Is Your Digital Agency Showing You Everything ?

28/02/2019


Discover the 7 secrets you need to know about Digital Agencies

 

1 Platforms To Manipulate Real Google Spends

 

Some digital marketing agencies, or Google Adwords resellers use platforms to run Google Adwords campaigns. Some of these platforms are bid management tools and can help companies monitor and maintain campaigns.  Kenshoo and Marin are the market leaders in the UK and do help improve campaigns however they also offer agencies the ability to mark up clicks and hide the real cost of Google Adwords. Your agency may be paying Google £4 per click for the keyword ‘Commercial Solicitor’ and charging you £7-£8 for the same click.

 

2 Always Pay Google Direct

 

The best way to make sure you are not paying too much for clicks is to pay the money directly to Google. When using Google Adwords you and your agency should agree on a budget to spend on Google. Pay Google direct and then pay a management fee to the agency. Management fees vary from agency to agency and are dependent on budget  – but never pay more than 25 percent. Some agencies will charge up to 40 percent of your budget, so for every £1000 you give them they keep £400 and only spend £600 on Adwords.

 

Whenever you use an Agency insist on paying Google Adwords direct and having your own access to the Google Adwords account.

 

3 Do Not Be Fooled By Google Premier Partner Status

 

Google run a premier partner scheme whereby they list agencies that are partners of Google. This status means that the companies have the personnel to help clients run adwords campaigns. Some agencies are known to use this ‘badge of honour’ to convince clients that they are the best and most trustworthy agencies. Do not take this for granted, Google guidelines do actually warn against this themselves. Premier partner status does not mean an endorsement from Google.

 

 

4 Broad Match Bidding On Keywords To Burn Budget

 

Some agencies that charge a management fee will use broad matches to bid on search terms. A broad match is something that broadly matches a keyword, so for example the keyword 'Commercial Solicitors' on a broad match will also bring up 'Commercial Solicitors Jobs' 'Cheap Commercial Solicitors' 'Free Commercial Solicitors’. None of these will be of worth to your firm and will only waste valuable advertising budgets.

 

5 Always Read The Terms of Engagement

 

Whenever you use an agency it is important to read and understand the terms you are signing up to. Most agencies will charge a fee to create a campaign for you. Make sure you own the campaign and campaign data when the agreement ends. Failure to do so will mean you are stuck with the same agency or, if you wish to move on, will need to pay another fee to build a new campaign. Google rewards clients on how much history they have so the more you spend the more benefits you receive. Check management fees: never pay more than 25 percent to an agency.

 

6 Get Regular Reports From Your Agency

 

Insist on regular reporting from your agency by way of Google Adwords reporting tools. Some agencies will use their own branded reports, these can easily be manipulated to give you the impression that your campaign is performing better than it is. Google Adwords offers downloadable reports, they are easy to use and can be accessed in real time, all reports are saved in your Google Adwords dashboard.

 

7 Check Your Changes History Weekly

 

Make sure your agency are making regular changes (called optimisation) to your Google Adwords account. A well run campaign needs to be monitored and tweaked in order to perform well. This may sound like a lot but it literally takes you two minutes a week. All you need to do is log into your Adwords Account, click the Campaigns tab, then look to the right of the "Search" button and click View Change History.

 

If you have any questions and would like to know more about how we help Solicitors and Law Firms with Digital Marketing then reach out today for a no nonsense chat.

 

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