Google Ads is an essential advertising platform for businesses to grow their businesses online. Finding a consultant with the right amount of Google Ads management expertise can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to be.
As the founder of Aperitif Agency, I work with businesses large and small to develop a coherent online advertising plan that is guaranteed to grow traffic and increase conversion rates.
Now, let’s explore what a Google Ads consultant is and how it could help your business grow sales.
What is Google Ads consulting?
Google Ads is an online advertising service provided by Google. It allows businesses to reach more people at the right time by paying for advertising on Google in an auction style. Google Ads was previously known as Google AdWords.
Google Ads consulting is the practice of creating, optimising, and managing Google Ads. Most consultants can provide advice and recommendations on things like creating dedicated landing pages for ads to increase sales or ways to maximise the return on ad spend (ROAS), or reduce the cost per lead/sale.
It requires industry demand planning and keyword research to help plan the account structure, content marketing to develop strong ad copy, and CRO (conversion rate optimisation) to ensure the creative and landing page deliver a high volume of conversions.
What does a Google Ads consultant do?
A consultant manages ad campaigns for companies, performing various tasks to ensure they produce impactful advertisements on Google search queries for new potential customers.
Image credit: Frontier Marketing
Optimisation is key for a Google Ads consultant. Their main task is to ensure the most conversions are achieved from the given budget. This is done by allocating the set budget to the high converting campaigns, keywords and audiences, whilst minimising budget wastage on areas that aren’t converting.
By consistently split-testing different keywords, bid strategies, ads, audiences, campaign formats, etc, a Google Ads consultant is able to find the best performing account structure to deliver the best results.
What areas does a Google Ads consultant cover?
Google Ads specialists can cover various services and have many areas of expertise. Their role includes:
1. Campaign audit
If your business has been struggling for clicks lately despite your online advertising efforts, then consider consulting with an ad specialist to see if they can identify why a campaign is not performing as expected. The best way is through a full campaign audit.
By conducting an audit, the consultant will be able to determine where your campaign is faltering and work with your marketing team to develop a marketing strategy that reflects your advertising goals and helps you reach them.
2. Setup and optimisation
Another role of a Google Ads consultant is the initial setup and optimisation of a Google ad campaign. Your current campaign may be targeting the wrong keywords and, as a result, wasting a lot of money for your business.
By hiring a Google Ads consultant, you can find out whether your Google advertising is outdated and help you update it and optimise it properly, using current best practices, to maximise your company’s visibility.
3. Budget management
Many small businesses desperate for sales make the mistake of spending too much on digital marketing. A specialist can help you spend your ad budget more wisely. They know which ad slots to bid on and how much your ad budget should be.
They can help you manage your ad budget by selectively bidding on ad space, which will most likely garner a higher conversion rate.
4. Bidding strategies
Google Ads offers two bidding categories: automated and manual bidding.
Automated bidding is broken down into eight types:
| Automated Bidding Type | Explanation |
| Enhanced cost-per-click (ECPC) | Adjusts manual bids to increase conversions by varying bid amounts based on conversion likelihood. |
| Maximise clicks | Automatically sets bids to maximise the number of clicks within your budget. |
| Maximise conversions | Adjust bids to get as many conversions as possible within your budget. |
| Maximise conversion value | Maximise total conversion value (e.g., revenue) rather than just the number of conversions. |
| Target cost-per-action (CPA) | Sets bids to achieve as many conversions as possible at your specified target CPA (cost per action). |
| Target return on ad spend (ROAS) | Optimise bids to maximise conversion value to meet your target ROAS. |
| Viewable CPM (CPM) | Bids for 1,000 viewable impressions, ensuring ads are visible on-screen for a minimum time. |
Manual bidding, on the other hand, allows your Google Ads consultant to use their expertise to bid appropriately for different ad placements at the most opportune times, in the most opportune locations, and for the best price.
Your consultant will develop a strategy to bid on Google Ads in a way that best benefits your business and allows you to reach your advertising campaign goals faster.
5. Campaign analysis and reporting
One of the roles of a Google Ads consultant is to analyse the success or failure of your advertising campaign and identify any weaknesses or points of failure.
The service also includes reports on the campaign that feature data points such as clickthrough rates, conversions (from clicks to purchases or actions on the website), and more as part of the comprehensive advertising campaign analysis.
6. Keyword research and targeting
Keyword research is a critical part of the job of a Google Ads consultant. Targeting lower funnel keywords and grouping them in the right adgroups, help set the account up for success.
A key part of any successful Google ad campaign is understanding which search terms consumers are using when researching for the advertiser’s product or service. Google’s Keyword Planner is a great tool to help Google Ads consultants find popular keywords in any given industry.
7. Ad creation and copywriting
Ad creation and copywriting isn’t a small part of a Google Ads expert’s job. Ads are created together by a Google Ads consultant and also a copywriter, not only to ensure the right tone of voice is used for the advertiser’s brand, but also to attract users to click on the ad with compelling ad copy.
8. Landing page optimisation
Landing pages should be optimised to maximise the conversion rate of all paid traffic coming from Google Ads. Landing pages should optimally contain the following:
- A unique selling proposition (USP).
- A clear call to action.
- Testimonials/reviews to increase trust.
- A clear description of the product or service.
- High-quality images (especially if it is for an e-commerce product).
Another role consultants perform is making recommendations to ensure that your business’s landing pages are optimised to convert traffic into sales.
This involves considering things like button colour and location, copy (for example, using the AIDA model: attention, interest, desire, action), and more.
9. Conversion tracking and analytics
Conversions are actions taken by customers after they click on your advertisement. Most consultants use Google Analytics (GA) to track conversions and customers’ actions after clicking on your ad.
However, some Google Ad consultants will also use additional analytics, such as enterprise marketing platforms (EMPs) for enterprise clients. Some examples include:
- Adobe Marketing Cloud.
- Hubspot.
- Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
- Oracle Marketing Cloud.
- Supermetrics (used more with SaaS companies).
In addition, it is not uncommon for the data to be pulled into a dashboard, such as Google’s Looker Studio, to track different campaign areas with other data sources.
10. Advanced strategies for growth
A Google Ads consultant will have a deep understanding of advanced growth strategies that the average person is unaware of. These can include:
Remarketing and audience targeting
If your business offers a new product or service, you’ll need to rework your Google ad campaigns to target a new audience specifically.
Image credit: CartStack
Remarketing and audience targeting are advanced growth strategies professionals use heavily after a new product’s release.
Competitor analysis
Analysing your competitors’ actions is part of a confident and successful marketing strategy. Using competitor analysis, a consultant can better understand where your competition is succeeding (and whether you could use any of their techniques to market your products better).
They can also help identify where they might fall, allowing you to pick up their slack.
Staying up-to-date with Google Ad changes
Every once in a while, Google Ads makes changes without telling its userbase. These changes are often so subtle that you might not even notice them.
Keeping up-to-date with these changes and understanding how they’ll affect your marketing strategy is part of my job as a Google Ads manager.
What should you consider before hiring a Google Ads consultant?
The internet is awash with marketing gurus. Finding one that fits your business model and marketing goals is crucial to maximising the return on your investment.
Here are a few things to consider before making your selection.
1. Experience and expertise
Choosing someone with the right experience (who has run successful campaigns for multiple businesses) and the expertise to hit the ground running is critical.
- Does your chosen Google Ads consultant have the right experience and expertise?
- Are they a certified Google Ads consultant, and do they have the paperwork to back that up?
- Do their areas of expertise match your business’s needs?
2. Understand your needs and goals
You’ll want to hire a consultant who understands how your business operates and how to get to where you want to be as a business. Some consultants specialise in running ads within specific industries.
3. Pricing and service options
Consider your ad budget and costs if you hire a salaried consultant or an ad agency. Different ad consultants operate on different pricing models. Explore each one to see which model offers the services you’re looking for.
4. References and reviews
Check out their website to read through their reviews and testimonials. But don’t stop there. Here are some tips for:
Hiring an in-house consultant
- Check out their LinkedIn profile in detail to see which companies they have worked for before, how long they stayed there, and what roles they had.
- Don’t forget to ask for phone referees so you can give them a call to find out more about the potential candidate.
Hiring an ad agency:
- Check out their website. Read reviews, testimonials, and case studies. But don’t stop there.
- Make sure to look online as well; for example, read their Google Business Profile reviews and what marketing publications have shared on them.
- Try Googling their business name and other related keywords, to see what articles appear and any awards they may have won.
- Ask the agency the right questions. Here are some good questions to ask: What industries do you work in? How much do you charge? Do you charge a flat monthly rate, or do you charge a commission on sales made? Could I chat with one of your current customers to see what it’s like working with you?
Summing up
If you lack the expertise and experience to run a Google Ads campaign, an ad consultant can help grow your business. Just make sure to do your thorough research so that you find someone who can work well with you and knows your industry.
Are you looking for a Google Ad consultant? At Aperitif Agency, we deeply understand creating profitable ads for small and large businesses. Get in touch with our team today.
P.S. If you’d like to learn more about our team’s background, Aperitif Agency was recently featured in AdNews: Ex-Frank Body and Airwallex couple join forces with Aperitif Agency.
