I'm a Google Qualified AdWords Qualified Individual, and my business appears on Google's partner search. Google has recently revamped the way that they expect their third party AdWords partners to provide information to their clients. The new requirement means that AdWords providers (like me) need to provide the client the following information:
- Ad spend on AdWords advertising
- Number of Impressions
- Number of Clicks
This change will be incorporated into the legal terms and agreements in February 2011
Why the Change in Requirements
Brad Geddes over at Search engine land recently posted an article with his theories as to why Google is forcing partners to become more transparent with their AdWords reporting. His reasoning was essentially that some advertisers may come to the conclusion that advertising with Google AdWords doesn't work if their AdWords manager is taking too much of the management fee and putting it in their own pocket. The theory is that the transparency will allow advertisers to more accurately assess whether a lack of return on investment is due to AdWords or due to the ad agency. An advertiser with failed ad campaigns may be inclined to work with another agency as opposed to abandoning Google AdWords altogether.
My Opinion on the New AdWords Transparency
The way that I do business won't be affected by this change in policy. All of my current clients have access to all of this data required by Google in various formats:
- All advertisers have their own accounts in their name. I manage this account, but they have access to all of the data
- My monthly reports to clients provide a summary on page 1 of the report with all of this newly required data by Google
Even though I already comply with Google's requirements, I don't think that these new transparency rules should be necessary. If an advertiser is getting solid ROI on their advertising investment - then great. If they aren't, they need to find other channels for their ad budgets. Although I supply spend, impression, and click data, at least half of my clients only care about spend - and how much revenue they were able to achieve from the ad spend. My clients are too busy running their businesses to dive deep into the numbers. Many of my clients would find it overwhelming to deal with all of the data - which is why they have outsourced a significant part of their advertising effort to me.
I'm also completely transparent with my fee structure. My fees for AdWords Management start at $750/month and these fees are posted on my website. I should note that the services provided aren't limited strictly to AdWords management. To have an efective AdWords campaign, you need to have effective conversion-oriented landing pages. I construct websites, microsites, and landing pages that are completely in tune with the AdWords advertising campaigns to increase conversion rates and help to assure my clients are achieving a high ROI.
Another reason I don't think that the new rules should be required is that I'm already completely transparent with the data. It serves as a great differentiator for me versus other AdWords providers. My clients have access to all of the data, and I meet with each of them in person monthly to discuss the performance of the advertising campaigns.
Why I Provide Clients Access to All Data
There are large companies out there who conduct online marketing using a "black box" approach. Clients pay for their services but don't really know what their AdWords provider is doing. I have multiple clients who have worked with larger companies for their AdWords needs - become disillusioned with their approach, and are now working with me.
I provide clients access to all AdWords data as well as monthly reports so that they can see the value that I provide. It helps to illustrate for clients my activities, the numbers that reflect the result of my activities in AdWords - along with the associated revenue they have received from my efforts. It just makes sense to be open and show the value that I provide on a monthly basis. The openness, face to face meetings, and monthly reporting affirms each month that my clients made the right choice to work with me. Outsourcing complex tasks like AdWords and landing page management makes sense for small business owners - who need to be focused on the daily operations of their business.
How Does This Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?
If you're looking to hire an Agency to manage your AdWords advertising, you need to be able to measure the value that the agency is providing. Online marketing provides the best method available for marketers to accurately quantitatively measure the results of their advertising campaigns. Most importantly, you need to ensure that you're getting a good return on investment for your advertising dollars. You need to have tracking methods in place to determine the actual value that is provided from your ag agency. At the very least, you need to be sure that you have Google Analytics and Google AdWords conversion tracking implemented on your website.
Less importantly, you need to make sure that the ad agency is complying with Google's requirements. The agency must provide you with ad spend data, along with the amount of clicks and impressions.