Over $5 Billion in ad spend was wasted in 2022, according to AdNews.
In most of the PPC accounts our agency sees, at least 50% of ad spend is literally by set on fire 🔥 never to have any benefits.
But PPC is such an incredible channel for getting insanely qualified new customers when you get it right.
In this article, we'll show you how to hire a great PPC consultant and what to look for.
PPC is challenging
It requires:
- Skillful handling of keywords
- Deep understanding of search engine algorithms
- Analytical skills to assess the competitive landscape
- Creating engaging ad copy
- Performance data skills
This is where PPC consulting comes in.
Putting your trust in the wrong person can be disastrous and can lead to things like bikini-clad ads for protein shakes emerging in videos intended for children—yes, that actually happened!
What Does a PPC Consultant Do?
Put simply, PPC (pay-per-click) consultants manage paid advertising campaigns.
Their focus lies primarily in the strategy, implementation, and optimization of PPC ads. Their role involves:
➡️ Developing PPC strategy
A PPC consultant will help develop, plan & oversee your PPC marketing strategy.
They should ensure that every dollar spent is creating a valuable outcome, and they should be aligned with your business goals & financial goals as well.
Developing a strategy also includes:
- Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of competitors
- Staying informed about changes in consumer behavior
- Identifying new opportunities in your niche
Based on this, a consultant can create a custom strategy tailored to your business.
➡️ Keyword research
With a custom strategy in place, the right PPC consultant can easily identify your target audience's search terms and phrases, which ensures your ads appear in relevant searches and are targeted correctly.
Let's say you run a dentist’s practice, and you are trying to rank for the search phrase “dentist near me.” This keyword is very competitive, but with 134,000 searches every month it is potentially also very valuable.
However, it costs around $6.00 per click, which is expensive for most dentists.
If you don’t have the budget to bid on this keyword, a good PPC expert would steer you away from this search phrase and find something less competitive, yet expertly targeted to get your ad in front of the right person at the right time.
For example, if a person is searching “dentist near me” it implies that they might be looking for dental services right now.
So, a good keyword phrase could be “emergency dentist near me” which has very little competition, a good search volume of 9.9K, and a CPC of $2.50.
This more targeted approach saves money while attracting qualified leads.
➡️ Setting up campaign and ad group structure
The best PPC consultants optimize campaigns by carefully structuring them into well-organized ad groups based on specific themes or target audiences.
This approach ensures each ad is highly relevant to its corresponding keywords, which improves effectiveness and makes the management and optimization of the campaigns more efficient.
For example, a PPC consultant who works for a shoe retailer might create a separate ad group for each category of shoes, such as "running shoes," "formal shoes," and "children's shoes."
Within each ad group, they would use specific keywords relevant to that category (e.g., "women's running shoes," "men's formal shoes," "durable children's shoes") and create ads tailored to those keywords.
This structure allows for more targeted advertising and ensures that people who search for a specific type of shoe see a relevant ad, which then increases the likelihood of clicks and conversions.
➡️ Creating compelling copy
Compelling ad copy is crucial for paid search advertising. A good PPC consultant combines creativity with attention-grabbing copy to create ads that inspire action.
➡️ Budget management
PPC consultants will also be responsible for allocating and managing your PPC budget and bidding strategies to maximize return on investment and avoid overspending.
➡️ Analytics and data interpretation
Adept at interpreting data, PPC consultants continually analyze a PPC advertising campaign's performance to refine and improve strategies to make your campaigns more successful.
They use tools like Google Analytics to track key performance metrics of your ads, including:
- Monitoring how often your ad is shown in search results.
- Tracking the number of visits to your website through the ad.
- Measuring the number of people who engage with your ad and take significant action, like filling in a form or downloading a free resource.
With this detailed data, a PPC consultant can effectively:
🧠 Evaluate the success of your campaigns.
🧠 Identify where adjustments are needed.
🧠 Optimize how your budget is being allocated.
For example, a PPC consultant notices that an ad campaign for eco-friendly water bottles is getting more clicks on weekends.
By analyzing this data, they adjust the bidding strategy by increasing the budget for weekends when engagement is higher.
They also refine the ad copy to focus more on leisure and outdoor activities, which align with weekend interests.
The Benefits of PPC Consulting
Hiring a PPC consultant brings several key benefits:
✅ Extensive experience
PPC consultants will typically have specialized knowledge of various advertising platforms such as
- Google Ads - We cover this platform
- Bing Ads - We cover this platform, and it's incredibly undervalued!
- LinkedIn ads - We cover this platform, awesome for B2B businesses
Their experience in managing diverse client accounts equips them with insights and strategies that can make a significant difference in the success of your campaigns.
They keep up with the latest industry trends, algorithm changes, and best practices, which ensures your campaigns remain competitive.
✅ Time-saving
Running a business is demanding, with many competing priorities. Managing PPC campaigns can be time-consuming, from keyword research to ad creation, monitoring, and constant optimization.
When you bring a PPC consultant on board, you free up your valuable time to focus on other critical aspects of your business.
PPC strategists take the burden of day-to-day campaign management off your shoulders, allowing you to concentrate on strategic decision-making.
They're going to be proactively doing the essential PPC optimizations that really do take an incredible amount of time if done right.
✅ Cost efficiency
One of the primary advantages of hiring a PPC consultant is cost efficiency.
A PPC consultant can manage your paid advertising campaigns effectively. The costs involve not just the ad spend, but also a management fee.
While some businesses think managing ads themselves can save money, this isn't always true.
The management fee, usually a small part of your total spend, covers expert handling of your campaign.
At PPC.io (our agency), we use a fixed-cost model that's predictable and fair.
Their expertise often leads to more effective campaigns than your own efforts would and this could potentially save you money in the long run.
✅ Better ROI
Working with a PPC consultant often leads to better return on investment in two key ways. First, it's more cost-effective to hire an agency than a full-time PPC expert.
For instance, a company that spends $5,000 monthly on ads would typically pay an agency like PPC.io around $750 in management fees, which is significantly less than the $67,000 annual average salary for a full-time PPC manager.
Secondly, an agency's expertise can lead to greater account growth. Their specialized knowledge enables them to achieve more growth than a business might manage on its own.
What to Look For in a PPC Consultant
To ensure you're making the right choice for your business, it's essential to understand the key skills and qualities that set top-tier PPC consultants apart from the rest.
Here's a breakdown of what to look for:
🏆Analytical skills
A PPC consultant must possess strong analytical skills to dissect data and make informed decisions.
They should be adept at interpreting campaign metrics, identifying trends, and spotting areas for improvement.
Look for candidates who can translate data into actionable insights and strategic adjustments for better results.
🧠 Genius Tip: Ask a consultant for a sample report or have them talk through an example of where they used insight to make strategic changes.
🏆Platform proficiency
Different advertising platforms, such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Microsoft Advertising, require specific knowledge and expertise.
Ensure your PPC consultant is well-versed in how each platform aligns with your marketing goals. They should be capable of optimizing campaigns and leveraging each platform's unique features to your advantage.
🧠 Genius Tip: Ask your PPC consultant about the advantages and drawbacks of using Google Ads to increase, for example, tech product sales. A skilled consultant will outline Google Ads' extensive reach and targeting capabilities while noting higher costs and competition in this niche.
They should suggest strategies like long-tail keyword targeting and remarketing ads tailored to your specific goals, which would show their expertise in utilizing Google Ads effectively.
🏆Creativity and ad copy skills
Effective ad copy is crucial in PPC advertising. A skilled PPC consultant should have a flair for creativity and be able to craft compelling ad copy that grabs the audience's attention and motivates them to take action.
The ability to experiment with ad variations and iterate on messaging is a valuable skill.
🧠 Genius Tip: Ask your chosen PPC consultant how they test various ad headlines and different calls to action.
This creative experimentation with ad copy helps your business find the most effective messaging to engage customers and improve conversions. Another option is to ask them for examples of ad copy they have written previously.
🏆 Keyword research and targeting
Effective PPC campaigns depend on skilled keyword research.
Look for a consultant skilled in keyword research who knows how to use short and long-tailed keywords to ensure your ads show up for relevant searches.
This approach, combined with SEO knowledge, helps attract the right audience and improves engagement and conversion rates.
🧠 Genius Tip: To check a consultant's skill in keyword research, consider a practical test with one of your products.
For example, if you sell outdoor gear like backpacks, a good consultant would identify specific keywords, such as "lightweight hiking backpacks." They would use an exact match for this term to target customers who are looking for this item.
They could also use phrase match for similar searches like "buy lightweight hiking backpacks" and “lightweight backpacks” to reach a wider audience.
This method helps avoid broad matches that might waste your budget.
🏆Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
A skilled PPC consultant aims to boost conversion rates, not just clicks. They use CRO techniques to refine landing pages, which enhance user experience and ROI.
🧠 Genius Tip: A great way to find out whether your potential PPC agency can do CRO is to ask them what they would do if an ad had high click-through rates but low conversions.
They would understand that to improve conversions, they could optimize cluttered, slow-loading landing pages to create a more user-friendly experience with clear calls-to-action and faster load times.
They would use A/B testing to determine the most effective layouts and content, and use retargeting to engage previous visitors.
These improvements could lead to more engaging landing pages, which would result in higher conversion rates and increased ROI.
🏆Great communication and collaboration
Effective communication is vital when working with a PPC consultant. They should be able to explain complex concepts in ways that are clear and understandabe, and keep you informed about your campaign’s progress.
Additionally, a consultant should be open to collaboration and receptive to your input and feedback.
🧠 Genius Tip: To gauge the communication style of your potential consultant, ask them to explain how often they would update you and stay in touch, so you know what to expect in terms of communication frequency.
🏆Evidence of past success and client references
Ask potential PPC consultants for case studies or examples of successful campaigns they've managed.
🧠 Genius Tip: Request client references to gain insight into their working style, professionalism, and the results they've achieved for others.
How to Choose and Hire the Right PPC Consultant
Now that you understand the benefits of hiring a PPC consultant and essential skills to look for, let's delve into how to initiate the process and get started with your chosen consultant:
Step 1: Research potential consultants
Start by researching potential PPC consultants or agencies. Look for those with experience in your industry and a proven track record of success.
You can find potential consultants through:
➡️Online searches and industry websites.
➡️Recommendations from business associates or networks.
➡️Reviews and testimonials on professional platforms like LinkedIn.
➡️Freelancer websites like Fiver or Upwork.
Step 2: Evaluate their expertise and approach
Once you have a shortlist, evaluate each consultant's expertise and approach.
Here are some questions to ask them to make an informed decision about partnering with them:
- Will you provide ongoing management of the account or just do implementation?
- Do you offer a free assessment?
- What is your experience with PPC campaigns in my industry? Are you Googe-certified?
- Can you provide examples of successful marketing campaigns you've managed? How did you increase conversions?
- What is your process when setting up a PPC ad?
- How do you measure the success of a PPC campaign?
- Are you familiar with Google Analytics?
- What is your communication approach and how frequently do you communicate with clients?
- How do you structure your reports, and what insights do they provide?
Step 3: Have a discovery session
Once you've identified the PPC consultant or agency that best suits your needs, finalize the terms and agreements.
This initial meeting is key to understanding your business goals and setting up successful PPC campaigns. It's a vital onboarding process that allows the consultant to fully grasp what you’re aiming to achieve.
In this session, make sure to discuss the following:
🔸Budget allocation: Define your budget, including monthly ad spend limits. This information helps your consultant strategize while staying within financial constraints.
🔸Campaign goals: Share your specific goals for the PPC campaign, whether it's increasing website traffic, generating leads, boosting sales, or enhancing brand awareness.
🔸Unique selling points (USPs): Discuss what differentiates your business from competitors. Your USPs provide valuable insights for crafting compelling messaging for search ads and positioning your brand effectively in the market.
🔸Landing page optimization: Explore tactics to optimize landing pages for improved conversion rates. Effective landing page design and search engine optimization can significantly impact the success of your campaigns.
🔸Target audience analysis: Provide detailed information about your target audience, including their demographics and geographical location. Share your insights into the platforms they typically use, too. This information is vital for precise ad targeting and setting up ad campaigns.
In your first meeting, be open and share everything that might be important. Even small details can help. Your PPC consultant must clearly understand your expectations and budget to craft strategies tailored to your business's specific needs. Working together like this helps them structure a PPC campaign that works for you.
💡Pro tip: Finalize terms and agreements
Ensure that you set up a contract with your PPC consultant. The contract should outline key details such as campaign objectives, budget allocation, reporting frequency, and the consultant's responsibilities. Be clear about the duration of the engagement and any performance metrics you'll be tracking.
Step 4: Launch and monitor campaigns
With the formalities in place, your chosen PPC consultant will begin creating and managing your campaigns.
Stay involved by regularly reviewing campaign performance reports and communicating openly with the consultant. Collaboration and feedback are essential for optimizing results.
Key Takeaways
PPC can significantly transform your business by offering unparalleled growth and visibility. However, it can be complex as it demands expertise and strategic insight—which are qualities you'll only find with a skilled PPC consultant.
Throughout this guide, we explored the benefits of PPC consulting, from cost efficiency and time savings to expert strategies and improved ROI.
We also highlighted critical skills and qualities to seek in a consultant, to ensure you choose a professional who can lead your campaigns to success.
But the journey doesn't stop there. Initiating your partnership with a PPC consultant involves defining your goals, setting budgets, and engaging in a thorough discovery session to give them the insights they need.
This collaborative approach lays the foundation for campaigns that align with your objectives and deliver measurable results.
🧠 About Us
We're PPC experts, who only work with great people.
If you want to profitability scale your business and have a fun time in the process, drop us a message and we'll see if you're a good fit.