When it comes to paid advertising, one of the biggest hesitations and the largest resistance to PPC comes down to expectations: Will the cost justify the return?

Setting Expectations

Every agency has to answer this question at some point. While there are no guarantees, the answer to this question can be a pivotal point in learning the agency you are working with, their methodology, and where they can help to set your expectations.

If you come across an agency that offered an iron-clad first position placement for every keyword you wanted – I’d suggest setting that expectation level at highly skeptical. If it’s for a extremely low cost, I would tell you to run while you can.

Breaking the Ground and Digging Deep

The truth is with paid advertising, agencies have access to a wealth of statistics they can tap into to help set realistic expectations. That process starts with building a personal relationship with you, your business and an understanding of your marketing goals. The initial consultation shouldn’t be a grand sales pitch, but rather a conversation to understand your products, services, areas of growth and profitability and what sets you apart from the competition.

Setting the Foundation

Once your PPC team has a good understanding of your business, they can tap into that wealth of historical and statistical data. By knowing the specific terminology that will drive your business goals, they can start to set achievable expectations for your account.

Building a Solid Framework

Part of the discovery process is more than just knowing who and what to target, but who and what not to target. Understanding those areas in-between that may not provide a return helps to shape overall expectations.  Armed with this knowledge, your PPC team should be able to provide realistic expectations based on user behavior and search volume down to click and lead potential for the account.

Craftsmanship and Attention to Detail

When working with a quality agency, you shouldn’t see the false promises for instant return at low-low costs. What you will see is a group invested in your success, with realistic expectations and communication of the support required to achieve those goals. They should be able to clearly articulate the amount of time and money that will be required to meet your goals.

At Blueprint, the attention to detail that starts with our discovery process flows through to your account setup and ongoing optimization. We take the time to build a highly crafted campaign and can set reasonable expectations based on known performance standards. Our commitment to your success is rooted in our passion for what we do.

By: Jeff