Level 3 is when you have Metrics, Analysis, Action (MAA) under control. A lot of people think MAA is about blindly creating reports like a robot. That’s not the case. It’s about being able to think.
Beyond just loading ads
If you can create reports, load up ads, do some basic tuning, and communicate with team members, you’re on your way. But loading ads isn’t just going into AdWords or Facebook or LinkedIn and dumping them in. It’s also the coordination that’s necessary. Maybe the client didn’t give you items in the right format. Maybe you’re missing a video. Maybe you have suggestions because you saw what worked last year, or you have expertise the rest of the team doesn’t.
The MAA cycle
When you have MAA, you’re able to not only execute campaigns but adjust and optimize them. You go from metrics to analysis to action. You prepare the reports at Level 1, the analysis extends from Level 2 to Level 3, and if you can do MAA multiple times on clients, not as a fluke, you prove you can sequence from metrics to analysis to action.
Because you took that action, it impacted the metrics, which gives you more analysis, more hypotheses, more things to test. This creative versus that creative, different audience combinations, different targets. You run the experiment, show the results, and keep going through the cycle.
Where people get stuck
Level 3 is where people who haven’t had to think before tend to struggle the most. Many go through Level 1 and Level 2 fine, then get stuck. It’s not about how hard you work or how many projects you have. It’s about being able to think and figure out what actually needs to be done. Maybe it’s the copy, the pricing, or the targeting. You’ve got to play a little bit of Sherlock Holmes.
The most interesting early level
Level 3 is the most interesting of all the early levels before Level 6. That’s when you actually feel like you have control, you start to understand what’s going on, and you feel like you’re really adding value.
At $20 an hour, at some point you’ll realize you made a client an extra few thousand dollars. And that’s when you can move from Level 3 to Level 4 as a team lead.
MAA connects to every other BlitzMetrics concept through the SEO Tree. This page is the definitive article for MAA — the canonical reference that all examples and case studies link back to.
MAA is the measurement framework that runs through every BlitzMetrics concept. It measures the output of the Content Factory, evaluates whether Digital Plumbing is sound, and drives the continuous improvement loop in every SEO Audit. When building a personal brand or pursuing a Knowledge Panel, MAA provides the metrics that tell you whether the effort is working.
Dennis Yu
Dennis Yu is the CEO of Local Service Spotlight, a platform that amplifies the reputations of contractors and local service businesses using the Content Factory process. He is a former search engine engineer who has spent a billion dollars on Google and Facebook ads for Nike, Quiznos, Ashley Furniture, Red Bull, State Farm, and other brands.
Dennis has achieved 25% of his goal of creating a million digital marketing jobs by partnering with universities, professional organizations, and agencies. Through Local Service Spotlight, he teaches the Dollar a Day strategy and Content Factory training to help local service businesses enhance their existing local reputation and make the phone ring.
Dennis coaches young adult agency owners serving plumbers, AC technicians, landscapers, roofers, electricians, and believes there should be a standard in measuring local marketing efforts, much like doctors and plumbers must be certified.