It's a story we've heard time and again from our clients. "We used to do paid search with <Big Name Paid Search Company>, but we never got anything out of it. We'd get a report every month, and a call at contract renewal time but that's it. We never really knew what was going on, or saw much difference in our business"
We should probably thank our competitors for doing such a bad job, but we'd much prefer to see it done right the first time. In this post you'll learn the three key things you should look for when choosing an agency to help manage your paid search.
1. A Collaborative Approach
No one knows your market, or your customers like you. Any Agency you work with should be taking advantage of your expertise as much as you are relying on theirs. This is the recipe for successful advertising. You know your customers, we know how to reach them and how to speak to them in compelling ways.
2. Proactivity
An agency that takes your check in exchange for a monthly performance report is one to avoid. Your Agency should be working with you to find new strategies and bouncing ideas off of you. Paid Search is a living, breathing, changing thing. Effective management means identifying opportunities and bringing them to your attention. If you're only getting a call when contract renewal time comes along, it's time to look for someone else.
3. A Focus on Conversions
Conversions are meaningful interactions a customer makes with your website. Conversions are also one of the most useful ways to track the ROI of your paid search spending. Any agency worth its salt will work with you to identify and track these interactions.
Some examples:
a) Sally has a website for her shoe store. Customers can't order online, but they can sign up for her mailing list and get monthly deals. Sally's agency installs conversion tracking code on her website. Sally now knows that 15 people a month are signing up for her newsletter due to her paid search campaign.
b) Jim has an online flower pot store. Customers can order flower pots on his website. Jim's agency installs conversion tracking code on his website. Jim now knows which purchases are due to his paid search campaign, and can track the ROI of his ad spending.
Paid Search Marketing is deceptively simple. It is easy to do, but hard to do well which is why many businesses choose to use an agency. If you decide to use an agency, make sure that you are partnering with someone who is collaborative, proactive, and focused on tracking the effectiveness of their strategies.
