On April 26th I had the chance to visit Google at their Mountain View headquarters and give feedback on their new Adwords tool called
“Google Engage”. It is a program that helps ad agencies learn how to better use Adwords and sell it to potential clients. Google invited out a few dozen reps from agencies across the country and we were trained, consulted on their platform, and discussed the ins and outs of Adwords and using Engage within an agency. I met smart and motivated owners from other ad agencies, and the people within Google who are making Engage and Adwords a success. Google has a great team built around it’s PPC platform and along with the success it has had thus far, it is positioned to have even more success in the future!
Initially I signed up for Engage for the 20 vouchers of $100 in free clicks, which in and of itself rocks, but as I’ve used and become more familiar with the program there is so much more. Here’s everything it offers:
- Free Adwords Vouchers- These are great to attract new clients to try Adwords. Who wouldn’t want $100 in free advertising? At Google we discussed a few ways to use these such as running contests on your blog or Facebook.
- Loads of Great Educational Videos- If you are overwhelmed with the complexity of Adwords, these videos, webinars, and online tutorials make it easy to understand.
- Marketing Materials- Google wants us agencies to be able to sell this program so they provide materials to “get clients informed and excited”.
- Free Vouchers to become Google Certified- Rather than pay the $50 to take the exams and become Certified, they provide vouchers for you.
- Keep Up with Updates- Adwords and PPC are constantly changing. With Engage you can keep up with all the new features that are being rolled out.
When I visited Google at their Mountain View headquarters I was able to glean even more reason to use Engage. These are a few takeaways I got from the trip:
- Advertising with Small Businesses is a Huge Opportunity- According to SBA.gov there were 29.6 million small businesses in the U.S. That is huge! Engage helps you convince those businesses you and Google are the right fit for them.
- Engage Will Help You Sell Adwords- One of the presenters commented, “If I were in the Engage program I would get my hands on as much material as possible.” The more you are armed with when you start talking to a potential customer, the better you will be able to address their concerns. Engage does this.
- Google has the Tools to Make Your Business Grow- Along with Adwords, Google has dozens of tools to help you market online. To name a few: Places, Blogger, Tags, Boost, Webmaster Central, Analytics, Website Optimizer, and Checkout.
If you aren’t signed up yet, visit https://google-engage.appspot.com/us/ and apply to see if you qualify. According to their terms and conditions any business can qualify, even if they aren’t using Adwords. Keep watching the GFF blog as we will keep you posted on new updates for Engage for Agencies
-Luke
