The 10 Most Important Questions to Ask Any Potential Agency

The Paid SearchRFP Guide

IntroductionPicking the right paid search agency is hard. While the overall service being sold is the same, the quality of service and execution can vary. Search marketing takes the perfect combination of strategy and optimization in order to be successful. If you're considering work-ing with a paid search marketing agency, it’s important to know what questions to ask in your RFP to ensure you end up with the right agency for your company.

Here are some cut and dry questions to bring up the next time you’re vetting your next agency!

1How will you measure and track ROI?

Takeaways:

1. Tracking tools should be customized to fit your needs.

2. Stay away from agencies using proprietary tools.

3. Make sure the tool used to measure and track ROI fit with the marketing channels you’re using.

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Consider This...! A good agency should leverage the best in class tracking tools and customize the tools used to fit your needs. These in-clude site wide analytics, ad server measurement tools, re-search tools and tag management tools.

! Google has a good stack and there are many other op-tions that may be a better fit for you. Part of the consideration should be what type of budget you have and what other mar-keting channels you’re working with. If a large portion of your conversions come from social, display and CRM channels, you may want a more sophisticated tool like DoubleClick, Ma-rin or Kenshoo. If you’re only running paid search and retarget-ing through the Google Display Network, a simple conversion code placed directly on your site can be used at no cost.

! Drill into what each agencies’ capabilities are in this area. Be leery of an agency that uses only one technology stack and more so, avoid proprietary tools. Anything owned and cre-ated by an agency carries risk of not having validation.

! No matter what your goal, you want a third party tool that is fully developed and trusted. You want numbers you can compare to against your own tool stack and confirm are accu-rate. And you want an agency that knows these platforms in-side and out so they’re set up to pull the right levers and drive performance for your brand.

2How often will we communicate about the performance of my campaign?

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What You Should Expect...! Communication is essential to the ongoing success of any PPC campaign. A great agency will report to you at least once per month and have a standing monthly phone call as well. Most agencies will provide some sort of weekly automated reporting so you can stay up-to-date with your results.

! Outside of monthly phone calls, look for an agency that will proactively reach out when they see opportunities to improve your ac-count. Is the agency willing to contact you before you contact them? Or are they just waiting for you to let them know you’re not happy with the results? When interviewing a new potential agency, make sure you work hard to understand how they handle on-going commu-nication whether it’s related to reporting or optimizations.

! No matter what agency you work with, you should know who your dedicated account manager is and be able to reach them dur-ing business hours should anything come up. Has it been over a month since you spoke to your account manager? Or even worse, can you even remember who your account manager is? If the answer is no, then your account probably isn’t getting the TLC it de-serves.

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Don’t Forget:1. At a minimum, you should be receiving monthly phone calls.

2. You should know who your agency representative is.

3. Your agency should be proactively reaching out.

3What kind of reporting do you provide?

To Sum It Up:

1. Ask how you can pivot your data and in what ways it will be analyzed.

2. Make sure custom reports are not only doable, but accessible in a reasonable amount of time.

3. Don’t settle for basic reporting. A good agency should be able to provide a full range of data analysis.

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The Answers You’re Looking For...! The type of reporting you’ll receive from your agency will depend on:

1. The type of conversions you’re trying to track.

2. The goals you have set in place.

For example, if you’re an eCommerce company, it might be im-portant for your reporting to be pivotable by product category, manufacturer, or landing page. If your business is driven by leads, simple conversion tracking might be all you need. Before hiring any agency, make sure they are capable of analyzing the data in a meaningful way for your company.

! Most agencies will say they can analyze the data in any way you ask them to, but the true test is whether or not they can do that in a reasonable amount of time. If the only data structure available is the account structure, cross dimensional analysis is difficult and time consuming. If advanced forms of re-porting is difficult for the agency to do, it’s a sign they don’t have the technology you need or the manpower to do it.

4If I switch agencies, what will happen to my account?

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To Elaborate...! Look for an agency that will set you up for success, even if the relationship should end. Your account should be your ac-count, no ifs, ands, or buts. Be wary of agencies that refuse to set up an independent account— it can be used as a tactic to keep you locked into their services. Agencies that take owner-ship of the account are giving you an ultimatum: stay with them or start from scratch next time around.

! If you’re really looking for an agency willing to stand be-hind it’s results, find an agency that will go use month-to-month contract terms. If the results aren’t there, you can walk away at anytime.

We’ll keep this one simple. If you can’t keep ownership of your account, RUN!

5Are you able to handle accounts with multiple lead goals?

The Nitty Gritty

1. Come prepared with some potential goals in mind.

2. Ask how they plan to track each of the unique goals.

3. Determine how multiple lead goals will effect the overall strategy.

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What to Ask...Business isn’t black and white. Neither are a business’ goals. It’s common for a single PPC account to have multiple goals and metrics, such as:

1. Sales

2. Revenue

3. Conversion Rate

4. Downloads

5. Leads (by type)

The ability to work with in-platform conversion monitoring as well as external reporting and analytics programs is imperative when working with multiple lead goals. Ask any potential agency how they plan to track different goals and report on each one.

6What do you do for landing page/website optimization?

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What You Need to Know...! When evaluating your future agency partner, make sure you understand what they do for your account beyond the click. Driving traffic to your website is one thing, but being able to convert that traffic into actual sales is a whole other ballgame. An agency that is ready to do things the right way should be living by one mantra and one mantra only: always challenge the champion. That means there should almost always be A/B testing to ensure your campaign is getting you the best results possible.

! Most agencies should have in-house resources to help develop and optimize landing pages to maximize the results from your campaigns. Your agency should ensure that your site is up to industry best practices so you get the most bang for your buck. While your company might also have internal resources that can handle development, you’ll want your agency of choice to be experts in on-site conversion tactics.

So That Means:1. Ask how often A/B tests will be run on your account.

2. Determine if the agency provides development and design resources.

3. Have them take a look at your current site/landing pages and suggest a few on-site optimizations.

7Who will be managing the campaign and how many accounts do they manage?

Recap:

1. Ask who will be managing your account before signing a contract.

2. Remember that bid management software can’t replace analysis from real people.

3. Get a detailed answer when it comes to how often people will actively be looking at and interacting with your account.

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The Scoop...! An agency isn’t one person, but there will be one very im-portant person who should know the ins and outs of your cam-paign. That special person is your account manager. Before signing on the dotted line, don’t hesitate to ask who will be man-aging your account, what their experience is, and what certifica-tions they hold.

! Even the best account managers can be unsuccessful when spread too thin. Unfortunately it’s become all too-common to see agencies that take new clients, build the account, and then just let them run using bid management software.

! While searching for that perfect fit, get a good understand-ing of the bandwidth that will be committed to your account on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Every account should have a dedicated account manager who is capable of analyzing your data, as well as a team of people dedicated to the optimization and improvement of your account overtime.

8How does your SEM strategy work with offline and other online channels?

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The Low Down..! One of the biggest opportunities and yet toughest challenges facing today is successfully integrating the power of offline advertis-ing with their online channels. Not all agencies have the experience to successfully bring together offline and online marketing. Some basics to keep in mind:

1. Will call tracking be implemented to capture data for any orders/leads placed over the phone?

2. Does the agency create landing pages with unique tracking URLs to help accurately measure the success of an offline source?

3. How does the agency align your search marketing campaigns with your offline messaging by ensuring your PPC campaigns tar-get the same words and terms used in your offline advertising?

It’s likely that a conversion might be the result of multiple touch points across different channels. As such, it’s important to understand how your potential agency measures when the acquisition of a new customer was the result of multiple promotions. Does the credit go to the first touch point, last touch point, or both? Measurement methods will vary based on the end goal of your company. Just make sure you and your agency is on the same page before getting started.

To Summarize:1. Ask what methods the agency will use to track offline leads.

2. Assess how conversions will be recorded for customers who have come through multiple channels.

3. Look for an agency that has experience integrating online and offline channels.

9How much money does your largest client spend per month? How much does your smallest client spend per month? How does your service level differentiate between small and large clients?

Boiled Down:

1. Find an agency that fits the size of your ad spend.

2. Don’t shy away from agencies that work with larger clients, just make sure you’re asking the right questions in your RFP to ensure they’ll give your account the time it deserves.

3. Ask your potential agency how they customize their services to fit your needs and size.

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Keep In Mind...! For some agencies, your account will be too small. For other agencies, your account will be way too big. But eventu-ally, you’ll find an agency where your account is just right. Where your account falls on a future agency’s size spectrum isn’t everything, but it will help you get a sense of what type of accounts they’re used to handling.

! If their largest clients are tiny compared to you, it’s proba-bly not a good sign. On the other side of things, if their largest clients would blow you out of the water, there’s a good possibil-ity your account isn’t going to get the time and care it needs. You don’t necessarily need to shy away from agencies that work with bigger clients, just make sure they have the band-width to commit to your company.

! No matter what agency you pick, the amount you spend will dictate the types of activities that go into your account on a daily basis. Look for an agency that can customize a model to fit your needs, while still providing excellent service and top-notch reporting.

10What is your new client on-boarding process?

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The Run Down...! An agency’s on-boarding process is what will set the stage for the rest of the relationship. While it is easy to be swayed dur-ing the sales process, it is the on-boarding process that will ulti-mately determine whether the relationship will be successful. A good on-boarding process is where knowledge will be trans-ferred between teams, goals and expectations will be set, and relationships will be formed.

! Look for an agency that includes the following in the on-boarding process:

1. Understanding past successes and failures

2. Defining success (leads, CPA, ROI, etc.)

3. Identifying key channels to focus on

4. Establishing main POC and decision makers for both teams

5. Required data for reporting

6. Desired communication frequency

7. Timelines and deadlines for deliverables and campaign launches

8. Setting of expectations

!Short And Sweet:

1. Don’t skip over the on-boarding during the sales process.

2. Look for an agency that takes a detailed approach to on-boarding their new clients.

3. Use the on-boarding process as a time to define expectations and goals.

A sample of who we work with:

Need more advice writing your RFP?Send us a note, we’re happy to help!

Contact us today!