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A picture is worth a thousand words. It’s a cliché because it’s true. Were you ever bored and confused in school, trying to follow along with some endless lecture when a simple diagram on the blackboard would have gotten the point across in seconds? That was my experience, at least. Neuroscience has shown again and again how important visuals are to our learning process. In a sense, the brain is just a huge visual image processor! Using visuals can decrease learning time, improve comprehension and enhance memory. There’s a good reason why we use pictures to teach new vocabulary words to kids. This usually gets lost once we get past 2nd or 3rd grade, but humans never stop learning – and so we should always keep the pictures.

This is true in digital marketing more than anywhere. It’s a field that’s changing by the minute. As marketers, we have to keep on top of new trends, shifting regulations and customer bases, and technological development on fast-forward. It’s a new world every day. We have to keep learning all the time, as fast as possible. And there’s no better way to do it than with an infographic, breaking up the crazy-complicated world of PPC into understandable chunks and practical steps. The infographics below are a great step in your continuing education. With this information, you’re well on your way to becoming a better marketer. But don’t stop here! Keep learning with the resources listed at the bottom of the article.

Google AdWords: past, present, and future

Since Google has launched its first PPC campaign in 2000, it’s turned into a marketing monster, controlling an annual marketing budget of $60 billion. It reminds me of an interview made with the core founders of Microsoft about the reason they needed to cooperate with IBM back in the day. “IBM in the ’80s was the bear,” they said. “You could either dance with it or be run over.” The same applies to Google today. Google AdWords has come to dominate the PPC world. Over 1 million advertisers are now on it, in 218 countries!

In honor of the 15th anniversary of AdWords, Google released this fascinating infographic. Take a look at the whole life of this mega advertising service, from humble beginnings to global success, and a peek at what the future could bring (it’s all going mobile if you didn’t guess).

Looking for more?

• 10 Tips For Creating a Successful Google AdWords Campaign
• 11 Tips For Improving Your AdWords Campaign Performance
• 4 Super-Actionable AdWords Tips to Try Right Now
• 5 BIG Changes Coming To AdWords: Everything You Need To Know

Duel #1: PPC vs. SEO

Many people wonder whether SEO or PPC is better for their website. The truth is, for a really successful campaign, you need some of both. But where should you put most of your time and effort? This comparison chart from Stieber takes us through the pros and cons of each one. It’s great to see all the aspects laid out like this so you can make a clear decision about how to design your campaign.

The big takeaway is that PPC can provide instant results while SEO takes a while to build up steam. However, SEO can bring a much higher ROI in the long run, and mistakes in PPC are more damaging. It’s a complicated question, and you have to run all the variables for your website before you decide how to allocate your resources.

Looking for more?

• SEO vs. PPC: Which Digital Marketing Strategy Is Right For Your Business?
• PPC vs. SEO: 5 Things to Consider

Duel #2: Google vs. Facebook

Another ongoing showdown between PPC channel giants: Google vs. Facebook. If you’re wondering whether Google Ads or Facebook Ads is better for your business, check out Wishpond’s fantastic infographic. It compares them in four different categories: reach, targeting options, mobile advertising, and ROI. The Google/Facebook rivalry is a bit of a false dichotomy since they have pretty different functions. You can think of it like Google helps you find new customers, while Facebook helps new customers find you.

Google Ads is highly reactive and used keyword targeting to reach a huge audience of searchers (2.6 billion per month), while Facebook allows you to be extremely specific in your targeting by demographic and other factors. Wishpond’s conclusion is that Google Ads is better for immediate sales but Facebook wins for brand awareness and lead generation. Check out their impressive research and choose for yourself.

Looking for more?

• Facebook Ads vs. Google AdWords: The Facebook Targeting Advantage
• 5 Google AdWords Habits You Must Kick to Succeed With Facebook Ads
• 10 Must-Know Facebook Ads Tips and Features

Anatomy of a PPC ad

We like PPC because it can generate instant results, bringing in a profit basically overnight. But there’s nothing simple about it. It’s a game with a thousand different variables and the rules keep changing. PPC isn’t just one thing. Depending on what type of ad you’re designing, you’re looking at a totally different formula for success. Made a great banner? Awesome. Want to re-purpose it as a sidebar ad on Facebook? Not going to work.

The folks at Unbounce have offered a break-down of what makes a great PPC ad in four categories: display ads, Facebook ads, AdWords and floating ads. Plus, there’s a cool graphic at the bottom showing how the eye moves through a visual ad, and how you can use this pattern to make your ad more effective.

Looking for more?

• How To Write The Highest-Performing AdWords Ads, Ever
• 9 Mistakes That Sabotage Your Ads (And How To Fix Them)

20 minute PPC

Don’t have all day, every day to spend analyzing data and designing A/B tests? Cool, neither do we.

This clever infographic from Powered By Search gives a program for keeping your PPC campaign running strong… in just 20 minutes per week! It looks like it requires some lightning-fast clicking but set a timer and let us know how it works out.

Looking for more?

• 5 Critical Tips for PPC Success for Small Business On a Budget
• 11 Tips for Low Budget PPC Advertisers
• 5 Ways Excel Can Make You Better & Faster at PPC

AdWords 10-minute workouts

We’ve already seen how important AdWords is, so now let’s learn how to succeed with it… Running a PPC campaign isn’t about finding some perfect formula and then sitting back while results stack up on their own. It takes constant tweaking just to keep a campaign at a stable performance level, not to mention improving! You always have to adapt, refine your campaign and strengthen it.

These three procedures from KlientBoost and Unbounce, summarized in a snappy gifographic, will get your campaign in shape, no matter what your goal.

• “Slimmer”: If you’re looking to scale back and save money, this workout will make a lean and mean machine out of your bloated campaign
• “Maintainer”: You’ve found the sweet spot, the happy medium, the middle way. Your campaign is running just the way you want it to – and this workout will keep it there.
• “Bulker”: Your campaign is kicking butt and ROI is pouring in. Here’s how to pump it with higher traffic and more conversions.

Each of them takes only 10 minutes, so they’re perfect for amateurs and small business self-marketers.

Looking for more?

• 8 Google AdWords Hacks That’ll Double Your Conversion Rate
• 5 Things To Improve AdWords Performance In Under 60 Minutes

Kissmetrics perfect landing page

The click is just the beginning. PPC channels are great for bringing in a high volume of quality traffic, but all of those viewers have to go somewhere. If you don’t send them to an awesome landing page, you’re not going to get the conversions that really matter. This infographic from Kissmetrics breaks down the landing page into ten points that you should focus on, based on their impression on the viewer. From headlines to color scheme, it takes you through all the major elements. This will help you with your A/B testing, which the infographic mentions as the final ingredient. Understanding the importance of each element will help you design tests that have a real, immediate effect on your conversion rate.

Looking for more?

• 25 Tips to Optimize Landing Page Conversions
• 101 Landing Page Optimization Tips
• 6 Articles On Design Theory To Help You Create a Beautiful Landing Page
• 7 Best Services for One-Click Landing Pages That Convert

End note

So I hope after reading this article you have a totally new appreciation for the visual medium. It brings together speed learning and comics, efficiency and fun – I certainly think it’s a great combo! As this Google trend graph indicates, the popularity of infographics is growing exponentially. I hope this momentum will continue and encourage more, fun learning options for us marketers… we deserve it. ☺