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Deciding whether to outsource your marketing or do it yourself can be difficult. Should you pay for someone else to run ads for you, or should you just do it in-house? What kinds of services do you even need?
There may be thousands of questions running through your mind about PPC advertising in particular. Let us help you out by explaining exactly when you should make the jump and start outsourcing.
There are a number of reasons why businesses may choose to do their PPC in-house, such as cost, the stage of the business or wanting to have complete control over their campaigns.
Here are some of the key reasons you might be averse to outsourcing:
Many companies choose to do PPC themselves because they believe it costs too much for a quality service. Perhaps they have a low budget or are just starting out in the business world.
If you don’t have the money or you are a new business it is a better idea not to hire an expensive agency for PPC management services. You can still get the same results for less money if you opt for a consultant instead.
Perhaps you are the type of person who prefers to have complete control over every aspect of marketing. By doing everything in-house, you can decide how your paid campaigns are run and where your money is being spent. Also, there will be no last-minute delays because you are in charge of getting your ads up and running and are not relying on a third party.
If you choose to pay for PPC management services, you are likely to be asked for detailed and potentially sensitive information about your products or services. This is so a consultant or agency can market your offerings better.
This could potentially open your company up to confidential information leaks. By avoiding using any external services, you can better protect your company. However, no one is entirely safe from cybercrime, and there are ways to minimise the risks involved – such as working with a trusted provider with robust security systems in place.
No one knows your business and the vision you have for it better than you. Doing PPC in-house makes it easier to bring a campaign back on track if it starts to veer off course, as you have full control over the project.
The problem with hiring an agency is that they are never going to be as invested in your vision as you, and this only starts to compound if they are managing multiple clients at a time.
On the other hand, there are many reasons why a company may choose to outsource, such as:
Paying for PPC management services can give you the upper hand and help to elevate your campaigns to the next level.
The main reason for this is that these agencies and consultants specialise in running successful campaigns and have a proven track record for doing so.
Not every business has the time to continue running their own campaigns and may benefit from getting a third party to do it for them.
This essentially leaves them with extra time in which they can focus on hitting other important business targets.
By outsourcing your PPC, you take out the guess-work. High-quality agencies and consultants have access to valuable tools that you would otherwise be unable to access.
This means that they can collect data and generate reports. Every piece of new data can then be used to increase the effectiveness of your campaigns.
Despite the reasons why you may opt to do your PPC in-house, there comes a point where every business is no longer in a position to continue on the same path as time and resources start to become limited.
The golden rule when deciding to outsource is making sure that the monthly management fee never exceeds 40% of the total business ad spend.
For example, if you are looking for an agency to run your PPC and they charge you a monthly management cost of £500, you should be budgeting at least £1250 for your total ad spend.
If you are not able to budget this much, then it is probably a better idea to start looking at other options. This could be using a consultancy rather than a larger agency.
Depending on the type of PPC management service you are looking for, your time commitment and your total budgeted ad spend, you may be looking for a different type of service.
The two most common PPC methods are full ad management and those that offer a monthly check-in.
This is a service that is often provided by large agencies at a higher cost.
The agency usually takes full control over your ad spend with a large team of professionals that continually optimise your campaigns.
This service is typically provided by small-to-medium sized consultants and is usually cheaper than full management.
This option can vary greatly and could either be provided in the form of a monthly call with reports and analysis or even on-site depending on the commitment of the consultant.
Creating the perfect ad that converts requires lots of time and rigorous tests.
Paid ads can be an excellent way to engage with your audience and encourage them to pay for your product or service. However, if done wrong and without the proper knowledge, you can waste a lot of effort and time.
As a digital consultancy with 15 years of marketing experience and a focus on paid ads, conversion rate optimisation and more, we have helped many companies achieve their goals.
If you need help with creating and setting up your PPC in a way that maximises your returns, contact us today.
