Modern digital marketing teams are comprised of a variety of essential roles. From SEO specialists and email marketers to social media and PPC managers, there are a lot of bases to cover. But as marketing technology and advertising strategies continue to evolve, the lines between each of these roles become increasingly blurred. In other words, marketing roles are no longer mutually exclusive and responsibilities are shifting. And thanks to social media dynamic ad formats, this is specifically true for social media and PPC marketers.
In this article, we’ll dive into how dynamic ads are changing the day to day tasks of PPC and social media marketers, and what they can expect in the future.
Traditional roles in digital marketing
To fully understand what’s changing, let’s first look at the traditional responsibilities for each role.
| PPC | Social Media Advertising | | ---------- | ---------- | | Build and optimize paid search and Shopping campaigns on platforms like Google Ads and Bing | Develop a social media strategy | | Monitor and adjust budgets and bids to increase ROI | Monitor social media campaigns on channels like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. | | Track and measure performance | Monitor and adjust social media content for SEO and engagement rates |
Looks pretty straight-forward, right? You have one person (or a team) in charge of search and another devoted to social. Easy peasy. Well, it may have been before the introduction of Dynamic ads on social. Nowadays, however, the lines between marketing roles are becoming increasingly blurred.
Distruptions by dynamic ads on social channels
Dynamic ads is a CPC based ad format that was originally introduced by Facebook back in 2015. Since then, they’ve taken advertising by storm. Today, all sorts of social channels offer dynamic advertising options to marketers, including Pinterest and Snapchat. (Could TikTok be next?)
Moreover, we’re seeing more and more social channels extend their offering into the shopping realm. Facebook Shops and Checkout on Instagram are some of the most notable examples. So as more and more social media sites turn into shopping destinations, there becomes a need for marketers who understand both ends of the spectrum. Learn more about social commerce here.
While these feed-based ad formats have done wonders for brands and retailers around the world, they’ve also brought some confusion. If PPCers are in charge of paid advertising and social media marketers for social channels, then who’s job is it to monitor Dynamic Ads?
What’s happened so far
For many businesses, it’s been the PPCers who’ve taken responsibility for dynamic marketing efforts. Why?
PPCers are:
- experienced with product feed optimization tactic
- highly knowledgable of the CPC environment
- experts at defining budgets and bidding
- able to optimize paid ad campaigns based on proven best practices
So now PPC marketers are taking on a lot of responsibility for social media channels when it comes to paid advertising. As a result, they are working much more closely with social media managers to ensure consistent messaging while also focussing on ROAS.
The future of digital marketing roles
As more ad formats enter the playing field, it’s likely that the responsibilities for traditional marketing roles will continue to broaden. Social media marketers will need to know a bit about PPC and vice versa. An overall marketing strategy will become more critical than ever to ensure all roles are aligned and working towards the same goal across channels.
Above all else, it pays to have an agile marketing strategy and team. As technology changes, so do roles and the skills required to fill them. So while we’re talking about PPC and social media marketing now, there is a big chance we’ll be talking about additional overlaps in the near future.