TPE #119: Long-term PPC success? Look beyond Google Ads
Jan 13, 2025Read time: 5 minutes
GM, Miles here with The PPC Edge.
Lately, I’ve spoken a lot about the importance of looking beyond Google Ads to make the greatest impact as a Google Ads Specialist.
It might sound counterintuitive since our job is to drive results with Google Ads, but hear me out.
Today, I want to share the story of how Bob’s longest-standing client has been with him for 7+ years (a rarity in today’s competitive agency landscape).
He achieved this by looking beyond Google Ads and becoming a true business partner for his client.
(Quick note: if you’re new here — Bob is my co-founder and business partner, and has 10+ years of experience with Google Ads. He truly is the best Google Ads Specialist I know, and I’ve learned a lot from him since partnering up for PPC Mastery. I’m sure his stories and lessons are valuable to you too!)
Let’s dive in!
From ‘on the side’ to full-fledged partner: how Bob’s longest-standing client has been with him for 7+ years.
Bob started working with this client ‘on the side’ when he was still working at an agency.
Over the years, he became his client’s right-hand man, and:
- More than 3X-ed his rate (from €65/hour to €200/hour).
- Received a €50.000 bonus (yes, really, as a freelancer).
- Helped his client in an acquisition process.
Here’s the proof of the increased rate, shared with Bob’s permission (I know it’s small):
I’ve never heard of a company giving a FREELANCER a bonus… Have you?!
The reason Bob got a €50K bonus, was because his client truly saw him as an integral part of his team. He helped his client’s business grow not only with Google Ads, which made him truly irreplaceable.
But what did he exactly do to be in such a great position?
It all started with Bob’s desire to make real impact — and he did that outside of the Google Ads interface.
Looking beyond Google Ads was the key to success.
Don’t get me wrong: Google Ads has always been at the core of Bob’s service delivery for this client. But he also realized that Google Ads is just a piece of the puzzle, not the puzzle itself.
Over the years, he identified growth opportunities and bottlenecks that allowed his client to grow to never-expected heights.
Here are a few examples of what he did outside of Google Ads, that most PPC Experts would never even think about (because it’s not what is ‘expected’ from us):
- Set up a Customer Lifetime Value Framework for Offline Conversion Tracking & Value-Based-Bidding based on profit margins (together with development).
- Helped cross borders and expand to other countries (from NL + BE to 25 languages).
- Helped expand to other channels (he didn’t manage those channels, but introduced his clients to senior experts from his network — the finest form of leverage).
- Helped set up Google Tag Manager, GA4, and Advanced Looker Studio Dashboards (to make it easier to gain insights, report, and optimize based on the most important metrics that matter to his client — AKA qualified leads, closed deals, and gross profit).
- Helped build conversion-optimized landing pages to take control over what happens after the click (which often influences results more than what happens before).
- … And so much more that is not typically ‘required’ of Google Ads Specialists.
Bob could’ve easily set up everything perfectly in his Google Ads account and let it run on autopilot. That would’ve surely driven results.
But he realized that wasn’t enough if he wanted to:
- Make a real impact and actually grow his client’s business.
- Future-proof himself and become immune to competition.
You see, Bob got that €50K bonus because his client didn’t want to lose HIM as a freelancer on his team.
Most agencies fight hard to not lose a client…
But in Bob’s case, it was the other way around: his client fought hard to keep HIM on board…
How’s that for leverage?!
If you don’t start looking beyond Google Ads, you’ll run into big problems.
AI and automation is completely leveling out the PPC playing field, so it’s harder and harder to find an edge inside of Google Ads.
And because of this, I foresee that many Google Ads Specialists, performance marketers, and agencies are going to struggle in the upcoming years to stay relevant.
In my opinion, the only way to stay relevant, future-proof yourself, and thrive in the upcoming years is by looking beyond Google Ads.
If you don’t, you will run into big problems:
- You will not grow accounts to their maximum potential.
- You will become a commodity (a service with no differentiating factors).
- Your work can get replaced by AI or someone using AI (seriously).
And because of that, your clients will shop around for other agencies, freelancers, and partners who do realize that the key to long-term success lies outside of Google Ads (with irresistible offers, scalable unit economics, conversion-optimized landing pages, etc.).
So the question then is: what’s most impactful and how do you spot opportunities outside of Google Ads?
The solution: become a T-Shaped Google Ads Specialist.
Bob was able to have such long-term success with this client because he evolved into a T-Shaped Google Ads Specialist.
As a T-Shaped Google Ads Specialist, you combine:
- Deep knowledge of 1 core expertise (Google Ads in our case).
- With broad knowledge of many essential business skills that stack on top of your core Google Ads expertise (for example: channel expertise, optimizing sales funnels, human psychology, persuasive copywriting, lead scoring/nurturing/follow-up, CRO, etc.)
We developed this framework because simply being a ‘Google Ads Button Pusher’ is no longer enough (the playing field is leveling out, which means it’s harder and harder to find your edge inside of Google Ads).
If you want to thrive (especially in the current landscape that’s driven by AI and automation), it’s essential to become a business partner for your clients.
And you do that by developing essential business skills that stack on top of your existing Google Ads skillset.
By removing your blinders and looking beyond Google Ads, you can serve your clients better by:
- Spotting new opportunities or bottlenecks they may not see themselves.
- Optimizing their offers, pricing, funnels, and positioning.
- Increasing AOV/CVR/LTV.
- Optimizing their sales processes (to increase lead-to-sale ratios).
- Challenging them on the inefficiencies in their business.
This does not mean you have to do everything yourself (it’s quite the opposite).
Let other specialists do the heavy lifting and implementation of things outside of your core expertise (Google Ads).
Your job is to develop a broad understanding of high-impact topics so you know how to spot opportunities and identify growth bottlenecks.
In the end, the best Google Ads Specialists look beyond Google Ads and help clients grow their businesses holistically.
But where do you begin?
Firstly, understand that true mastery of anything takes a lot of time. And we’re on a life-long journey of improvement and learning new skills.
There is literally no end to growth — and you shouldn’t be in a rush.
When it comes to your next steps in becoming a T-Shaped Google Ads Specialist, start by Identifying the highest leverage skills that will impact your results (and think about what you enjoy learning about).
If you’re doing Ecom, you could dive into:
- Unit Economics (focusing on profit margins).
- CRO (focusing on better funnels & product pages).
- Advanced Data & Analytics (with full-funnel attribution).
Doing Lead gen? You could dive into:
- Lead Nurture & Scoring (to improve lead quality).
- CRM Automation (to improve the lead-to-sale process).
- Channel Expertise (e.g. understanding how Email Marketing improves close rates).
But these are just examples.
The key principle is this: develop broad knowledge of topics that stack on top of your core Google Ads expertise.
Over time, you will be able to spot opportunities and bottlenecks that both your clients and competition do not see (which usually lies outside of Google Ads).
And as a result, you will:
- Become irreplaceable and have long-lasting client relationships like Bob (7+ years).
- Become an authority in the industry and attract more Dream Clients.
- Feel confident in your abilities to help clients grow.
- Future-proof yourself when others will struggle.
- Experience less overwhelm, stress, and frustration.
To recap: look beyond Google Ads for long-term success.
In the next couple of years, many Google Ads Specialists, performance marketers, and agencies will struggle to stay rele.
And IMO, the only way to not fall behind in the long term is by looking beyond Google Ads and becoming a T-Shaped Google Ads Specialist.
Want our help with staying ahead of the curve? Then read on.
We’re launching our new ‘Google Ads Success Path’ program exclusively available in The PPC Hub (kickoff: Thursday, January 16th), that focuses on 2 things:
-
Gain total clarity on how to drive results with Google Ads (your core expertise) with a structured, step-by-step approach on Goalsetting, Conversion Tracking, Bids & Budgets, Search, Performance Max & Shopping, Landing Pages, and Analysis, Reporting & Optimization.
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Lay the foundation to become a T-Shaped Google Ads Specialist. After you’ve deeply mastered Google Ads, you get access to ‘Power Ups’ — exclusive mini-courses that help you develop broad knowledge of the skills that help you become a true business partner for your clients (such as understanding offers, unit economics, CRO, other channel expertise, and more).
This program is only available for members of The PPC Hub, and you can sign up here (doors close on Tuesday, January 14th, at 11:59 pm CET).
500+ PPC Experts have already signed up for the first cohort — will you join us too?
Let’s work together to:
- Make 2025 the best year of your career.
- Ensure you have a future-proof skillset.
- Stay ahead of the curve.
Click here to enroll in The PPC Hub, and get access to the Google Ads Success Path.
As they say in 'The Mandalorian':
And that’s all for today — thanks for reading.
See you next week!
Cheers,
Miles (& Bob)
