It has come to my attention that when selecting a PPC provider, a good amount of marketers have what I would refer to as a “blind bias”. The blind bias refers to comments such as “we like Agency X because they seem to be an industry-leader” or “we want to work with Agency Y because we are familiar with them” or “we really like Company Z because they really dominate the PPC space.” I have to wonder, what do these comments even mean? While there might be something to be said for the idea of familiarity as it invokes a certain amount of trust, there isn’t much to be said for allowing basic hearsay to drive crucial SEM decisions. I call this type of bias blind because that’s what it is. There are no numbers or authentic experience attached to these claims, yet they seem to drive the PPC selection process for many advertisers.
In his recent article A Guide to Choosing your Paid Search Management Tool, Josh Dreller reviews the basics of selecting a PPC vendor as well as providing some strategic tips for how to choose the best fit vendor for your specific business. Not once does Dreller mention using what you have “heard” or who the “industry giant” seems to be to influence the selection process. In fact, he advises the opposite: “Don’t just go with the first guy. Do your due diligence.”
If you still don’t agree that non “industry-leader” vendors shouldn’t be ignored, consider this logic:
PPC is one of the most cutting-edge advertising industries in existence. Naturally, in an industry this fast-paced, new and strong players are going to pop up all the time. In order to compete with the aforementioned “industry-leaders” who spend hundreds of thousands in marketing dollars to be perceived as such, the newer and smaller players must be extremely innovative and advanced in both technology and customer service.
Therefore, as it turns out, the smaller and less well-known SEM solutions providers may actually be the ones who will drive the best results for your business. Advertisers who resort to blind biases will truly end up missing out on key PPC opportunities.
