What if you could display your dental ads on the biggest search engine in the world?
With Google Ads, you can.
With this platform, you’ll pay to display a brief, clickable advertisement within the greater Google ad network, popping up on relevant search results across the web.
While this can be an incredible opportunity to boost your exposure, grow your practice, and establish your office as an industry leader, it doesn’t take long to realize that handling this effort in-house can be a major challenge. Chances are, your team is more skilled in molars than marketing, and this is a task that requires thorough expertise in the latter.
That’s why it pays to partner with a Google ads agency. Yet, not all are created equal. Today, we’re sharing 10 important questions to ask on your quest to find the right team for the job.
Ready to learn more? Let’s get started.
Why Hire a Google Ads Agency?
Does digital marketing make your head spin? Would you rather perform a root canal than think about keywords? A lack of knowledge in this space is one reason why it’s best to leave this effort to the pros.
This is especially the case with Google Ads.
Though it can be an effective resource, it can also be costly, time-consuming and difficult to grasp. In addition, unless you know how to accurately track conversions by integrating Google Ads with Google Analytics, it can be impossible to gauge the effectiveness of your strategy.
On top of technical challenges, you can also save valuable time when you outsource these services. This frees up your teams to return to what they do best while ours crack away at helping you climb the ranks.
The Importance of Interviews
Before you hire a Google Ads agency, it’s important to do your due diligence, first.
Why?
The industry is filled with scammers who might act like they know what they’re doing but are really just out to make a quick buck. This can leave your dental office drained of resources, time and reputation.
In turn, all you’ll see for your ad spend is lackluster growth fueled by irrelevant keywords, unmeasured results, and unmet expectations.
You deserve to partner with an agency that will help you achieve your true goal: To acquire more patients at a reasonable cost per acquisition. Here are 10 questions to ask every potential partner to determine if they’re the one for the job.
1. Does the Agency Have Experience in the Dental Industry?
Succeeding with Google Ads, as well as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), hinges on finding the correct keywords. Unless your agency understands the dental industry inside and out, they could totally miss the ball on this initial step.
That’s why you need someone who has experience working with dental professionals like you and your teammates. This partner will be well-versed in the niche terminology that dental patients will be searching for online, helping you bid on and win the right keywords to boost your visibility.
2. Does the Agency Understand the Business Model or Economics of a Typical Dental Practice?
From operations and finances to human resources, there are myriad business areas that make up your dental practice. Your Google Ads agency should understand and consider every aspect of this setup.
If they’re unsure how your office operates, they could focus their efforts on the wrong marketing goals. Optimizing this advertising approach means understanding how it fits into your greater outreach efforts and long-term goals for growth.
3. Can the Agency Provide Examples of Past Work in the Dental Industry? What Results Were Achieved?
Talk is cheap. And unfortunately, anyone can say anything online and pass it off as the truth.
This means that a prospective Google Ads agency might claim to have experience in the dental industry but in reality, their employees have only visited for a routine cleaning.
Ask to hear about the past work they’ve performed in this specific sector.
While the agency will not be able to provide copies of reports or share specific strategies used with past clients, they should be able to share snapshots of those campaigns. For example, they can share case study data that includes where the client began, the approach that the agency took, and the results generated over a set timeline.
If you receive any pushback in response to this request, consider that a red flag and continue your search elsewhere. A qualified agency will be proud to share past successes.
4. Is the Agency Willing to Prepare a Performance Estimate for Your Dental Practice?
If the answer to this question is “yes,” then good! On the other hand, if the agency lists all sorts of reasons why things are outside of their control and they cannot give you an estimate, then run for the hills!
An agency should be able to analyze your office’s historical marketing data, along with industry trends, to estimate how a Google Ads initiative will impact your future performance. No, you can’t gauge user participation with 100% accuracy, but you can use available data to provide an educated estimate.
A professional agency with dental industry experience will understand what’s possible in your location. By analyzing the current level of competition, along with the monthly search volume of dental service-related keywords, this expert should be able to reveal the following insights:
- The search volume activity in your city
- The number of clicks you can expect to generate
- The cost of those clicks
- The budget required to run the ads at 100% impression share
- The number of conversions possible
- The average cost per acquisition
Beware of agencies that sprout out these numbers seconds after you ask them. A professional agency won’t pull them out of thin air, but will conduct a thorough keyword analysis to make sure they’re accurate. While you might pay for this initial research, it’s well worth it.
This way, you’ll know your true potential and whether a Google Ads campaign is a logical investment at this time.
For comparison’s sake, think of this step as a dental implant consultation.
You wouldn’t place the implant upon a patient’s first visit, would you? Never! You’d first perform CT scans to check his or her dental health and bone density. Then, you’d evaluate the patient’s overall health. Only after that critical analysis is performed would you be able to make an educated decision on whether the patient was ready for implants and where you’d place them for the best results.
5. Who Will Be Managing Your Account?
Will the owner of the agency be at the head of your account? What about an experienced specialist?
Or, will that responsibility fall to the new intern who’s still learning the ropes? While everyone has to start somewhere, you don’t want your valuable account to be a guinea pig. Clarify who will be making account-related decisions and ensure it’s someone with the experience and knowledge to handle it the right way.
6. What Are the KPIs the Agency Focuses On?
How does the agency measure a successful campaign? Is it one that generates a lot of impressions and clicks? Or, is it one that delivers real business results, such as an uptick in patient number and revenue?
Standing for Key Performance Indicators, KPIs measure the success of a particular activity. In this case, they gauge whether your Google Ads campaign is helping you grow your dental practice while maximizing your budget. If there is no performance standard in place, you’re likely dealing with an agency that will show generic ads to as many people as possible, failing to keep track of whether or not those ads are making a real difference.
Many agencies and so-called digital marketing experts focus mainly on reporting aspects such as impressions, clicks or click-through-rates that their campaigns achieved. While these metrics can help make sure your campaign is sound and working as it should, they are irrelevant to any business owner.
Why? These are vanity metrics. It might build your confidence to know that 10,000 people have seen your ad this past month, but did you actually enroll any new patients as a result of that visibility? Anyone can provide these kinds of numbers, but at the end of the day, they’re meaningless unless real activity is behind them.
You need KPIs that measure actual growth and performance.
After all, what do you really care about as a dental practice owner? Are you interested in how many people see your ad, or are you trying to turn web visitors into active patients that take a seat in your dental chair? The answer is obvious.
That said, choose an agency that focuses on tangible business results, such as conversions, office contacts, and form submissions, that move the needle in your direction, adding new patients and revenue. It’s harder to run an effective ad campaign that generates 30, 50 or even 100+ new patients per month, but a professional partner can deliver those kinds of results.
7. How Does the Agency Report Its Performance?
A qualified agency won’t leave you in the dark.
You should expect to receive a monthly report outlining all of the activity on your account over the last 30 days. This way, you can identify what’s working and what isn’t, taking immediate steps to correct any roadblocks.
This monthly overview should include a comprehensive search term report that reveals the actual keywords that someone typed into Google to trigger your ads. This report is the key tell-tale sign to see if you are working with an amateur or a true professional.
Ask about reporting standards and what kind of insights you should expect to receive. If no such standards are in place, find an agency that prioritizes client communication at every turn.
8. Is the Pricing Transparent?
Do you know exactly what you’re paying for? Will the final amount equal what’s on the invoice or are there hidden fees you could unknowingly incur?
The agency’s pricing structure should clearly outline what you’ll pay over the course of your partnership, along with the services you’ll receive in return. Ask about any discrepancies or unclear information before you agree to move forward.
9. Who Owns the Account?
You’re letting the agency access and optimize your Google Ads account, but at the end of the day, that account still belongs to you, the client. If you hear otherwise at any point during the conversation, it’s likely the interviewee doesn’t have your best interest at heart.
Make sure to clarify this important, yet often missed, detail in the initial stages of your research.
10. Does the Agency Lock You into Long Contracts?
You want to ramp up your Google Ads efforts now, but your needs could change next year. If that’s the case, will you still be locked into a multi-year contract, required to continue investing in this effort?
Look for an agency that keeps its contract timelines relatively short. This allows you to continually assess your requirements and edit your approach, renew your strategy, or even bow out if necessary. For instance, we work based on six-month contracts that don’t leave you feeling like a prisoner, chained to a plan you can’t get out of without taking a loss.
We’ll Help You Make Google Ads Work For You
Looking for a new and effective way to bring more patients into your dental office? If so, Google Ads are an ideal way to do so.
However, before you start researching keywords and bidding on random terms, consider your ability to take this platform to the next level. If you’re already stretched thin, can you commit to the incredible amount of time, training, maintenance and review that it will require?
We’d love to help take that burden off your shoulders.
We’re dental marketing experts skilled in helping industry professionals like you ace their Google Ads strategy. Get in touch today to learn how we can take your practice to new heights.
Pingback: How Smart Dentists Choose A Dental SEO Company
Pingback: How Dentists Can Measure the ROI of Digital Marketing Campaigns
Pingback: Guide to the cost of Google Ads for Dentists | Profitable Dentistry