As an AdWords Client, I'm totally jazzed that someone within Google is going to be working with us to further refine our AdWords spend. I was getting ready to hire a third party provider in this area too. Not now, I'll wait until after this session is completed with me own official Google AdWords Representative. I'm sure glad I am listed as the Webmaster for all of my client websites.
Woohoo, I'm going to get some further Google AdWords training in the process, I like that. Thank you Google for being proactive! I'll surely be increasing our spend if things turn out as I expect. ;)
Help is good, if you can get it, and it's minus agenda. However, I'd still be pretty wary. Unfortunately I have yet to see an optimization done by Google that actually lowered costs and raised conversions (one of the reasons I am so very against the "Starter Edition" - it completely stacks the deck the wrong way against unsuspecting advertisers). But maybe it's just me.
Are you talking about Google calling clients who are already working with an agency or consultant, or just calling clients out of blue (which seems like your own situation) and offering to help?
Just calling clients out of the blue. They probably wouldn't know if you worked with an agency or not unless you were a large player at which time everyone knows who is who.
Help is good, if you can get it, and it's minus agenda. However, I'd still be pretty wary.
Ya, I'm a little wary but I'm willing to give it a try just to see if things can be improved. Also, we may be lacking in some areas in our campaigns and I'm going to guess that we'll get some much needed assistance in those areas. From Google themselves. If they have an agenda, I'll surely spot it real quick. Out of the box, I know they want us to spend more. I don't have any problems with that. If the representative can change things and further refine the campaigns to generate a higher ROI, etc. then what do we have to lose?
Do you think a third party Google AdWords Professional is going to do "much more" for me than a Google AdWords Representative from within the company? Other than take 20%+ of my AdWords Spend as a fee?
They probably wouldn't know if you worked with an agency or not unless you were a large player at which time everyone knows who is who.
Sure they would; if you have an existing account that's linked into an MCC.
Do you think a third party Google AdWords Professional is going to do "much more" for me than a Google AdWords Representative from within the company? Other than take 20%+ of my AdWords Spend as a fee?
Well *I* would, and I don't work on percentage, but I'm not taking clients (and specially not YOU; ork ork)
This is what I know. In my experience, the Google reps just do not and cannot know your market. Me, I seriously try to understand what I'm working on, including context. Many of my clients have been with me for years; I know their businesses almost as well as my own. Just the keyword suggestions I've gotten from Google have been so far off the mark I have to wonder why they'd even pass a QS review, and the ads have, at times, been misspelled and grammatically incorrect - not to mention dull and lifeless. (Sorry AWA, but gotta tell the truth as I see it here; P1R's a friend) Absolutely try them if they offer you free help. But do not, at *any* point, take your eyes off the ROI.
Sorry AWA, but gotta tell the truth as I see it here [...]
That exactly what I count on you for, netmeg, and why I think your feedback is so valuable. You call it like you see it, whether the feedback is positive or negative.
Fairmindedness + experience + candor = a very good thing in my opinion.
In the equation above I left out 'a good swift kick on occasion, when deserved' but that's a useful part of it too. ;)
[...] But do not, at *any* point, take your eyes off the ROI.
I especially like this part. It is very good for me to be able to remind folks here at Google of how we may be perceived.
My own viewpoint: Advertiser success comes first - our own success will naturally follow.
By the way, I passed this thread along to one colleague earlier, and will likely do so more widely.
AWA
Their recommendation included replacing campaigns with hundreds of phrases with single ad groups with 6 or 7 phrases.
Fortunately, I was able to show my managers what Google produced compared to what I've been doing. Even non-marketers could see the difference.
That said, Yahoo tried to get us to spend more money on a campaign they had "optimized". It was just as bad.
Yes, but they can make changes to your account without your concent. I beleive it in the TOS. I called Yahoo out on that and they quoted me soemthing from their TOS about making changes. Cost us a couple of grand, not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but thankfully we beleive in back ups. ;-)
The Google rep that "optimized" our account did a terrible job. All the stats took a hit and just kept getting worse.
Ultimately, it's your job to review their work before implementing. If you question their work, but still want to test it out, just activate 1 campaign at a time (or only a few ad groups for that matter), not the whole account! If you changed your entire account with a single optimization I would have expected such a change:) Everyone knows how testy Adwords campaigns can be.
When your rep calls and asks if you want an optimization performed on your account don't just say YES. Give them some specific guidelines to follow and then review/update their changes before implementing. In my experience this has worked pretty well. Oh and if you use Adwords Editor, make sure you export a backup before implementing so there is a fighting chance to revert back to the original.
AWA, I would love to see a realistic way to revert a campaign back to an earlier time. I know, I know, it's a terrible thing to need, but if you are in a situation where too many fingers are touching an account, sometimes it is necessary.
