Do You Need an Agency to Run Google Ads?

Every business owner has undoubtedly received emails about the benefits of running Google Ads. Whether the sender of the email can actually deliver results is something for another discussion, but the base question is a valid one: should a business run online advertising on Google to find customers? And if so, should that business hire a Google Ads professional to manage their account?

In this article I’m going to explain what the benefits are to choose an accredited professional to run your Google Ads campaigns. In an earlier post I talked about determining what a reasonable budget should be for your Google Ads campaign, so if you’re looking for pricing info start with that post first.

OK, let’s get into the nitty gritty of Google Ads and how they should help attract more business for your business.

Expertise and Experience

One of the primary advantages of hiring a marketing agency for Google Ads management is gaining access to a team of seasoned professionals with specialized knowledge. The marketing agency you’re speaking with should be able to tell you how many years of paid ads/paid media experience they have on staff.

The number of workers shouldn’t really matter as long as the accounts that the agency manages are properly maintained. Make sure that you ask about the size of businesses the agency you’re looking at has experience with; if you’re a small business, the general rule of thumb is that you want to find a PPC agency that has experience working with your size of operation, or at the very least an account manager that has worked in that specialized area.

The bigger the agency doesn’t mean the better the agency. Ask for references from businesses similar to your niche or size. Smaller agencies can do great things for their clients, and they tend to provide a more personal service than the bigger agencies.

Case studies are also great for vetting the capabilities of the PPC team, like the one we made for our work on OptaDerm’s ad campaigns and the revenue generated by these PPC campaigns.

Google Ads is a sophisticated platform with numerous features and settings, and understanding how to navigate and optimize them for the best results requires experience. Marketing agencies often have a wealth of experience working with various clients across industries, giving them insights into what strategies work best for different types of businesses.

Strategic Planning

Crafting a successful Google Ads campaign requires a well-thought-out strategy. Big or small, a paid ads agency should excel in developing comprehensive strategies that align with your business goals.

The best Google Ads account managers will conduct thorough market research, competitor analysis, and audience targeting to ensure your ads are positioned effectively. They will also write several variances of copy to test audience reactions. Copy for different times of the day, the week, or for different neighborhoods should also be tried and tested.

A strategic approach like this helps in maximizing the impact of your advertising budget and ensures that your campaigns are tailored to resonate with your target audience. After all, you want people to click on your Google Ads and become leads and/or customers.

Time and Resource Efficiency

Managing Google Ads campaigns demands a significant investment of time and resources, even if you’re a smaller sized account.

From keyword research and ad creation to continuous monitoring and optimization, the process can be time-consuming. The ads manager needs to be creative and come up with different ad copy, then get those ads inputted into the Google Ads system, then start running them. After enough time has gone by, analysis needs to be performed to see how well each of the ads are performing. Turning off the lower performing ads, and then trying to figure out why the better performing ads are getting more engagement, takes even more time.

You could do this work but it will eat up time in your already busy day. If you let the work slip by, you run the very real risk of wasting your ad budget on low performing ads.

By outsourcing this work to a PPC professional you free up your team’s valuable time and internal resources,. You also don’t need to absorb everything about the world of online advertising, and how to use the Google Ads platform to its full benefit. The learning curve to becoming decent using Google Ads does take time, and you’re going to make mistakes as you learn bidding strategies and the nuances of the system.

Continuous Monitoring and Optimization

I just touched on this one but it’s worth circling back to spend more time on it: Google Ads is not a set-it-and-forget-it platform. Constant monitoring and optimization are crucial for maintaining campaign effectiveness.

Ads managers at marketing agencies use advanced analytics tools to track the performance of several campaigns in real-time. Any underperforming ads or keywords can be flagged very quickly so that your budget doesn’t get used up on bad clicks.

By keeping a watchful eye on the daily running of your ads and make necessary adjustments to improve results, your end results will prove to be much better. Every Google Ads account should be always seeking ways to be better to maximize their client’s return on investment

Access to Advanced Tools and Technology

Speaking of the tools ads managers use, the better marketing agencies should have accounts to premium paid advertising tools and software technologies. The price of just one PPC management tool may be beyond the reach of individual businesses.

Ad tracking and reporting software can provide deeper analytics, intelligence on the competition, and performance insights that go well beyond human capabilities. From my own experience I’ve seen the benefits that great PPC software can provide for identifying problems, keeping an eye on the competitors, and spotting new keywords to lower the ad spend.

Leveraging these advanced tools allows a good PPC manager to stay at the forefront of industry trends and incorporate cutting-edge strategies into your campaigns. They save time and pass on the benefits to their clients’ accounts.

Creative and Ad Copy Expertise

Crafting compelling ad copy is an art that requires a deep understanding of the target audience(s) you want to convert into customers. Just knowing who your audience is won’t be enough; you also need to be a decent copywriter to write copy that gets them to click on the ad.

A good paid ads specialist has cut their teeth developing their copywriting skills. They understand the limitations of Google Ads: how short the copy needs to be but still clear enough to create interest. A good Google Ads copywriter understands the nuances of persuasive language and can tailor ad content to resonate with specific demographics, increasing the likelihood of engagement.

Final thought: a good ads copywriter also knows when to go with what the data shows and choose the ad copy that produces the best results. Not every ad that a copywriter creates will be a winner, and sometimes what the writer thought would be their worst ad turns out to be the best converting ad. Experimentation, testing, and going with what the data shows produces the best ROI for Google Ads campaigns.

Adapting to Algorithm Changes

The algorithms governing Google Ads are constantly evolving. The ads specialist will be keeping an eye on any marketing news announcing new changes to Google Ads, no matter how small these announcements are.

Adapting to these changes and creating new ad strategies accordingly is essential for long-term campaign success. Ad specialists and their agencies invest in continuous training and education to ensure their teams are well-versed in the latest Google Ads developments. This adaptability helps your campaigns stay competitive and effective in the face of algorithmic shifts.

Holistic Marketing Approach

While it’s the world’s biggest online advertising network, Google Ads should be just one piece of the digital marketing puzzle. Ad pros should be looking at the bigger picture and evaluating other advertising networks and platforms to potentially market your services on.

At the same time, there is the strategy of integrating Google Ads with other digital marketing channels such as social media, SEO, and content marketing. By creating a synergy between your paid advertising, organic strategy, and content strategy, you create a stronger online profile and more visibility. This strategy can cost you more, either in money or time, but time and time again it’s shown to produce better results

Measurable Results and Reporting

Those ad managers and PPC specialists that work with numbers all day know the importance of Excel sheets and tables. Providing detailed and transparent reporting on the performance of your Google Ads campaigns is a vital component of managing a client’s ad spend.

Monthly ad reports should include key metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and the most important metric of all, the client’s return on ad spend. If you don’t have a clear understanding of that last number, why are you spending money on online advertising?

Clear and measurable results allow you to assess the effectiveness of your campaigns and make informed decisions about future strategies. Always – and I do stress always – know where your ad management ROI is when you receive your monthly report

Scalability

As the typical business grows, so does their marketing needs.

PPC management agencies are well-equipped to scale a company’s Google Ads campaigns in line with their client’s business growth aspirations. Whether you’re entering new markets, launching new products, or targeting different audience segments, agencies should be able to pivot, adapt and scale your advertising efforts to meet evolving business objectives.

Monthly budgeting for growth plans shouldn’t come with wild and unpredictable swings in ads budget. Planning for growth, and the additional costs that come with growth, is something an experienced team of PPC experts will be able to present to you, and to properly enact, without breaking your bank account.

Final Thoughts on Letting an Agency Run Your Online Ads Campaign

While managing Google Ads campaigns independently is feasible, it requires your time to learn the intricacies of the ad network, and the time to manage your campaigns.

As is the case with almost everything in modern life, people pay others to do the jobs they can’t do themselves, or don’t want to do. There are thousands of paid ads specialists and digital agencies like Snaptech that offer these services to business owners and marketing managers. Do your due diligence and check out the referrals, reviews and past case studies of the PPC professional’s work.

PPC is by no means an exact science. In my next blog post I’ll discuss what happens when you are working with a provider you like on your ad campaigns yet the results aren’t living up to your expectations.