Earlier this week I was speaking to a friend, who contacted me for some advice, they mentioned that he had been approached by a UK company offering 5 key phrases for Google AdWords at £75.00 per month, irrespective whether he gets 100 or 1000 clicks! Having heard it all, I proceeded to inform him that this seemed a little too good to be true! He did his best to convince me that this was true (obviously the salesman did an excellent job here) to which I replied that if this is true then I am informing all of my current clients on PPC to leave us & go with this new company!
Knowing the key phrases in question, I calculated approx what he can expect based on that budget (take into account that a portion of the £75.00 will go to the company) based on a number of factors, it came out the maximum number of visitors he should achieve on this budget is around 150, this is far cry from the word unlimited!
Any how, what I think actually happened was that the salesman must have got his words mixed up between impressions (the number of times the ad shows on AdWords) & clicks (number of times visitors clicked on the ad). However, what left me with some mixed feelings is that my friend maybe entering into a business relationship that is based on a huge misunderstanding, it can only end in tears (more for him). I have duly informed my friend to get this in writing from the company in question (who I am sure can never make such a claim), which will easily clear up this confusion. My friend was lucky that he was able to consult me, but how many are not able to & sign on the dotted line?
Our industry is already full of charlatans & it does not help with companies installing incorrect expectations to get the sale, we need to make sure that we manage our client’s expectations accurately & fairly, this can only be done when an agency does its best to make their clients online endeavours a success through realistic achievements.
I am sure my friend was the not the first & will not be the last to be contacted with such claims, but do not hesitate to contact me should you have a query about such statements being made to you, it will not cost you to have a quick phone chat with me but it could help avoid unnecessary pain in the future.