DoubleClick Search Academy: Make the grade with customized, self-paced training

Last week, we shared some digital marketing flashcards to help you go back to school, DoubleClick style (Take a look at our day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, and day 5 flashcards).

Today, we're helping you further your DoubleClick Search education by introducing DoubleClick Search Academy, an easy-to-use, self-paced learning path designed to guide you through core DoubleClick Search online help and training courses -- based on your role and how you use the tool.

We’ve heard from users that they need more customized learning based on how they use DoubleClick products. If you’re a trafficker, you might need a broad understanding ranging from the basics all the way to advanced features to maximize search campaign performance. If you’re an analyst, you might not need to know all the details a planner might be responsible for, but you might still like to know how conversion data is tracked and how to monitor day-to-day performance for reporting insights.

DoubleClick Search Academy includes these checklists:

• Basics for new users: Understand the benefits of a search engine management tool using our core curriculum, including DoubleClick Search Fundamentals eLearning and certification.
• Implementation guide: Learn how to implement a new DS account and launch a basic campaign.
• QA and troubleshooting: It’s not shop class, but you’ll learn all about QA’ing tags, troubleshooting common Floodlight tag issues, and more.
• Advanced topics: Become an expert by learning about advanced DS integrations and topics. Learn about formula columns, shopping campaigns, bid strategies, inventory-aware campaigns, and executive reporting.

Since DoubleClick Search Academy covers a lot of material, we’ve set it up in checklist format so you can track progress by checking the boxes at the end of each step. Your progress will be saved so if you have to take a break, you can come back anytime and pick up where you left off.

Whether you’re a freshman trafficker adjusting your search marketing beanie, an analyst on the Dean’s list, or a planner feeling like a 5th year student, you can find customized training based on your role to help you ace DoubleClick Search.

Go for extra credit and sign up to receive DoubleClick training updates in your inbox.

Posted by Justine Thomas, DoubleClick Search Product Trainer

Learn DoubleClick Search fundamentals: join an upcoming webinar

If you're interested in developing your DoubleClick Search expertise, try our online eLearning and certification, then join our upcoming webinars to learn more. Register through the Training page in the DoubleClick Search Help Center (sign-in required). While you’re there, you can also learn more about our latest product releases.

DoubleClick Search Fundamentals eLearning and Certification 
Get an overview of how to manage large search campaigns in DoubleClick Search. This online, self-paced training course is designed for new and current DoubleClick Search users who want to understand the basics of campaign management, reporting and bid optimization.




Review the material, test your knowledge, and print out your certification when you pass. The course and exam are now available in select languages, including Spanish, Japanese, German, and Portuguese-Brazilian – try it today. Register



Upcoming webinar: Using Analytics Data Successfully in DoubleClick Search – 3/11 
Join this webinar to learn more about Analytics best practices, analyzing Analytics data in DoubleClick Search and how Analytics integrates with specific features, such as formula columns, bid strategies and rules. Co-led with our Analytics trainer. Register

Pre-recorded webinars available 
In case you missed a previous webinar, check out the recorded webinars page in our Help Center – you might be able to find a pre-recorded session ready to watch. We offer numerous videos, including previous New Feature Trainings, as well as videos on the Performance Bidding Suite, Reporting, Campaign Management, and more.

For more DoubleClick Search training updates, stay tuned on the DoubleClick Search blog, or follow us on Google+.

Posted by the DoubleClick Search Team

Success with DS series: Shortcuts to time savings with automated rules

This is the second post in our "Success with DS" series, highlighting tips and tricks around key DoubleClick Search features. Today’s post comes from Vijay Reddy, DoubleClick Platform Solutions Consultant.

Last time, we heard Technical Specialist Emily Brodman talk about how you can enjoy the rest of your summer vacation with inventory-aware campaigns that automatically create and update your search campaigns, based on your Google Merchant Center feed. But now summer's gone, and Halloween's just around the corner. We figured you could use some of the time you save after implementing the automated rules below to put the finishing touches on your costume.

You may already know the basics of automated rules. You may know that it’s an easy, reliable way to save time by automating the tasks you do everyday. But did you know you could use rules to detect a downward trend in your campaign volume, increase your budget to reverse the trend, and to label keywords for easy reporting. Too good to be true? It’s not. We’ll start small and work our way up to doing exactly that. Navigate to the campaigns tab of a particular engine account, select a couple of campaigns you want the rule to apply to, then configure as follows: 1) Set your condition

2) Set your action to “Notify only”

3) Schedule the rule to run and click “Save rule”

Easy as 1,2,3 (literally)!

Tip: The date range your condition is evaluated over is the date range of the view you created the rule from. You may be thinking, “This is great and all...but in the real world, different campaigns have different volumes. Does this mean I have to create a new rule of every campaign?”

Formula columns to the rescue!  

Instead of triggering off a static click threshold, let’s create a formula column that detects a trend in click volume: Create a formula column called “% Change Clicks.” You can copy the below formula: to_percent((Clicks.for_Date_Range(Yesterday()) -Clicks/num_days())/(Clicks/num_days())) Now recreate the previous rule, but this time trigger off the formula column you just created:

You now have rule that detects if yesterday’s clicks have dropped more than 30% below the trailing 7 day average! Tip: If you liked that formula column, you can see several more creative examples of formula columns in action here. Now, as Emeril  would say, “Let’s kick it up a notch!” Our rule currently just notifies us that volume is trending down, but it doesn’t actually do anything about it. Enter Actions!

Different object types have different actions available. For example, a rule on keywords would have the option to change its landing page or max CPC. Rules on campaigns have their own menu of actions. Since the rule in question is detecting a drop in click-volume, it may make sense to bump up the campaign’s budget in an attempt to get volume back up. Just model your action like below:

Mission accomplished! What’s that you say? You want MORE automation? I thought you’d never ask. Extra Credit:

If you thought Rules +formula columns was a powerful combo, wait till you throw labels into the mix. Try creating a parallel rule  that runs with the same condition as the previous rule, but instead of increasing budget it adds a label (e.g. “Budget Auto-Increased”). Now go back to the first rule and add NOT having that label as a condition for the first rule. This effectively means the each campaign can only be auto-increased once. What other creative ways can you think of to combine rules, formula columns, and labels?

Attend an upcoming DoubleClick Search training

If you're interested in boosting your DoubleClick Search expertise, join our upcoming webinars to learn more. Register in the DoubleClick Search Help Center, or through the links below. While you’re there, be sure to read about our latest product releases.

DoubleClick Search Fundamentals eLearning and Certification

This on-demand, self-paced training course is designed for new and current DoubleClick Search users who want to understand the basics of campaign management, reporting and bid optimization. Review the material, test your knowledge, and print out your certificate when you pass the exam.

Register

Once you're comfortable with the fundamentals, join us for one of our monthly webinars.

New feature release webinar

Stay up to date on all the latest DoubleClick Search features. This monthly webinar will review new features and updates launched over the previous month.

• Thursday, August 1st at 4:00PM GMT Register
• Thursday, August 1st at 10:00AM PT / 12:00PM ET Register

Advanced new features webinar

This webinar will review advanced topics to help automate key daily tasks. Topics include Rules-based automation, scheduled edits and Landing page testing.

• August 7th 1:30PM AEST (Australia) Register

Advanced reporting

This webinar reviews key advanced reporting features like formula columns, budget pacing reports, and web queries.  

• August 8th  at 4:00PM GMT / 10:00AM PT Register

Automating key tasks

This webinar reviews key features to help you automate and streamline key workflow elements including scheduled reports, scheduled edits, landing page testing, and DoubleClick Search labels.

• August 15th at 4:00PM GMT / 10:00AM PT Register

You can register for all trainings through the training registration page in our Help Center. Be sure to check the time zone to make sure you’re registering for the most convenient class.

And, if you can’t join us for a live webinar, we also make recordings available.

We hope to see you soon!