PPC Agency Google Ads

Choosing a PPC agency requires a lot of knowledge and can be a long and tedious process. In this article, we help you ask the right questions by giving you some elements for reflection to facilitate your decision-making process.

Here are some premises and the main factors you should consider when hiring a PPC agency:

• THE ADVANTAGES OF PAY PER CLICK
• ARE YOU DOING PPC ALREADY?
• WHAT ARE YOUR MARKETING GOALS
• TRANSPARENCY AND EXPECTATIONS MANAGEMENT
• TIME
• REPORTING AND COMMUNICATION
• EXPERIENCE AND CREDIBILITY
• PRICE
• PPC AGENCY EFFICIENCY INDICATORS
• TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
• CERTIFICATIONS
• WHICH SERVICES WE OFFER
• INDUSTRIES WE WORK WITH
• A GOOGLE-INDEPENDENT APPROACH
• WHY CHOOSE PROFITLEAD AS YOUR PPC AGENCY

THE ADVANTAGES OF PAY PER CLICK

From personal experience, I can tell you that there are often incorrect expectations about Google Ads. Many believe that pay-per-click is almost a magic potion that solves all business problems. Just activate the campaigns, get the clicks and poof. It is not so!

Anyway, Google Ads and other search marketing platforms offer you these main advantages:

With Google Ads, you can reach people interested in your products/services at the right time.

Decide on your budget and adjust it based on availability, seasonality, level of competition

Grow at your own pace, step by step

We are at your side for any problem, information and help

Get traffic from relevant keywords, without having to wait for SEO times

Understand what works and what can improve, optimize campaigns and measure performance in real time

ARE YOU DOING PPC ALREADY?

Whether or not you are familiar with Google Ads is an important element to consider when choosing a PPC agency.

If you have already launched Pay per Click campaigns, you will be familiar with the technical jargon, your expectations will be influenced by your experience. This is a great starting point that gives you the foundation for evaluating a digital marketing agency.

If, however, you start from scratch, much will depend on external information and the trust that the agency inspires in you.

It is important that the PPC agency patiently educates you using precise and accessible language. Give those who work with professionalism and value what you do the right importance!

WHAT ARE YOUR MARKETING GOALS?

Everyone wants to increase traffic, sales, turnover. Not everyone knows how to set achievable and measurable goals for constant and sustainable growth.

We start with an introductory call to understand if and how your business measures performance.

Then we create a taylored strategy together to give ourselves realistic objectives and a precise action plan to achieve them.

TRANSPARENCY AND EXPECTATIONS MANAGEMENT 

Managing expectations is a paramount in service management and so in digital marketing.

A conservative approach is always better than an overly aggressive one.

Goals must always be realistic and achievable. Be wary of those who sell you easy or quick results. Reward the transparency of those who support their ideas with facts and data analysis.

“From the analysis of your performances, we create a step-by-step strategy. In essence we break down your macro goal into many small objectives and create a process to move from one to the other, until the macro goal is reached.”. 

IMPROVE PERFORMANCE!

 

TIME

There’s no need to tell you: time is your most precious resource. If, as they say, time is money, choose carefully how you use it. Spend it doing what you are supposed to do. And outsource what is time-consuming and inefficient.

We believe in the specialization of functions to create business efficiency and competitiveness.

With the development of artificial intelligence, you will think that Google Ads is something that now manages itself, on autopilot. This is not the case, especially if you want to achieve great results.

The human component is still essential and Google’s AI is anything but perfect. Among other things, to perfect it, an enormous amount of data is needed and human input still makes the difference.

Not to mention that Google ads is constantly evolving: new features are created every day. Understanding them requires a lot of time and a deep knowledge of the subject.

To have a competitive edge you need to stay “always on track” and take advantage of new things before your competitors.

“Entrust us with your acquisition campaigns: we’ll take care of finding you new customers!”

REPORTING AND COMMUNICATION

Measurability is one of the great things about Google Ads. You can measure inputs (how much you spend) and outputs (how much you sell and earn) and draw conclusions in a relatively short amount of time. Sometimes the results are self-explanatory, other times an agency needs to give a little context to make you understand if you are going in the right direction or not.

In any case, a PPC agency must report to the company/client on performance. The frequency depends on the type of contract and may vary from case to case. Choose those who give you greater availability and precision.

“At ProfitLead we support our customers through different channels: email, Whatsapp and by telephone. We create customized reports and dashboards according to your needs”

EXPERIENCE AND CREDIBILITY 

To choose a PPC agency, you need to know who works there and whether they have the skills and experience needed to support and grow your business.

Unfortunately, social media has spread a real pandemic: that of fluff marketers. These are people who present themselves as gurus but have neither the skills nor the intentions to help you. Another category you should avoid are the improvised: those who know how to do everything in words, but nothing in deeds.

Obviously you want to avoid falling into these two categories. How can you do it?

You will probably get a first opinion by taking a look at the agency’s website. The design, contents, case studies, certifications and testimonials are all important factors for analyzing the service that the PPC agency offers.

While you will be unconsciously influenced by the elements mentioned above, my advice is to push yourself further.

In fact, an agency with a more captivating and refined design may not have the necessary requirements to manage PPC campaigns.

The opposite case is also true. Maybe you are faced with the best PPC consultant in the world, with years of experience gained in the field and who has just started his own business; perhaps he doesn’t have the means to have an ultra-competitive site or simply having one is not part of his strategy.

Do one thing then. Open Linkedin and see if the PPC agency in question has a page: focus on the profile of the owner or the person who contacted you (I take it for granted that if you have contacted the PPC agency, you have already made your mind). And ask yourself: what has he /she done in the last 4-5-10 years? Do they have the necessary experience to offer you the service you’re looking for? Did you spot any inconsistency? Is there anything that positively surprises you?

Do you have any curiosities about his journey? About a work experience or a professional choice? Don’t jump to quick conclusions.

This brings me to the last point. Schedule a call and talk to the PPC agency.

IMPROVE PERFORMANCE!

In this step, you can find confirmations or disillusions that will help the decision-making process.

During the meeting, you will have the chance to really understand who’s in front of you. Maybe you won’t be able to understand completely if they can do the job or not, but you will wether they’re reliable or not.

From the call, you will be able to understand if you are in line with the PPC agency’s communication: if they use too “techie” jargon, or if you manage to understand each other; you’ll understand if the PPC agency is made up of serious and professional people (punctuality, education, listening skills, empathy, respect for work), you can get an idea of what the agency’s values are (do they want to sell the service at any cost or are they willing to let you go the requirements for a profitable partnership are not met); you can also understand whether you will enjoy working with the agency or not.

In short, hiring a Google ads agency may not be an easy task and the decision-making process may long.

Use Linkedin to understand the experience of those behind the PPC agency and have a chat with them for the avoidance of doubt.

PRICE MODEL: WHAT ARE THE COLLABORATION TYPES

The price of the service will make you lean towards one agency rather than another. There are different types of pricing models: some agencies are flexible and offer hybrid solutions, others are less so and perhaps ask for a fixed commission on a minimum monthly advertising spend.

Let’s see what the main price models are.

Percentage of advertising spend. It is the most popular model with the Google Ads agency charging a percentage of the ad spend each month (usually between 10% and 20%, also variable depending on the agency and account size).

Fixed fee. The PPC agency charges a fixed monthly fee, previously agreed upon and regardless of the advertising spend.

Fixed fees are typically more expensive than percentage-of-ad-spend models, but they can be a good option if you have a large advertising budget or to avoid paying more as your ad spend increases.

Hourly rate. This mode can be valid if you only need some specific Pay per click one-off activities.

Performance-based. It involves a fee charged when certain objectives are achieved, for example every time a lead or sale occurs.

There is no best pricing mode regardless. It depends a lot on the type of business and the challenges you are about to face. In any case, the watchword must be sustainability. There must be a match between what you pay for a PPC agency and the value generated.

“At ProfitLead we start from the profitability of our customers by offering a flexible price adn functional to their growth”.

PPC AGENCY EFFICIENCY INDICATORS

Don’t discriminate against a Google Ads agency based on the number of staff.

Of course, one can assume that a “large” PPC agency is successful and has already achieved a certain organizational balance, but it is not always so obvious. How many junior staff are there, what is the turnover rate? What is the PPC consultant/client ratio? In other words, how many customers are followed by just one person on average?

These are all efficiency indicators, often ignored though.

Junior staff need a training period, they make mistakes (errare humanum est: seniors also make mistakes but less, hopefully!), they must assimilate concepts and processes. This takes up time, because in addition to the inefficiencies of junior staff, the PPC agency will have to allocate more experienced staff for coaching.

Another problem of digital marketing agencies is the high turnover rate.

It becomes essential for the agency to maintain know-how as it is always exposed to the risk that its best people leave in search of a higher salary and better growth opportunities. This triggers a vicious cycle, which forces the PPC agency to spend time and money recruiting new “brains”.

Another indicator of efficiency is the number of clients per consultant. Often, even if they will never tell you, the agency is inclined to exhaust its employees.

To keep costs down, its employees are overworked and must to race against time to meet the deadlines. Unfortunately – it must be said – this situation is also created due to the exaggerated expectations of the monster-client who wants to lower the budget and achieve higher results at the same time.

Fewer clients per PPC consultant = less stress + quality of service.

HOW DO WE FIGHT AGAINST THESE PROBLEMS? 

1- Our team is made of digital marketing specialists with at least 5 years of experience. We’ re experts and fast-learners too.

2- Our employees are our partners too. We recognize their professionalism with higher than the average salaries, shares of our agencies and performance-based incentives. We’re united by the same goals.

The available technology also greatly affects the efficiency of a PPC agency but deserves a separate discussion. Knowing and mastering tools and new technologies can give you a significant competitive advantage, as well as improving productivity. Scripts and artificial intelligence tools are our butter and bread. Google Ads is pushing a lot on automation and you might think that nowadays is all about pressing a button, but this is not the case. As a well-known commercial once said, “power is nothing without control”.

And we all know how not being in full control of technology can have devastating effects.

WHAT ABOUT THE CERTIFICATIONS?

I remember when I was starting out. With no experience at all , I was looking for Adwords and Google Analytics certifications as a way to make my way into digital marketing.

I had never even created a campaign on Google, despite my certification.

When I finally had the first opportunity to work for a well-known digital marketing agency, I immediately realized how little I actually knew.

The only real way to learn Pay per click is by getting your hands dirty (the famous learning by doing!). That’s right, believe me!

Similarly, being a certified PPC agency certainly has benefits, but it doesn’t say much about the real capabilities of the agency. Or at least it doesn’t say everything. It is not a sufficient requirement, and, from my point of view, also not necessary.

If you are undecided between one agency and another, it will certainly not be the certifications that should influence your choice.

WHICH PPC SERVICES DO WE OFFER?

As a specialized PPC agency, we offer all services from upstream to downstream:

If you already have active campaigns, we start by analyzing the accounts and perform a complete check-up.

Creating your account, connecting to GA4, setting up conversion tracking and testing

We analyze search volumes and the competitive scenario and suggest a short-term budget, then reviewed based on performance and and your expectations.

From the ideation we move on to the operational phase where we create the campaigns, with ad groups and keywords and the different targeting and bidding strategy settings. We create ads and extensions in line with your brand with a higher CTR.

We collaborate with your designers or create a landing page ourselves following the user experience standards that guarantee the highest conversion rates.

We analyze the performance of campaigns and implement a continuous optimization process.

We create customized dashboards to inform you 100% on the performance of your campaigns on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.

IMPROVE PERFORMANCE!

 

INDUSTRIES WE WORK WITH

Over the years we have managed advertising accounts from the most disparate sectors including: e-commerce, i-gaming, finance, Saas and B2B.

Our team is made up of PPC specialists with at least 5 years of experience each (in most of the cases 10+ years experience).

We have gained our experience in Italy, the United Kingdom, Malta and Spain, managing tens of millions of euros in advertising.

A GOOGLE-INDEPENDENT APPROACH

It seems like a paradox that a partner PPC agency may not fully embrace Google’s philosophy and recommendations.

Yet, think about it. Your business objectives often do not match with those of Google.

Over the years, Google has implemented a recommendation system whose main goal is to make you spend more in advertising.

Your goal, instead, is to increase advertising spending only when it brings an improvement in performance.

All advertisers, including your competitors, are inundated with these “calls” to act.

However…

“YOU WILL NOT WIN THE BATTLE AGAINST YOUR COMPETITORS if you do the same things.”

This is why we are here: to make you do different and better things!

IMPROVE PERFORMANCE!

 

WHY CHOOSE PROFITLEAD AS YOUR PPC AGENCY

After reading this guide, you should have a better idea of how to choose a PPC agency.

Every single factor we discussed has a relative importance based on your requirements and expectations. Can we help you? Is ProfitLead the right PPC agency for your company? Book a call with the form below to find it out. In the meantime, let’s summarize some important points of our approach:

• I have more than 10 years experience in the field
• Our PPC consultants have at least 5 years experience
• Obsessed with business growth and how we can help you achieve it
• We are also obsessed with customer service, available 24/7
• We create ad hoc strategies, regardless of what Google would like you to do
• We have a number of tools and technologies that improve the effectiveness and efficiency of campaigns
• Transparency and professional honesty are at the heart of our work
• Flexible pricing models based on your availability and growth path. We want to grow together with our customers