When you’re feeling under the weather, it’s tempting to fall into a search engine rabbit hole of googling symptoms, when you know that the better option is getting a medical professional’s opinion.
The same goes for your business’s pay-per-click (PPC) plan. Stick with me here.
Even the most experienced digital marketing pros can hit walls when scaling and optimizing campaigns through platforms like Google Ads (formerly Google Adwords) and Bing Ads. That’s where a good PPC consultation comes in.
When a DIY approach becomes overwhelming (there are a lot of paid search tips out there, after all), having an expert give your efforts a once-over could be just the thing you need to properly diagnose what’s ailing your marketing campaigns so you can build, revamp, or grow your paid search program with success.
What is a PPC Consultation?
A PPC consultation is when a pay-per-click advertising professional provides a business with advice and insights on their current or planned PPC marketing efforts.
At HawkSEM, we conduct consultations in the form of PPC advertising audits. These multi-step audits offer a bird’s-eye view of where a potential or current client’s paid search plan currently stands: from what’s in place on what platforms to what is and isn’t working. (More on these steps below).
Results are everything
HawkSEM in 90 seconds
Ecommerce media company ThriftBooks was looking for an agency to help its team align PPC campaigns, boost ROAS, and grow revenue. Through that search, they found HawkSEM. After a PPC consultation that involved an audit of their efforts, we were able to uncover a new customer acquisition strategy that resulted in a 50% higher average order value while increasing clickthrough rates (CTR) by 35% year over year.
10 Steps to a Successful PPC
Campaign Audit
Not only does a PPC audit give you a better idea of where your program stands, but it can offer business transparency when it comes to marketing efforts.
At HawkSEM, our audit process involves a discovery call and goal discussion with our team, a free multi-step audit, year-over-year performance projections, and an in-depth review of the audit and projections.
No matter who you work with on your PPC audit, here are some of the steps we recommend taking:
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1.
Check conversion tracking
To start, it’s crucial to double-check that conversions are tracking properly. This is also a time to remove legacy tags, make sure tracking is applied to all relevant actions, and resolve any inactive or unverified statuses with Google’s Tag Assistant
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2.
Assess account structure
Is there a consistent naming structure for campaigns and ad groups? Is A/B testing set up for each ad group? Are ads filtered with labels?
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3.
Analyze search terms and keywords
Conduct keyword research to ensure each ad group has relevant keywords and that the negative keyword list is up to date. This is also the time to assess keyword match types and add longtail keywords if needed to reach as many potential customers as possible
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4.
Review ad content
Here’s where we check that ad copy features the right keywords, proper grammar, and no misspellings. It’s also the time to review ad images, CTAs, and ad platform policies to ensure compliance.
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5.
Optimize assets
Formerly called ad extensions, assets let you add extra context and info to your PPC ads. You can leverage multiple assets, but low performers should be removed or edited. You can add assets like location, call extensions, ratings, and images.
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6.
Review landing pages
Here’s where we check that the landing pages connected to your paid search ads are optimized for maximum conversion rates. That means reviewing elements like design, calls to action (CTAs), imagery, and messaging to ensure proper targeting and a seamless user experience.
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Analyze bid strategy
Your bid management strategy will, of course, depend on your business goals. We can adjust bid strategies based on goals like conversions, target cost per action (tCPA), return on ad spend (ROAS), and enhanced cost per click (ECPC).
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8.
Check out targeting settings
From location and device to timing and remarketing, we get up close and personal with your targeting to ensure your campaign reaches the right people in the right place at the right time.
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Look for outdated rules or scripts
Old scripts can hinder your campaign’s success – we hate to see it. As one of the final audit steps, we check that there are no rules or scripts running that could impede your plans.
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10.
Review findings and reports
Finally, after we’ve gathered all this info, we create a report that shows takeaways, key findings, and more, to help you build and optimize a better, more efficient PPC campaign management process moving forward.
Enhance Your PPC Efforts
Your business is too important to let just anyone handle your PPC strategy.
You need a partner who can deliver results like these:
Different types of PPC Consultants
When you’re exploring PPC consulting services, you have a few choices. The one you choose will depend on a variety of factors, from your goals and ad budget to the size of your company and the level of dedication you want to your PPC account.
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A PPC agency
Since paid search is one of the main drivers of most digital advertising plans in terms of return on investment (ROI), most marketing agencies specialize in PPC. Not only that, but an agency is virtually unmatched when it comes to resources and breadth of expertise. Rather than working with a single person, you have access to a team with a diverse range of skills.
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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 with them one-on-one to solve problems that may arise.
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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.
Leading business financial factoring company New Century Financial partnered with HawkSEM to grow their client base, improve CPA and lead quality, and improve landing pages. Their years of digital marketing efforts gave us plenty of data to work with, and through consulting with them about goals and initiatives, we were able to create a cohesive, omni-channel approach. As a result, NCF saw conversions increase six times over while cutting CPA by a massive 80%.
PPC vs. SEO
With all this PPC talk, you may be wondering how (or if) search engine optimization or SEO comes into play. While you can focus your efforts on just one of these methods, it’s no secret that leveraging both is the key to a successful, well-rounded digital marketing plan.
The main difference between PPC and SEO is that PPC involves paying for clicks you receive on paid search ad campaigns you create and launch, whereas SEO involves attracting traffic from organic search engine results through means like content marketing, social media, your website, and online business profiles.
There are pros to each avenue. While you’ll pay more for PPC, you’ll also see faster results. While SEO is more of a long game, it’s also more affordable and helps you establish important brand authority.
Our years of experience tell us that the best digital marketing strategies involve both SEO and PPC.
The ConversionIQ™ System
Our clients deserve the best. That’s why we created an easy way to get a full picture of your marketing efforts, no matter how many campaigns and channels you’ve got in play.
Meet ConversionIQ
We created this exclusive platform to connect all of your marketing tools into one centralized dashboard. Sync important metrics from Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, social media apps, CRM platforms like Hubspot, Google Analytics, and more. This fosters transparency and cohesion for your team while helping you spot campaign strengths and weaknesses in a flash. The results: Better optimization, more focused targeting, and improved ROI.
ConversionIQ is all about driving actionable insights, creating high-quality conversions, and boosting your bottom line.
PPC Consultation: What Does It Cost?
Of course, fees vary from company to company. It may also depend on factors like your marketing budget. When it comes to PPC agencies, these businesses typically charge a flat fee of $2,500 – $10,000 or more per month.
Other pricing options include:
- Percentage of ad spend
- An hourly rate
- A performance-based fee
At HawkSEM, we typically charge a straightforward flat fee without setup costs – easy breezy.
Meet The Team
How a PPC Consultation Benefits Your Business
PPC consultations can shine a light on so many aspects of your strategy that you might be missing. From strengths and weaknesses to untapped target audience segments and underused channels, having someone who offers a fresh set of eyes and ideas might be a game-changer for your program.
We get it: It’s easy to get mired in managing all of the day-to-day tasks that come with running effective digital marketing strategies. PPC consultations can help illuminate the path forward, where next-level business growth lies.
The HawkSEM Difference
If we had to condense our mission into a single word, it would be “results.” But we know we’re not the only agency that thinks that. So, what makes us truly stand out?
At HawkSEM, every member of our team is an experienced digital marketing pro with years of industry know-how.
Because of that, 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 agency nationwide, 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.
But while SEM might be in our name, we do more than search engine marketing – much more.
Along with PPC management services, additional HawkSEM deliverables include:
- 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
Is It Time To Partner With A PPC Agency?
If you’ve gotten this far, then it’s safe to say a PPC agency partnership might be on your horizon.
It might be time to partner with a new PPC agency if:
- You’ve been burned by a past agency and didn’t see the results you were promised
- You’re struggling to scale manageably
- Competitors are stealing market share
- You need tasks taken off your plate – and put into good hands
If this sounds like you, then we’ve got good news: You’ve come to the right place.
HawkSEM has been hand-selected as a Google Premier Partner and Microsoft Advertising Partner
We make things happen …but don’t take our word for it:
CSUN
Patch Of Land
Google Partner
Google Premier Agency
The Bottom Line
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’re able to 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 look for team members who can help us build a company culture based on FLIGHT:
- Flexible
- Leaders
- Impactful
- Growth-minded
- High standards
- Transparent
We’ve seen how happy employees lead to happy clients. Ready to jump on board and get happy, too? Let’s talk.
Request a Free Consultation
No BS, just results. Average clients see a 4.5x ROI
- Dramatically improve ROI
- Outperform the competition
- Increase conversion volume
- Better track ROI
- Reduce cost per acquisition
- Improve lead quality