A primary reason for the astonishing success of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is that, if done right, it is not nearly as costly as TV or radio ads, yet more targeted and effective. So important and profitable has PPC marketing become, especially in the case of Google AdWords, that there are now quite a few companies that specialize in pay per click management, taking the do it yourself aspect out of the picture and promising excellent results.

These services are definitely worth a look, but should not erase the primary reason for pay per click marketing in the first place: its relatively cost-effective nature.

Customize
Most pay per click or adwords management firms offer a wide variety of services, including creating banner ads, writing ad copy, account maintenance, search engine optimization, keyword consulting, and more--anything and everything that will elicit more clicks from more customers.

But just because the pay per click management firm offers all those services doesnt mean that a total package is right for every client. On the contrary, some companies may already have good ad copy written, or know what key words they want, so no consulting is needed on that point.

Negotiate
Many adwords management companies will require an initial set up fee to get started and then a monthly fee to maintain the account. While this is understandable in some cases, it is also negotiable. After all, this is a competitive business.

For example, if a client has already done a lot of the tedious legwork of setting up a Google AdWords account, knowing what keywords will be used, and creating a compelling banner ad, then the set up fee should be decreased or waived, because theres minimal setting up necessary.

Especially if the client is on a tight budget, these miscellaneous fees can really add up.

Pay For Performance
The best pay per click management firms are stellar at proving, rather than merely claiming, how great their services work. Specific measurement metrics such as ROI per advertising dollar have been developed to illustrate why pay per click management is worth paying for.

The best pay per click management firm clients, meanwhile, get familiar with the usual metrics and see if they correctly measure the goals of the client. For instance, sometimes the idea behind an adwords management campaign is to increase visits to the company Web site. But other times the standard is much more specifically sales-oriented. In that case, the pay per click management firm should be able to prove that their services are directly leading to more sales.

If they cant do that, they probably shouldnt be receiving a monthly fee.

Death of a Sales Saying
The dream with pay per click advertising is to contradict the famous advertising maxim, I know I waste fifty percent of my advertising budget. I just dont know which fifty percent. A good pay per click management firm will try to find and eliminate the wasted fifty percent.

Sources
Google AdWords
Grow, Brian; Elgin, Ben. Click Fraud. BusinessWeek. October 2, 2006.