AdWords Campaign Management Fee - what to charge...

Suaimhneach

I am taking over an AdWords campaign for a small company with a budget of approx €500 per month. I think I can do a really good job - however, this will be my first time managing a campaign on my own.

So, what should I charge as a set up fee given that there should be room for errors on my part and I am not a professional/expert/consultant. And then, what should I charge as a monthly management fee - it was suggested that I go for a percentage of their budget.

Any advice appreciated.

zAbbo

15% of the budget, assuming you can make a lot more than 15% improvement.

Suaimhneach

As the set up fee or the management fee?

BrianD

In fairness, if you say that there needs to be "room for errors" then you should really charge nothing and gain the experience. Tell the client that in so many words.

When you pay somebody for a service you expect a job well done. I have no doubt that you will do it well but if it doesn't, you can't turn around to the customer and say "well I wasn't charging you full price". It won't do you any favours in the long term.

An alternative, might be to set a performance goal. If you achive the goal then you take 15% of the total spend.

Suaimhneach

I am running the new campaign along side his current (not very good) campaign - so if the results arent good he can put his full budget back to the old one. Tbh, I think I've already done a better job. I dont think I'll make many errors... but just being cautious. Though maybe you're right - it will definitely be a learning experience. Mmm.

RedFly

What you might want to try is something we have had some really great success with. Charge based on your performance.

For example, agree that you will take 10% of their if you increase their sales or ROI (or whatever agreed upon metric) by a certain amount. This can also be tiered. So take 50% if you increase their ROI by 100%.

It's also wise to keep within their profit. What I mean by this is, if they increase their net profit by €1000, make sure what you charge is below €1000. This way, they have very little to lose.

This method also incentivizes you to be careful and optimize the account to the VERY best of your ability.

I feel "traditional" agency billing models are on their way out.

Hope that helps.
Good luck with your client.

link8r

Suaimhneach wrote: »

I think I can do a really good job - however, this will be my first time managing a campaign on my own.

Really? Can you do a really good job? What if your room for errors costs this company money? Someone hasn't quite thought this out!

I've seen PPC campaigns for years - SEO ties in with PPC quite a lot - but I'd never dream of charging someone, I'm not qualified to qualify myself.

Suaimhneach

Yeah, I don't think I will charge, you guys make fair points. I've put some time into it and the results aren't as epic as I thought, whoda thunk it. Gonna work on it more and maybe just charge a small management fee once I have it working well.