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[Calculator] PPC Agency or In-house: What is the Right Fit for You?

Finding the ‘right fit’ is honestly what it’s all about. You can apply it to anything. Jeans? Yes. Car? Yes. The person you’re going to spend the REST OF YOUR LIFE WITH? You better. Finding the right fit for your professional and digital presence is equally important. The choice between PPC agency and in-house team for creating ads has baffled marketers for too long now. You might be struggling with the same issue and came here looking for answers. Let’s put an end to that problem right away.

Here’s a calculator built using Outgrow that might help you to decide whether to opt for a PPC agency or an in-house team. We’re hoping it’s the ‘right fit’ for you. 😛

While we’re on the topic of making difficult decisions, let us tell you a story. Yesterday, we celebrated the birthday of one of our colleague. Again, the problem of ‘finding the right fit’ was looming over our heads. Getting the perfect cake for her was exasperating. She is a girl of very particular interests, you know? In the end, this is what we came up with:

PPC agency or inhouse

Looks delicious, doesn’t it? It was made by yours truly. We know what you’re thinking, why didn’t we just order one. The simple answer is this: We were too ashamed.

But what’s that gotta do with PPC?

Marketers face the same dilemma while deciding between an agency and an in-house team for advertising and PPC campaigns. Your cake may be a bit less tasty, and a lot more rewarding but the burden of choice is real. It could affect the engagement of your website. You see two roads diverging in front of you; which one do you choose?

PPC agency or Inhouse

Pay-per-click (PPC), or cost per click (CPC), is an advertising model used to direct traffic to websites. In this model, the revenue is generated by the publisher when someone clicks on an ad sponsored by the advertiser.

You have two choices here: manage the PPC ad campaign yourself or outsource people to do it for you. Hiring an agency entails outsourcing the manpower that will lead your PPC and advertising campaigns. On the other hand, an in-house advertising team is usually owned and operated by the company itself.

Choosing the right way to go solely depends on your company’s needs and its dedicated ad budget. We can’t make that decision for you. We can, however, compare the choices and let them battle it out.

Round 1: Understanding the Company Needs

People who work in the company have a better understanding of the company’s vision and goals. They understand the business’ target audience, have dealt with the product/service(s) first-hand, and thus can better target the ads. On the other hand, an agency manager would not have any emotional connection with the company or its account.

This is vastly contradictory to an in-house marketer who has been working for the company for a while and is not reassigned routinely. Let’s just say communication is not a problem when it comes to in-house marketers.

Winner: In-house team

PPC agency or Inhouse

Winner:  Agency

Round 2: Contacts and Reach

A good agency has dedicated teams that work to optimize the ads on Google and other search engines. A straight line to help and support is a massive brownie point for the agency. Agencies are invited and are part of search marketing conferences and have contacts there as well.

In-house marketing can be good for a lot of reasons, but this is not one of them.

Winner:  Agency (On a roll)

PPC agency or Inhouse

Round 3: Commitment and Flexibility

An outsourced marketer will take far more time in making decisions than a company’s own employee. Every decision would have to be repeatedly checked by the company managers. Meanwhile, an in-house ad manager has the flexibility of taking the final call in emergency situations.

What would be an emergency situation, you ask? Well, let’s assume the geography you have selected for an ad campaign is only sending you spam traffic. You can’t wait around while your sales team gets spam leads. The ad manager needs to take swift action. Event-driven campaigns require similar prompt actions.

Winner: In-house team (Jinxed it!)

PPC agency or Inhouse

Round 4: Cost

This is one of the most important rounds. In fact, it is so important that it’s worth 2 points! The cost of hiring a PPC specialist can be higher or lower as opposed to hiring an agency. It all depends on your ad requirements. According to a research by MIT, the costs of hiring an employee are 25% to 40% higher than the base salary range if we include things like health and life insurance. The amount of resources and time invested in training the employee is another factor to keep in mind.

On the other hand, an agency is going to charge you to manage your PPC budget, resulting in either a higher PPC budget or a reduced spend with the search engines.

Winner: Penny for your thoughts?

You are the final judge. Your understanding of what your company needs is unrivaled. 

Two roads diverged, and we walked you through some of it. Choose the one that suits you best.

And we can only hope it will make all the difference.

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