It’s The Little Things

Jimboy’s Tacos, man is that place delicious. I was in the Sacramento area the other day and just had to stop by! (If you are ever in the Sacramento area, I highly recommend trying them out, they have many locations and are so amazing.)

PPC Ian At Jimboy's Tacos

I would have never known about Jimboy’s Tacos if it wasn’t for my amazing friend Suki (most amazing Executive Admin in existence), and that would have been really sad since Jimboy’s is so incredibly delicious. Suki scheduled regular team outings to restaurants like Jimboy’s. Suki has a passion for food. More importantly, however, Suki has a passion for her team, her people. She knew that something little, a single lunch, could literally transform someone’s day. It could get the creative juices flowing, it could become the genesis of the next big idea, it could create a lasting bond between teammates. Suki’s lunches became legendary and made our workplace enjoyable.

I’m here to submit a business leadership strategy for those who care about building amazing, long-lasting teams. I’m here to submit a business strategy for those who care about their people: Focus on the little things, especially the little things not directly tied to the work at hand. It’s the little things that make all the difference. It’s the little things that motivate, empower, and grow careers. It’s the little things that make life fun. As an employer, manager, teammate, or friend, you are responsible for others. Take that responsibility with great seriousness! Strive each and every day to make business amazing for everyone.

Perhaps lunch is not your thing. That’s ok, you have to find your unique way of creating culture. Some ideas I’d like the share (mix several of them and the little things will add up into tremendous culture):

Remember birthdays and do something special and unique for each of them. Include everyone from the team, make it a true celebration.
Take each team member to Starbucks once a week, on you. Spend your time together talking about the big picture, brainstorming big ideas.
Schedule a team lunch and movie day after each big milestone.
Don’t be cheap! Invest in your team and send them to the conferences that count. Even during a period of cost cutting, never save money at the expense of your team learning.
Have someone on your team that is working especially hard? Give then a half day off (or even a full day off). Tell them they don’t need to use PTO, and can save that for another day.
Don’t forget happy hour! Don’t want drinks at the workplace? My favorite happy hour had nothing to do with the drinks, and everything to do with the fresh Samosas each Friday.

Work in an environment with none of these fun, little things? You may have a boring culture, one that is prone to losing top talent. Take a step back from the work and invest time in your people. Find little ways to reward and empower. What you create may become legendary!

Suki, thanks for crafting all those special team lunches. Those are my highlights from our time working together, cherished memories I will not soon forget. Taco Thursday is now part of my schedule forever!

Image of PPC Ian at Jimboy’s Tacos © PPCIan.com
Jimboy’s sign and restaurant © Jimboy’s Tacos

Tips For Brainstorming At Work

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Jul 1 0

When brainstorming ideas for business and life on my own, I often enjoy Taking A Hike (or a run for that matter). What about brainstorming as a team at work? What are the best ways to approach a collaborative group brainstorming session at your job? Today, I wanted to share a few insights and tips:

Lightbulb

Approach your brainstorm with a positive, collaborative mindset. All ideas are valid. All ideas are worth consideration. Even if you don’t like a particular idea, please be open and encouraging to your teammates.
Bring plenty of sticky notes and pens. Brainstorming is so much easier when everyone can write down their ideas and then stick them on the wall.
Think outside the box. Bring crazy, big ideas. No idea is too large. Big ideas get the team thinking, even if they are not immediately possible.
Start off the brainstorm with a fun, team activity. For example, go around the table and share your favorite music artist and how their music relates to your company. Anything that gets the team thinking in new ways is valuable. Brainstorming requires unique, new ways of thinking.
Consider involving a variety of contributors from teams across your company, and partners too. The more diverse the viewpoints at the table, the greater opportunity for big ideas.
Be incredibly careful with your words. Do not say anything that could remotely be considered as negative or putting an idea down. Brainstorms thrive in a supportive environment.
Arrive on-time with an energetic attitude. Get a good night’s sleep before the brainstorm, and arrive on a full stomach. Consider bringing snacks too, for the entire team. Brainstorms require energy.
Prepare for the brainstorm. Do a little brainstorming on your own before the big event. Also, prepare background materials that may be of help to the group. That said, also think in the moment and don’t be closed to new ideas. The best ideas come in a team environment.
Be considerate of everyone at the table. Try not to be the only one contributing ideas. Don’t overpower the discussion. That said, make sure you are heard too, and don’t be afraid to speak up. The best brainstorms are all about equality and fairness to everyone in the group.
Take really great notes. Take photos of the board and collaborative notes. Don’t let any of the the great ideas go to waste.

Image of Lightbulbs Brainstorm © iStockPhoto – hjalmeida

Motivating and Making Things Happen

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Apr 5 0

I truly enjoy customer acquisition marketing because it’s a very operational role. At the end of the day, it’s all about making things happen and driving the numbers. I love that responsibility. That gets us to the topic of today’s post: motivation. You need to be greatly motivated to get stuff done and drive results. I recently blogged about how You Can’t Always Do It Alone, Your Team Is Strength. While your team offers you strength and support, how can you motivate and support your team? Following are just a few tips…

Make Things Happen

Always place your team first.
Be available at all times. Prioritize your team first.
Take feedback and ideas seriously. Foster an environment that rewards new ideas and creativity.
Embrace ideas from your team that are even better than your own. Hire those that are incredibly smart, and reward them.
Create career path opportunities. Reward excellence.
Fight for those on your team.
Trust your team with great responsibility. Mistakes are ok, that’s the best way to learn.
Make sure your team gets credit for the work. Try to find speaking opportunities, case studies, and more so your team shines. As a manager, you’ll get credit for shining, but you’ll get even more credit if your team shines and represents the team.
Be a proud manager. Be proud when your team shines.
Send your team to fun events and conferences, even if that means you cannot go.
Create a work hard, play hard environment. I emphasize the play hard side of things. When people are working late nights and weekends, it’s all about creating that balance. Reward your team with lunches, days off, and times of less work. It’s all about longevity.
Celebrate birthdays, work anniversaries, and holidays. Don’t be afraid to bring small gifts to your team. The thought truly counts!
Be ready to help those on your team at any time. Offer strength through challenges and difficult situations. Approach all challenges in an extremely calm and strong manner.
Make sure to invest in your team, especially from a technology standpoint. Audition platforms such as Kenshoo. Make your team a very critical part of the process. Purchase those platforms that are favored by the entire team.
Get in early and leave late. Managers should always be available at all times, and work hard. Teams will not respect managers at much who do not put in the same hard work as everyone else on the team. More than anything, you should want to do this. Management carries great responsibility.
Stand up for your team. Don’t be afraid to protect your team/family.
Be a fearless leader. All businesses face uncertainty and challenge. The leader can make such an impact via the right attitude. Be fearless and lead your team through both bad times and good.
Grow employees internally, if possible. I don’t like bringing in high-level hires. I prefer to push employees and stretch their abilities. Grow employees internally. Even if they’re not ready, throw them into the fire. Give your employees their own employees. Nothing is more motivating than a manager who truly cares and is doing everything in their power to create a true career path.
Be an advocate of people management and get those on your team opportunities to manage new hires. Make it your life’s mission to build great people managers. This is a great way to amplify your impact on your business and the world.

Hope these tips help. How do you motivate your team?

Image of Make Things Happen © marekuliasz

The Values-Driven People Manager

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Nov 23 0

A few posts ago, I shared some of my tips for the Values-Driven Business Professional. I wanted to follow a somewhat similar theme today, from a people management standpoint. What drives me each and every day? More than the digital marketing craft itself, it’s the people, especially those who I manage. Effective people management takes a special mindset. I have seen (and heard stories about) poor people managers. Don’t be a poor people manager, someone’s entire life is depending on you! Here’s how to do what’s right and manage from a values-driven perspective:

Management Leadership

Always arrive at work with great responsibility and purpose. Remember that you are responsible for someone’s (or many people’s) career(s). That is nothing to take lightly. It’s a huge responsibility and involves an immense amount of maturity and purpose to handle the responsibility with care.
Do what’s best for the company and the employee, that always involves motivating, mentoring, and growing those who report to you. Happy employees drive the best results for the company, and are most likely to stay and contribute to your company for the long haul. Life is short, everyone should be empowered and doing their personal best.
Find ways to get your team in the spotlight. When you’re a great manager, it’s no longer about you. It’s about growing and driving results through others. Give amazing opportunities to your team.
Find ways to reward those who truly deserve it! One of the absolute best accomplishments for the savvy people manager is encouraging/championing growth, and then promoting those on your team as they achieve, succeed, grow, and deserve.
Act with complete fairness and equality across the board. Always think rationally.
Create a family-like environment. Most of us spend more time working than anything else. Those who work together should bond like a family. Everyone is on the same team and shares both success and failure. Everyone in the family looks out for each other.
Never, ever act in a self-promotional manner. Don’t brag about your material possessions, your intellect, nor your accomplishments. When you’re a people manager, it’s all about the team and the company. The team’s success and growth will reflect on you. Those managers that brag about themselves demotivate the team. This should seem somewhat obvious to most, but I’m pointing it out because this type of behavior does happen, surprisingly!
Not everyone is cut out to be a manager. Are you not only willing, but honored to spend hours helping others through challenges and hurdles (on top of your own work, even if it involves working long shifts)? Are you willing to put your own reputation on the line for someone else? Are you willing to do whatever it takes, no matter how difficult/long, to help someone on your team through a challenge? If your answer is “no” to any of these, that’s ok. People management requires true dedication, dedication that not everyone is cut out for. It takes an amazing leader and self-aware business professional to consciously turn down people management opportunities. Think critically, it is ok to opt out of people management opportunities if it’s not right for you.
Are you committed for the long haul? Everyone has had this experience… They have an amazing manager who later leaves, only to get a less desirable manager. The manager is the company to many employees. You owe it to your company and your team to stick around for the long haul, even if tempting offers come your way, as a people manager (especially of a larger team).
Are you comfortable in uncomfortable situations? Do you thrive in a challenging environment? Growing careers is not easy. You will have to deliver negative news/feedback. From time-to-time, people may not be happy with you. Can you handle those difficult times, in order to do what’s right? As a manager, you see the long term vision and can lead others through challenging times, even if they don’t see the full picture yet. You are ok taking harsh feedback and criticism along the way, always sticking to your plan of what’s best for your team.
Do you like to have fun at work? Do you love what you do? Are you enthusiastic and high-energy? the most successful people managers bring that excitement to the office each and every day. They are true motivators!

Image of Management Leadership © iStockPhoto – Thinglass

What Type of Expressions Do You Make In Meetings?

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Oct 6 2

As you grow in your digital marketing career, you will find yourself attending and increased number of meetings. All types of meetings… Leadership meetings, staff meetings, 1:1s, team meetings, project meetings, and more. Over the years, I have picked up quite a few meeting strategy tips. Meetings truly are the medium of the manager, and a great opportunity to influence others, deliver results, and inspire. Today, I wanted to share one meeting tip in particular: Pay super close attention to your own facial expressions as you speak and especially as you listen to others.

Making Faces

Meetings are a high leverage activity. You have a lot of professionals in one room and it’s an opportunity to inspire and gain leverage. I’m a huge fan of active listening. When someone else is speaking, I do my best to smile, stay engaged, take notes, and ask questions. Whenever I’m speaking, I always look for those active listeners in the room – they are the ones to focus on the most. My career tip of the day: Focus on active listening.

By contrast, certain people will make “negative faces” during meetings. They can truly take energy away from the speaker. As a speaker, you start wondering, do they not like my presentation? Do they have a different opinion? Those making negative faces in meetings can really derail creativity and collaboration. A lot of the time, I think those making negative faces are completely unaware what they are doing! My other big tip: Check yourself to see if you make negative faces during meetings, maybe you are subconsciously. It’s all about making a conscious effort to listen actively and inspire those presenting in the meeting. This simple tip has a ton of leverage and can truly help in your digital marketing career.

Image of Happy and Sad Faces © iStockPhoto – PashaIgnatov

Creating A Great Corporate Culture Like InsideVault

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Aug 25 0

Like so many digital marketing professionals, I’m a huge fan of great corporate cultures. It’s so much fun to be part of a strong team, it’s so motivating. Create an amazing culture like my good friends at InsideVault SEM Platform and your employees will be happy, motivated, retained, and growing in their careers. Everyone wants to have a great culture and everyone wants to create one. However, it’s easier said than done. Leveraging my observations of InsideVault (they have one of the best cultures I have ever observed), I wanted to share a few tips on building that amazing corporate culture everyone wants!

Teamwork

Great culture starts with a family-like team. Hire people that work well together and get along incredibly well. As one strategy, consider going into business with familiar faces. If you’re able to hire a core team that has worked together in the past, you will have an instant family-like team. Of course, you also want to hire new faces and welcome them into your family (old and new faces are key to the success of any business). My friends Chaitanya, Brian, and Guillermo all worked together at Nextag so they had that family-like foundation having worked together for so many years. They hired other familiar faces, the best of the best. In parallel, they brought new members into the InsideVault family. What resulted is a true family-like environment where everyone truly enjoys working together, how motivating!
Superior corporate cultures require constant attention and team events. Important note: It does not have to cost a lot. In fact, money is not really a factor at all here. It’s the thought that counts. Teams need time to bond. Teams need time to enjoy each others’ company outside of work. Check out the InsideVault Facebook Page. Every single week, the entire team is enjoying fun events, together as a team! Some recent examples: team lunch from Sushi Plus, good times at a team break, Sprinkles Cupcakes break, horizontal reserve beer tasting paired with food, outdoor movie night, day at the movies, and so much more. These guys do several fun team events each week. Every time I’m over at the InsideVault Office, I see employees working late into the night. Everyone is super motivated! Why? They are a family and truly enjoy what they do. All of the fun event planning truly makes the team and shows the team that the company cares.
Great cultures require a comfortable work environment. Head on over to the InsideVault office and you will see a relaxed environment. These guys have a convenient location, comfortable sofas, a life sized Justin Bieber cardboard pop-up, a fun and relaxed environment, and a casual dress code (t-shirts are ok if you’d like). Keeping things fun and relaxed is key. The mind works better when you are free to be yourself. InsideVault truly invests in their employees by keeping the work environment fun, casual, and friendly.
Amazing cultures require purpose. Every single day, InsideVault is pushing forward to build the best possible SEM platform. They have true purpose. Everyone is aligned behind the goal of making the lives of digital marketing professionals easier and better. I can totally respect that, as someone who has been enjoying the corporate digital marketing career path for 10 years. Anything that can make my day easier and more empowered is something I place great value upon. In speaking with numerous employees at InsideVault, it is clear that they are incredibly focused, driven, and aligned behind a single goal.
Culture requires people that care about people. If you’re just in business to make money, you probably won’t have a great culture. However, if you’re in business to make money, change lives, grow careers, and help people, it’s likely you are set up for a great culture. Have a true passion for people. That’s the foundation of any great culture. At InsideVault, the team truly cares about people, both customers and employees, creating an awesome culture.

Auditioning SEM platforms? Make absolutely sure to reach out to my friends at InsideVault.

Image of Teamwork © iStockPhoto – IvelinRadkov

Getting More Digital Marketing Budget

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Jun 27 1

Do you run digital marketing programs in a corporate setting? Chances are you have a set budget for your campaigns. Typically, companies will allocate budget across different marketing channels and divisions. As digital marketing professionals, the trends are in our favor! Budgets tend to increase year after year for performance marketing channels such as PPC, display, and social media because these channels perform.

Today, I wanted to share a guest post I just wrote for the PPC Associates Blog. My guest post is all about Building Your Case For A Bigger Digital Marketing Budget. When you’re in the world of digital marketing, bigger budgets makes natural sense. However, in a competitive situation where all departments/divisions are competing for limited budgets, you need to provide a solid case for your channel(s). My guest post outlines some of my favorite strategies for doing so.

I have had a true blast writing guest posts on the PPC Associates Blog. After reading this one, you may want to also check out some of my other recent ones. I hope you enjoy!

Why PPC Is The Best Media Channel

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Jun 22 1

As a corporate PPC leader, it’s your job to do what’s best for your company. In my opinion, that’s typically securing more budget for PPC and building enthusiasm for this amazing media channel. For many companies, PPC is going to be one of the best (if not the best) media channel. Of course, all of the below requires an incredibly talented and dedicated team because PPC is a 24/7, incredibly complex marketplace. We never sleep! So, make sure to hire the best and brightest in-house marketers and agencies. Here are some of my favorite reasons why PPC rules.

PPC Click

PPC drives results. By results, I’m talking about scale and also ROI. As compared to other media channels, PPC is one of the best performing, if not the best performing. It takes time to fully optimize, but a savvy search marketer and/or agency managing paid search for a great brand/product will be able to drive great ROI quicker (and of greater extent) than other channels.
PPC is instantaneous. No need to wait. Want to test a new concept? You can have results almost immediately. Why is PPC so instantaneous? Google AdWords and Bing Ads have created truly amazing self-serve platforms. With an amazing in-house marketer and/or an amazing agency (I recommend Rocket Clicks), you will get results nearly instantly.
PPC is a scalable platform for testing new concepts. You can test so much with paid search, quickly. I’m especially a fan of testing ad copy, landing pages, and new keywords. Because of the platform, you’re able to test in a very controlled and scalable (statistically significant way). I view PPC as the testing medium for the entire organization. Solicit input from all departments, leverage the power of PPC to prove/disprove hypothesis before rolling out to other channels/mediums.
PPC is incredibly measurable. Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and platforms such as Acquisio give you incredible, incredible measurement right at your fingertips. With that great measurement comes the opportunity for incredible optimization/refinement (again, right in these impressive search engines and platforms such as Acquisio).
PPC instantly expands your team. Invest and build a great program and Google, Yahoo!, and your automation platform will become part of your team. They will dedicate resources to your account. Your team instantly scales with help from some of the brightest minds in our industry.
PPC keeps improving and changing. I just wrote about Enhanced Campaigns and how I’m a fan. We have just scratched the surface of the potential in PPC. It keeps getting better and better.
PPC builds amazing careers. With the right dedication, skill, and perspective, there are not too many more rewarding career paths than the PPC track, in my opinion. Non only can you grow quickly, but it’s so challenging, rewarding, and fun.
PPC is a growing medium. Search engines rely on PPC revenue to drive their businesses forward. They are always thinking of new, inventive ways to make PPC better. More and more Internet users are getting savvy and interacting with paid ads. This is a great trend to count on for may years to come.
PPC drives results in other media channels. While the ROI is already great on a last click basis (after optimization from a very talented team/agency), that’s not the full picture. PPC assists and lifts other media channels including direct brand type-ins.
In my opinion, it’s all about team work. PPC puts you right in the center of it all. I cannot think of too many disciplines that are more interdisciplinary than PPC. What a great career when you get to collaborate with everyone in your company.

Are you a fan of PPC? What are some of your favorite reasons? Next time you are securing budget and resources for your team, make sure to stress why PPC is the best.

Managing Difficult Partners & Vendors

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Jun 8 2

I have been around in the digital marketing career for 9 years! Fortunately, I have not had to manage too many difficult partners. Why? Our industry tends to attract the best and the brightest, and I’ve done my best to filter out potentially problematic situations before they occur. The level of service that we all have become accustomed to almost creates a bubble. Because of this amazing space, however, it is important to keep a well-rounded perspective since you don’t want to let your guard down in all situations. From time to time, you may end up working with a difficult partner. I hope these tips help make your life just a little easier, as we all know that difficult relationships can create a stressful environment for you and your team.

Obstacle

Spend a lot of time qualifying new partners and vendors before you start working with them. Do not assume everyone is like Google, Yahoo!, and Facebook. As mentioned above, we are spoiled. Partners/vendors will become part of your team/family. Make sure they are truly great and will give your team leverage, as opposed to holding you back. Treat every new partnership and vendor with a key checklist. It is ok to say “no” and avoid working with a certain partner/vendor. In online marketing, we tend to “do it all”. Learn to say “no” sometimes, especially if a partnership could hold your team back. The best way to manage a difficult partner/vendor is to avoid working with them altogether. Some of my favorite areas to investigate:
- Size of company – Larger companies get bonus points since they have proven they have what it takes to scale. That said, I love startups too.
- Years in business – Has your prospective vendor lasted the test of time?
- Reputation – Is your vendor well-known? Have you seen them in the media? Do they have credibility? Do they have a brand? Do they attend the important trade shows? Do they have someone reputable standing behind them?
- Reference checks – Can your potential partner provide references? Make sure to call them and ask plenty of questions. It’s amazing how much you can learn from a solid reference.
- Case study check – Can your prospective vendor provide case studies that illustrate their success with others?
- Proposal check – Is you vendor/partner willing to fill out a proposal? How good are their ideas?
- Ease of relationship – Based on your preliminary talks, is the vendor easy to talk to? Are they willing to visit your office in-person even if it involves travel? Are they making a strong effort?
- Team check – What does your team think? Make sure multiple people “interview” the prospective partner. Do they fit your company’s core values?
- Go with your gut – You’d be amazed what your gut can tell you. Go with your instincts.
Ironclad legal agreements are key. Invest the time upfront working on really great legal agreements that protect you and your company. This will take more time since we are online marketers, not lawyers, but is critical. You never know how a business deal will end up. Most are great (we live in a truly fortunate world/industry), however you never know what will happen all of the time. Work closely with your legal team to protect your company and you will have such an easier time managing situations if they ever do turn difficult.
Work within your company’s means. Do not commit to something that is not going to be possible to fulfill on your end. It is important to follow partnership agreements, and a partnership is a two-way road. If you agree to something, make sure you follow through. At the same time, make sure to work with vendors who are understanding since roadblocks and changes are the norm in our industry. Flexibility is a key trait I always interview for in prospective partners.
Keep your communication short and to-the-point, once in a difficult situation. Let’s assume you’re in a difficult situation. The best thing to do is stay calm and keep your communication on-point. Don’t get off-topic. Don’t respond to the other party if they try to provoke you. You are a business professional. Keep it professional and calm, even if the other party is not trying to accomplish the same goal. Rise above any drama that may come your way. This is sometimes easier said than done, especially if a vendor is really trying to provoke you. Luckily, this case is very rare.
If in a very difficult situation, solicit the input of others. Your legal team will often have amazing perspective and advice. Finance teams often have a breadth of experience too.
In a difficult situation, loop in senior management. Make sure to inspire confidence that you have a plan and have it under control, but make sure to loop them in as well so they can help out and be aware of the situation.
Be a good person and do what’s best for everyone. Good people get rewarded. We all face challenges from time-to-time. The key here is keeping your cool and keeping the faith. If you follow these tips and your own gut, you will get through any challenging partnership/vendor relationship with ease.

These days, it’s all about diversifying your traffic and marketing mix. This means that digital marketers are not only in the marketing game but also the business development game. Digital marketers are also working across a broader array of digital and traditional marketing channels. Make sure you sharpen your business development skills, and I hope these tips help you prevent/manage any difficult situations that may come your way. However, I truly wish you end up like me – a minimum of difficult partners and a maximum of amazing ones!

SEM Agencies: Creative Ways To Get Amazing Results

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Dec 16 1

Whether you outsource all of your SEM efforts or have an in-house team, it’s likely you will work with an SEM agency. I personally view SEM agencies as an extension of my internal team. The agency is just like any other employee at your company except they have their own office. World class SEM agencies can add so much value that they quickly pay for themselves. Today I wanted to share a few tips and creative ways to get amazing results from your agency! I’m going to skip the obvious tips such as having regular meetings, fostering a 2-way communication channel, and requesting regular reports. Rather, I’m going to focus on the more creative opportunities that truly flex the power of the agency model.

SEM Agency

Leverage your agency for true 24/7 operations. SEM is like the stock market, except it’s open 24/7. As humans, we all need sleep and we all need to diversify our time. What’s the best way to get campaign coverage on nights, weekends, and even holidays? Hire and SEM agency and make this a focus for them. Agencies are experts at resource allocation and at leveraging their global/cross-time zone capabilities.
Rely on your agency to get into exclusive beta tests on Google AdWords and Bing Ads. Large agencies have amazing relationships with search engines. They bring a ton of business forth, so the search engines are very serious about agency account management. If you are a smaller/mid-sized advertiser, you may find an agency as your key to securing exclusive beta tests.
Make sure to divide and conquer. This tip is for those large organizations that have both an in-house team and an agency team. In the world of SEM, it’s super easy to cross wires. Make sure there are clear lines of differentiation. Perhaps the agency owns one search engine and the in-house team owns another. Perhaps the agency owns on facet of campaign management (such as ad copy testing) and the in-house team owns another (such as keyword expansion). Perhaps the agency owns particular campaigns and the in-house team owns another. However you decide to slice it, make sure there is clear coordination. Otherwise, wires could get crossed.
Leverage your agency to build advanced technologies. In the world of SEM, it’s all about scale. Scale often requires scripts and programs to be built. It’s not always easy to gather resources in-house, however a super agency will offer to build programs for you. Have this discussion and see if your agency can bring your team technology capacity.
See if your SEM agency can also act as your creative agency. This point ties into the last one. Not always is it easy to get quick turnaround on in-house creative projects (such as landing page comps and display creative). However, many SEM agencies have their own creative resources (either in-house or very close by). See if your SEM agency can produce your creative assets.
Partner on social media with your SEM agency. Most SEM teams these days are offered the fun opportunity to run paid campaigns on social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. However, running such campaigns is different from Google AdWords and Bing Ads. It requires a different approach and the strategy is evolving rapidly. Make social media a collaborative project with your SEM agency and you are likely to achieve excellent results.
Leverage your SEM agency for advanced bidding and campaign management technology. Large agencies often have a performance marketing platform in place, such as Acquisio. When you hire an agency, you not only get marketing expertise but you also often acquire the technology to truly achieve success. See if your in-house team can gain access to the technology platform and collaborate closely around the platform.
Save money on competitive intelligence with your SEM agency. Large agencies often have access to tools like Hitwise and Compete. They need to have the necessary data points to drive business forward for their clients. See if your agency has access to such tools/reports and leverage those tools for your internal competitive benchmarking.
Leverage your agency for a big picture perspective. Agencies see a lot of stuff. They manage a multitude of clients, search engines, and channels. Leverage your agency to truly understand your industry (and related industries) from an online marketing perspective.
See if your agency can help out with SEO. At many companies, the online marketing team is responsible for both SEM and SEO. These two channels can be quite different, but they truly go hand-in-hand. See if your SEM agency has SEO experience. If yes, the relationship will truly pay extra dividends.
See if your agency can open door in terms of relationships. Agencies mean big business and have extensive relationships across the industry. Leverage your agency to make connections. One quick tip: See if your agency would be open to holding a client summit where their clients get together and share best practices. Another tip: See if your agency can help build deep connections within search engines such as Google.

As you can see, SEM agencies provide a multitude of benefits above and beyond standard campaign management. I hope these tips help you get the most from your agency. If you don’t have an agency, I hope these tips provide some extra points to help you secure the necessary budget to make the hire.