How to Choose the Right PPC Agency for Your Business
Nowadays businesses are increasingly investing in various digital marketing activities in the hopes of standing out in the vastly competitive online space. One of the most fruitful strategies is pay-per-click advertising, which brings ads for your business directly to the people most likely to be interested in it.
Now, there are numerous PPC agencies out there; so, among the sea of options, how can you find the one that’ll make your investment pay off? In this blog, we want to provide a few tips and tricks that’ll help you find a qualified paid media agency to work with.
Why do PPC?
Before moving on to discussing how to choose a PPC agency, we want to point out why it’s worth investing in PPC in the first place. We’ve already discussed the power of paid media in general, so that’s where you can find all the answers as to pay-per-click marketing is something your business may benefit from.
We will add another insightful fact, though; research has shown that the likelihood of a purchase is 50% higher in PPC visitors than organic visitors. So, if you’re looking to boost your online sales, combining PPC management services with SEO efforts is definitely a good idea.
What to consider when choosing a PPC agency?
No two pay-per-click agencies are the same. They all differ in terms of skillset, experience, service, pricing, resources available, and other significant factors that you should definitely take into account before making a final decision.
“But why can’t I just google nearby PPC management agencies and pick one?” Well, while assessing each of them may sound like a time-consuming and perhaps exhausting process, it’s still for the good of your own business. You have got specific objectives that you want to accomplish, so you need to find the offer that suits them best.
Here are a few key things we recommend you think about:
• What are your objectives? This is the fundamental question. Without a clear idea of what you are looking to achieve, you’ll have a difficult time finding the agency that will help you get there. So, first determine your goals as well as you can, and then start evaluating agencies.
• Which industries are predominant among the agency’s clients? Naturally, if an agency has vast experience in paid media campaigns for businesses like yours, things are more likely to go swimmingly and you may see success sooner.
• What size businesses have they mostly worked with? As with the previous question, it’s primarily a matter of experience and skill in creating PPC ads for businesses similar to yours, in this case in terms of size.
• How transparent will the agency be? As with any project, it’s vital that you have solid insight into the performance of your campaign. We’ll tackle this particular factor a little bit later in the blog.
• What client profiles have they worked with most frequently so far? In other words, are their clients mostly local, national or international businesses? The reason this should be on your mind is the location of your target audience. Naturally, if you’re a retailer that ships regionally, you won’t have the same kind of PPC campaign as one that ships all over the world.
• What paid media platforms are they genuinely well-versed in? Paid media incorporates a variety of platforms and ad types, all of which target different audiences. Not every platform and ad type will suit your business goals. Be it paid social (paid ads on social media), Google Ads campaigns, Display ads, Microsoft Advertising, etc., make sure that you find an agency that is highly skilled in your selected paid channel.
• Do they have sufficient resources available? If you want your project to be successful, you’ll need a specific amount of resources, both human and technological. To ensure your expectations will be met, check how many people each agency would have working on your project and whether all their other resources are up to speed.
• What do you think of their company culture? Whether your project will be short-term or you’re looking for a lengthier collaboration, your PPC agency’s company culture really matters. You will see eye to eye much more easily with a company whose ethos is similar to yours, or at least leaves a positive impression.
• What is their pricing model and range? As the price rates and models will vary from company to company, assess each agency’s offer and try to find the one that seems to best suit the desired value for money.
What are the features of a quality pay-per-click agency?
Now that we’ve gone over some of the crucial things to keep in mind when selecting a PPC marketing agency, we also want to shed light on 6 features that indicate you’ve made the right call.
1. They are data-driven
One of the great things about pay-per-click ads is that you can clearly see the revenue you’ve generated and compare it with ad spend. Any solid digital agency is well-versed in various analytics tools and will continuously track the numbers to ensure that your campaign is up to par. They will also utilise all results to strategise improvement ideas in case the performance is not satisfactory.
Data-driven also means that they’re skilled in analysing your target audience and leveraging the data collected to create effective ads that will actually reach the right people and interest them in purchasing from you.
2. They are meticulous and punctual
A quality PPC agency will leave no stone unturned when it comes to strategy and analytics. It means they are fully dedicated to helping you reach your goal. They will be able to scrutinise all the insight into your campaign, filter it out and create comprehensive, relevant reports.
Reports are usually sent on a monthly basis, but that does not necessarily have to be the case. Whatever the case, if you chose the right agency, you’ll receive the report in a timely manner, with all data in place.
3. Good communication & transparency
One of the reasons we mentioned company culture as a factor you should think about is because it directly influences how your agency will communicate with you and what values they’ll uphold during the project. A good agency will proactively communicate about objectives, resources, performance, risks, concerns and updates with you.
Throughout that, they’ll be completely transparent. It’s important that they openly inform you about what they’re doing in your accounts and that you have independent access to the campaign metrics at all times. Moreover, every move that they make should be justifiable. So, they should be willing and able to answer any questions you might have about the entire PPC strategy.
4. They adapt well to your overall marketing strategy
Whether you’re investing in SEO, PPC marketing, conversion rate optimisation, or any other digital marketing activity, it should never be an isolated endeavour. Each one is a piece that should fit neatly into the whole puzzle. Therefore, your agency should be able to seamlessly integrate the paid media efforts into your overall marketing strategy. It’s generally more practical to have one digital agency take care of everything, but even if you do have separate teams, everything should go smoothly as long as they’re working in sync.
5. They have general digital marketing skills
Even if you opt for separate teams to do your digital marketing, it’s still highly important for your PPC agency to have exceptional skills in other digital services. This especially refers to search engine optimisation, both general and, depending on your business profile and target audience, local SEO and international SEO.
Namely, PPC and SEO are tightly connected, and businesses looking to achieve a stronger online presence usually do so by combining the two, as we indicated earlier. Both require extensive keyword research and proficiency in selecting the right keywords and building an effective strategy for their performance.
6. They understand your business goals
Your PPC agency should be visibly putting effort into understanding your business goals fully and working alongside you to make them happen. Of course, this is interconnected with the previous five traits that we have outlined. Without open and proactive communication, dedication and prowess, a solid client-agency relationship would not be possible and goal achievement would be severely inhibited.
Conclusion
It may be quite challenging to find the right PPC agency to make your vision come to life. However, it’s a crucial step towards a successful project, so make sure to keep in mind the advice we’ve provided. Ultimately, the time and energy invested in the selection process will pay off.
If you have any questions about PPC marketing or are looking for paid media services, feel free to reach out to us. The marketing experts and paid media professionals at digital agency GRM Digital are here to create ads that’ll help you boost brand awareness and increase sales.