Should a PPC Management Firm "Own" Your Account?

I can only speculate on why some agencies do this. One is that they don't want you to see what they are doing. This of course means no transparency at all. A second one is that they don't want clients to meddle with campaigns. I've had that happen with a couple clients completely making a mess of my work. While I encourage clients to "take a look" for themselves and even offer ideas, I don't want them to go and make changes which I am not aware of or finding out much later. These tend to completely mess with the objectives of the campaign in the best interest of the client.

So as far as I'm concerned, an account is yours. I don't accept clients that don't have one already or open one under their name (I will not pay for clicks, my service is management and improvement of the campaign using access to your account). I know that no client is forever and if they decide (or for that matter I decide) to sever the relationship for whatever reason, they have my work they can continue with and do as they please with it. They don't have to recreate it (they couldn't without access) and for them, business as usual going on without me and wish them luck.

I'm guessing too the relationship was more of a pay-per-lead situation and they charged you a certain amount for each lead. I can understand them no wanting to divulge how and at what price they pay for those leads themselves. But businesses getting in such a situation have to understand this and any implications it has on them such as your situation: what happens when the relationship ends, even amicably? My understanding is that you were aware they used Adwords to get you those leads but that does not mean you "owned" an account. That would imply one was opened using an email controlled by you and using your billing information.

My opinion is they shouldn't, but most do.

Most agencies do this to hide their margins. They mark up their reports so their clients don't see the actual AdWord cost.

Another reason is because they can use it to lock in clients for longer periods of time. It is very easy for a client to leave when they have access to the account because they can terminate an agency's access whenever they want. But if the agency controls it, then there is a fear that their ads will be disrupted when they cancel, because they would need to be rebuilt on a new AdWords account by the next agency.

I don't like when agencies don't give access. To me it shows that they aren't transparent and don't stand behind the value of their work. From my experience I've seen that being as transparent as possible with my clients in terms of the service and pricing has led to more long-term and rewarding relationships.

Some PPC management companies do this to maintain control but it's not standard practice. Adwords (and Facebook) have set it up in such a way that you can give access to your PPC account to a third party but YOU should create that account and own it.

The data is the most valuable aspect of your PPC account, if you don't own your account you or who ever takes over management will have to start from scratch every time.

I would suggest going forward that you set up your own Adwords account and if you work with an agency, give them access to your account via their MCC account. If things don't work out, you can boot them off and you still own all the data.

Hi MB,

Some agencies do what is in their best interest, not the clients.

I find it interesting that you "shut the attached business down".

I have to wonder if you had chosen a different agency would your business have been too prosperous to shut down?

I believe the agencies that operate that way do so to protect their interest at your expense. Would you go into a marriage, or business partnership, where all your personal and business income and expenses where kept secret from you?

A Necessary Defense?

On the other hand, I can see why many agencies have chosen this model. The current state of the market has driven agencies into a defensive posture. Many advertisers change agencies almost as often as they change underwear. Often businesses never allow time for a marketing strategy to take hold. Some never even allow time for a campaign to gather enough data to be optimized.

Agencies must find a way to protect themselves from drive-by business owners and managers that don't understand how marketing works. It is an investment that cost a little in the beginning, then it reaches breakeven, followed by marginal profits, and finally significant growth in profits. It's a continuous process that improves profits over time. A business must apply that process continuously for a period of time to see the full benefit.

Some agencies require a large upfront setup fee, other agencies require a 12 month contract. However, many business owners balk at those upfront fees and long term commitments, so they turn to alternative agencies that hide all intellectual marketing data in exchange for lower initial costs. Those alternative agencies hold your data hostage to discourage client churn rates.

How Did We Get Here?

I have operated a PPC agency for nearly 15 years. In the early days a business was happy to find an agency that knew how to setup and manage campaigns, because most traditional agencies did not offer this service and it was hard to find a good PPC manager.

Back then there were only about 100 agencies, most very small, and many businesses had to hire and train their internal staff to be PPC managers. Now the number of agencies has grown, in the US alone the number is approaching 50,000. Many agencies survive by sniping clients away from other agencies.

If you own a business large enough to advertise you are likely getting 2-5 calls a day from agencies that want your business. If you do a large amount of advertising you probably have to have all your phone calls screened and office doors bolted to keep the dozens of agency sales reps that will call on you every day at bey. This condition tends to generate an atmosphere that agencies are a commodity that can be discarded like a soiled napkin.

An agency takes on the upfront cost of hiring and training managers, they take on the years of experience required to develop good strategists, they invest heavily in research and development of value propositions, keyword lists, ad creatives, targeting segments, etc. They develop your campaigns from the ground up, pouring tons of resources that they have invested heavily in to acquire. Nothing hurts an agency's business more than a naive advertiser that discards their investment like yesterday's underwear long before the benefits of that great work can be realized.

Is This The Future?

As a business owner, you need to consider the relatively high upfront cost of launching a new campaign and not ask an agency to assume that expense without a commitment to stick with them long enough to recover the upfront costs. Hopping from one agency to another to sample their work has forced many agencies into a defensive posture. They are happy to take on your business, but they have to protect themselves from the destructive behavior of "agency hopping" businesses.

I have never charged a large upfront setup fee, required a long term commitment, nor held a client's data hostage. Instead, I only accept clients selectively after carefully interviewing them. I'm not sure that I can continue this open and easy terms for much longer as the market continues to turn into a bigger and bigger client churn fest.

So ask yourself, "Would you have stuck with that agency for the duration had they made it very easy to leave and take your data with you to another agency?"

That question answers itself, don't you agree?

Anyway, those are might thoughts on this topic. What say you?

Don Burk