Hey there I’m John Doherty and I’m the founder and CEO of Credo where we help great companies get introduced fast to the best pre-vetted digital marketing firms. If you find this content helpful, I’d love for you to subscribe to this channel so that you’re notified about weekly videos moving forward.

And be sure to stay to the end where I’ll tell you where you can go to download our free guide to hiring a digital marketing firm.

Today we’re going to talk about picking the right PPC agency. As I’ve grown Credo, I’ve hired a few PPC agencies to help us with our Google Ads, and from that experience of hiring and firing and hiring and firing and hiring I’ve learned quite a bit about the important things to look for. Couple that with my experience seeing over 5,500 companies come through Credo looking to hire, and you could say I’m an expert.

If you’re watching this video, you probably have the following challenges

  1. You’ve hired agencies to run your PPC and they were a bad fit
  2. You didn’t get the results you were looking for from your ads
  3. You had to ask your agency for status updates and they were impossible to get ahold of.

The opportunity ahead of you after watching this video is big. 

  1. You’ll understand the important things to look for and what doesn’t really matter when hiring.
  2. You’ll understand how PPC agency pricing usually works.
  3. You’ll be able to do a better job of working with an agency to get the results you need.

The myth I’m going to dispel is that PPC is easy, anyone can do it, and it’s quick to start seeing results. While it is true that PPC is quicker to get going than SEO or other inbound marketing channels, it is not a build-once-and-let-it-run thing. It requires maintenance, adjusting of strategy, and ultimately a continued monetary investment to keep the traffic and conversions coming.

Here’s how to pick the right PPC agency:

  1. First, look for experience. Look for an agency with deep PPC expertise who has proven experience working with accounts similar to yours. For example, if you’re starting fresh with PPC advertising then work with an agency that specializes in helping companies start, optimize, and grow their results from the channel. The skills and strategies required for new campaigns are different from the skills and strategies needed to scale existing working campaigns.
  2. Second, understand their culture. Ask each agency about their reporting cadence and process for reviewing metrics, reporting to you, and adjusting strategy. Look for an agency that already works in the way you do, not an agency who says they can work in the way you do. Process always beats hustle.
  3. Third, understand PPC pricing. Most PPC agencies have a hybrid pricing strategy that starts with a flat monthly retainer for management, and then most charge a percentage of ad spend above a certain amount (usually $10,000/mo) because with increased spend comes increased work on their end. Paying this makes sure they’re able to dedicate the needed time to your account.
  4. Fourth, understand their process for asking you about increasing budgets and what happens if they run over. Good agencies will only increase budgets after they have your approval, and they should make this argument based on business results.
  5. Fifth, ask the metrics they report on. While they are the experts and should be looking at PPC-specific metrics like cost per click and impression share, they should be making strategic decisions based off the results your business is seeing.

Today we talked about:

  • The important things to look for and what doesn’t really matter when hiring.
  • How PPC agency pricing usually works.
  • How good PPC agencies work with you to determine whether to increase budgets.

If this was helpful to you, download our free guide to hiring a digital marketing firm.