S
o you’ve been going through your advertising budget and you’ve made a decision: PPC advertising is something you want to incorporate into your business’s annual marketing mix.
Great decision! PPC advertising (or pay-per-click) is an important part of a diversified advertising budget. After all, over 85% of Americans say they are online on a daily basis – it just makes sense to meet them where they are.
But now that you’ve made the decision to incorporate PPC, what is the best way to do it? Should you handle it in-house yourself, hire an on-staff PPC specialist, or enlist the help of a specialized PPC agency?
Here are the pros and cons of your options:
Option 1: Manage your PPC yourself
We could go through a whole list of pros and cons, as we will with your other options, but truthfully the list of reasons managing your own PPC is a good idea is…short. So we’re going straight to the cons for this one:
THE CONS
– PPC management takes significant time. Effective pay per click (PPC) advertising management takes a lot of time. Something you probably don’t have as a business owner. While you can just set up an ad and leave it to run via AI (there ARE options for that), the result of doing so will almost always end up in ineffectively spent ad dollars that could have been better utilized elsewhere.
– PPC advertising involves a lot of technical expertise. PPC is downright confusing. You have to know all about CPA, CPC, CPM, ad rationing, ad auctions, accelerated ad delivery, qualify scores and how they work, keyword research, A/B testing, conversion rates, how to identify and correct problems when campaigns fail – and you have to keep track of all of the constantly occurring updates as PPC platforms continue to change. It’s…a lot. Especially when you have a business to run.
– PPC platforms go well beyond Google Ads. While Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is the most well-known PPC platform, it is far from the only PPC platform. There is Bing, Facebook, LinkedIn, Reddit, Twitter, Twitch, AdRoll, Amazon, Instagram…the list goes on and on. And depending on your audience, it might take a mix to get you the most for your money – which can be a lot to navigate.
– If you don’t know what you are doing, managing your own PPC won’t save you money. Sure, you can watch videos online and figure out the basics, but without the expertise and time, you will probably end up spending significantly more than you make back.
– Google and other PPC companies try to make themselves seem user friendly…but they aren’t. Google specifically likes to try and make Google Ads seem easy for beginners. They offer up videos, tutorials, and even give regular recommendations. But the truth is, if you follow their guides, you’ll spend a lot of money on what will most likely be an underwhelming campaign performance. After all, Google Ads is in the business of making money – just more for themselves, and not as much for you.
– You could end up in places you don’t want and even damage your brand. If you don’t know what you are doing, you could accidently target the wrong locations, be found by individuals who are not in your target audience, get placed in searches or places that you don’t want to be in – and even damage the quality and integrity of your brand in doing so.
Option 2: Use an in-house PPC expert
A PPC expert (or specialist) is someone who specializes in internet advertising and is responsible for planning, optimizing, and tracking the effectiveness of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Hiring one in-house is definitely a road a lot of businesses go down – but it has its own list of pros and cons:
THE PROS
– You won’t have to pay a service or management fee. Since you are already paying a salary, there will be no extra service fee involved beyond your general ad spend.
– They are invested in your specific company’s success. As an employee, your own in-house PPC expert is uniquely qualified as a strong advocate for your business’s unique goals and audiences.
– In-house PPC experts can easily access your assets and information without your assistance. No need to share your assets, strategy, and information. A staff member would have immediate access to everything they need as they need it.
THE CONS
– Paying another salary. For an effective in-house PPC expert, you are going to be paying around $65-100K a year depending on your location. And that’s not including the money you will be using for the actual ads themselves.
– One expert vs many. Hiring in-house means you have an expert on staff – but only one. That’s unlike an agency, who has a team of experts dedicated to helping advocate for your business.
– In-house digital experts can be overwhelmed. Often, in-house digital experts aren’t JUST handling PPC. If your in-house digital marketing team or person is managing PPC along with SEO, social media, email campaigns, and remarketing efforts, they may not have the time to effectively manage your PPC campaigns in the same way a dedicated PPC agency or expert could, leading to less effective ad spend.
– Less oversight. While an employee might have the occasional check-in to make sure everything is going all right, they most likely will not have the same accountability as hiring an outside agency.
Option 3: You could hire a PPC agency
PPC agencies are experts in their field. But what are the pros and cons of hiring one for your own PPC management?
THE PROS
– A PPC advertising agency works as your advocate. With a PPC agency working on your behalf, you have an advocate on your side who can optimize your ad dollar and make sure you are spending in ways that make the most sense.
– Reliable service that isn’t affected by sick or vacation days. Unlike a staff member, who is going to require time off, a dedicated PPC agency is always on the clock for you.
– There is someone you can talk to if things go wrong. If you hire in-house, there isn’t much you can do if things are going wrong. You are reliant on the expertise of one (or a small few if you have a team). But if you hire an agency, that’s not the case.
– PPC advertising isn’t just Google AdWords. Google AdWords only makes up a fraction of your PPC options, and depending on your specific product or service, they may not even be your best option. With PPC agency experts by your side, you can make educated decisions from informed PPC experts on the best way to spend and optimize your ad dollars through a customized and diversified PPC plan.
– PPC advertisers undergo constant training – Even if you have an in-house digital expert, it’s likely that your expert wears a lot of hats. That often means they don’t have the same amount of time to dedicate to the constant changes, training, and updates required of the ever-changing PPC landscape.
THE CONS
– Picking the wrong PPC agency comes with its own costs. If you pick the wrong PPC agency, whether they are just not a good fit or are just inept, could mean you spend excess money and don’t get results.
– You have to pay a service fee. On top of monthly ad spend, PPC agencies do charge a service fee for their expertise and knowledge.
– The agency may not be in-tune with your overall strategy. While this is easily correctable with the right agency, since your agency is not a direct part of your business, they might not immediately be in-tune with your overall strategy and needs.
– There may be a contract required. Certain agencies might require a long-term contract to get you in the door.
Option 4. Ready Ads. An affordable PPC agency dedicated specifically to the needs of small and mid-sized B2B and consumer based businesses.
As a dedicated PPC agency, we’re going to go ahead and toot our own horn for a minute. But we’ll be fair. Everyone in this list is getting a list of pros and cons – and that includes us!
THE PROS
– Ready Ads does it all. Research, design, advertising, optimization, maintenance, reporting, and support. We do it all, and because we do it all, we get big results.
– We make enterprise-level digital marketing accessible. With plans starting as low as $1,500/mo our services are in reach for businesses of all sizes.
– No annual contract. We work month-to-month with no annual contract required, leaving you the ability to utilize our services as you need them for as long as you need them.
– Dedicated customer support. When you sign up to work with Ready Ads, you get a dedicated team that advocates specifically for your business. No matter your business size or budget.
– Trackable results. We track 100% of your advertising so you are getting measurable, trackable results no matter the size of your budget.
THE PROS
– You’ve never heard of us. Admittedly, there are a lot of PPC agencies out there, so if you haven’t heard of us yet, that’s not completely surprising. However, you’ll be happy to hear that a lot of other businesses of all sizes have – and trust us completely.
– You have to pay a service fee. While you do have to pay a PPC management fee for our expertise, it’s because we really know what we’re doing. With our proven expertise by your side, the fee you pay will pay for itself in lead generation as we work together to find, track, and convert your target audience.
– We don’t know YOU. We might not know you yet, but if you sign up for Ready Ads, your dedicated team will be all hands-on deck to learn exactly what you need and get your business where it needs to go.
There is a lot to know when it comes to PPC advertising, and only you can know what the best option is for your business. But if you are ready to give Ready Ads a try – we’re ready to help.