There are many things in life best outsourced to experts, take dry cleaning or building a car for example, while theoretically you could give them a go, realistically they’re areas best left to specialists for reasons of expertise, time, safety and cost.
The same applies in the world of pay-per-click. PPC is increasingly an area retailers want more control over and indeed John Lewis, Moneysupermarket and lastminute.com have all taken PPC in house recently in an effort to get closer to important online revenues. However there are compelling reasons why you should think twice before going down this route.
To start with there’s the issue of competency. When you outsource PPC you have the insurance of knowing that not only are there more resources at your disposal but you’re tapping into the combined intellectual capital of many people with experience across a wide range of PPC scenarios, adding up to a far greater sum than you could muster in one small marketing department.
Some companies get round this by hiring the agency person running their account but then only a small portion of that expertise come with them and from the minute they arrive, their access to a range of best practice experience is cut off. As online retail never sleeps you need cover for holiday and sick days and a plan for when that person moves on in two years time, taking a large chunk of your intellectual property with them.