PPC Management, Start to Finish
How We Run Your PPC Account
Hiring a pay per click partner should mean hiring judgment, not software. Here is how Enlightened Media actually works: what happens every week inside your account, how we decide between Google and Microsoft Ads, why distance does not matter, how pricing is structured, what the first three months look like, and the questions that separate a careful agency from one coasting on autopilot.
What a PPC Agency Should Actually Do
The core work is not building campaigns. It is maintaining them. A competent agency checks search terms, adjusts bids and budgets, tests ad copy, watches auction insights for new competitors, and catches broken tracking before it poisons automated bidding. Most of that happens in short, frequent sessions rather than one monthly overhaul, because a bad week of wasted spend is still a bad week even if the report smooths it out.
It should also tell you things you might not want to hear. If your landing page converts poorly, if your phones go unanswered at lunch, or if a service line simply costs more per lead than it earns, a good agency says so. Pay per click amplifies whatever is already true about your offer and your follow up. Pretending otherwise just burns budget faster.
Google Ads First, Microsoft Ads Where It Fits
For almost every client, Google Ads gets the first dollar because that is where the search volume lives. We start with tightly themed Search campaigns on high intent queries, then add Performance Max, Shopping, or call focused campaigns only when conversion data supports it. Display and YouTube come later, if at all, and usually as remarketing rather than cold prospecting.
Microsoft Ads earns a place once Google is stable. Its audience skews older and more desktop heavy, clicks are often cheaper, and it can import Google campaigns, though imported campaigns still need their own negatives, bid adjustments, and tracking checks. For B2B, professional services, and some local trades it adds real volume. For others it barely moves, and we will tell you that rather than spread a small budget thin.
Why "Near Me" Does Not Matter for PPC
People search for a PPC agency near me because they want someone accountable and reachable. Proximity does not deliver either one. Every Google Ads and Microsoft Ads account is managed in a browser, and the daily work of bidding, negatives, and tracking happens the same way whether the client is two miles away or two thousand. We are based in New Orleans and manage accounts for businesses across the country.
What does matter is knowledge of your market built into the account: location targeting set to people in your area rather than people merely interested in it, radius and ZIP exclusions, ad schedules matched to your hours and time zone, and call assets that ring a phone someone answers. We handle all of that remotely, and Jason responds within 1 business hour, so being in a different city is rarely the obstacle people expect.
How PPC Pricing Works
Management starts at $500 per month, with no setup fees and no long-term contracts. Your ad spend is separate and billed by Google or Microsoft directly to your card, so you can see every dollar in the platform yourself and the account stays in your name. The management fee scales with complexity, meaning the number of campaigns, locations, and platforms, rather than a fixed percentage that rewards spending more.
Be careful with percentage of spend pricing. It gives an agency a reason to recommend higher budgets whether or not the extra spend is profitable. Also ask whether the quote includes landing page work, call tracking, and conversion setup, or whether those appear later as add-ons. A low monthly fee that leaves tracking broken ends up costing more than a fair fee that fixes it in the first week.
Your First 30, 60 and 90 Days
The first 30 days are about foundations. We audit or build the account, verify every conversion action, set up call tracking where it helps, and get campaigns live within 7 days of onboarding. The rest of the month is spent watching search terms closely, because early data shows exactly which queries your match types are reaching and which negatives are still missing.
Days 31 to 90 are about refinement, not promises. With real conversion data accumulating, we tighten keywords, test ad copy and landing page variations, change bidding strategy once there is enough volume to support automation, and decide whether Microsoft Ads or another campaign type deserves budget. Results depend on your market, offer, and budget, so the 90 day goal is a clean, well instrumented account making decisions from real lead data.
Red Flags When Hiring for PPC
Ask who will log into your account on a Tuesday afternoon. If the answer is a team, a pod, or a rotating specialist, you are paying for the salesperson and getting someone else's attention. Then ask who owns the account. It should be created under your business, with the agency added as a manager, so you keep the full history and data if you ever leave.
Then look at the reporting. Red flags include reports full of impressions and click through rate with no cost per lead, conversion counts that include page views or button clicks, long contracts with cancellation fees, and an agency that cannot show you the search terms report. A good partner can explain in plain language why each campaign exists and what it costs to produce a customer.
