Today, with the low barrier to entry, it seems as though everybody has become a digital marketing expert. No longer do you need to go and spend years learning in an agency to develop the skills to be successful.
With youtube videos, online courses and much more, people are learning digital marketing and setting their own agencies up left, right and centre.
So, with so many new entrants to the market, how can you tell the difference between the people who know what they are doing and the people who only talk a good game?
As a business owner, you want to know that the hard-earned money that you invest in marketing, is going to deliver a positive return for you. When it comes to PPC, it’s all too easy for the money to slip through your fingertips, if, you don’t know what you are doing.
This is why its, absolutely, critical that you employ somebody who knows what they are doing, has a proven track record of success and is a trustworthy partner. In this blog, we’re going to break down the ways that you can choose a PPC agency, that will deliver the biggest impact on your business and help you grow the right way.
Ask the right questions
When you are looking for a PPC agency, one of the best ways to save yourself future headaches is to ask the right questions. Usually, by being inquisitive, you can build up a good understanding of a person’s knowledge and also identify someone’s potential limits.
Obviously no one is going to know everything, but by asking deep meaningful questions related to business and marketing, you can separate the time-wasters from the people who will truly deliver for you.
Below, we’re going to go through a few key questions you can ask before you go ahead and sign a marketing contract.
“What is your background and how did you get into PPC?”
This is a great introductory question to start off with. Firstly, you get to know more about the PPC manager/executive/freelancer and build up a picture of their experience in business.
An open question like this gives the person plenty of time to delve into their past, express their passion (or lack of) for marketing/PPC and lets you know whether they are an experienced data guru or just a pretender.
“How will you manage our budget and ensure we are profitable?”
Now, time to get into the technicalities. Asking a question like this will reveal a lot about an agency. You will see who is methodical in their process, who understands how to allocate budgets effectively and who genuinely cares about doing a good job.
A PPC agency that is lackadaisical with their approach should set off alarm bells in your mind. This is your money you’re spending, you need to work with someone who actually cares about doing a good job. And a lot of the time, that can be difficult to find!
“What recent Google Ads/Facebook features/updates would you suggest us utilising?”
This question is great to test a person’s understanding of current platforms. If the person replies with an extensive list of new features that Google or Facebook has just released, you know that they are constantly learning, have up to date knowledge and understand the current state of the technology.
If someone finds it very difficult to name any new updates or features, it may highlight an unfortunate gap in their knowledge. You need a PPC manager to understand how advertising platforms are working today, anything less just won’t suffice.
Look at their marketing
This one sounds like an obvious one, but hear us out. It’s all good an agency talking the talk but do they practice what they preach. One way to find out the skill level of a marketer or agency is to look at their marketing and see how they present themselves.
Do they have convincing copywriting on their website that nudges you into action? Do they have nicely designed landing pages on their website that are optimised for conversions? Are they retargeting you after you have been on their website?
All of the above are great ways to see if the PPC agency excels at what they do. And then there is the no-brainer; search for a related keyword in their industry and see if they come up on Google.
If you can see that they are outbidding their competitors and have better ad copy, you may have yourself a winner. If not, then it’s not the end of the world, but make sure to look on their website and see how their communication efforts fair up.
Case studies
Last but certainly not least: case studies! The perfect window into an agencies competency levels. A good case study is hard to argue with.
Numbers speak volumes and if you have two agencies up against each other and one of them has significantly better performance in cost per conversions and overall conversions, its a no-brainer for who to choose.
Be wary though, some agencies will leave out key details or present their results in deceiving ways. Make sure to ask the agency to talk you through the case study results and point out any questions or queries you may have.
To link to the previous heading, a case study is also a showcase of a company’s marketing execution. Have they designed their case study nicely? Is the copywriting to a high standard? Do they tell the story of the project well?
These sound like small details but they all add to the experience. PPC is about taking the user on a small journey from them expressing a need to you solving their problem.
When reading a case study, be aware of how you feel as you are digesting the information. Are you building a favourability towards the agency? Or, do you have an uneasy feeling about their results? Make sure to consider all of the above and be honest with yourself!
Remember, it doesn’t matter who has the most case studies. You could have 15 case studies with average results or 4 case studies with more impactful results. It’s all about quality, so don’t let the quantity skew your vision.
Summary
Hopefully, you’ve found this article useful and can apply the information above with confidence. Doing PPC can be a big step for some businesses. And putting your trust in an agency can be very hard to do.
It’s understandable and the best thing you can do is follow the steps above and trust your intuition. If you’d like to have a chat about PPC and growing your business, feel free to reach out and see how we can help.