Perhaps the most useful of entries on SEL to date. Brad Geddes writes on several PPC billing options for advertisers and agencies. Great Write Up Brad.
3 Comments
3 Comments
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Comments
Brad,Excellent write-up. It’s information like this, that I find useful to the community as a whole, and not necessarily the art of SEM or SEO. I utilize three options you’ve described, I like how you refer to SEM as agencies, which in a sense is in-line to what that specific portion of the industry is. An advertising agency. Just like every Ad Agency, SEM’s should pitch ideas and potential results vs experience. Many people disregard this portion of PPC, it is not simply buying keywords, but more about creating emotion by the user to click on these ads. I believe that anyone who sits in front of a potential customer and slides their sales pitch or billing options as "we research keywords for effective PPC" should be shot - literally. PPC is form of advertisement, advertisement is emotional.PPC should be part of an overall marketing campaign. Online videos etc... Radio is sold on Demographic, TV and Magazines is as well. Newspapers and PPC are sold based on reach first, demographics second. It’s why we purchase Google at the highest percentage of budget. In most media (sans-newspaper and PPC), the adopted ad agency commission is either taken from the venue. By providing additional services, to include SEO, Graphics, Video and Social Media - you can negotiate your fee, a general ad agency charges 15% of all paid advertisements, and some add on additional fees for extended services. I highly recommend a choice of billing options for clients, I utilize the Percentage of Profit (or Sales) option most, which is the most lucrative option for me. I decide how much I want to earn on this option, the more I do to increase leads, the more money I earn. I do everything including, work directly with their sales and management team to increase sales production based on leads generated, whether leads are by phone or online. I’m viewed as a partner and an asset. This option by far, is the greatest profit earned over time, it’s taken me 3 years to earn the 6 digit income from one specific client, but that income is based on Sales by the company and not by additional fees, therefore, I am never liability nor do I leave myself in a position to be removed from service. I’m a requirement - I believe the client said "Without you Lani, we don’t have a company" - imagine that kind of trust by a customer. A lot comes from the risk I took to take this customer on at sales profit verses monthly fee. 3 years ago, I was earning a quarter of what I do now from all my clients, personal responsibility just makes things more interesting and definitely more viable in the end.Doing research to on potential clients, can help you avoid taking on very high-risk clients, I do them before I say yes or no. I avoid Lasik or Drug companies, as that market is saturated. I leave those to the big dogs with the giant staff to service the customer. I’m already high-maintenance, last thing I need is a high maintenance client to deal with. it’s just not worth it for me.
Brad, This is one of your best articles. Agencies should be paying a lot of money to get this information!- anallawalla
Lani - thanks for all the comments. Those are some very good thoughts.Thanks, Ash - much appreciated.I think that its imporntant to not always address just tricks of the trade - but also show various ways of practicing business. I know I got into SEM in a backwards way, as did many people, and it’s been an interesting curve of learning more and more about the business side and how some of these decisisions can not only affect the success of your business, but also your value story, and most imporntantly, your customer’s eventual success and trust of your company.