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The struggle to find a trustworthy paid media agency can feel like a daunting task. The fear of making the wrong choice and squandering your marketing budget is real and understandable. In this article, you’ll learn about the best paid media agencies in Australia and the differences between them.
Is your in-house team struggling to keep up with the rapidly changing landscape of paid media?
Perhaps you’re tired of trying to decipher the complex world of PPC, ad optimisation, and performance metrics.
Or maybe you’ve been burned by a media agency in the past that promised the moon but failed to deliver results.
You’re not alone. Many executives and marketing leaders share your pain.
You’re probably wondering, ‘why are we talking about other agencies if we are an agency ourselves?’ When searching for options, we recognise that potential customers like you want to know about all the options that are available on the market. That’s why we’ve decided to give you our top picks, so that you can make an informed decision.
To help you do your research, we’ve spent hours online looking at criteria like pricing, the ads they’re running for their own businesses, case studies and more, and have compiled a list of 3 paid media agencies out there.
Agency 1: Megaphone Marketing
Megaphone Marketing offers Google Ads, Social Media Advertising, SEO, Lead Generation, Content Marketing, Email Marketing, and TikTok Marketing. When you compare them to the other agencies on the list, they’re definitely broader in the services they offer.
This can be a good thing, because it means that you can outsource everything to the same place as opposed to having to hire multiple agencies that specialise in different things.,
However, we think it’s fair to assume that a paid media specialist agency is likely to produce better results that an all-round digital marketing agency, because specialists generally have deeper knowledge on an area than a generalist.
With that said, there’s a few more key things to consider.
Case Studies
On their case studies page, they showcase detailed case studies which include information on the strategies they utilised with different clients and the results that they achieved.
In a world where agencies parrot the same song, case studies like these serve as a vital tool to distinguish exceptional from good.
The fact that Megaphone Marketing include strategies and results is a positive sign because it shows that they do really have experience in walking the talk. You also get to see an insight into the way that they think and the strategies that they employ through their case studies, which may give you an indication of whether that’s what you need for your business.
Learning Centre
Megaphone Marketing have a detailed learning centre, which is a big plus in our opinion. The importance of education cannot be overstated as it fosters customer trust.
If you’re considering partnering with a paid media agency that doesn’t educate their customers on paid media, gaining insights into their expertise can be challenging. This lack of information could hinder your ability to make an informed buying decision.
Megaphone Marketing’s Learning Centre could be improved by posting more regularly and providing topic categories for users to browse their content through. In saying that, their learning centre is definitely enough to build trust and it’s a big plus in our eyes.
No pricing information
Megaphone Marketing does not share pricing information on their website. This might make it difficult for you to weigh up if they are the right choice for your business.
Don’t run many ads for themselves
The best way to find out if a paid media agency can walk the talk is to look at how many ads they’re running online.
Interestingly, Megaphone Marketing is currently running only four ads on Google and seven across Facebook and Instagram (as of June 2023). Perhaps there is a specific reason for this (such as having too many leads to deal with in the first place), however, it’s definitely a point to consider when choosing an agency to work with.
Overall, if you’re looking to achieve ROAS or lead gen, Megaphone looks like they’re a great choice, and they’ll be able to take care of some of your other marketing needs too (like content marketing, for example).
Agency 2: Alpha Whale
Alpha Whale is a digital agency that uses a range of services to achieve growth for their clients, including paid media.
There’s a few key points to consider when deciding whether Alpha Whale is right for your business.
Wider range of services
Compared to the other businesses listed in this article, Alpha Whale offer a wider variety of services beyond paid media.
Their services are split into three core parts: attract, engage and delight.
- Attract: includes Search Engine Marketing (PPC / Google Ads), SEO, Paid Ads, and Content Marketing
- Engage: includes Conversion Rate Optimisation, Marketing Automation, Lead Nurturing, CRM Management, and Web Development
- Delight: includes Social Community Management, Net Promoter Score, Reputation Management, and lapsing customer re-engagement
On one hand, this may mean that they don’t have the same in-house specialist expertise as an agency focusing solely on paid media. However on the other hand, it means that if they run your paid media, you don’t have to go to the trouble of finding another agency to do everything else for you.
Detailed Case Studies with real examples
Alpha Whale’s case study section is extremely detailed, revealing their client’s problems, the solutions they offered and examples of the work they completed. For example, they show screenshots of the ads that they developed for clients and explain the basics of the strategy that they utilised.
Being able to see exactly what sort of things the agency can do before having to invest a cent in them can help you make up your mind if what they’re offering works for your business.
They don’t seem to house paid media expertise
On their team page, it appears that they do not have any in-house specialists that are experts in paid media. If you’re looking for an agency that specialises in paid media above everything else, then Alpha Whale may not be the best choice on this list for your business.
Free Resources
In terms of free resources, they have a blog where they share information and education around digital marketing. However, they haven’t published anything since May 2022. In our eyes this is a downside because it:
- Makes it more difficult for you to find out if they’re on top of the latest trends
- Doesn’t position them as an authority in the marketplace – if they’re not actively talking about paid media and regularly posting content around it, how can you trust them as an authority in the space?
Not running ads for themselves
At the moment Alpha Whale are not running any ads for themselves across Facebook, Instagram, Google or YouTube. While there may be a reason for this (i.e. they might have enough work or be at capacity), this is still something to consider.
Agency 3: Right Hook Digital
Right Hook Digital is a digital agency specialising in paid media specifically for e-commerce businesses.
They offer paid advertising across various social media channels (including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest), Google Ads, e-commerce strategy, email marketing and SMS marketing.
Here’s some key things we found.
Sharing revenue figures
One thing we really like about Right Hook Digital is that they share revenue figures with their audience on their case studies page.
You can see exactly how much revenue they helped their clients generate.
However, they don’t share much information on how exactly they got there, which doesn’t give you much insight into the types of strategies they employ. In saying that, this isn’t necessarily something to frown upon.
Free resources
When it comes to free resources, they have a blog and podcast, where they share their wins, losses, and ecommerce trends.
However, they don’t post very often, with their lasr podcast episode being released in April 2022 and no new blogs published in 2023 so far (as of June 2023). This is a downside because it doesn’t show you whether they are up to date with the latest trends and information around paid media and doesn’t position them as an authority in the field.
Not many ads for themselves
They have 5 ads on Facebook and Instagram and no ads on Google for themselves. While they might be at capacity or have enough work coming in to not need ads in the first place, it is still something to consider when choosing an agency to work with.
Paid Agency Positive Signs
When you’re looking for a paid media agency, you’re going to want to keep in mind the general signs that indicate a great paid media agency.
Some signs of a great paid media agency include:
- Self-promotion: they use the same strategies they’re selling to their clients. If they sell advertising services but aren’t advertising their own brand, then they’re probably not all they are cut out to be.
- Their team has paid media specialists: The best paid media agencies will have in-house team members that have specialised experience in paid advertising
- Higher prices: More expensive agencies typically offer a comprehensive service and dedicate more hours to your campaigns, providing you with better value in the long run. You should also keep in mind that if the agency’s ideal client profile is larger corporations that have big budgets, they may charge more because the in-house experience required may be higher.
- Performance (in terms of revenue growth) and proof: They should be able to show you case studies or examples of their work that demonstrate strong return on ad spend (ROAS) and revenue growth for their clients
- Up to date practices: The paid media space is constantly evolving. A great agency stays ahead of the curve and is well-versed in the latest paid media practices
- Tracking: A good agency will be able to describe their tracking setup process in detail, showing they take a meticulous, data-driven approach to optimising campaigns
- Account management: When you’re looking to work with an agency, ask them how many clients each account manager handles on average. A good agency ensures each account manager has a manageable number of clients (hint: each manager should handle between 6-8 clients).
If you keep all of these in mind when looking for a paid media agency, you’re sure to find the right fit for your business.
Paid Agency Red Flags
While identifying the right agency involves looking for positive traits, it’s equally important to steer clear of potential red flags.
Here’s a few red flags to watch out for:
- An account manager handling more than 8 clients
- A lack of team information on LinkedIn
- Glowing self-promotion on their website, but lack of third-party reviews from websites like Google Reviews
- No partnerships with platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Google
- An excessively large team may be a red flag, depending on how many clients their account managers handle and how big your business is (if you’re a smaller business, you’re better off working with a smaller team who will care more about you)
- Suspiciously low prices
Next Steps
If you’re looking for paid media services, you’re going to want to reach out to a few agencies and compare their pricing, case studies, and free resources they provide.
You should then try to identify the paid media agency positive signs and red flags to help you narrow down your search.
While we didn’t include ourselves on this list, we do provide paid media services. Get in contact with us to find out if we’re the right fit for you.
