Pay-per-click advertising is a complex mix of many digital marketing platforms. When some people refer to PPC advertising, they envision traditional search engine ads, or simply paid search. But this description has never actually encompassed PPC advertising.
From Google and Bing to Social platforms like Facebook/IG, and LinkedIn, to AI platforms like ChatGPT, PPC ads can be placed across many channels. So, when you hire an agency to manage your PPC, are you sure you share an understanding of what that means?
What Channels Are Part of the PPC Advertising Scope
The first step in a PPC audit is to ensure a shared scope for the channels being considered. Let’s face it, many times it is simply Google. But as an agency, we manage PPC across all platforms, and knowing exactly which channels a prospective client considers within scope is critical. Seems obvious, right?. While they may have campaigns running across multiple platforms, they’re only looking for someone to manage social or manage search engine ads.
If an agency manages PPC ads but specializes in Google and Bing, a prospective client may assume they also cover other channels. It seems natural that the client will ask about specific channels. From experience, we know that is not the case. Only by probing does it come to light that while Google consumes most of their attention, they also need help with LinkedIn or FB. There is a tendency to assume our perspectives are generally shared. Only through questioning do differences come to light, and we align on the same path.
Uncovering Depth and Complexity
Within Google, there are many subchannels, each of which can be set up in various ways. A PPC audit is the only way to ensure the agency and the prospective client are aligned on the work required to achieve the client’s goals.
When a client is looking for a new agency, it is usually because something is not going well with the current partner. An audit helps uncover the core issues and what it will take to fix them. Everything from a simple change in settings due to a past manager’s oversight to a complete rebuilding of the account is possible. Until you get into the account, you won’t know.
There is another reason for a deep dive audit: assessing the reasonableness of a prospective client’s expectations. While agencies may be hungry to close the deal, doing so with unachievable objectives will not help the client. On more than one occasion, we have told prospective clients that their current agency is doing a good job, and the issue is with the objective. This saves a great deal of headache for all parties involved.
Alignment from the Start
Getting a new client is exciting and something agencies work hard to do. Our goal is to ensure that every new client comes on board with clear, shared expectations. A free PPC Audit before finalizing an agreement is one tool to help make that happen.