If you manage PPC campaigns or a team that does, we have some compelling insights we’d like to share that will help you take steps to increase productivity, improve your client communication and help you manage and grow your business.
Swydo along with solution providers God Tier, PPC Protect, Producthero and TrueClicks launched a survey initiative to better understand the unique challenges PPC specialists face. Over 500 respondents from around the world participated, representing agencies, brands/advertisers and freelancers.
The survey mission was to discover:
- Adoption and satisfaction of different agency pricing models
- Goals and challenges of specialists, managers and executives
- Adoption of tooling and who pays for it
- Insights into the agency-client relationship
- Satisfaction and adoption of platform automation
What follows is an overview of some of the data points concerning automation and client reporting.
Survey Fast Facts
- Overall the most popular PPC channels were Google, Facebook, Instagram, Microsoft and YouTube – but organizations spending over $500K/month preferred Microsoft and YouTube over social channels.
- Reporting, ad platform and tracking issues are leading causes of frustration for PPC specialists.
- Top “time suck” activities participants would like to automate are reporting, budget management, writing ads and search query mining.
- Only 5% of agencies use a performance based pricing model, but 39% see a trend toward clients wishing to switch to this model.
- 39% of agencies and freelancers agreed that it is becoming more difficult to demonstrate value to clients.
Do any of these issues sound familiar? Download The State of PPC Global Report now – and keep reading to learn how Swydo can help you tackle your reporting challenges.
Overview – Who Took The Survey
First, we’ll take a look at the individuals who participated in the survey by geography, type of organization and ad spend.
Geography
Two thirds of the respondents are from EMEA, a quarter represent North America, and the balance are located in the APAC region or Latin America.
Type Of Company
53% of respondents work at an agency, 28% work on an in-house advertising team, and 19% are freelancers.
Total Monthly PPC Spend
(Q2 2021)
$898K was the average monthly spend for all survey participants, further details shown in this chart. In contrast, agencies spend on average $1,266K per month, 2.5 times more than advertisers and freelancers, with 24% spending more than $500K per month.
Daily Operations Insights
Next we’ll explore findings based upon the daily activities of running PPC campaigns, with a close look at some of the key challenges the participants face.
Majority Use Multiple Platforms For PPC Campaigns
The top five most popular platforms for PPC campaigns are, not surprisingly, Google, Facebook, Instagram, Microsoft and YouTube. Digging deeper into the data, it is interesting to find that organizations spending more than $500K per month prefer Bing and YouTube to social media channels.
Reporting Issues Lead To Job Frustration
Reporting and related issues with ad platforms and tracking/data ranked highly across all survey participants as a major source of frustration. Client issues are also another challenge facing agencies and freelancers. One participant remarked:
“Too much (need to) focus on daily and operational tasks, instead of long-term and strategic tasks.”
Desire To Save Time Through Automation
Survey respondents were asked which activities take up too much of their time, and that they wished to automate. Monthly performance reporting, budget and KPI tracking were leading answers, along with search query mining and writing ads. A response that seemed to sum up much of the feedback received said:
“Campaign/account analysis… too much manual formula writing and data entry in spreadsheets along with a lack of data consolidation from a variety of sales/marketing platforms… Shopify, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Google Analytics, etc.”
Client Management Insights
A number of survey questions focused on exploring the agency-client dynamic, including budgeting, pricing and communication.
Clients Looking For Performance Based Pricing
We asked agency participants how they price PPC management services, and followed up to ask if their clients are leaning toward performance based pricing. While currently only 5% of agencies reported that they base pricing on a performance based model, 39% of those surveyed see a trend of clients wanting to switch to this pricing model.
Difficult To Demonstrate Value To Clients
Agency PPC specialists were asked if it is becoming more difficult to demonstrate the value they bring to clients, and a significant 39% agreed with that statement. When the full survey becomes available, we’ll be able to share with you the reasons that led to their response. One survey respondent, who doesn’t have problems showing value to clients, had this to share:
“Currently, we don’t have any issues proving our service value to clients, as alongside Swydo, we also use in-depth data from Analytics and other platforms to properly show our client’s the impact PPC actually has on their overall performance.”
Want To Know More? Download The Full Survey Results
The full results include details on the following:
- Breakdowns of team/organization size and industry
- Top operational challenges agencies face
- Clients tactical priorities
- Perceptions on Google Ads click fraud prevention and optimization scores
- Feedback from advertisers on agency satisfaction, and plans to move PPC in-house or search for new agency partners
- Most popular tools for project management, reporting, competitive analysis, optimization and more.
Download The State Of PPC Global Report 2022 today!
Tackle Your Operational And Client Challenges With Swydo
Through this survey, your peers shared their thoughts and opinions on a number of operational and client challenges they face daily, and that you most likely deal with as well. The good news is that Swydo can help you solve many of these reporting related issues – and you can try it for yourself, for free.
Combine Marketing Results Into One Report
- Integrate data from over 30 leading third party platforms like Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, Microsoft and YouTube into one comprehensive report
- Remove the frustration of logging into separate marketing channels and the need to cut and paste data into a spreadsheet
- Reduce human error from the process and save valuable staff time
Save Time With Report Automation And Scheduling
- Create, automate, schedule and share reports to send monthly, weekly or daily
- Save as much as 30-40 hours per month to use on campaign optimization and growing your business
- Boost productivity by utilizing report and brand report templates
Easily Track KPI And Goal Performance Over Time
- Compare campaign performance and observe trends across any time period
- Gain valuable insights and make recommendations to achieve objectives
- Monitor results and show performance against goals
Improve Data-driven Decisions On Optimization And Budget
- Analyze PPC, SEO and social media metrics easily in one report
- Audit budget allocation across platforms and make adjustments to improve results
- Leverage Swydo reports internally to improve client management and invoicing
Provide Actionable Insights And Show Impact On ROI
- Demonstrate your impact on campaign ROAS and the detail behind those activities
- Bring more value through improved analysis and optimization, increasing retention and attracting new business
Try Swydo Out Free
See for yourself how Swydo can help improve your reporting! Sign up for a free trial today, and if you need any help getting started setting up your marketing reports and dashboards, schedule a free reporting service call with one of our experts on a first come, first served basis. If you have any questions, let us know.
Learn how your peers are successfully getting the most value out of Swydo’s reporting and monitoring platform with these customer success stories! Are you ready to join them?