Imagup General Magazine 2024
The digital environment is more saturated and competitive than ever before. Not only are a greater number of brands shifting more budget to digital, but there are constant changes to the advertising platforms that advertisers need to keep abreast of. One of the leading professionals in this field is the Australian Internet Advertising company called AIAD and the article below was compiled with the direct help of their experts.
One of the most popular platforms used by most businesses is Google Ads. Here, advertisers have the ability to target consumers across multiple channels that are relevant to their business. These include Search, Shopping, Display, Gmail & Discovery.
The dynamics behind each of these channels are constantly evolving and mostly led by new initiatives and general improvements from Google, allowing advertisers to better target their audience online.
Whilst it’s true many organizations choose to handle their market strategies in-house, many companies prefer to instruct an experienced Google Ads Agency to manage and optimize their campaigns. Click here to find out more.
Hiring a Google ad agency
Your Google ad agency can either open portals to profitable business lanes or wreck your entire business streak. And the choices you make while choosing one determine what impact the agency will have on your business.
If you’re considering partnering with a Google management agency, there are a number of factors to consider before doing so. Here are some tips that might help you ease the task of choosing one Google ad agency amongst a cluster of agencies in the market.
1. Consider their certifications and qualifications
This is the utmost requirement; the possession of a verified Google Ads qualification is non-negotiable. You need to ensure the agency is fully qualified and astute across the Google Ads landscape to ensure they are well placed to meet your marketing goals. The last thing you want is to engage with an inexperienced firm that is learning on the job as this is likely to end in failure.
Thus, you should not settle for an unqualified agency that has promised you the world with a glossy sales pitch. Instead, you should do your research that will enable you to:
- Check the agency’s previous work to gauge its competence
- Understand how many staff members are Google qualified
- That agency should be thorough with the knowledge of
○ Ads reporting
○ Digital strategy
○ Campaign management experience and skills
○ Conversion rate optimization
- Review the agency’s testimonials on Google or their own website. Better yet, speak to some of their clients to understand their level of experience and results delivered.
2. Look for the agency’s reviews
Every agency claims to be the best at what they do. Many will promise the world during the tender phase but will ultimately fail to deliver what they promised from the outset. You want to avoid this from occurring as it’s likely to disrupt your business activity from poor campaign management.
Every reputable agency will be backed up by customer reviews that support how good they claim to be at paid search. Make sure to research the agency’s collection of reviews on Google, Trustpilot, Feefo, and other platforms to gauge independent feedback from both previous and existing clients.
Moreover, take time to browse their social media profiles and see what level of feedback has been left for them on the likes of Facebook & LinkedIn.
If the agency is supported with a bunch of positive reviews, this will no doubt give you confidence in working with them. On the flip side, perhaps the agency has a number of negative reviews around poor campaign delivery or lack of service, in which case, they should be avoided with a barge pole.
3. Does the agency have any reporting schemes?
Regular reporting is crucial in understanding how your campaigns are performing. There needs to be a level of transparency to ensure you not only know how your campaigns are fairing but also the nature of work being carried out. This will help to eliminate any doubts that may exist and allow for a fruitful, long-term relationship. After all, you don’t want to be chopping and changing. You’d much rather put your trust in an agency that is fully transparent and helps you reach your goals.
When it comes to Google Ads, it’s common for many agencies to manage your Google campaigns within their MCC account. If this is the case, you need to find out how the campaign data will be shared with you. Do they have their own client dashboard or will they share reports within Google Data Studio? For whatever reason, if this isn’t the case, find out if they will be sending manual reports on a weekly or monthly basis.
The purpose behind the reports is to provide a comprehensive performance overview on a campaign, ad group, and keyword level. You want to know what campaigns are driving conversions and sales, and those that are perhaps under-performing. A well-structured reporting interface should provide you with this level of information in a succinct way. Further to this, there should be data relating to device-level performance and channel performance (relevant if you’re operating on multiple networks).
4. Determine if their fees align with your expectations
Agency fees are likely to be an important consideration during your decision-making process. As with all services, the costs will vary depending on factors such as the amount of work involved in optimizing your account, the level of agency experience, the size of the agency, and so on. Broadly speaking, smaller agencies can be expected to charge lower fees compared to the big fish, and you’re also likely to receive a more personal service.
There are various pricing models employed by PPC agencies and freelancers alike, with the most common being:
- Management fee based on a percentage of advertising spend
- Fixed-rate fees based on advertising spend
During the tender process, it’s important to receive itemized costs that you can expect to pay each month. Ensure there are no ‘hidden costs’ along the way from the outset. Some of these extra costs could be around bid management software. Doing so will allow you to make an informed decision.
