuarial clerks.

6. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
Let’s increase your ‘robot survival’ chances threefold
If your job description looks like this:
Develop or apply mathematical or statistical theory and methods to collect, organize, interpret, and
summarize numerical data to provide usable information. May specialize in fields such as bio-
statistics, agricultural statistics, business statistics, or economic statistics. Includes mathematical and
survey statisticians.

7. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
Let’s increase your ‘robot survival’ chances even further
If your job description looks like this:
Formulate and apply mathematical modeling and other optimizing methods to develop and interpret
information that assists management with decision making, policy formulation, or other
managerial functions. May collect and analyze data and develop decision support software, service, or
products. May develop and supply optimal time, cost, or logistics networks for program evaluation,
review, or implementation.

8. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
What’s not to like about (most) reporting?
It’s time-consuming
8% of your working hours,
according to a HubSpot survey
It’s thankless
Most reports sent are never
actually opened
It’s lacking insights
73% of CMO’s feel their agencies are incapable of
generating genuine customer insights, and more than
half believed agencies have a poor understanding of the
issues that impact their business (Adobe).

9. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
From the PPC Essential StackScape™
First: let’s cut that 8% in half (or less)
Still using Excel for reporting?
Switch to Google Data Studio or one of the many third-party solutions out there.

10. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
DON’T DO
• Puke data, unless it’s a customized data puke
(CDP) for tactical and siloed decisions.
• Repeat what the data already says: “as you can
see graph one shows that visits in Sept. are down
by 4%.” They can see it, the graph is right there!!
So Avinash, what makes a (good) dashboard?
• Select a handful of KPI’s for trended graphs
and tables and compare performance with the
target and across segments.
• Use visuals to highlight key elements.
Write out the corresponding IABI:
• Insights: why did KPI’s change (causal factors)?
• Actions (recommendations / next steps): what
do you recommend based on the performance
and insights? Prioritize by showing the most
impactful recommendation first.
• Business Impact: what is the expected impact
on the business if the recommendations are
implemented (this is hardest part)?
Must-read:
Digital Dashboards: Strategic &Tactical:
Best Practices,Tips, Examples

11. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
Who gets what?

12. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
Tactical Dashboard - Examples

13. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
Strategic Dashboard - Examples

14. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
Share these #SMXInsights on your social channels!
#SMXInsights
 Don’t be a reporting squirrel, robots will take over
that job.
 Use Google Data Studio or any of the 20+ third-party
solutions for your reoccurring reports to save time.
 The real value lies in writing out prioritized,
actionable insights and recommendations +
business impact estimates.
 Match the content of your report with the type of
leader that receives it.

15. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
First time I fell in love with a PPC flow chart:
Rimm-Kaufman’s (now Merkle) dossier 3.2 in 2012
PPC Performance Troubleshooting Made Easy
How to generate IABI for PPC:
1: Insights in causal factors

16. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
AdAlysis and Optmyzr have built-in root cause analysis:
How to generate IABI for PPC:
1: Insights in causal factors

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I’ve expanded on the Rimm-Kaufmann, AdAlysis and Optmyzr flow charts
and created a new version to capture and categorize all PPC causal factors.
Download it for free (no email needed) at:
go.trueclicks.com/causal-factors
Please share if you like it!
How to generate IABI for PPC:
1: Insights in causal factors

18. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
How to generate IABI for PPC:
1: Insights in causal factors
go.trueclicks.com/causal-factors

19. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
How to generate IABI for PPC:
2: Prioritized, actionable recommendations
• Google used to call this ‘Opportunities’
but they’ve improved it and it’s now called
‘Recommendations’.
• 90% of recommendations happen to be
about expansion and automation (by
Google).
• It’s based on the last 7 days only.
• Still, competitor data and expected
impact make it interesting.
• Categories: Ads and extensions,
Keywords and targeting, Bids and
budgets, Repairs and Ad suggestions(!)
• Coming soon: Account Performance
Score.

20. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
Issues to monitor daily (scripts or 3rd party tools):
1. Critical Issues: things that are broken, missing,
disapproved or other mistakes that have been made (by
other people of course)  Just fix it asap.
2. Account activity: lack of recent and meaningful
changes  Stop being so lazy.
3. Anomalies: large and sudden deviations in KPI’s
 Use root cause analysis flow charts to explain.
4. Budget Issues: (expected) deviations from target
budget  Adjust as needed (and overthrow the tyranny)
Issues and opportunities to audit or analyze:
1. High priority issues: everything that should be
implemented or improved first, as it’s essential for any
successful PPC campaign.
2. Cost-saving opportunities: based on identified waste.
3. Growth opportunities: everything that could increase
reach, traffic or conversions.
4. Account hygiene issues: to improve account
management & organization.
How to generate IABI for PPC:
2: Prioritized, actionable recommendations
After performing 100’s of audits and while buildingTrueClicks,
I realized all PPC analysis can be categorized as following:

21. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
We can also subcategorize each recommendation based on the time it would take to
implement or fix them:
1. Quick wins: can usually be implemented within 1 hour per account.
2. Initiatives: will take longer than 1 hour.
So let me share a Google Sheet with you that combines 130+ AdWords checks using these
action-oriented categories, to be found on go.trueclicks.com/adwords-checks
By filtering you can quickly zoom in on the categories you’re interested in.
How to generate IABI for PPC:
2: Prioritized, actionable recommendations

22. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
How to generate IABI for PPC:
2: Prioritized, actionable recommendations
go.trueclicks.com/adwords-checks

23. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
How to generate IABI for PPC:
3: Business Impact
The name of each category already implies the type of impact it will have, and by combining it with the ‘quick
win’ or ‘initiative’ attribute, it also helps prioritizing based on effort (quick wins first).
Guidelines to write out business impact that inspire action for each category:
• Critical & High Priority issues: focus on the terrible things that will happen (or are happening) by not fixing this asap,
such as: bad customer experience, reputation damage, being in the dark without tracking, not showing ads at all, etc.
• Cost-saving opportunities: this is the easiest category, just use the cost of the identified waste and use that to
calculate x in a statement like “by adding these negatives we will save £ x per year”
• Growth opportunities: if you can find them, use benchmarks from other similar accounts or from Google (they often
mention uplifts of beta users when announcing a new feature on the Inside AdWords blog) like “by adding the price
extension we expect an 18% increase in CTR, resulting in 231 more clicks, £ 173 more cost and 7 extra conversions per
month”. Make sure the reader understands this isn’t a promise, but an expectation based on historical data /
benchmarks seen elsewhere.
• Account hygiene issues: focus on the time savings of a better organized and cleaned-up account.

24. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
Share these #SMXInsights on your social channels!
#SMXInsights
 Use root cause analysis tools and flow charts to help you
write out the why of changed metrics, focusing on PPC
factors, as well as on-site and environmental factors (such
as the competition).
 Your recommendations + impact estimates can be
presented in a prioritized manner by organizing them as:
– Critical & High priority issues
– Cost-saving opportunities
– Growth opportunities
– Account hygiene issues

25. #SMX #24B @wijnandmeijer
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