Far too often agencies lose sight of what's really important. They become entrenched in the many details of just running a successful Paid Search campaign. That usually translates into weekly meetings where metrics like Impressions, Clicks and Average Cost-per-Click are heavily discussed. Don't get me wrong, these metrics indirectly indicate how your paid search campaign is tracking against your business goals but who has time to try and put those pieces together? When you have multiple stakeholders breathing down your back for various reports and executive summaries on those reports, do you really want to be bothered with figuring out how to make a 20% increase in clicks week over week sound important to those stakeholders?
Let me offer a little story to help drive the point home -
A bright recent college grad is considering investing. He calls on three highly recommended investors to have a meeting. In the meeting he reaches into his pocket and puts the change he finds on the table. He asks the first investor, “What do you see?”
The investor replies, “I see thirty-six cents.”
“You are very good with math, thank you.” says the college grad. He turns to the second investor and asks, “What do you see?” The investor thinking he has certainly outwitted the first investor replies, “I see a 2007 Quarter with George Washington’s portrait, a 1996 Dime with a portrait of Franklin Roosevelt and a 1943 Penny with a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.”
The college grad replies, “You are extremely observant and detail oriented. Thank you.” The college grad then turns to the third investor and asks the same question, “What do you see?”
The third investor replies without hesitation, “I see you paying off your college loans and buying a sports car.”
“You’re hired. Let’s meet again on Monday,” said the college grad.
After walking out of the room the two befuddled investors turn to the smiling investor and ask in unison, “What the hell was that?”
The smiling investor replied, “You see, in 1943 pennies were struck in silver. The pennies struck in copper were rare errors and are highly valuable. Being that he is a recent college graduate, he should put that money towards paying off his loans. I also noticed he was reading a sports car magazine when we entered. After a few investments, He will be able to use the left over money to invest in a little fun. That’s really the big picture.”
Most agencies are like the first investor. They get the math right. They understand tracking, reporting and all the intricacies of tactical execution but those agencies really have no clue what the larger corporate initiatives are of their client because they are too narrowly focused on making sure the campaigns they are running have excellent performance when judged by Paid Search KPI's.
Agencies that are like the second investor take pride in surface level knowledge and cool reporting gimmicks. They all too often skip over the actual math and performance. They are usually guilty of having flashy sales people in place of strategy driven Account Service team members.
The third investor is the agency you want to partner with. They won't bog you down with details of pay per click performance metrics that get in the way of you understanding what that performance means to your business objectives. They understand all of the tedious details in paid search marketing but provide summaries in a way that is meaningful to your business. Do you want to talk to your VP or CEO in terms of Click-Through-Rates or in terms of increases on efficiency in customer acquisition? The third investor also picked up on an interest the college grad did not mention. A good agency should note the goals you mention as well as ask for confirmation on the ones that may be implied.
When choosing your agency make sure they are asking the questions that show they are interested in not only displaying their paid search expertise but also helping your business grow.
Let me offer a little story to help drive the point home -
A bright recent college grad is considering investing. He calls on three highly recommended investors to have a meeting. In the meeting he reaches into his pocket and puts the change he finds on the table. He asks the first investor, “What do you see?”
The investor replies, “I see thirty-six cents.”
“You are very good with math, thank you.” says the college grad. He turns to the second investor and asks, “What do you see?” The investor thinking he has certainly outwitted the first investor replies, “I see a 2007 Quarter with George Washington’s portrait, a 1996 Dime with a portrait of Franklin Roosevelt and a 1943 Penny with a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.”
The college grad replies, “You are extremely observant and detail oriented. Thank you.” The college grad then turns to the third investor and asks the same question, “What do you see?”
The third investor replies without hesitation, “I see you paying off your college loans and buying a sports car.”
“You’re hired. Let’s meet again on Monday,” said the college grad.
After walking out of the room the two befuddled investors turn to the smiling investor and ask in unison, “What the hell was that?”
The smiling investor replied, “You see, in 1943 pennies were struck in silver. The pennies struck in copper were rare errors and are highly valuable. Being that he is a recent college graduate, he should put that money towards paying off his loans. I also noticed he was reading a sports car magazine when we entered. After a few investments, He will be able to use the left over money to invest in a little fun. That’s really the big picture.”
Most agencies are like the first investor. They get the math right. They understand tracking, reporting and all the intricacies of tactical execution but those agencies really have no clue what the larger corporate initiatives are of their client because they are too narrowly focused on making sure the campaigns they are running have excellent performance when judged by Paid Search KPI's.
Agencies that are like the second investor take pride in surface level knowledge and cool reporting gimmicks. They all too often skip over the actual math and performance. They are usually guilty of having flashy sales people in place of strategy driven Account Service team members.
The third investor is the agency you want to partner with. They won't bog you down with details of pay per click performance metrics that get in the way of you understanding what that performance means to your business objectives. They understand all of the tedious details in paid search marketing but provide summaries in a way that is meaningful to your business. Do you want to talk to your VP or CEO in terms of Click-Through-Rates or in terms of increases on efficiency in customer acquisition? The third investor also picked up on an interest the college grad did not mention. A good agency should note the goals you mention as well as ask for confirmation on the ones that may be implied.
When choosing your agency make sure they are asking the questions that show they are interested in not only displaying their paid search expertise but also helping your business grow.
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