PPC (pay-per-click) is one of the most effective and inexpensive forms of paid advertising. Plus, it delivers a twofold return on investment (ROI), meaning you’ll get two dollars profit for every dollar you put in. According to Forbes Magazine, it’s no surprise that PPC advertising is such a popular and beneficial option for businesses of all sizes.
But crafting, running, and monitoring PPC campaigns is not a leisurely walk in the park. Hiring the right PPC agency can help you manage all the moving parts and stay on top of the industry best practices. In addition, it’s a great way to ensure you’re getting the most out of your PPC campaigns.
Consider this article your roadmap to finding the best agency to create and run your PPC campaigns.
First Up – What’s a PPC Agency, and Why Do You Need to Hire One?
PPC agency is an outsource company that helps partially or fully manage your pay-per-click marketing. PPC advertising, on its end, is a digital marketing model in which you pay a fee to publishers like Facebook, Reddit, Google, or Bing whenever someone clicks on your ad. It’s regarded as a relatively low-cost and effective form of advertising since you only pay for actual clicks.
When you hire a PPC agency, the company will create and manage your pay-per-click campaigns, such as LinkedIn ads, Amazon ads, Quora ads, Bing ads, Facebook ads, Twitter ads, Instagram ads, or Google ads. In addition, companies typically hire agencies for various digital marketing services, including PPC, search engine optimization, social media marketing, etc.
So, why hire a PPC agency? The benefits of working with an experienced PPC agency staffed by professional pay-per-click marketers are impressive and varied, including:
- Get more bang for your buck – If you don’t have a fully-fledged marketing department, creating an in-house team to work on your PPC campaign might not be possible from a financial standpoint. Hiring a PPC agency is like bringing a whole group of marketing experts on board at a fraction of the cost.
- First-class PPC expertise – The best PPC agencies have experts in all things pay-per-click marketing. You’ll have graphic designers, social media managers, SEO experts, sales reps, content writers, marketing strategists, project managers, and other specialists working on your PPC campaigns.
- Gain data insights – PPC agencies stay on top of the latest best practices. They use data analytics to provide insights into key metrics like ad impressions, ROI, conversion rate, cost per conversion, and click-through rate. They use these insights to tailor your PPC campaigns.
- Time management – Let a good agency manage your PPC efforts so that you can focus your time and resources on what matters the most to your business.
- Near-immediate results – HubSpot notes that PPC campaigns can take a few hours to deliver results, outperforming strategies like SEO in this respect.
Qualities to Keep in Mind When Choosing a PPC Agency
Considering core qualities is the first step in your roadmap to choosing the right PPC agency. While specific attributes may appeal to different businesses, the following are indispensable, and you shouldn’t relent:
(1) Business Value
Business acumen goes beyond earning more income. A good PPC agency should use a combination of business savvy and technical abilities to deliver the best results.
They should monitor your key performance indicators and ensure accuracy. In other words, the best agency should take your business goals and translate them into tangible results.
(2) Partnership with Advertising Networks
When choosing an agency to run your PPC campaigns, consider their partnerships. Ensure your agency is a Facebook Partner, Microsoft Partner, or Google Partner, depending on where you plan to run your ads. These partnerships send strong positive signals about the agency.
Partnerships also show that their agency employees are certified and trained PPC experts. Getting express support from Google, Facebook, and other big ad platforms is also possible if an agency is a certified partner.
(3) Technical Capacity
Your agency should be able to maneuver an increasingly complex technical PPC landscape. Therefore, staff with tech-savvy chops can work around anything that PPC campaigns throw at them.
The core team at your preferred agency should have at least the following roles:
- Graphic designer
- Landing page optimizer
- Account strategist
- PPC monitoring expert
- Relationship/PR manager
- Product specialist
In addition, the agency should have a dedicated person regularly keeping track of your progress. This professional helps them detect and weed out any red flags, discrepancies, and other hiccups.
(4) Transparent Report and Progress Monitoring
On the same note, a good agency should have reporting guidelines to ensure transparency and honesty. After all, advertising reports can be subjective and open to interpretation which might not align well with your business goals. The company should create reports that fit your internal key performance metrics.
They should set up data analytics tools to generate reports on how your organization’s metrics are measured and tracked. If that’s not possible, you’d better take your business elsewhere.
(5) Data-Driven
There are high stakes involved in pay-per-click marketing. Why? Everything you try, test, and run will cost you a premium. And these dollars flow from your bank account faster than when you’re doing SEO or email marketing.
That’s why it’s crucial to find and work with an agency that uses data insights to tailor your ads and optimize your PPC campaigns. In addition, they should use data to measure and monitor an array of KPIs.
Other Tips for Selecting an Ideal PPC Agency
– Define your PPC goals
Define clear and well-defined goals for your PPC marketing. Make sure they’re SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound). Consider your business goals and KPIs when setting these goals so that your agency will know them from the get-go.
– Check out the agency’s portfolio
Don’t stop there. Does the agency work with successful companies in your niche? What results have they delivered for them?
– Run a trial PPC Campaign
It’s the easiest way to know if an agency is up to scratch.
Conclusion
The agency you choose can make or break your PPC campaigns. Consider the business acumen, portfolio, reporting transparency, and technical ability, and run a trial campaign to pick a good PPC agency to deliver outstanding results.
