Questions you have to ask your Google Ads provider
It is invariably a good idea to ask a few direct questions before choosing a Google Ads provider. The technical terms, promises, acronyms, budget discussions and technical jargon many Google Ads Providers use can be confusing at the best of times, never mind time-consuming. Here are a few questions that you can ask to help simplify the process and make a more informed decision.
Questions #1: How much of my Ad spend goes to Google and will I have to pay them directly?
This question is critical as Ad agencies offer many alternative pricing models and each is structured in a different fashion. Asking this question makes the whole payment process transparent right from the start. Check out the examples below.
Some Google Ad agencies are known to ask Clients to submit their own credit card details to their Google Ad accounts, which means that they will pay Google directly. If this happens, the management fees will be billed separately. The Ad Agency will bill you for the services they provide to improve your account. Any increase or decrease in spending is completely at your own discretion. You can decide what you want to do based on your return on investment and results. One of the fundamental reasons why digital marketing is so popular is because it is completely measurable. This model offers clients the highest level of transparency, allowing them to accurately measure their return on investment.
Another popular pricing model is when an Ads agency charges a fee to their clients based upon their media spend. Put differently, the agency retains a percentage of your Ad buy. This percentage can vary wildly from agency to agency. Anything from 5%-70% of your media spend. This model can only work when the agency involved is completely transparent about where the money is being spent, detailing exactly how much is going to the agency and how much is going to Google. If this is the proposed model, you prefer, make sure your contract demands full transparency, ask for all spending to be broken down.
There are many models, each Ad agency will have their own system, but at their core, each is a variant of one or both that are mentioned above.
Question #2: Will I retain ownership of my digital assets including my Google Ads Account?
In this day and age data is both powerful and valuable and because of this, it is vitally important that you retain control of your digital assets, including Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics and Google Ads. If you fail to retain ownership of these assets, you will be forced to forfeit all of your rights if you decide to move to another agency. Worse still, if your brand has grown to the stage where starting afresh would be detrimental to your image, you could be stuck working with an agency because they own the rights to your digital assets. They can also refuse to release valuable data that may have been collected over years of successful campaigns. All of which can have a negative impact on subsequent digital decisions and strategies. Make sure that any contract you sign stipulates retaining full ownership of your digital assets without exception.
Question #3: Terms of the contract
As we briefly covered in the previous questions, the terms and conditions of your contract can vary greatly depending on the agent you are working with. Some work on 6 month contracts, others 12 months and longer. Before signing any contract inevitably get a second set of eyes to look over it and answer any questions that you might have. Make sure that should you want to breach the contract favorable terms can be met.
Question #4: What experience and qualifications do your staff have?
Verifying a Google Ads Agency’s certification, experience, reviews and testimonials should be examined before you sign any contract. The digital marketing and Google Ads space is constantly evolving, that which was true five years ago, is certain to be different today. Ensuring your Agency only employs qualified experts, who are up to date with the latest trends, will help ensure the success of your Ads campaign.
In summary, as with any business decision, you should always shop around, the market is flooded with Google Ads providers. Each claiming to be the best and offering unique packages, before making any decision, you should at least have five different quotes in hand and this will offer you greater power with which to negotiate.
The Bluelight Marketing agency has more than 5 years of experience in Google Ads marketing and over 100+ successful campaigns under management, book a free consultation today and learn how we can help you.
Nick Berns is at the helm of the Bluelight agency. With 6 years of experience in digital marketing, he is passionate about growing businesses through organic and paid marketing solutions.
