1. How Serious are They?
The general public assumes that an SEM Agency with a Google-recognized Partner Badge must be effective. According to the official statement, getting the Partner Badge requires meeting particular advertising standards (Best Practice) and spending a specific amount on advertising. However, I can confirm that this is not totally accurate based on what I know about Google (from my background). I won’t go into detail, but if you contribute to bankable advertising spending, Best Practice is not as significant as Google said.
An encouraging sign of a company’s professionalism is to see whether it devotes a lot of resources to keyword advertising. Ask for further case studies if social media management is the company’s primary area of expertise. It could prove useful in the future for your company.
You may also examine the advertising agency’s website to discover if they publish or circulate material on the subject of keyword advertising, SEM, or PPC. As it somewhat indicates their professionalism, see if the Facebook posts’ theme promotes keyword advertising.
2. How Prepared they are for your meeting and How Much Attention do they Provide to your Company’s Operations?
Although it would be fantastic if they could, we do not anticipate the SEM Agency to create an incredibly thorough proposal for every possible customer. However, it’s common etiquette to spend 15–30 minutes perusing the client’s website, goods, or services. Find out if your website is mobile-friendly, if competitors have acquired any relevant keywords, and how active your Facebook page is (provided you have any). Please carefully examine whether this should be a part of your future plans if the agency neglected to prepare any of the aforementioned items while simply reading from the brochure.
This attitude of paying attention to the client’s life is a plus point if the SEM Agency asks you about the distinctiveness of your business, the primary distinction between you and your competitors, your best-selling product, and your main customer base.
Everyone is so focused on the digital aspect of digital marketing that they have forgotten about the marketing aspect. Finding the correct consumer base can only be assisted by those who are more knowledgeable about your company. In order to choose the appropriate keywords, they can assess the consumers’ search purpose, direction, and words. With all of that combined with number optimization, you may achieve double the outcome with only a third of the work.
3. Do they have a Specific Account Manager for Google or Facebook?
In addition to doing routine optimization tasks, it is essential to understand how to update the landing page or ad and how to get a disapproved ad authorized again when handling keyword advertising. Google constantly alters its advertising restrictions, so occasionally even operators with a ton of expertise are helpless to withstand Google’s displeasure. Having a Direct Google contact in such situations would make things much simpler. Additionally, an advertising firm affiliated with a Direct Google Representative will be better informed about the most recent market news and data.
4. Is their Reporting Readable and Thorough Enough?
Make sure you acquire a copy of the report’s template before choosing to work with any advertising agencies. Sorry, but the mentioned report is not a report; it is only a collection of statistics that were taken from the ad account. We place a lot of emphasis on the report’s form since it perfectly captures the goals and optimization principles of the organization. More of its advertising potential is shown by a thorough report with visuals and layouts than by a hard-cold message—a report in Excel.
5. Do you have Sole Control over the Account?
The agency is hesitant to grant you administrative access, to say the least. Why?
because manager accounts may always be disconnected by users with administrative rights. In summary, the customer has three options: fire the SEM Agency, take over account management themselves, or even employ another firm. Advertising companies’ preference for customers not having administrative access is understandable, yet this circumstance frequently results in conflicts. refusal to give clients control of the account, as doing so raises the likelihood that they may move agencies. A few agencies could pressure a customer to accept this arrangement because of concern that they would lose past data.
TheCustomWebsites thinks customers ought to be given administrative access. The data in the accounts at an SEM Agency are all the clients’ property, therefore their function is more one of assistance. This agreement is more advantageous to the client, assuming that both parties acted honorably and that the client wants to end their relationship. As the proverb goes, friends can survive a breakup.
Administrative access obviously defies convention, and both sides are free to discuss a solution. But keep in mind that it is essential to establish upfront which party has administrative access.