Level-up your PPC forecasting with free modeling tools for Excel
- PPC/SEM |
A new article on Search Engine Land says you can use these tools to quantify unknowns and real-life scenarios.
Have you ever found yourself in the room with an executive -- whether your client or your boss or even your client's boss -- recommending a strategy that you genuinely believe to be the best marketing decision for the company, only to be hit with unexpected resistance? The "what can we expect from this?" discussion can be intimidating, no matter when or where it comes. At SMX Advanced and SMX Next last year, the author shared two resources to equip digital marketers for those kinds of challenging conversations:
If behavioral economics has taught us anything, it's that people aren't exactly rational. We are self-interested, yes, but we also make decisions counter to what should be expected if that were the only variable at play. Marketing is also subject to the environment in which our prospective customers are living, working, shopping, and purchasing. As their priorities and preferences change, so must our tactics to inform and invite.
No one needs to be lectured these days about potential shocks to our delicate ecosystem: beyond the global pandemic we're all still enduring, the last few years have brought devastating natural disasters, new competitors and disruptors, regulatory shifts (e.g., GDPR), political and social unrest, and more.
Still, marketing is a part of business. And successful businesses rely on sound decision-making, which necessitates effective use of high-quality data. Clients and executives want to be able to say "YES!" when presented with innovative and exciting ideas, but they must also address and mitigate associated risks. That means we marketers must be prepared to discuss not only what we believe will happen, based on the best data available, but also what might happen should circumstances suddenly change.
Forecasts are not predictions. But data and statistics can help us better anticipate and prepare for the future.
Have you ever found yourself in the room with an executive -- whether your client or your boss or even your client's boss -- recommending a strategy that you genuinely believe to be the best marketing decision for the company, only to be hit with unexpected resistance? The "what can we expect from this?" discussion can be intimidating, no matter when or where it comes. At SMX Advanced and SMX Next last year, the author shared two resources to equip digital marketers for those kinds of challenging conversations:
- Forecasting Tool with Uncertainty Variables
- Forecasting Tool for New Channels and Organic Growth
If behavioral economics has taught us anything, it's that people aren't exactly rational. We are self-interested, yes, but we also make decisions counter to what should be expected if that were the only variable at play. Marketing is also subject to the environment in which our prospective customers are living, working, shopping, and purchasing. As their priorities and preferences change, so must our tactics to inform and invite.
No one needs to be lectured these days about potential shocks to our delicate ecosystem: beyond the global pandemic we're all still enduring, the last few years have brought devastating natural disasters, new competitors and disruptors, regulatory shifts (e.g., GDPR), political and social unrest, and more.
Still, marketing is a part of business. And successful businesses rely on sound decision-making, which necessitates effective use of high-quality data. Clients and executives want to be able to say "YES!" when presented with innovative and exciting ideas, but they must also address and mitigate associated risks. That means we marketers must be prepared to discuss not only what we believe will happen, based on the best data available, but also what might happen should circumstances suddenly change.
Forecasts are not predictions. But data and statistics can help us better anticipate and prepare for the future.
