5 Obvious Reasons Why Your Business Should Outsource PPC Management to an Agency

This week, after thinking hard about our own PPC management services, I foolishly Google’d “outsourcing ppc management.” I’m working on FMDM’s PPC management services, and was hoping to gauge the competition…blah blah blah…you know what I mean.

This article I wrote about the secrets to growing an agency made me wonder if there’s more reasons why companies outsource PPC management than meets the eye. 

What matters is that the search results are surprisingly similar. Cookie-cutter-vanilla-flavored. Regurgitated-top-X-reason. 

If you can’t wait to find out what my 5 realistic (no fluff) reasons it’s time to reconsider an outsource ppc management service, then you can jump to it here.

Firstly, it is dominated by Google Ads. I’m viewing this on a 27″ monitor and this is all I see…Ads! 

Just like you’d expect, there’s a bunch of usual suspects — the PPC agencies that are spending money on Google Ads. Granted, pay per click is an effective tactic to generate leads, so I’m leaving that alone. 

But what stood out is the content, the organic listings, when you scroll past my query for outsource ppc management in Google Ads.

Here are just a few examples from Google Ads when I searched for “outsource ppc management”:

These are hardly reasons to outsource PPC management, they’re hardly added value, and worst, they are all the same. Deciding which PPC agency to hire has become a function of:

• price (usually the lower price wins given all else equal)
• who you know, not what they know
• perceived reputation of the ppc agency in question

There is almost nothing companies and business owners can read in these repetitive-long-cookie-cutter-almost-spammy pieces of content that will help you decide, educate, or more likely to outsource your PPC management.

The same reasons used for the past decade

I’ve been managing Pay-Per-Click campaign since the days of Overture.

It hasn’t changed. Not by a long shot. The most popularized reasons that PPC agencies sell are:

• You don’t have enough time to manage your PPC campaigns
• There’s not enough competitive edge
• PPC experts can boost your performance and productivity
• Time is money…duh! No kidding Sherlock!
• Outsourced PPC experts won’t make mistakes. THIS IS 100% BULLSHIT. 

If you don’t think these reasons are in every article you read about outsourcing PPC management, then please prove me wrong.

Maybe Google’s algorithm is so reliant on old ranking signals that somehow these articles are showing up on the first page of results. Or maybe, these are sites that have found favor with Google in some strange way. Hey, a guy can dream.

So, along with my bitter rant, I thought I’d share what I believe to be real reason why it make sense for brands and businesses to outsource PPC management to agencies like FMDM.

My three criteria for making this list are:

1. Putting the interest and happiness of employees and clients above all else.
2. There is a measurable difference between the results delivered independent of industry trends.
3. Making the collaboration stronger by informing strategic and tactical decisions about budget allocation, audience targeting, and campaign efforts.

Let’s dive in.

Derek’s Five, More Realistic Reasons To Outsource Your PPC Management

Your current PPC agency is unable to keep up with their end of the partnership.

When you decided to outsource ppc management to your agency, you have high hopes. Obviously! Because you feel that your PPC account is finally in good hands.

But soon enough you realize you made a blunder to outsource ppc management to said agency.

ROAS has been consistently poor and the agency comes up with more excuses than strategic recommendations. Your PPC agency can only point fingers so many times before it starts to get old…and it does get old very fast. 

At the end of the day, what businesses truly want are these 5 things.

Better communication

Lack of communication is among the top reasons why PPC agencies get fired and companies look for new ones. This is a compounding issue. When results are great, there’s rarely complaints about anything. But the moment results go south, communication is going to be a sore subject. 

You have failed multiple times to build in-house expertise

It is challenging to sustain and scale your PPC performance. It’s been lackluster, even after sending your team to conferences, training camps, and mastermind classes.

Your result is still abysmal. You have come to grip with the fact that your investment is not paying off, and you finally decide to hire an outside PPC agency to help you achieve your business objectives.

Repeatable results

Let’s be honest. One major reason why companies outsource PPC management is because you are convinced the PPC agency will get you the same if not better ROAS base on their case studies.

The perception is that the PPC agency has a “secret sauce” you do not have access to. Poppycock! Successful campaigns is the result of deep communication, collaboration, speed, and reasonable objectives.  

You Seek Convenience

Yes that’s right. Having a team of marketers at-the-ready is a good reason to outsource your PPC management. And it is also reasonable to expect your outsourced team to react quickly to campaign changes around the clock. Yes, I’m not exaggerating. If you’ve ever worked in retail eCommerce, you understand the importance of turning things on and off quickly.

In addition to sharing those, I thought I’d also share my opinions on things that could reasonably be called “reasons” but which I have come to believe are no longer valid reasons to outsource PPC management.

Five Things I Don’t Think Deserve to be Reasons for Outsourcing PPC in Months and Years Ahead.

• Time – first off, in all fairness, outsourcing your PPC management does not translate directly into saving time.
  
  Why? Find the wrong PPC agency to work with and you’ll discover that you will waste more time than managing your PPC campaigns in-house.
  
  Just because you get pitched that you will save time by outsourcing, understand one thing. That’s just part of the sales pitch.
  
  
• Expertise – There is a surge of PPC experts on social media. In my social feeds, I have noticed an alarming increase of PPC service offerings that are too good to be true. 
  
  As a business, you are constantly bombarded with sales pitches and  advertising messages about the PPC experts who can promise you great returns. Don’t react too quickly — to these seemingly seductive messages. 
  
  The real experts (at least the ones I know) seldom put themselves on a pedestal and show off their “results.” There is no need to. Their reputation and testimonials speak for themselves. 
  
  This may sound obvious, but do not hire someone just because they look like experts on social media. Remember, everyone will show you their best “side” on social media — perception is reality, so do not be deceived.
  
  
• Budget – I am torn about this one. As the CEO of a PPC agency, I have been tempted to use this in my pitches frequently, but I know it’s a cop out.
  
  The cost of hiring a PPC agency isn’t that cheap to begin with. And it is true, most of the time, you get what you pay for. To hire top notch PPC agency will cost a significant investment.
  
  One thing PPC sales people like to put in front of you is the median annual salary of hiring a digital marketing specialist or a PPC manager. It is a convincing narrative. I have been able to find in-house (when I was managing teams) hires that are equally good if not better at reasonable salaries. 
  
  
• Competition – I have said this many times over to prospects. Just because your competition is spending a lot on PPC doesn’t mean you must.
  
  As a business, you cannot help but benchmark yourself against your next competitor. Obsessing about how other people are doing is not healthy in business or life. Do not let this be the reason you outsource your PPC management to an ad agency. You’ll lose.
  
  Your strategy will revolve around how to catch up with, or beat your competitor instead of how to fortify your brand and grow your reach. 

I know I’m being a bit harsh and unflattering in this post, but the only people I am beholden to are my employees, clients, and future clients. 

Our team at Fullmoon is small, our agency name is unknown (for now), and our sales force is…well, me for now. 

I look forward to your feedback and comments — it is 100% OK to disagree.