PPC Consultant: How to Find One + Top 9 Experts

A PPC consultant is a digital marketing expert who specializes in paid ads. Their costs range between $1,500 and $10,000 per month. Learn more about how to find the right one and the top choices to consider.

We created this guide to help you learn what a PPC consultant does, how to find the right one for your business, and a list of the best consultants in the game.

What is a PPC consultant?

A PPC consultant is a digital marketing expert who manages ad campaigns on pay-per-click advertising platforms like Google Ads and Bing Ads. They help you reach your target audience with tailored PPC ads and get the best return on investment (ROI) possible from your campaigns.

In addition to PPC management, a PPC consultant will develop a PPC strategy that aligns your PPC campaigns with your overall marketing goals.

Top 9 PPC consultants

Before we dive deep into the specifics of hiring a PPC consultant, let’s review our list of the top PPC consultants:

1. HawkSEM
2. Wpromote
3. Tinuiti
4. Merkle
5. Power Digital Marketing
6. WebFX
7. Thrive Digital
8. White Shark Media
9. Seer Interactive

1. HawkSEM

At HawkSEM, every member of our team is an experienced digital marketing pro with years of industry know-how. Our PPC experts manage over 3,000,000 keywords. With our average client getting 4.5x ROI, it’s no surprise that our retention rate is 98%.

Each of our clients gets a dedicated team of professionals – a senior-level strategist, ads account manager, and client success manager – all with the expertise to tackle your particular business goals.

Along with ConversionIQ, our team is a proud top 3% Premier Google Partner, based on factors, such as annual ad spend, product diversification, and client growth. We’re also a Microsoft Advertising Partner and a Meta Business Partner.

Not into contracts? No problem. At HawkSEM, we offer straightforward, no-hassle pricing, with transparent fees and month-to-month service options at no obligation. We don’t want you feeling locked in if you’re unhappy (although, we have a feeling you’ll be pretty happy with us).

Our aim is to help businesses make more and spend less, clearing the path to scale. That’s why we offer free PPC consultations that focus on areas of improvement, data-driven optimization, and untapped areas of opportunity.

Find out more about our PPC management services, or check out our case studies to learn more about how we help our clients get results.

Services & features

Since 2006, we’ve helped our clients surpass their business goals by providing PPc advertising and:

• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Content marketing
• Video ads
• Paid social & organic social strategies (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest)
• Landing pages
• Conversion rate optimization (CRO)
• Website design & migration
• Performance display ads
• Remarketing & retargeting
• Ecommerce marketing & feed management
• Email marketing

Clients

• Honda Motor Co.
• Nike
• Microsoft
• Siemens
• DirectTV

Best for

Large businesses and enterprises that want to grow their PPC ad campaigns by working with a trusted industry leader.

2. Wpromote

Wpromote is a performance marketing company that provides a variety of paid media, earned and owned media, and digital intelligence services. With clients like Whirlpool and Cinemark, it has an impressive number of case studies across services.

They have offices in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Manhattan, New York, and San Francisco. However, it works with clients across the country who want to transform their businesses.

Services & features

Wpromote specializes in paid search ads, paid social ads, and Amazon ads, but also offers other services like copywriting, SEO, influencer marketing, and email marketing.

Clients

• Adobe
• Equinox
• KitchenAid
• Panera Bread
• Peacock

Best for

Businesses who value innovation and are looking for a new approach to marketing that others might not see yet.

3. Tinuiti

Tinuiti is a performance marketing team that focuses on managing what it calls the “Triopoly” of PPC ads: Amazon, Google, and Facebook ads. It’s helped brands like Instacart and Rite Aid grow brand awareness and boost revenue through search ads.

They have offices in San Diego and New York, with most employees working remotely. And it uses its own proprietary software to manage and track data.

Services & features

In addition to paid media, Tinuiti also supports its clients through SEO, influencer marketing, affiliate marketing, and conversion rate optimization. It handles strategy and develops the creatives.

Clients

• BB&T
• Terminix
• Etsy
• Honest
• Nautica

Best for

Ecommerce brands that want to expand their visibility and bottom line.

4. Merkle

Merkle is a data-driven customer experience company with over 30 years of experience helping brands improve their bottom line through a variety of consulting services. It offers programmatic advertising, SEM, and paid social services.

With a focus on customer experience and digital transformation, PPC is just a small part of what Merkle offers its clients.

Services & features

Merkle consults on digital transformation and customer experience strategy. It also helps its clients build digital platforms, design products, and create engagement and loyalty programs.

Clients

• Burger King
• Crocs
• Neutrogena
• Mini
• University of Kansas Health System

Best for

Product-based businesses that want to focus on creating transformative customer experiences.

5. Power Digital Marketing

Power Digital Marketing offers digital marketing solutions with a focus on growth marketing. In addition to PPC ad management, it also manages social and Amazon ads.

Power Digital Marketing is a one-stop shop for digital marketing across the entire funnel. It’s also built its own marketing intelligence tool it uses to gain new insights for its customers.

Services & features

Power Digital Marketing offers social media marketing services, SEO, public relations, website development, marketing operations, email marketing, SMS marketing, and content marketing services. It also has a branding and creative team.

Clients

• Casper
• Kate Somerville
• Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
• San Diego Housing Commission
• Catalina Crunch

Best for

Growth-focused brands that are looking for innovative digital marketing solutions.

6. WebFX

WebFX is a team of tech-enabled digital marketing experts and google PPC consultants that create a custom marketing strategy for each of its clients based on their business goals. It focuses on the metrics that matter most (like leads and revenue) to get the best results.

According to its site, WebFX has driven over $3 billion in sales and over 7.8 million leads for its clients.

Services & features

WebFX offers various marketing services, including SEO, lead generation, revenue marketing, conversion rate optimization, UX design, content marketing, and marketing automation.

Clients

• Kangol
• Sysco
• Subway
• YMCA
• Wrangler

Best for

Brands that are looking for a one-stop-shop for all their digital marketing needs.

7. Thrive Digital

Thrive Digital is a marketing company that partners with global brands, managing all aspects of their digital marketing. With over 11 years in the industry, they are always looking for cutting-edge ways to get better results for its clients.

Founded in Vancouver, Canada, Thrive Digital manages over $500M in annual marketing spend. It doesn’t have account managers, but has clients working directly with those planning, building, and optimizing their campaigns.

Services & features

Thrive Digital specializes in ecommerce, user acquisition, lead generation, and demand generation. It offers clients performance marketing, data and measurement, and creative services.

Clients

• Tempur-Pedic
• Uber
• Asana
• MasterClass
• Coinbase

Best for

Ecommerce and SaaS brands that want to bring in more customers and build brand awareness.

8. White Shark Media

White Shark Media is a full-service digital marketing team that takes an omnichannel approach to marketing. Its PPC services focus on Google and Microsoft ads management and paid social ad campaigns on Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

According to its site, it has over 14 years of experience and managed over 35,000 advertising campaigns. The team is bilingual with offices in Miami and Nicaragua.

Services & features

White Shark Media offers a range of digital marketing services, including paid advertising, SEO, and creative services. It also provides white-label PPC services.

Clients

• River Stonework
• Luel Restoration Studio
• Safe Credit Solutions Inc.
• GCX Healthcare Solutions
• McGRAW

Best for

Businesses with international audiences and agencies looking for white label PPC services.

9. Seer Interactive

Seer Interactive is a full-service marketing team that specializes in using technology and data to build and implement marketing strategies. It offers paid search and paid social services while also managing display ads.

While they were founded in Philadelphia, it’s now a remote-first workplace with over 250 full-time team members, freelancers, part-time employees, and interns across 31 states.

Services & features

Seer Interactive helps clients understand their audience with market intelligence and consumer insights. It builds campaigns offering SEO, creative, and paid media services while also providing analytics and conversion rate optimization.

Clients

• TIME
• Intuit
• Leafly
• Autodesk
• Terminix

Best for

Businesses that want to leverage big data to gain customer insights and take a data-driven approach to marketing.

How much does a PPC consultant cost?

PPC consultant cost depends on the PPC expert you hire and their fee structure. PPC consulting services typically use three different models:

• Flat fee: You pay a one-time fee per month (aside from any initial setup costs). This cost can range from $1,500 to $10,000+ monthly. Some PPC specialists use a tiered model where your flat rate depends on your overall PPC budget.
• Percentage of ad spend: Charges a percentage of total ad spend. This cost can be anywhere from 10% to 20% of ad spend. However, the percentage typically decreases as your ad budget increases.
• Performance-based: Charges based on the campaign’s performance, such as the number of leads brought in through the PPC account. However, this isn’t always the best route because the leads may not all be high-quality.

And that doesn’t include the actual ad spend, which can average $9,000 to $10,000 monthly. However, you can start with PPC ads for less. To know the exact pricing, get a custom quote.

What is their role in a PPC advertising campaign?

Here are some of the roles a PPC consultant plays in the management of your paid search and social ad campaigns:

• PPC strategy: At the start of any PPC campaign, your consultant will create a strategy based on your industry, data they collect from previous campaigns, and their industry experience.
• Keyword research: At HawkSEM, we find a mix of “money keywords” we know will drive revenue and long-tail thought leadership topics using our ConversionIQ, our proprietary PPC keyword research tool.
• Ad copy: Your consultant knows what great PPC ad copy looks like. They’ll write the ad copy for your campaign and tweak it over time to optimize the messaging for the best results.
• Analytics: PPC analytics is another element of consulting that identifies what’s working and what’s not. They’ll track campaign elements like PPC call tracking, budget, and other metrics.
• Optimization: Your consultant will optimize your ads over time to lower CPC, improve conversions, and lower customer acquisition costs. This will improve the results of your campaigns.
• Management: PPC ads aren’t something you can set and forget. A PPC consultant will manage your campaigns and ad spend while minimizing expenses.

(Image: Unsplash)

What are the benefits of a PPC consultant?

PPC advertising requires you to spend money any time someone clicks your ad, so it’s not something beginners should DIY. Though you may think it’ll save you money to manage the ads yourself, it’ll cost you more in the long run.

A PPC expert can save you time and money by making strategic decisions based on their experience. They know what works and what probably won’t, and how to test and optimize for best results.

For example, leading business financial factoring company New Century Financial partnered with HawkSEM to grow its client base, improve CPA and lead quality, and improve landing pages.

Its years of digital marketing efforts gave us plenty of data to work with, and through consulting about its goals and initiatives, we were able to create a cohesive, omni-channel approach. As a result, NCF saw conversions increase six times while cutting CPA by a massive 80%. Read the full case study.

Here are the biggest benefits of hiring a PPC consultant:

You don’t have to learn all the complexities of PPC marketing

PPC ad platforms are just as complex as the strategies behind the ad campaigns. When you hire someone with experience to set up, optimize, and manage your PPC ad campaigns, you’re more likely to get the best results.

The alternative is to have someone on your team spend hours learning how to run PPC ads. And even after they learn the basics, they still won’t have the experience to overcome unique challenges with bidding strategies, competition, or something else.

Get traffic that leads to conversions

Not all traffic is good traffic. And the more money you spend on driving poor-quality traffic to your landing page, the more money you waste on non-converting visitors.

PPC consultants have the know-how to create a PPC ad strategy that brings in the right kind of traffic — aka potential customers from your target audience with a high intent to purchase.

Write better PPC ad copy

Great ad copy can improve your click-through rate and conversions. If you’re not a copywriter or PPC expert, then writing PPC ad copy may not come easily to you.

However, a PPC consultant knows what great ad creative looks like and can create ad copy that gets results. No more nightmares about those 90-character description limits!

Save time optimizing your PPC ads

When you partner with a PPC consultant , you don’t have to worry about whether you’re getting the best possible results with your ads. They will optimize your ads to achieve the best cost-per-click (CPC), click-through rates, and conversions.

(Image: Unsplash)

Different types of PPC consultants

There are three types of PPC consulting services:

• A PPC agency: Paid search is the main driver of ROI for most digital advertising plans, so most marketing agencies specialize in PPC. Also, an agency is virtually unmatched in resources and breadth of expertise. Rather than working with a single person, you have a team with a diverse range of skills.
• A PPC consultant: A consultant can be a more cost-effective option for small businesses and others with tight budgets. Working with a consultant also allows you to form a relationship with your expert, ask questions directly, and work one-on-one to solve problems.
• An in-house PPC specialist: With an in-house PPC specialist, you have a dedicated PPC expert working daily on just your program. While it’s more of an investment to bring on a full-time employee with a salary and benefits, you can also work closely with this person, align your communication styles, and create a path for growth.

5 signs it’s time to hire a PPC consultant

So how do you know the time is right to hire a PPC consultant? Here are several signs our clients experience before they hire us.

1. You don’t know how to get started

You know you want to start using PPC ads to drive more qualified traffic to your website and increase conversions. But you don’t know how to start. Google AdWords feels foreign and just the mention of “algorithms” makes you shudder.

This is a great time to chat with a PPC consultant. They’ll help you decide if now is the right time to start PPC ad campaigns based on your marketing goals.

2. You’re ready to invest

While most businesses could benefit from PPC ads, not everyone has the budget. Once you have the budget to invest in both the ad spend and hiring a professional, you’re likely in a good place to start.

3. You’re currently running PPC ads without a strategy

Some clients come to us after failed attempts to run paid search and social ads campaigns on their own. Sometimes it’s because they don’t have the knowledge or experience to create an effective ad strategy.

If you feel you’re flying blind with Google, Amazon, or Facebook ads, it may be time to bring in an expert to develop a data-driven strategy for your PPC marketing campaigns.

4. Your paid search results have plateaued

Hit a plateau with your current paid search ad campaigns? Does it seem like no matter what you do, you can’t get better results? This is a great time to connect with a PPC consultant.

When you work with a consultant that has managed millions of dollars in ad spend across multiple industries, you’re benefiting from their knowledge and experience. Something that may not seem obvious to your team may be the key to getting better ad results.

5. You want to scale your PPC ad efforts

Managing $2m in ad spend takes a different level of skill and experience than managing $2k in ad spend. If you’re currently running PPC campaigns, but want to significantly increase your spend, it’s time to bring in an expert.

Even if you have successfully run PPC ad campaigns in-house, it takes a different approach to scale PPC ads. Working with a consultant experienced in managing bigger budgets will make scaling smoother.

(Image: Unsplash)

What do I look for in a PPC consultant?

Search for PPC consultants with a certain skill set and process for optimal results. When hiring a new PPC consultant company, look at the following.

Years of experience & track record

When you’re looking for a PPC consultant, it’s important to find someone who is experienced. You want to hire someone with a strong background in this type of advertising.

When interviewing consultants, ask about their years of experience. How long have they worked with other clients in your industry? With your ad budget? With your goals?

Track record of success

Not only do you want to find a consultant who’s experienced, but you want to make sure that person also has a track record of successful PPC campaigns.

Ask for references or testimonials from companies they’ve worked with. Read over their case studies to see the types of results they achieved for clients.

HawkSEM helped industry leader CDL consultants increase PPC conversion volume by 124% and decreased cost per acquisition by nearly 22%. Check out the case study.

PPC specialties

Not all PPC consultants work on every ad platform. Many PPC agencies specialize in multiple types of pay-per-click ads. But some focus on the one or two platforms they know best.

Hire a PPC consultant that specializes in the type of PPC ads you plan to run. For example, an ecommerce brand may look for an Amazon PPC consultant to manage its Amazon ads.

Communicative process

At HawkSEM, we know how important PPC ads are to our clients’ overall marketing strategies. That’s why we regularly communicate the progress and results of our PPC consulting efforts through regular meetings and real-time dashboards.

So ask about the consultant’s process for providing progress updates. For instance, how often do they provide reports? How often do you meet with them? This reveals what it’s like to work with them.

How do I find and hire a PPC consultant?

You’re ready to hire someone with in-depth knowledge of and experience with paid search and social campaigns. But where do you find them?

Choosing the type of hire

Before looking for potential candidates, decide what type of hire you want to make. There are a few ways you can work with a PPC ad consultant:

In-house: Hiring an in-house employee to manage your PPC ads is only best if it makes sense financially for your business. Those with large ad budgets or expansive PPC campaigns may choose this option if it’s worth the cost and time of hiring a new part-time or full-time employee.

Contractor or freelancer: Hiring a contractor or freelancer makes sense for those who aren’t ready to hire in-house but still need support from an expert. The downside is you’re entrusting the success of your campaigns to just one person who may not have the experience or bandwidth to get the best results.

Not to mention, most freelancers work on a contract basis. And the contract can likely be canceled any time by either party — great if you want to cut ties with the contractor, but not so great if they leave you hanging.

Where to find PPC consultants

Where you find your PPC consultant will depend on the type of hire. For an in-house consultant, post on a job board like LinkedIn or Indeed. If you’re hiring for a senior position, work with a recruiter who specializes in SEM hires to find the right fit.

If you’re hiring a freelancer, you can also post on all the regular job boards, noting that it’s a freelance position. You can also look on freelancing sites like UpWork and MarketerHire, or even ask for recommendations from your colleagues.

The takeaway

The right PPC consultation can put you on the path for more effective paid search campaigns and an improved return on ad spend. It’s all about finding the best PPC consultants for the job.

Our team of experts works day in and day out to analyze and improve PPC performance for our clients. Using the latest technology, our decades of combined industry experience, and our own ConversionIQ platform, we don’t aim to just meet your business goals – we aim to crush them.

How do we do it? As a fully remote agency, we can work with high-performing marketing talent from all over the country. And having had several years of business growth this way, we were thrilled to have been recognized as one of the Best Companies for Remote Workers by Quartz.

We’ve seen how happy employees lead to happy clients. Ready to jump on board and get happy, too? Let’s talk.