Would you let the IRS do your taxes for you? When you get sick do you go to a doctor or just visit WebMD ?

There are a lot of people in the attractions industry claiming to be the “expert” when it comes to marketing your attraction. What they’re saying is that marketing easy…just get in touch with Google and let them place your Adwords/PPC campaigns for you. Why not? They save you time and you eliminate the “middle man” of working with a marketing or advertising agency. But is it really worth it?

Here are six benefits of  working with a marketing agency when placing your digital media:

1. Work with Certified Analysts and Account Managers— Any company that achieves Partner status with any media platform has employees that are certified in managing their clients’ accounts on those platforms. For instance, Google ensures that these certifications are current and that the company or agency meets Google’s standards for account management best practices in order to maintain partner status.
2. Have Access to Master Features — Did you know that Google Partners must be well-versed in all the features of AdWords and use them in a way that is profitable to the client? Often, media providers provide special features not normally available to regular users, or even the platform’s own sales teams. 
3. Get a Leg up on the Competition with Beta Features– Companies that have earned Partner badges with various media companies sometimes gain access to beta features. For example, let’s say Google has developed a new feature or application…its partners can test and use this feature up to a year or more before it is available to the general public or other “non-partner” users. Imagine the advantages gained by using a certified marketing partner and utilizing features before your competition even has access to it!
4. Avoid Waiting in Line – Assume you want to work with Snapchat’s sales team to place vertical video ads. Let’s say your site has a problem and must go down for maintenance and you need to pause your campaigns immediately so that you’re not wasting money sending out ads for a website that is down…can you insure that Snapchat will respond to your request right away? No. In fact,, you’ll be put in a virtual “line” until your advertising rep can respond to your request. Even when they do there can be a delay before a request is processed. It can sometimes take days to address this matter, but if you or your agency has direct platform access, the problem can be addressed immediately.
5. Keep up with Advertising Best Practices – In order to maintain Partner status with all media platforms, agencies must take certification exams to ensure that best practices in those platforms are being used. Marketing Partners are also able to attend training sessions to keep up with the latest advertising & marketing practices, so you’ll know that your agency partner is on top of the latest changes with those platforms.
6. Be a Priority – When you’re working with the sales team of a media platform, their sole objective is ONLY to place your ads and make sure your budget is used. They are NOT there to continually maintain marketing objectives, optimize campaigns and budgets, provide support, or provide detailed reporting and insights. The ad platform’s number one priority is to spend your budget. Remember, the sales teams have hundreds of thousands of other campaigns to setup for clients. Is this something you’re willing to give up to potentially save a little money or time?

Media sales teams and reps are building  all  campaigns the same…are you OK being   ONLY AS GOOD   as your competition?

Let’s  look at Google directly as an example. The most important work in Adwords takes place before the first keyword is ever entered into the platform. If you are spending millions per year and have a premium, highly trained Google Adwords rep, they will still suggest keywords that don’t make sense for your business needs. There is no way a Google employee can put in enough time, heart, soul, blood, sweat and tears, to really understand a product and it’s customer. We have worked with many attractions over the years with Google Adwords campaigns and are continually learning and discovering new things about how attraction goers interact with attractions/events on Google. This is years of experience, insight, and knowledge that no Google employee will ever be able to provide. 

Key Takeaways:

1. Media buying is only one small part of your total marketing efforts
2. Media sales teams and reps are building all campaigns the same…are you OK being ONLY AS GOOD as your competition?
3. Most, if not all, media reps and sales teams will primarily use features that benefit themselves and NOT your marketing objectives

If you’d like to learn more about working with agencies and taking your attraction to the next level…contact Fearworm Hauntvertising today. The only certified Google partner dedicated to the haunted and themed attraction industry.

Tyler Barnett, Certified Google Partner & Fearworm Digital Media Manager