It all depends on your current situation.
It’s easy enough for anyone to set up a basic PPC campaign, but the reality is that over time it becomes more time consuming. You might like the idea of knowing that you have complete control in house, but the expertise of an agency that’s dedicated solely to PPC will likely bring greater rewards long term.
PPC is difficult to master without a lot of knowledge and experience. And time. This is why so many businesses choose to outsource the task to digital marketing agencies. Let’s look at some of the considerations.
In House vs Agency Costs
Larger businesses can afford to hire and maintain their own PPC teams.
However, smaller businesses won’t have the financial resources to do this.
Hiring in house comes with salaries, whereas hiring an agency means paying a monthly fee or retainer.
You’ll have your PPC budget on top of this too.
So, whether it’s better in house or through an agency, you’ll need to make a judgement on whether the return generates the consistent value of bringing your PPC in house versus outsourcing it to an agency.
Results
Naturally you want the best results. Mistakes can cost you a lot of your budget, but equally doing it yourself will give you a better understanding, even if there are a few mistakes along the way. Of course, hiring an in-house specialist would negate this, but your personal learning curve means that you’ll be more aware of what agencies or staff are doing anyway.
An external team of PPC specialists, like these at this digital marketing agency in London, should be highly experienced in this area. Also, if they do make an error of judgement, then you can seek recompense. Realistically, an agency wouldn’t make changes without your approval anyway… or they shouldn’t.
Advanced Bid Management and Reporting
PPC campaigns take a lot of time, expert knowledge and research. Success means monitoring the various metrics while the bidding parts of PPC require a lot of time.
Therefore, if time really becomes an issue and your campaigns are advanced, it makes sense to outsource PPC to an agency. They can ensure you have the very best return on your investment, in the most efficient time.
Agency Accountability
A big part of making your business-agency relationship work successfully is having good communication and transparency.
It’s crucial to have a good relationship with your agency. And perhaps this is where an in-house PPC manager can really benefit. It’s natural for staff to be more a part of things than external agencies.
When you use an agency it’s crucial that you work together as a team. And this is perhaps one of the most challenging areas of working with an agency.
It’s often lack of specific goal setting and communication that creates friction.
Accountability is likely easier with in-house staff.
Setting Your Goals
Setting goals is important whether it’s in house or for the agency. Getting specific outcomes quickly is likely to be easier with staff that are at the next desk, or in the next room.
And many businesses fail to give agencies the correct KPIs before work starts. This creates challenges later on.
Goals help you decide if something is working and where there needs to be adjustments. It’s important to be specific right from the start of the agency relationship. If you’re using a team in-house, the same applies if you want the best outcomes.
Measuring the Results
This applies whichever route you take. And it’s a good habit to get into. It will make any potential changeovers smoother too.
Measuring is how you know what’s working and what’s not working and if the agency or staff is heading in the right direction. Choose your KPIs and decide how you will measure them. Decide what will be reported and how often. Get it all nailed at the start.
Final Thoughts
Outsourcing PPC to an experienced team of digital marketing specialists can help maximise your profits and help you avoid any mistakes that will cost you time and money.
But to start you might look at keeping it in house. Things like goals and budget might determine which.
Either, will save you a lot of time so you can focus on building your business.
