When Choosing a Google Ads Provider, it’s good to ask a few simple questions;
Acronyms, technical sounding phrases, promises and budget discussions. Choosing a Google Ads Provider can be difficult, time consuming and confusing! Asking a few simple questions can help you make an informed decision and simplify the process.
Question 1) Do I pay Google directly? If not, what percentage or portion of my spend goes to Google?
There are lots of different models for pricing when it comes to how agencies will charge you, but transparency on where your money is going is essential. Here are a few examples; Some agencies will have clients enter their own Credit Card details directly into the Google Ads Account, meaning they pay Google directly. There are no commission or margins on the Google Media budget. Management fees are then invoiced separately. In this model, you are being billed by your agency for the time spent improving your account and your media spend is increased or decreased at your discretion based on your results, return on investment and needs. The exciting thing about the digital space and digital marketing as it’s completely measurable. This model also gives you excellent transparency in terms of measuring return on investment. Conversion Marketing and a number of agencies across NZ and globally work on this model.
An alternative model is when the costs invoiced by your agency include a fee that is based on media spend. This would mean a percentage of the media spend is retained by the agency. We have seen examples where percentage charged sits anywhere from 5-70% of the media spend. This model can work when there is still full transparency on how much money is being spent on online advertising (i.e paid to Google) and how much is going to the agency for their services. You can ask for this to broken down if you are unsure of exactly where your budget is going.
There are a number of other models but we’ve found that variations of these two are the most common currently.
Question 2) Will I own my Google Ads Account and any other digital assets?
Data is valuable and powerful. It’s critical that businesses own their own digital assets, including Google Ads, Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager. If a business doesn’t own their digital assets it will mean that when they leave their provider, they may lose not only all of the work that’s been done on the assets but also all of the data that has been collected. This data is invaluable as it can and should inform future digital strategies and decisions.
It is important to ensure that any provider you work with either allows you to retain ownership of your assets or, if they initially create your assets, that you are the owner moving forward. There should be no exceptions, ask the question.
Question 3) Contract Terms?
There’s lots of variation when it comes to agency contracts. Some are fixed term contracts for 6 or 12+ months. If this is the case, it’s important to know what will happen if you need to leave the contract before the finish date. There are also options with no fixed term contracts. It is important to make sure you know exactly what type of contract you are entering into, and how to deal with worst case scenarios that may clash with these contractual agreements.
Question 4) Experience & Expertise?
It’s always great to ensure you are working with an experienced and certified Google Ads provider. The Google Ads space is continuously changing and evolving. Having qualified, experienced practitioners running your Campaigns will give you the best chance of success and optimise your return on investment.
Summary
We always suggest that businesses “shop around” – there are a large number of Google Ads providers in the market, with varying models, packages, programmes and experience. This is an important partnership for your company, so get a sense of an agencies reputation by looking online and asking for references.
We recommend you take some time, ask a few questions and make an informed decision and we wish you all the best with your Google Ads marketing journey!
