So, you’ve got some new prospects lined up that want to discuss PPC solutions with your agency, great work.
Now all you need is a solid proposal that’s going to add value to your prospect’s engagement with you and outline an outstanding strategy for moving forward.
Over the last two years, the team here at InvisiblePPC have provided over 2,000 proposals that have helped closed over $2 million in ad spend for our Partners.
It’s safe to say we know a thing or two about PPC proposals.
In this post, I’m going to be talking about the different proposal types, what types of prospects they are for, and the pros and the cons of each approach when using a proposal creation service like ours.
PPC Proposals For 2 Types Of Prospects
Generally speaking, you’re going to come across two different types of PPC prospects that will require different types of proposals and conversation styles in the sales meeting.
Let me explain…
Google Ads Audits For Existing Advertisers
An existing advertiser should be classed as a warm prospect.
They already have a basic understanding of how advertising works and the key thing here is that they’re already spending money on Google Ads and have an account running.
“The Advertiser” requires the first of our PPC proposal types – The Google Ads Audit.
How to get started with a Google Ads Audit
In most cases, you will need to have a Google Ads Manager account setup for your agency and you will need to have your prospect’s Google Ads account linked to your manager account.
Once that’s taken care of, you will usually need to request an audit from your proposal provider by completing a form or getting on the phone to give more information on the prospect.
Simple! Now onto the good stuff…
What’s included in a Google Ads Audit?
Generally, audits will vary depending on who you get to do them for you but at a high level, they should always include a review section, an opportunity section, and a proposed strategy section.
Our expert team here at InvisiblePPC take a deep dive when auditing a prospect’s Google Ads account and we start by analyzing the last 30 days worth of activity.
We’re taking a peek at things like:
- Conversion tracking
- Impression share
- Geotargeting
- Advanced location settings
- Time of day/day of week performance
- Ad extensions
- Search query report
- Keywords
- Ad copy
- Match types
- Landing pages
Depending on the prospect’s account, all of the above information may not be available, but you can be darn sure that we’ll try our best to include any and all valuable insights!
We then drop all of our findings into the Google Ads Audit report in the simplest terms possible so that you can easily explain it to your potential new client (phew! Nobody needs all that Google Ads jargon!).
What can I expect to get out of a Google Ads Audit?
- Wasted ad spend (sometimes up to 70% of their budget!)
- Lots of technical errors
- Poor account structure
- Bad landing pages
- Weak overall strategy
Screenshot of an InvisiblePPC Google Ads Audit document
Presenting the Google Ads Audit
As you can imagine, all of the performance insights that are uncovered in an audit are great talking points for when you’re in a sales meeting with your prospect.
That being said, it’s super important to frame these insights the right way.
Highlighting these as areas of opportunity makes you seem like their Google Ads hero that’s come to save the day (and save them money!). It also adds a nice tone to your conversation by turning the negatives of their PPC performance into a positive, as you look towards the future opportunities.
If you go into the meeting guns ablaze, shooting down their previous efforts and telling them how bad everything is, trust me, they won’t be thanking you, and you’ll be leaving them feeling rather deflated.
Just to reiterate…
It’s more about how you present the findings and less about the actual account performance.
So, that covers it for our first PPC proposal type, but what about the second? Let’s tackle that next…
Market Analysis For Non-Advertisers
“The Non-Advertiser” is a colder prospect compared to “The Advertiser.”
This is someone who isn’t yet advertising with PPC or Google Ads but has heard that it could be something that can help to grow their business.
In this case, they don’t already have a Google Ads account for you to audit, and they often don’t really have a clue what to expect from PPC.
It now becomes your job, as the agency, to give them a basic insight into how Google Ads works and talk them through the results they could expect to achieve.
Sounds daunting?
It needn’t be!
Enter PPC proposal type number two….
That’s quite an entrance.
So, let’s start with the same question as before…
How do I get started with a Market Analysis?
Generally, a Market Analysis is actually easier to get started with than a Google Ads Audit, as you will not be linking to an existing account and going through the process of granting access.
But that’s also the same reason why this type of prospect is a lot colder…
There’s no commitment from them.
With a Google Ads Audit, the prospect is linking their account to yours so that you can review it and provide feedback on performance.
That in itself is quite a commitment and shows intent.
Again, depending on who is compiling these reports for you, you will usually need to start the process by giving your proposal provider more information on the prospect’s business via form or phone.
If requesting a Market Analysis with our team, we require more information on the prospect than if you were submitting an Audit request. That’s because we aren’t looking into a live account with keywords, budgets and structure, so we need more insights on the prospect to pull together a proposal of value.
We’ll be asking for things like…
- A list of keywords that your prospect wants to be found for
- The prospects monthly budget
- Geographical areas to target
- Products and services to be promoted
Pro tip! If using our proposal service, review the questions that are on the form thoroughly. That way, when you speak with your prospect initially, you know exactly what information you need to get from them in order to successfully submit your Market Analysis request.
What’s included in a Market Analysis?
The purpose of any analysis is to provide the prospect with estimates on how they can expect their campaigns to perform.
It’s challenging to really nail down an exact estimate as every PPC campaign is different due to the massive amount of variables.
Luckily for us, we have a huge data set and some specialized tools provided by Google that allows us to give highly accurate insights in our PPC proposals.
We’ll be giving you insights on things like…
- Average Cost Per Click (CPC)
- Cost Per Lead (CPL)
- Number of visitors via the Ads
- A maximum possible budget (where applicable)
- An example ad for desktop & mobile
- Landing page/homepage suitability
- Device traffic
Presenting the Market Analysis
Now obviously, heading into your sales meeting with “The Non Advertiser” armed with all of this information is going to make your job of converting them into a Google Ads superfan much easier, but it’s not uncommon to get carried away.
What do I mean by that?
Well, it’s important to remember that your shiny new Market Analysis report is a best estimate no matter whether you get it from us or someone else.
While it’s great to give an overview, it’s important to set the right expectations with the prospect. The numbers provided in the report are by no means guaranteed, and the actual results could vary up to 40% either way.
Make sure the prospect knows this before moving forward with your proposal. They’ll respect you more for being upfront and honest with them.
Remember, every single Google Ads campaign is different and has its own quirks.
Plus, let’s face it, no one wants to deal with highly strung clients that constantly call to complain about results that they were promised and aren’t seeing in the first 24 hours.
That’s not a business; it’s a prison sentence.
In Conclusion
I hope that this post has helped you understand some of the nuances surrounding PPC proposals.
It’s important that you enter every single sales meeting with a potential PPC prospect armed with the right tools to do the job and close that deal.
Whether you’re focused on prospecting to existing advertisers or non-advertisers, by using a PPC proposal service like ours, you and your team are saving huge amounts of time, resource, and money that can be applied to other areas of your business critical for growth.
If you’re not currently using a proposal creation service like ours, maybe it’s time to consider it. And why not? Our proposal service is free of charge for our Partners!
