PPC marketing (pay-per-click) is an increasingly significant area of digital marketing today, which uses paid advertisements to drive traffic to advertisers’ online platforms, such as their websites, applications, or online shops. It is suitable for promoting brands, encouraging purchases, expanding the customer base, and increasing website traffic. Whether you’re a new business trying to stand out from the crowd, a company operating in a highly competitive industry looking to stay ahead, or a non-profit organization wanting to attract new sponsors, PPC marketing can offer the perfect solution. To maximize efficiency, it is an ideal choice to entrust this work to an agency.
What is a PPC Agency and What Do They Do?
What Does PPC Marketing and PPC Agency Mean Exactly?
In PPC (pay-per-click) marketing, the advertiser only pays for the advertisement when someone actually clicks on it, they literally “pay per the clicks”. Various social media platforms and search engines, such as Google and Facebook use this method. In the case of search engines, ads are displayed based on the keywords that users search for, so it’s important for advertisers to be aware of what these keywords are. For this exact reason (and for many other reasons) asking a PPC agency’s help might be the perfect choice as they consist of experienced marketing professionals who all work for one common goal: to build the most successful online advertising campaign.
What is an Advertising Account and How is it Built Up?
PPC campaigns are built within the advertising accounts of various platforms. This is a comprehensive strategy that includes the design of the website, the advertisements, and is created and operated through complex processes. The main stages of the campaign are planning, setup, operation, and, periodically, evaluation of the results. If you entrust all of this to an agency, you will receive key data, analyses, and results in a carefully prepared and transparent manner, as agencies are created to professionally manage these stages.
In the planning phase, keyword research, market research, and mapping the target audience are essential. When working with Google Ads, it is important to advertise with keywords that are specific to the targeted audience, as this is the best way to reach relevant stakeholders, considering the way search engines operate. The relevance of the keywords used is directly proportional to the effectiveness, meaning that the better the keywords we use match our target audience, the more successful our campaign will be. However, when planning a campaign, it’s not enough for the marketer to have a good understanding of the search engine algorithm and the operation of various platforms—they also need to map the product market where the advertised product/service is to be promoted, understand the sales process and its technical aspects, and keep the budget they can work with in mind.
During the setup and operation of the campaign, it is vital to have extensive knowledge of the different advertising systems, to map and continuously monitor the digital behavior of the target group(s), and to track the campaign’s performance. One significant advantage of such campaigns is that we can modify specific elements on the fly; we can reallocate resources, adjust the strategy if something isn’t working, and we can continuously optimize performance. Nevertheless, it is wise to be patient, as the algorithms used by the systems we use to advertise also need time to learn, meaning that it often takes a while before we see the results of our campaign. In a nutshell, running a campaign is mainly about data collection, brainstorming, continuous observation, and optimization.
Although the evaluation of the campaign is continuous, the agency prepares reports and presents the results at intervals. Even though sometimes there are short-term campaigns with fixed-term contracts, it is recommended to establish a long-term collaboration with your PPC agency. Market demands and the marketing world are changing dynamically, so you can remain most effective and maintain your competitive advantage if your agency continuously manages your advertising account and helps you adapt to the latest trends. This way, you won’t just be putting out fires in your marketing efforts; instead, there will be someone (or in the case of an agency, several people) who can monitor the company’s performance, the success of your campaign, and introduce changes and innovations as needed. In an effective collaboration, the agency will prepare reports based on the collected data at the frequency required by the client, transparently and digestibly presenting the results, explaining the strategy used, and its effectiveness.
One excellent indicator of campaign success is the conversion rate, which shows the percentage of visitors to the advertiser’s website or app who have taken an action beneficial to the business. This is ideally a purchase of a product or service or initiation of a subscription (macro conversion), but the conversion rate can also include actions such as signing up for a newsletter, adding a product to cart, requesting a quote, registering on the site, and many other events that, while not generating immediate revenue on their own, indicate the user’s interest in your company (micro conversion). We can measure conversion within a number of programs; we can use Google Analytics 4, but we also find conversion rate indicators in Google Ads and Facebook Ads Manager, for example.
However, it’s not only conversions that are measured and interpreted in a campaign. PPC agencies take multiple aspects into account and keep our advertisements up to date through continuous optimization.
What makes collaborating with a PPC Agency worth it?
It’s not easy to entrust any area of our beloved business to complete strangers. Why would we outsource marketing, and why specifically to a PPC agency? Is this work really so specialized that we wouldn’t be able to handle it ourselves?
Well, such questions legitimately arise in the minds of entrepreneurs. Every company has its own set of needs, but a few factors can help in the decision-making process:
- Saving Time and Resources: This is one of the most important considerations. Especially if your goal is to grow and expand your business quickly, you have neither time nor money to waste. A professional or an agency will do a much more efficient job than if we were to experiment with different marketing techniques ourselves. The latter is not only time-consuming and uncertain in its outcome, but also demands a lot of resources.
- Expertise and Experience: This is the second most important aspect to consider. In addition to saving time and money, the main argument for choosing PPC agencies is their years of experience and expertise. This adds value that is not easily replaceable. Marketers continuously educate themselves and stay informed about the latest trends and the most recent marketing strategies to assist their clients with up-to-date knowledge. This again saves entrepreneurs a lot of time, allowing them to focus on what they do best.
- Access to Specialized Tools: One of the countless advantages of working with PPC agencies is that they utilize a variety of software (such as for keyword research and account optimization) that would be a huge task for a company to learn to manage (and pay for) internally, or at least a waste of resources. In terms of time, finances, and expertise, it makes more sense to entrust the work to people who are experienced in using these tools and programs effectively.
- Analytical Expertise: While we have already highlighted expertise and experience as particularly important considerations, it’s worth emphasizing the significance of analytics within this area. PPC marketing relies heavily on data, and analyzing data is key to making our advertisements as effective as possible. Furthermore, the professional management and analysis of vast data sets, the drawing of conclusions and the presentation of these in comprehensible form are not negligible advantages for the client, which is part of the work of PPC agencies. This would also be quite costly and resource-intensive if we were to handle it ourselves.
- ROI (Return on Investment) Optimization: ROI is a metric that indicates the return on investment. It is (generally) calculated by dividing the profit from the investment by the cost of the investment (then multiplying by 100 to express the result as a percentage → a value above 100% indicates that the investment was profitable). ROI can be used during the planning phase for estimates, throughout the campaigns, and after their conclusion to evaluate success or to persuade clients and investors during negotiations. Of course, this single metric is not sufficient for a precise evaluation of a campaign, but it can provide guidance and help navigate the business world and in terms of investments, it is one of the most important indicators. Thus, optimizing this metric falls within the scope of a PPC agency. This makes the results of their work measurable and tangible. By precisely defining the target audience (demographic and geographic characteristics, interests, preferences), refining keywords, optimizing ads and landing pages, appropriately allocating the budget, and conducting effective data analysis, a PPC agency contributes in a multifaceted way to ensuring that the ROI is as high as possible; that is, that the investment succeeds.
How to Choose a PPC Agency?
Once we’ve decided to collaborate with a PPC agency, we face another important decision: how do we choose whom we want to work with? Every business has different needs, and there is no universal recipe for determining which agency will be right for you. Depending on the type of company, industry, budget, and style, various choices may be appropriate for different businesses. Here are some factors that everyone should consider:
- Expertise and Experience: This is primarily why we choose to hire an agency, so, naturally, it must be an important consideration when selecting a specific agency. Make sure that the chosen agency has relevant professional experience, understands the industry in which our company operates, and is proficient in using various advertising formats and platforms. It’s essential that the agency handles different PPC tools flexibly and dynamically, stays up-to-date with innovations, trends, and the latest marketing strategies.
- Reputation: It may sound superficial to choose a “colleague” based on reputation, but this is far from the case; when getting to know the chosen agency, their reputation and connections might be important factors. The agency’s results, achievements, and references speak for themselves. A marketing campaign’s success is not easily tangible, and, understandably, entrepreneurs are skeptical; they want to see previous results from an agency before deciding to entrust them with their company’s secrets, future success, and, last but not least, their money.
- Communication, Transparency, Accessibility: No matter how professionally skilled a PPC agency is, if it cannot work flexibly with your company, it’s not worth much. Nowadays we hear more and more often: “communication is key” — and it is just as true in this case. Besides being available at the right times for our business, it’s crucial that the agency work transparently, prepare reports according to the client’s needs, involve the entrepreneur in the process steps, and explain the employed strategies in detail as required. Since marketing is not an easily graspable field, clear and honest communication between the client and the agency is essential. This also depends on the business and its leader, but it can still be said that a good PPC agency’s hallmark is strong communication skills. What this means, practically, might vary from client to client, but generally, an agency’s reputation, references, and past work can give great insight into what to expect during the collaboration. Additionally, drafting the contract together can be a reassuring and an effective solution to get a clear understanding of the terms and conditions, or we can request a trial period from the agency to see if we can work together.
- Flexibility, Innovation, Proactivity: The world of marketing is very dynamic. Trends and the success of different strategies change daily, not to mention the innovations and inventions occurring across various industries. Therefore, it’s crucial that your chosen agency can respond flexibly to these changes and develop a tailor-made marketing plan for your business. A one-size-fits-all strategy applied to all clients is not viable; the agency must adapt to the client’s industry and company, taking into account specific, individual needs. Creativity, innovation, development, and continuous improvement are essential qualities in a good agency.
- Pricing: While this shouldn’t be the primary consideration when selecting your agency, it’s certainly an important aspect. Your business needs to be aware of its budget, and how much it can allocate to the agency, and aim to get the most out of the available budget. The agency with the highest rates isn’t necessarily the best, and a “cheaper” agency doesn’t automatically mean poor quality. We need to find the agency that best fits our company and industry, ideally at a “good” price.
Challenges Facing PPC Agencies Today
Adapting to the Changing Market Environment – Can We Keep Up with the Competition?
Like every industry, marketing is evolving rapidly, with various trends and innovative solutions emerging in quick succession. The PPC market is becoming increasingly competitive, and the costs of advertisements keep rising. Maximizing the previously mentioned ROI (Return on Investment) within a given budget is becoming more and more challenging. In a sense, this is the natural order of things; throughout evolution, only the most viable individuals and species have survived. This is how it works in the marketing landscape as well; the trends and agencies that can adapt the most effectively are the ones who are able to sustain themselves. And especially, with constant updates to PPC platforms, changes in algorithms, and a whirlwind of new features, tools, and updates, the fastest, most resourceful, and most flexible market participants will remain at the forefront. To survive in the PPC market, creativity, innovation, continuous learning, and, not least, a strong client base and human and financial capital are essential.
Sustainability and Ethical Advertising – The Moral Side of Technology
Today, there is increasing attention on data safety. It is very important for certain boundaries not to be crossed during tracking users’ activity. While it’s difficult to provide a personalized experience without somewhat monitoring digital behavior, it’s clear that this topic raises various moral questions. Long-term, sustainable operation of marketing agencies is only possible by complying with the strict data privacy regulations and the ethical management of advertisements. This, of course, presents a significant challenge and requires the already mentioned, innovative, flexible, and creative approaches and solutions.
What Does the Future Hold for Agencies?
The Growing Role of AI and Automation in PPC Campaigns
“Artificial intelligence will take over this work anyway; what’s the point of even trying?” This question is understandably on the minds of many. Why would we invest time in understanding various strategies, why would we pay marketing agencies fortunes for work that AI (Artificial Intelligence) will be able to do on its own in a few years? Well, the answer is that the situation is much more complex than that. Fortunately, AI is indeed capable of performing certain automatable tasks. It simplifies many areas of our work; for example, it can process and analyze vast amounts of data, recognize patterns within it, and make forecasts about the future. It can assist in defining target groups by monitoring and interpreting consumer behavior. AI will be integrated into process optimization and the refinement of our strategies. Moreover, it can already help in creating creative content and discovering innovative solutions.
Keeping all this in mind, it’s important to emphasize one thing: despite all of its advantages, AI still merely plays an advisory role. Its analyses or the datasets it uses to draw conclusions from are often inaccurate. Fortunately, artificial intelligence is helping us with increasingly advanced features, but we are still only at a point where it assists us rather than fully replacing human work and thought. We can confidently delegate everyday operational tasks to AI: it can save us time and energy in areas such as analysis, predictive analytics (making forecasts), and automated processes. However, it is still important to keep longer-term, strategic tasks in human hands, because no matter how advanced AI becomes, there are some things that cannot be automated.
Where and How Can We Thrive? – Multichannel vs. Omnichannel Strategies
Our marketing activities that shape our company’s identity can fundamentally operate in two ways: they can be driven by a multichannel or an omnichannel strategy. While the techniques are similar in that both involve marketing activities across multiple different channels, there are significant differences in the level of coordination applied between those channels.
Multichannel strategy, as the name suggests, encompasses several different channels. However, marketing activities carried out on these channels may not necessarily be interconnected, meaning that the business can convey a different message about itself on each platform. This can be extremely advantageous as it allows us to reach a variety of distinct target audience groups; however, the downside is that it does not create a unified brand identity, which can lead to decreased brand loyalty.
In contrast, the omnichannel method aims to convey a consistent message across the platforms used. The channels operate within an integrated system to develop a coherent brand image for the company, thereby increasing customer satisfaction, enhancing the positive user experience, and resulting in higher conversions. Of course, this system also has drawbacks, primarily that it can be quite costly to establish and maintain.
Looking into the future, it currently seems that businesses with a well-developed, unified, and consistent advertising system (omnichannel approach) will enjoy a competitive advantage over those employing a multichannel strategy. The demand for personalized content and user-friendly solutions is on the rise. This competition is clearly being led by omnichannel systems.
Let’s Focus on the User – The Importance of Personalized Content
Nowadays, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out from the crowd. The world is changing at an incredible pace, and so is the marketing landscape. One of the key competitive advantages is the ability to create personalized (or at least seemingly so) content and emphasize user experience during our developments. This can easily be the aspect that sets us apart from competitors, as the demand for these features in advertisements is on the rise.
PPC marketing can be an excellent solution to this challenge. Why? Let’s break down the thought process: our goal is to produce personalized content, right? Well, that’s impossible without knowing the person, or at least the target audience, for whom we’re creating the content. Therefore, the first step is to map them out. Accurate targeting is essential here (for example, with the right keywords in the case of PPC), as our message won’t reach its destination if we don’t direct it properly. So once we know who our target audience is, we need to understand them thoroughly to target them effectively, right? To get to know them, we will need… Yes, data! We must gather data and manage it with appropriate tools, analyzing it to draw vital correlations about our target audience. If we recognize that these steps lead to the successful personalization of our content, we must also accept that a PPC agency can be our greatest ally in this process. After all, as previously mentioned, the essence of PPC marketing is based on data and analyzing it to direct the company’s message toward the right audience.
In summary, the significance of personalized content and user experience will increase in the future. This is inevitable, as analyzing and monitoring digital behavior allows us to learn more about individual consumers, and it offers marketers a competitive advantage if they can leverage this information effectively. Alongside data protection and ethical advertising, it is crucial to collect and analyze user data to provide them with the most positive experience possible. Professional experts, such as those within a PPC agency, can greatly assist in this process.
Which Platforms Are Used?
With PPC marketing, we can operate through numerous channels, each with its own unique characteristics. Many have completely different operating principles and algorithms, while others are quite similar. Without aiming for completeness, here are a few platforms briefly presented.
Google Ads
Google Ads is the advertising platform of today’s largest search engine. It allows advertisers to display text, image, and video ads in Google search results. Google Ads doesn’t only display ads in the search engine; it also makes many other websites and YouTube available for advertising, enabling us to reach almost every internet user.
Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads)
Alongside Google Ads, Microsoft Ads is the other most popular advertising platform, displaying ads in the Bing search engine and other Microsoft platforms (i.e. Yahoo). Like Google Ads, Microsoft Ads also offers search advertising (social media platforms operate differently). It’s an excellent opportunity to target foreigners visiting Hungary.
Amazon Ads
This is the advertising solution of the largest e-commerce platform, which allows advertisers to directly promote their products and brands to shoppers browsing on Amazon. Since Amazon focuses primarily on purchasing, conversion rates are significantly higher here compared to other platforms.
Meta (Facebook) Ads
Meta is the advertising system of the social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram. It primarily displays targeted ads based on users’ demographic data, interests, preferences and behaviors. Alongside Google Ads, it is the most popular platform in Hungary.
Pinterest Ads
An ideal platform for promoting products and ideas, as it offers visual ads that users access, find and explore according to their interests. It is the only social media platform that allows keyword targeting.
TikTok Ads
One of the fastest-growing social media platforms today, where brands can reach younger audiences through creative and entertaining videos. It’s an excellent platform for brand building.
Apple Ads
Previously known as Apple Search Ads, this platform offers app developers the opportunity to display their ads among the search results in the App Store, increasing their app visibility.
Summary
In light of everything discussed, we can say that PPC agencies play a crucial role in the world of digital marketing. By leveraging advertising systems of search engines (Google Ads, Microsoft Ads/Bing) and social media platforms (TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest), they quickly and effectively increase their clients’ traffic and business success. An agency designs a PPC campaign that aligns with its client’s industry, follows modern trends, and responds to market changes. The expertise and experience these agencies bring to the table save businesses significant resources while ensuring their competitiveness in a dynamically changing market environment. In brief, if we want to achieve reliable and rapid growth for our company and find reassurance in a strategic, data-driven marketing approach, it’s time to reach out to a PPC agency!
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