Question

What should people look for in a good Google Ads manager? What are the red flags? I've been stung by SEO "experts" too many times and don't want the same to happen with Google Ads. (BTW this is respectfully not an invitation to start messaging me with offers to work with me. It's usually been those ones that have stung me).  

Answer 1

Get them to do a thorough account review with BESPOKE recommendations before paying them anything. Talk to at least one of their clients.  

Comments

The google ads freelancer who I know does like a 2 page opportunity report that I can see. also for you your sales pages will need to be good.  

Answer 2

Results, knowledge, communication skills, proactiveness. I’d concentrate on how you can evaluate these. Ask the right questions, set up a quick test and ask for cases for instance

Answer 3

Someone's that's got real experience in the trenches

Answer 4

The easiest way to find google guys is to ask what kind of experience they have in the niche you are working with. Good people are honest and will tell you what they have achieved and can do. Sometimes you will have someone who can show you results in other fields. In this case you have to evaluate, if you think the person can understand your niche quick enough to get results. The best google guys don't worship Google and they know it takes more than being found on Google to get good results and think with that.  

Answer 5

I usually insist that new potential clients call one of my existing clients. I think if I tell a client I increased someone's revenue it's not as authentic compared to first hand feedback.  

Answer 6

Experience on the type of industry or niche.  

Answer 7

@belabor My view on this is to have a conversation with the person/agency. Do you feel comfortable with them following the conversation, do they understand the issues you are having. What is their experience in the industry and wider experience? My clients feel comfortable with me due to my background at Google and the sheer variety of clients I have and do work with. I used to advice agencies to be more human have a normal conversation with their potential clients don't speak in jargon etc. If I can be of any help either to give you a few pointers in what to ask the agencies etc or if you want to have a conversation to see if I can help you please do not hesitate to get in contact.  

Comments

@tut6715 thanks, I did clearly request respectfully that people don't start private messaging me with offers of work.  

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@belabor Hi stuart sorry if you took it that way I thought I was clear it was to try and guide you around the protected categories that you work in with regards to what you can and can't do and how to structure things so that you can advertise fully the services that you can advertise without running into the restrictions

Answer 8

Real data from own ad accounts. Teamviewer or any screen sharing software just for them to show you their results. It will not hurt. You just ask for the metrics. Which can easily be shown. Reference clients can also be great but you still have to check if they are legit

Answer 9

Can’t argue with real data but also how I started was I didnt have clients but I said to mine that I would run through walls to figure out how to scale and if I can’t do it then I will hold my hands up. Learned a lot but clients appreciated that I cared so much (probably too much) that they then referred us on to other clients that were struggling and low and behold we nailed it with them. Give passion and dedication room to Flourish and it will deliver more to your business than you can imagine

Answer 10

Ask them to act like they already work with you. Let them know your industry/service and let them ask YOU questions about locations etc. They should build a campaign for you and show the results in 1 week. I know 1 week is not enough time to see real results but it should give you an idea if they are on the right track

Answer 11

You break down your KPIs from your clients long-term business objectives.  

Answer 12

Some of the red flags that we suggest watching out for are companies that spend more time "selling" you on how good they are rather than learning about your business. Guarantees are usually a red flag. Companies that don't present a logical marketing strategy, both short term and long term. My favorites are the ones where someone posts that they need a PPC manager and get 100 responses saying things like, "We have the best CTR in the business" or, in the case of SEO, "We guarantee you the top spot in 30 days. "

Answer 13

Easy if someone says they can get you what you want without running your campaign or a campijgn like yours they are lieing. I always say will put up best practices and test and then have a more realistic answer.  

Answer 14

Get real case studies from them

Answer 15

If they guarantee anything run. lol Every account is new and unique to the site so that's a good place to start.  

Answer 16

References. I have quite a few clients who I have worked with who will happily back up my credentials

Answer 17

Honestly. Look for a company that's an expert in your niche. That's my advice.  

Answer 18

Ask them for references. Do they or have they had Google Certification (this only means they passed a test not that they know what they are doing) and ask them about previous goals and expectations. You should see improvements in your KPI's (cost per conversion, cost per click etc could be kpi's depending on your business), over time. If after a few months you don't see an improvement in these numbers and the person has been actively managing the account it might be time to start to ask questions.