You have decided to start Google Ads advertising or are currently advertising - excellent, you're leveraging the world's most effective marketing platform! However, for most companies, the question eventually arises: is it worth outsourcing Google advertising or doing it in-house? There can be many reasons, such as lacking results or a drop in performance, not enough time to maintain the advertising account, or not knowing how to utilize all the features.
One of the biggest reasons for poor performance is undoubtedly the apparent ease of Google Ads: "Create your ads in 15 minutes and let Google take care of the rest." Why pay a Google Ads specialized agency when you can easily set up ads yourself? In reality, a Google Ads account that delivers results requires much more than just opening an account and creating ads. If you recognize yourself or your company in the following points, it may be time to consider outsourcing Google advertising.
Price
This is surely the biggest question – outsourcing costs money. Is it worth it when the sum paid to the agency could be used directly in the advertising budget? As a rule of thumb, if your budget is really limited (under 400 euros) and you have time to learn Google Ads, it may be worth doing the advertising yourself, at least in the beginning. With a larger budget, utilizing a Google Ads agency is already profitable.
You should also consider the cost in terms of your own or your company's employee's time. Trainings cost and take time, third-party tools cost and learning to use them takes time, creating graphics and animations for display advertising takes time - and most importantly, weekly/monthly optimization of the account takes time. Google Ads requires specialization.
Lack of Knowledge
What is the biggest single reason for poor Google Ads performance? Low quality scores. Did you know that if the quality scores of the keywords you're advertising drop low enough, your ads will stop showing almost entirely? Or that between high and low quality scores, there can be up to an 800% difference in the cost per single ad click? In this case, a good account owner pays 25 cents for a click, while a poor account owner pays 2 euros. Quite a staggering difference when you multiply it by hundreds or thousands of visitors.
Although it's not always possible, or even appropriate, to achieve full quality scores, it's still surprisingly common for companies not to be aware of the existence of quality scores, or they are really poor. If the quality scores of most of your keywords are between 1-5, alarm bells should be ringing – the account surely isn't working as it should.
Just like in search engine optimization, Google constantly updates its ad platform algorithms and features. Responsive search ads and bid strategies based on impressions are examples of recent updates. It's generally advisable to adopt and test these new features on your own account - your competitors are likely doing the same.
A reliable Google Ads agency knows how to take quality scores into account when building and managing your account and reports them monthly. In addition, a competent agency stays up-to-date with constantly evolving features, keeping your account one step ahead of competitors. It's not uncommon for us to have saved our own service fee amount for our clients through improving quality scores, or to have significantly increased high-quality visitor traffic with the same budget.
Continuous Optimization
It's good to do a thorough account review at least once a month, which includes adjustments to bidding, reorganizing ad groups and keywords, updating ad AB-tests, and reacting to changes in quality scores. Additionally, it's good to look at the same things on a more general level weekly.
AB testing is an important part of optimization, which also affects quality scores.
Google Ads is a constantly changing environment. Often, an unmanaged account ends up gradually decreasing in performance if the data from advertising isn't interpreted and changes aren't made accordingly. Check the change history of your account. Has at least something similar been done on average at least once a month?
A knowledgeable Google Ads agency has processes for handling every account. Nostamo uses third-party software combined with our project management tool, so we receive a notification whenever changes or updates should be made to your account. It's normal that the number of contacts and sales through ads increases over the long term when we're able to allocate advertising budgets appropriately for different keywords through optimization.
Consultation
Google Ads agencies have expertise in Google advertising, but their expertise should also extend to other digital marketing methods. You can get consultation on things like your website, other advertising methods – or even related to closing sales, for which you might otherwise pay significant amounts to a separate consultant. Don't hesitate to ask for advice.
Conclusion
If you're spending over 200 euros a month on Google advertising, outsourcing is likely worth it. However, don't just ask for quotes from different advertising agencies and make a choice based on price alone, because the expertise of the professionals has the greatest impact on the efficiency of your account. Choose a professional who knows Google Ads inside and out, and you'll maximize the benefit you get from Google advertising.
Nostamo stands out from other advertising agencies with its knowledge of Google Ads. We aim for win-win situations, so we don't just want to maximize our own service fees, but to make your Google advertising work with the best possible quality and performance.
Get in touch, and let's assess your situation together. You'll receive a quote if we feel we can bring value to your company. At the very least, you'll get a couple of professional tips regarding your own account. :)
