How much does a PPC project cost at Mavlers?

So, you have been publishing great, relevant content that your consumer base is absolutely loving. Still, you wish to grow your leads, conversions, sales, and subscriptions or increase brand awareness using paid advertising. 

You have been mystery shopping for offshore PPC agencies that can do justice to your firm’s paid advertising needs. On one such occasion, you stumble across Mavlers and are curious about the costs of running or setting up pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns with them. 

You want to be very sure about the breakdown of fees and the factors affecting the final PPC costs, as well as gain clarity on the hidden costs (yep, that dreaded asterisk over “terms and conditions apply”) that can potentially upset the apple cart!

We at Mavlers have 12+ years of experience catering to the paid advertising needs of 7000+ global clients. With USD 43+ million in media spend managed by our 120+ professional PPC experts, we have tested the waters of paid advertising. 

This guide on PPC costs at Mavlers will cover the following sections:

• PPC pricing models at Mavlers 
• What services does PPC management include?
• Fee structure and breakdown of PPC projects at Mavlers
• Factors that influence the cost of PPC
• Are there any additional costs/charges?
• Campaign outcomes

In these sections, you will find honest and transparent answers to questions like

• Why do you charge a flat fee or % on the media spend?
• Why should I pay a one-time setup fee?
• Why is there a 3-month lock-in period?

We contacted our Search Engine Marketing (SEM) expert (PPC is one of the strategies of SEM), Harshit Kapasi, who was kind enough to walk us through the costs of setting up a PPC campaign with Mavlers. 

Without any further ado, let’s get to answering!

PPC pricing models at Mavlers

To understand the pricing better, you must familiarize yourself with the PPC pricing models at Mavlers. While you can always have a preference for a certain pricing model in mind, we suggest what might work best for you, depending on your unique campaign goals and needs!

1. Percentage of Ad Spend

Under this model, we charge a percentage of your monthly media spend as our management fee. The rate can vary from 10% to 12% of the monthly ad spend. 

To clarify, media spend refers to the amount you want to invest in your company’s paid advertising endeavors. 

This model is more cost-effective for clients in the long run (for instance, for six-month-long PPC contracts).

* ~ “Whichever amount is higher.”

2. Flat Fee Model

This model involves paying a fixed monthly fee to Mavlers as campaign management fees. This offers a sense of predictability in your PPC budget. 

At Mavlers, we have a tiered flat fee structure where the fee depends on your PPC budget. For instance, if you have a media spend budget of $3,001 – $5,000 per month, we will charge you a management fee of USD 600 per month per account per performance marketing channel. 

This model allows you to plan your advertising budget accurately with little to no surprises unless you want to sign up for ad-ons like campaign audits (we will cover that later in the blog).

This model works well for business owners who don’t like to be taken by surprise and prefer fixed advertising expenses per month with relatively static campaigns. 

However, if you plan to run seasonal, more dynamic campaigns, this might not be a great fit for you as the management fees and ad spends need to be more flexible.

3. Hourly Rate

At Mavlers, we charge $25 USD per hour for SEM activities and $30 per hour for Google Analytics (GA). In this case, the price on the invoice will reflect the number of hours spent on a particular SEM or GA project. 

This model works well for small projects or occasional PPC management needs. 

That being said, you should carefully evaluate your PPC needs and budget constraints before you select a pricing model that works best for your advertising needs. You can also get on a free consultation call with us so that we can offer a customized PPC pricing kit that is tailor-made to fit your unique requirements. 

What Services Does PPC Management Include?

So, PPC campaign management at Mavlers includes the following activities:

1. Keyword research
2. Landing page recommendations
3. Competitor and market analysis
4. Ad copy creation
5. Geo and demographic targeting
6. Bid & budget management
7. Conversion tracking
8. Reporting and analytics
9. Performance testing, analysis, and optimization

Fee structure and breakdown of PPC projects at Mavlers

So, the fee structure at Mavlers for PPC campaigns include the following:

1. Management fees, either a flat fee or a percentage of the monthly ad spend, depend on your budget and unique requirements.
2. A one-time campaign setup fee accounts for the activities undertaken by our PPC professionals in setting up your PPC campaign. 

While we have covered the numbers on the management fee charged based on monthly media spend in the above sections, let’s focus on one-time set-up fees, the costs involved, activities covered under it, and why you must pay the one-time fees. 

To clarify, a one-time set-up fee, as the name suggests, is a separate fee charged in the beginning before the campaign goes live. It will not include flat fees or % on media spend.

If you are wondering why we charge a one-time setup fee, it is to cover the costs of carrying out the activities involved in setting up your PPC campaign. 

One-Time Account Set up covers the following:

• Business Understanding & Competitor Analysis
• Target Audience Identification
• Targeting Research
• Ad copy creation (offline) & Setup on the dashboard after approval
• Account setup
• Campaign creation (offline) & Setup upon the dashboard after approval
• Tracking and goal setup for respective platforms & Google Analytics
• If it is an existing account, then accounts hygiene check-up with an account audit process
• Make sure the relevant accounts are linked and we have edit access for those accounts
• Importing goals and audiences from Google Analytics

The initial campaign setup and optimization cost at Mavlers can range from $500 to $2500.

Suppose you’d like us only to set up your account for a one-off campaign; that can also be done. In that case, you need to pay only the initial campaign set-up fees, which vary depending on your media spend budget.

So, for instance, if you want to advertise on Google Ads on a long-term basis (6 months or more) and have a monthly media spend of USD 3000, then you need to pay a one-time campaign set-up fee of $600 and a monthly fee of $400 for running the campaign seamlessly and achieving your paid advertising goals with Mavlers. 

In case you were wondering why we have a three-month lock-in period at Mavlers for running PPC campaigns, the reasons behind it are quite simple. 

While it takes 15-20 days to set up your PPC campaign and get it up and running, it takes at least three months to analyze what works and what doesn’t before the leads, conversions, or views start pouring in. We analyze, optimize, and tweak the campaign accordingly to get the most out of it for your brand/agency. 

That’s not to say the results won’t be visible before that window. PPC is a long-term endeavor that requires investment in terms of consistent time and effort. We therefore encourage a longer association to deliver nothing but the best results!

Factors that influence the cost of PPC

The final numbers on your PPC invoice will be reflective of various factors such as:

1. Your company’s size

The size of your brand/agency ultimately affects the monthly media spend you are willing to pump in, which will influence the PPC agency’s management fees, as seen in the tables above. 

Larger firms have proportionally larger marketing budgets, translating into greater PPC fees. Such enterprises have complex goals, diverse audiences, and a varied selection of products/services that they want to advertise. Therefore, agencies charge a proportionately larger amount to manage the PPC campaigns of such businesses. 

Smaller firms/agencies, on the other hand, have limited budgets and would like to focus on fewer products/services. Such campaigns could be less complex, resulting in lower agency fees.

2. Industry niche

The final number on your PPC invoice is also a product of your industry’s niche. Depending on how competitive your industry is, your agency will have to come up with more refined campaigns to ensure that you get good ROIs. 

For instance, industries that have the highest cost-per-click (CPC) include dentists and dental services, the home improvement sector, and attorneys and legal services, priced at $6-8 per click. Meanwhile, real estate, arts and entertainment, and travel record the lowest CPCs at under $2 per click.

3. PPC Ad Network

Varied  PPC ad networks come with different cost and management complexities. For example, Google Ads is a very popular player in PPC, which ultimately translates into higher costs and competition. While Microsoft Advertising is more affordable, the average cost-per-click across industries is $1.54. One can also choose to run Facebook or Instagram Ads depending on their industry niche and audience demographics. 

4. The reputation & experience of your chosen PPC agency

Paid advertising agencies with their fair share of experience and expertise in delivering results across a section of the client base will generally charge more than the newbies. 

Here, you pay for the expertise and insights the established PPC agencies bring to the table. This is not to say that competitive pricing offered by newer agencies indicates their skillset! 

Are there any additional costs/charges?

We love being transparent and dislike that irksome “asterisks” sign as much as you do, if not more! 😉

Here’s an insight into the additional costs of ad-ons that you must be acquainted with before you book that consultation call with our sales heroes!

1. Banner design charges

If you’d like to design banner ads for your PPC campaign, to increase brand awareness and drive traffic to your website, we can help you with that as well.

• Static Unique banner cost: $49 
• Static Adaptation banner cost: $9
• GIF Banners: $99 

2. Website changes implementations

Website redesigns impact PPC campaigns at a much deeper level than you might think. Based on audit suggestions  whenever the recommendations are shared we review it and share the number of hours to fix it and the cost is calculated accordingly.

A good, user friendly website design ensures that when the users land on a particular page, they stay there and act on the intended CTA, which ensures campaign success.
 Generally, website recommendation implementations are charged hourly, from AUD 30/hour to USD 25/hour.

3. GA4 (Google Analytics 4) tracking

For GA4 tracking requests, we at Mavlers charge USD 30 or AUD 45 per hour.

4. SEM Campaign Account Audit

If you’d like us to audit your existing PPC campaigns, we can also do that. The price for that is USD 650 or AUD 910. 

Also, in case you sign up with us for a retainer PPC model, you don’t need to pay for the audit. We will analyze the existing account and suggest the next steps accordingly.

Campaign outcomes

Business owners want to know the expected return on investment (ROI) before pumping money into any advertising venture. 

When you fill out the initial questionnaire form at Mavlers, we seek to understand your PPC objectives, ranging from getting more clicks, leads, sales, ROAS (Return on Ad Spend), or reduced cost per lead or cost per sale. 

For e-commerce business owners, we calculate the return on ad spend by dividing the revenue they generate from the campaign by the costs incurred.

Meanwhile, for B2B ventures, we generate leads for them, which they need to nurture and finally convert. In such cases, ROI is a factor of the final revenue generated by the leads that convert and the costs incurred. 

The Road Ahead

We at Mavlers are committed to offering the most transparent and honest information on every consumer query or concern related to digital marketing services. 

In case you would like to know more about the tools and tech stack we use, you can read our blog titled, “What Does Mavlers’ Tech Expertise And Tool Stack Look Like?”