I’m a huge Springsteen fan who has seen him in concert 10 times since 1992 (and I’ve spent countless hours listening to his albums and bootlegs online). Bruce has shared extraordinary personal insights through his music, but few know that Bruce’s insights could be applied to Paid Search (even though Paid Search didn’t exist until around the time he released “The Rising” album). So, without further ado, here’s what Bruce has taught me.

“You Can Look But You Better Not Touch”:
Never discount the value of impression based marketing. Through the GDN or YouTube, a client can get large number of valuable views of their ad or their video for very low CPM rates. In a funnel-based marketing system, views can sew the seeds of future clicks and conversions.

“Jungleland”:
Paid Search is a very skilled undertaking, especially in the B2B space. So many large companies waste quite a bit of money with suboptimal strategies and tactics. Partnering with a trusted agency with relevant experience will generate an excellent ROI.

“Does This Bus Stop At 82^nd Street”:
Many paid search efforts will benefit significantly from localization. Looking at the data, one will likely find significant performance differences between different geos, and bidding can and should be adjusted to take advantage of this performance delta.

“Growin’ Up”:
We work with many businesses that are in early growth stage. They have big dreams for the future but have a long path to travel in order to fulfill what they wish to accomplish. We create a paid search strategy for them that will help their current situation but is also scalable for their future growth.

“Highway Patrolman”:
Having positive relationships with Google is a solid value ad for our clients. Google has offered many of our clients invaluable assistance in growing their business or helping them solve problems. However, advice given by Google needs to be taken with a very critical eye, for not all of it will be of benefit. We can separate the Google Wheat from the Google Chaff.

“Roll Of The Dice”:
Part of our job is to caution clients against making costly mistakes. For example, many clients want to bid aggressively on competitor brands. However, 99.9% of the time, this is a failed strategy with terrible ROI, so we caution our clients to stay away.

“Open All Night”:
Paid search is a 24/7 enterprise. The concept of “Business Hours” doesn’t exist, and people will be doing research and making business decisions while you’re fast asleep. Make sure you have enough budget for all 24 hours of the day.

“57 Channels (And Nothing On)”:
Google quietly started to show a low volume of ads on “Connected” TV devices. As more and more people “cut the cord”, this segment will increase exponentially in size, and the forward-thinking agencies and clients will begin to strategize specifically for this segment.

“Human Touch”:
Over the years, Google’s automation has become significantly better. Today, it’s not a question of whether to use it…it’s how best to use it. Experienced paid search marketers are extremely valuable for guiding clients through choosing, implementing, and monitoring Google’s automated strategies.

“Mansion On The Hill”:
What can be purchased with the revenue earned from a professionally managed AdWords campaign.

Hopefully, my little reminiscence will cause you to both examine your current PPC Strategy…and listen to your favorite Springsteen.