20 Fast Facts About PPC Agencies

1. Half of agencies reported improved ROI from PPC in 2012.
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2. That increased ROI led to more PPC spending. More than three-quarters (77%) of agencies reported an increase in investment in Google advertising in 2012.
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3. 32% of PPC agencies report that their clients primarily use PPC to sell products or services directly. 35% use it to generate leads.
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4. PPC agencies report that the three most important metrics for gauging success of paid search marketing are return on investment (ROI), number of sales or leads, and cost per conversion. (This differs from the top 3 metrics as reported by companies: return on investment (ROI), conversion rate, and number of sales or leads.)
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5. In 2012, one-third of PPC agencies reported that their average client spent between $10,000 and $100,000 on paid search programs. 14% of PPC agencies said their clients spent on average over $1 million!
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6. In 2012, only 2% of agencies said their clients had decreased spend on Google AdWords, whereas 19% reduced their spending on Bing and Yahoo campaigns.
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7. Almost one-third (31%) of PPC agencies license a third-party software tool for paid search campaign management. But even more (36%) manage campaigns with Excel. (All of the above via SEMPO’s State of Search 2012)
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8. The top 3 reasons that companies outsource to a PPC agency: lack of in-house skills, too time-consuming, lack of in-house tools and technology. Other reasons cited include: it’s more economical to outsource, it’s too complicated to track and measure, and it’s too hard to stay abreast of best practices. (Econsultancy)
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9. Paid search agencies earn, on average, 10% of their clients' PPC spend. In 2008, Rand Fishkin reported that PPC agencies make 45 times what SEOs do for the same value. (SEOmoz)
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10. Almost 2/3 (64%) of agencies handle marketing attribution, but 28% of them only use last-click attribution modeling. Other approaches include first click (28%), linear allocation (22%) and time decay (13%). (Marketing Charts)
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11. In 2012, according to the State of Digital Marketing Report by Webmarketing123, 20% of B2B marketers used an agency to manage their PPC program. According to the same survey, just one quarter of marketers are highly satisfied with the performance of PPC campaigns managed internally, compared to one-third who work with agencies. (Webmarketing123)
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12. In 2012, both companies and agencies doubled their budgets on mobile paid search in just one year. (Econsultancy)
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13. In August 2012, adCenter (now Bing Ads) released an Agency Enablement feature to improve account management of adCenter campaigns for PPC agencies – taking a page from Google’s book with its MMC (My Client Center) interface. (Microsoft)
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14. Most agencies will have a minimum that starts in the $1,000 to $5,000 per month range. If you spend less than $10K a month on PPC, Alex Cohen recommends managing it in-house or hiring a freelancer. (Search Engine Watch)
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16. When marketers were asked “What types of agencies, technology partners, or service providers do you use for your search marketing?” 41% responded that search agencies were the most important, more than social media listening platforms, local analytics providers or SEO automation tools. (Search Engine Land)
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17. DoubleClick Search, Google’s cross-engine search management platform, is used by 6 of the largest 10 agencies. (DoubleClick Blog)
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18. Your AdWords account has a Customer ID number that you can give to prospective agencies to grant them read-only access to your account. That means they can take a look and do a quick audit but won’t have the power to change anything. (AdWords Support)
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19. Google offers a search service to help you find certified AdWords professionals based on your monthly budget, industry, location and other requirements: http://adwords.google.com/professionals/search
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20. Engage for Agencies is a Google program that provides access to AdWords incentives, live educational events, online trainings, and ready-made promotional materials – and yay, it’s free. (Google Engage)
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This post originated on the WordStream Blog. WordStream provides keyword tools for pay-per click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) aiding in everything from keyword discovery to keyword grouping and organization.