If you have paid anyone to handle your digital ads for you, I’m willing to take a bet that you would prefer they handle the nitty-gritty, tiresome task of making sure the ads do well. Especially with search advertising, also known as SEM, this can translate to a lot of nerdy, data-heavy work. So why in the world would you need to own that account from the start of the relationship?

The money you spend on your SEM efforts is an investment into learning what works for your unique business. If one day you need someone different to manage your Google Ads, and you do not own the account and data, you will need to make the exact same investment again. Even if you already know the language that best resonated with your customers, there is a machine learning component to the search algorithm that cannot be replicated in a new account. Unless you set yourself up to own your Google Ads account data from day one, you are at risk of losing thousands of dollars of your investment.

SEE ALSO: ARE YOU GIVING AWAY THE KEYS TO YOUR KINGDOM?

You Should Feel Empowered To Make The Best Choices For Your Business.

At One Firefly, we recommend that all small business owners educate themselves to be empowered to make the best decisions for their business. After all, you are the decision maker in your own arena for a reason. If you're entering any sort of relationship, you have an opportunity to set up everyone involved for success by understanding the rules of engagement.  As an example, we encourage you to develop a habit of asking one question of every marketing professional with whom your business engages: “Who will own this account if we part ways?”  

If a marketer managing your Google Ads answers that question with, “We own this account; we do not allow anyone else to see our strategy,” imagine the referee of the conversation throwing red flags. This answer means that this person places greater value on their strategy than they place on your business’s success. Oh, your success probably matters to them, but it comes secondary to their own “secret” strategy.

The loss of your ad account data at the end of a relationship translates to the loss of machine learning, data collection, and your investment into understanding the unique approach that works for your business and resonates with your customers. At the start of any SEM campaign, a certain amount of your ad spend goes into learning and data collection. If someone denies you access to the account with all that learned information in it, you’ll need to start from scratch - that is, to make an investment into the beginning of an account that you’ve already made. You might have invested $20-60k annually into your account, and all that data you’ve collected could disappear at a moment’s notice. It would be similar to taking a college course, but then someone wiped your brain and you need to pay the tuition for that course a second time to re-learn the information. It isn’t fair to you or your business.

via GIPHY

If You Are The One Who Spent The Money, We Believe You Own The Results Of Those Dollars.

To some, our firm stance that the customer owns their data seems liberal and short-sighted. To demonstrate why we believe otherwise, I’d like to challenge you to think about your own completed installations. It’s fair to assume that your customer might eventually do business with another technology firm. If that firm sees your completed work, including your hardware choices, rack design, and user interface configuration, does this mean by default they understand all the intellectual property around how your business operates, and all your secrets? Of course not. All they see is the end result of a project that was constrained by the client’s goals (including functionality and budget) and time constraints. The other integrator sees a singular data point. The homeowner has not infringed upon your company’s rights by showing the new installation company your final work.

Your secret sauce is not your equipment choices - it’s the know-how that allows you to make the best choices on behalf of your customer. Every customer is unique and has unique goals, tastes, and requirements. Search advertising is very similar. Every business has different goals, specialties, needs, and customers. No two campaigns should ever be the same, so if someone were to copy one campaign and use the exact same approach for a different client, it would raise an eyebrow of suspicion.

If You’re In The Spotlight, Someone Will Say They Don’t Like Your Shoes.

Now, I do have a final caution for you. Knowledge is power, and by owning your data, you have the power to show it to whomever you like. This opens the door for other marketers, if you choose to share this information with them, to show up and tell you what a horrible job your current partner is doing. This is a common tactic for marketing agencies to attempt to sell you their services: “They did a bad job, we will do a better job. Let us take over.” If and when that happens, don’t panic. If you have concerns, take that email to your partner and ask if it means anything. The right partner won’t back down from the conversation - after all, only those confident enough to stand in the spotlight will become the target of criticism.

Anyone that you trust to market your organization should have your best interests at heart. To us, that includes ensuring that you maintain ownership of the data that you might have spent dozens of thousands of dollars to collect! You deserve someone who makes sure you are empowered to make your own best choices and invest wisely. To learn more about the One Firefly approach to Search Engine Marketing, check out our SEM service page.