Author Topic: Best SEM info sources 2021  (Read 2632 times)

Travoli

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Best SEM info sources 2021
« on: November 09, 2021, 06:34:05 PM »
I stopped buying traffic in the mid 2000's. A couple new friends (and startup founders) have been asking Internet marketing advice. I'd like to be more knowledgeable about the paid side.

Where should I read to get up to speed on Adwords/FB/SEM in 2021?

ergophobe

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Re: Best SEM info sources 2021
« Reply #1 on: November 09, 2021, 09:02:56 PM »
>>Adwords

It has been a while, hasn't it ;-) Google retired that name in July 2018.

I don't do anything with this, but have a very minimal and questionable knowledge via osmosis from listening in on my wife's Zoom calls...

 - You can get a good overview of the official line with the Google certification courses or whatever they call them. If your friends are really new to this, these courses are a good overview, even if sometimes full of BS (Google always says that the machine-learning algos give better results than a human and constantly try to push you into trying it, but my wife has done multiple tests of this and it has NEVER beaten the human-built campaigns, as one example).

 - Even after all these years, my wife still likes the stuff Brad Geddes puts out. You just missed his latest training and last of the year last week
https://twitter.com/bgtheory/status/1455885659126833157?s=20

 - she sometimes drops in on the SEMRush webinars - https://www.semrush.com/webinars/

I can ask her for other resources, but hopefully people here who are actually in the trenches will have ideas.

buckworks

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Re: Best SEM info sources 2021
« Reply #2 on: November 10, 2021, 03:09:37 AM »
Also worth reading: Perry Marshall

>> has NEVER beaten the human-built campaigns

That has also been my experience. I think it's because a good human-built campaign can capture the nuances of emotion in a way that the algos simply can't match.

Travoli

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Re: Best SEM info sources 2021
« Reply #3 on: November 10, 2021, 04:28:32 PM »
Thanks ergo, those will be a great start. Good to know human-built campaigns can still outperform.

ergophobe

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Re: Best SEM info sources 2021
« Reply #4 on: November 10, 2021, 07:28:42 PM »
>>Perry Marshall

That's a name I haven't heard in a long time.

I asked my wife if there was anything else she recommended. She said lately she has been feeling like she's been falling behind and needs to get caught back up and said that she finds the Google courses to be good refreshers and has recently been thinking of going through it again. If you do that, it's pretty easy to get certified (and can be quite boring - the challenge is paying attention during the parts you know so that you are still awake when they get to the stuff that's new or that you've forgotten).

Other than that, when I asked where she learns stuff, she said that at this point she typically starts with a question, does some web searches and reads what she finds. But again, did reiterate that at least for Google Ads, the official courses put things together in a coherent narrative.

She doesn't do much with FB ads and, I think, is currently not running any campaigns, so no ideas there.

Travoli

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Re: Best SEM info sources 2021
« Reply #5 on: November 10, 2021, 08:37:29 PM »
>If you do that, it's pretty easy to get certified (and can be quite boring - the challenge is paying attention during the parts you know so that you are still awake when they get to the stuff that's new or that you've forgotten).

Yep, already started. You're right, staying focused is going to be crucial, but shouldn't be difficult to knock out. Thanks again to you both.

keano

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Re: Best SEM info sources 2021
« Reply #6 on: November 11, 2021, 04:12:01 PM »
A good all-rounder resource for PPC is https://www.ppchero.com/ which covers Google Ads, FB, LinkedIn, etc.