A Chat With Our Director of PPC
As ChoiceLocal’s Director of PPC, Karl Bartling III has spent the past decade building and managing paid advertising efforts, funnel development, and marketing strategies. His work spans global brands, local businesses, and major entrepreneurs like Kevin Harrington from Shark Tank.
We sat down with Karl to discover how he drives leads and wins for every partner of ChoiceLocal.
Describe your duties as Director of PPC.
As the Director of PPC, I oversee the entire PPC department, managing profitability, processes, strategy, and providing support to both my team and our partners.
Besides leads, what do partners want most when you meet them?
Partners seek seamless integration between our agency and their team. Clear, consistent communication is critical in this space, and it’s a significant part of our role.
How do you structure a PPC campaign to ensure optimal performance?
I structure each PPC campaign around our partner’s specific goals, typically prioritizing lead generation. Immediate actions are taken to achieve those objectives quickly. We also focus on high-intent searches, ensuring that users actively seeking our partner’s services are targeted.
What metrics do you prioritize in PPC campaigns?
I prioritize ‘hard metrics’ like Cost Per Lead and total Leads, as these directly reflect the campaign’s success. While we also monitor metrics like CPC, CTR, and Impressions to optimize performance, our primary focus remains on producing quality leads at a profitable Cost Per Lead.
What’s the hardest part of PPC?
The toughest challenge in PPC is navigating the constantly evolving landscape and rising costs. As Google and other platforms enhance their technology, more advertisers enter the space, intensifying competition.
What ideas have you implemented to make PPC stronger at ChoiceLocal?
As an idea-driven person, I’ve implemented new ways of diagnosing campaigns using a more scientific approach. For instance, if we’re seeing clean search term reports but no leads, it indicates a need to test new landing page copy or experiment with different offers to improve conversions.
Has AI affected how you operate?
AI has come a long way—I first tested it five years ago in PPC tools, and now it’s an integral part of our daily operations. For PPC, I use AI to generate fresh ideas, analyze large datasets, and create new tones for ad copy. Personally, I also use AI for organization and skill development.
What is the future of PPC?
The future of PPC is continually evolving, but it remains a powerful channel for bottom-of-the-funnel leads—those users actively searching for a product or service now. Beyond that, I see Google expanding into multi-channel advertising, as demonstrated by Performance Max, which consolidates all their channels into a single campaign.
Tell us something about you that people would be surprised to know.
At 17, I began customizing Harley Davidsons, and by 19, I was meeting with well-known musicians to build custom bikes. I even had a meeting with Travis Barker from Blink-182! Through networking and persistent cold calling, I made those connections, which ultimately led me to marketing. I started running social media ads for my motorcycle shop, and this forward-thinking approach helped me reach an audience I’d never have met locally, let alone nationally.
On weekends, you’ll find Karl spending time with his family by the beach or BBQing in the backyard.
About ChoiceLocal
ChoiceLocal is a franchise marketing agency dedicated to leading a purpose-driven business as the first and only franchise marketing agency with a money-back guarantee. This has led to successful partnerships with over 50 franchise brands and a spot on the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing companies. Our core values are driven not only by the digital marketing work that is done but reflected by each person who becomes a teammate; we volunteer in our local communities every quarter and make a difference to those around us. Named a top workplace for four years straight, ChoiceLocal is dedicated to making the lives of everyone we are involved with better.
