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How to Use this List of Ecommerce Paid Search Agencies
If this article has caught your eye, you're likely embarking on a quest to find the perfect paid search agency for your ecommerce company. This is a big decision that can shape the trajectory of your company’s growth. Use this guide as your trusted map to navigate the path to a successful partnership.
- Before plunging headfirst into contacting SEM agencies, pause for a moment of reflection. Consider what caused your last agency partnership to crumble. It's vital to unearth these lessons from the past; otherwise, history has a nasty habit of repeating itself.
- In the upcoming section, you'll find a wealth of wisdom to help you determine what matters most when appointing your next agency.
- We've curated a list of top-tier ecommerce SEM agencies for you. Browse through and select 3-5 potential partners to initiate introductory discussions.
- As you venture into the realm of meetings and interviews with paid search agencies, refer to our sage advice on evaluating agencies.
- If the first round of potential partners doesn't yield a perfect match, don't despair. Simply return to our list and bravely repeat steps 3 & 4.
How to Hire the Best Paid Search Agency for Your Ecommerce Company
Think of the search for an agency as launching a new expedition. You need a map, a compass, and a clear destination
Starting the Hunt: Build a List of Prospective Agencies
This article on the top paid search agencies for ecommerce should just be one of many resources you’re tapping into to create a list of agencies to interview. Here’s where else you should be looking:
Industry Networking & Word-of-Mouth
Think of industry networking and word-of-mouth referrals as your personal GPS guiding you through the labyrinthine world of paid search agencies. You can gain an insider's perspective on what it's like to work with certain agencies before you reach out to them.
Networking within your industry gives you access to businesses facing similar challenges. They know what you’re going through, and their agency recommendations are more likely to understand your needs as well.
Word-of-mouth referrals carry weight for a reason. They're a glowing neon sign saying, "This agency knows what it's doing." Referrals significantly reduce the risk of partnering with an unreliable agency.
This should be your #1 source for creating a curated list of prospective agencies. These agencies are coming to you pre-vetted, significantly reducing your risk and streamlining the selection process. It’s like starting a treasure hunt with a half-filled map.
Agency Directories and Review Sites
Check out industry-specific agency directories and review sites. You can easily compare different agencies based on various parameters such as services, size, location, costs, and client reviews.
Clutch, UpCity, and Agency Spotter are a few agency directories to look into. But, you might get more valuable information from a site like Glassdoor. There’s no better reflection of what an agency is like than what its employees say about it anonymously.
Doing Your Homework: Researching Potential Agencies
You have your short list of pre-vetted paid search agencies with ecommerce experience. Now, it's time for a deep dive.
Check Out Their Online Presence
Spend some time on their website and social media profiles. Is their messaging relevant to you? Do they communicate and exemplify values that align with yours? Is it abundantly clear that they have the ecommerce expertise to help you?
Peruse Their PPC Portfolio
Take a good look at their past work and case studies. You want an agency that is demonstrating proven results in the ecommerce space. Take these case studies with a grain of salt, however, and assume you’re only seeing their absolute best work. At a base level, what you like to see is evidence that they have analogous experience to your ecommerce company's needs.
Look for Innovative Thinking
The last stop is their blog. Any forward-thinking agency is one that’s getting their ideas out there. They’re staying on the bleeding edge and looking to contribute to ecommerce paid search conversation. An active, thought-provoking blog is a good sign that an agency is going to be able to provide you with innovative solutions.
The Ecommerce Edge: SEM Considerations Unique to Ecommerce
While choosing your agency, remember that ecommerce is a beast of its own kind. Be sure to evaluate an SEM agency against these ecommerce-specific factors:
Product-Focused Advertising Experience
It's essential for the agency to demonstrate a solid background in crafting, executing, and optimizing product-focused search ads. Several ad types are unique to ecommerce as is the development & management of a product feed. It's a different game to sell a product than to promote a service.
Familiarity with Ecommerce Martech
Make sure they are familiar with the ecommerce platform you're using and the technologies associated with it. Many ecommerce CRMs, marketing automation platforms, and sales enablement tools create opportunities for advanced analyses & optimizations that can improve SEM performance.
Insightful Questions to Ask While Evaluating Potential SEM Agencies
When it comes to interviewing your potential agency, you won’t learn much without asking insightful questions. By asking all of your potential agency partners these same questions, you’ll walk away being able to meaningfully compare them against one another and make the best decision for your company.
1. What is your experience with ecommerce companies similar to ours?
This question helps you understand if the agency has worked with businesses in your sector, with similar technologies, or with similar products. You want to know if they have encountered and solved the challenges that are relevant to your ecommerce business. Their response will provide insights into how they would approach your company's unique needs.
2. How do you stay updated with the changes in search advertising platforms, particularly with regard to machine learning and AI?
The world of digital advertising, including paid search, is in constant flux. New features, design changes, and updates in best practices are frequent. Hence, an agency needs to be well-equipped to keep up with these changes and apply them to ongoing strategies.
One consistent trend of the last few years is that more control of your advertising performance is being handed over to machine learning and AI technologies. Knowing how your agency is managing through the good & bad aspects of this trend to drive strong performance will give you insight into how they learn and adapt.
3. Can you provide an overview of your strategic approach?
It’s far too early in the process for an agency to give you a fully-baked SEM strategy, but every agency has its unique way of developing & thinking about paid search strategies. Understanding their approach will give you insight into how they might manage your campaigns. It also provides an opportunity to see if their methods align with your company's vision and goals.
4. How do you measure success and report it?
Understanding an agency's approach to measuring success and how they report results is crucial. It provides clarity on what metrics they consider important, how they analyze those metrics, and how frequently you can expect performance reports. This will ensure both you and the agency are on the same page when it comes to expectations for reporting and success.
5. What is your approach to optimizing campaigns?
Paid search campaigns require continuous monitoring and optimization for improved performance. Inquiring about their optimization approach will provide you with an understanding of how they test, refine, and improve campaigns over time. It will also help you understand how transparent and collaborative you can expect them to be in that process.
By asking these questions, you can gauge the agency's experience, agility, strategic thinking, communication, and dedication to results, all of which are critical factors in your selection process. Remember, the agency's willingness to answer these questions and the depth of their responses can also indicate their transparency and commitment to client relationships.
Understanding the Costs of Hiring a Paid Search Agency
There are three main categories of expenses that you should plan for when hiring a paid search agency.
Agency Management Fees
You’ll want to know an agency's fee structure early on in the hiring process. Whether it’s a flat fee, percentage of ad spend, or performance-based fee, it will need to align with your budget.
Be transparent with your budget for agency fees. Often, agencies can design a level of service to suit your needs. Or, they can be upfront with you if your budget doesn’t meet their minimum engagement level.
Ad Spend
Ad spend should be the biggest line item in your paid search budget. These dollars go directly to the ad platforms, like Google Ads or Microsoft Ads. Typically, agencies are going to recommend a budget ramp-up as learnings and performance accumulate.
Creative Costs
Ads need ad creative. For traditional search ads, this may be as simple as brief lines of copy. For shopping ads, high-quality product images will perform best. If your agency recommends Performance Max (which they likely should be), you may be asked to provide videos and banner images to take full advantage of Google’s advertising ecosystem.
Warning Signs: When You’ve Hired the Wrong Agency
Sometimes, you might find yourself on the wrong ship, sailing in the wrong direction. Perhaps you’ve arrived at this article because you think you’ve hired the wrong agency and you’d like to talk to a few others to see if that’s indeed the case. Here are some common red flags:
Poor Communication
In any relationship, communication is key, and your partnership with an advertising agency is no different. If the agency consistently misses deadlines, is unresponsive to emails or calls, or doesn't communicate changes or updates in strategy, this is a clear warning sign. You should feel like a priority to your agency, not an afterthought.
Lack of Transparency
An effective agency will be open about their strategies, performance metrics, and campaign results. If your agency is reluctant to share these details, it could suggest they're not performing as well as promised or are using practices that don't align with your business values.
No Clear ROI
While it can take time to see results from paid search advertising, a competent agency will be able to show progress over time. If your return on investment isn't improving or if the agency can't demonstrate how their efforts are contributing to your bottom line, it may be time to reconsider your partnership.
One-Size-Fits-All Approach
If an agency is using the same strategy for your business that it uses for all of its clients, this is a major red flag. Your ecommerce business is unique and requires a tailored approach. An effective agency will take the time to understand your business and create a customized strategy to reach your goals.
Lack of Proactivity and Innovation
The digital advertising landscape is ever-changing. Your agency should be proactive in suggesting new strategies or advertising platforms that could benefit your business. If they're stuck in their ways and not keeping up with industry trends, they're not serving your ecommerce business to their full potential.
In the face of these warning signs, it's important to communicate your concerns with the agency first. They may be unaware of the issue and willing to make necessary adjustments. However, if problems persist, it might be time to find an agency that is a better fit for your ecommerce business.
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Keep these points in mind, and you’ll be sure to find a reliable agency to navigate the choppy waters of paid search advertising in the ecommerce world. Now that you’re ready for the hiring process, here are the top ecommerce paid search agencies to evaluate:
1. Uproer
Best for: High-growth ecommerce companies in need of deep SEM expertise
When it comes to ecommerce search marketing, there’s no substitute for experience. And Uproer is teeming with it.
As one of two industry verticals served by the agency, Uproer has been developing and running profitable PPC campaigns since its inception in 2017. Whether it’s Shopify, Magento, Woocommerce or BigCommerce, the Uproer team knows how to navigate the complexities of ecommerce paid search advertising to successful outcomes.
Speaking of outcomes, Uproer takes a highly-strategic approach that we call Outcome-Driven SEM. All paid search tactics and initiatives ladder up to outcomes that clients want to see accomplished with their investment. This way, there are no “random acts of SEM”, but rather a paid search program that aligns with your goals.
Our founder, Griffin Roer, honed his ecommerce expertise with Fortune 500 clients and, when starting Uproer, brought on a team of talented search marketers boasting ecommerce backgrounds of their own.
If you’ve been feeling like it’s time to level up your paid search program, then Uproer is your agency.
Agency Snapshot
| Services | Paid Search, SEO, Content Production, Measurement |
| Year founded | 2017 |
| Location | St. Paul, MN |
| Number of employees | 13 |
| Focus area or niche | Holistic search for Ecommerce & SaaS |
| Client experience | Jack Link’s, Branch Basics, Larroude |
Uproer’s Top Content to Explore
Here’s our best content on ecommerce SEM to get a feel for how we think:
- The Difference Between “Cross-Channel” and “One-Channel” Search Marketing
- Why PPC Is A Long Game, Too
- How Branch Basics grew SEO & SEM revenue by 84% in 12 months
2. Elumynt
Best for: Consumer brands on Shopify
Elumynt has built its reputation as a top-tier digital advertising agency for B2C ecommerce brands on Shopify.
Founded in 2013 by entrepreneur William Harris, Elumynt has found a niche in not only helping Shopify-based ecommerce businesses grow with data-driven digital advertising, but they’ve also advised a number of their clients through successful acquisitions.
Agency Snapshot
| Services | Paid Search, Paid Social, SEO, Influencer Marketing |
| Year founded | 2013 |
| Location | Stillwater, MN |
| Number of employees | 15 |
| Focus area or niche | Ecommerce (specifically, Shopify) |
| Client experience | OROS, Lil’ Tulips, Brumate |
Elumynt’s Top Content to Explore
Here’s their best content on ecommerce SEM to get a feel for how they think:
- Top Hacks To Boost Your eCommerce Website’s Conversion Rates
- Why Post-Purchase Survey Data is so Important for Ecommerce Decision-Making
- Increase Lifetime Value Using Omnichannel Marketing Strategies With Mark Friedman
3. Ovative Group
Best for: Omnichannel retail companies with large ad budgets
Ovative Group pairs digital advertising with omnichannel measurement capabilities to help enterprises optimize return.
Dale Nitschke, former President of Target.com, founded Ovative Group in 2009 to bring digital marketing and technology consulting services to omnichannel retailers who struggle to measure the impact of their digital investments.
Agency Snapshot
| Services | Measurement, Paid Search, Paid Social, Display, SEO |
| Year founded | 2009 |
| Location | Minneapolis, MN |
| Number of employees | 500+ |
| Focus area or niche | Omnichannel retail |
| Client experience | Maurices, Lane Bryant, Coach |
Ovative Group’s Top Content to Explore
Here’s their best content on ecommerce SEM to get a feel for how they think:
- How to Measure AI Advertising Campaigns
- The Rise of Retail Media Advertising
- Performance Max is Here to Stay. What Does this Mean for Marketers?
4. Seer Interactive
Best for: companies with a mature digital presence looking to scale leads and sales with a cross-channel measurement & outreach strategy
Seer Interactive takes an “uncover, build, improve” approach to digital marketing. They combine SEO, PPC, Creative, CRO, and measurement in one strategy that helps companies across different sectors grow online.
Agency Snapshot
| Services | SEO, Paid Media, Analytics, CRO, Consumer Insights |
| Year founded | 2002 |
| Location | Philadelphia, PA |
| Number of employees | 250+ |
| Focus area or niche | Companies with a mature digital presence |
| Client experience | Leafly, Pharmaca |
Seer Interactive’s Top Content to Explore
Here’s their best content on ecommerce SEM to get a feel for how they think:
- 10 Examples of Strategically Using SEO & PPC Data Together
- eCommerce CRO: Scientifically proven tactics to increase your CVR
- Holistic Marketing Strategy Explained
5. Tinuiti
Best for: Large-scale companies that are looking for an agency to help run performance marketing on streaming, TV, and online paid media platforms Google, Facebook, and Amazon.
Tinuiti is a large-scale agency that works with large clients. Their approach to paid search includes segmented audience targeting, iterative performance advertising, and human-led automation.
Agency Snapshot
| Services | Amazon, Paid Social, Shoppable Media, Affiliate, Streaming+, and more |
| Year founded | 2004 |
| Location | New York, NY |
| Number of employees | 1,050 |
| Focus area or niche | TV, Streaming, Performance Marketing |
| Client experience | e.l.f Cosmetics, Bassett Cosmetics |
Tinuiti’s Top Content to Explore
Here’s their best content on ecommerce SEM to get a feel for how they think:
- How Can Marketers Use the Google Ads Transparency Center as a Competitive Intelligence Tool?
- What Is Marketing Efficiency Ratio? [And Why It’s Gaining Traction in 2023]
- The Vital Role of Traditional Search Engines to In-store CPG Research
6. Nordic Click
Best for: Growth-focused corporate companies looking for a full-service marketing agency.
Agency Snapshot
| Services | Paid Search, Paid Social, Affiliate, Web Development, and more. |
| Year founded | 2007 |
| Location | Minnetonka, MN |
| Number of employees | 15 |
| Focus area or niche | Full service digital for hospitality and e-commerce |
| Client experience | St Francis Regional Medical Center, “Wealth Management Firm” |
Nordic Click’s Top Content to Explore
Here’s their best content on ecommerce SEM to get a feel for how they think:
- Q&A: Driving Traffic And Boosting Sales With Google Shopping
- Dear Knoxie: Why Isn't My PPC Ad Showing Up?
- Google Hotel Ads Crash Course: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started
7. Thrive Digital
Best for: Enterprise-level ecommerce
Thrive Digital is a reputable digital marketing agency that focuses on helping businesses grow their online presence through sustainable advertising. With a team of experienced professionals, they offer a range of services designed to drive results for their clients in the digital landscape.
Agency Snapshot
| Services | Ecommerce, user acquisition, lead generation, demand generation |
| Year founded | 2011 |
| Location | Vancouver, CA |
| Number of employees | 100+ |
| Focus area or niche | Sustainable growth campaigns |
| Client experience | Arcteryx, Lululemon, Tempurpedic |
Thrive Digital's Top Content to Explore
Here’s their best content on ecommerce SEM to get a feel for how they think:
8. Pareto PPC
Best for: Ecommerce companies who want PPC specialists
Pareto PPC is a Philadelphia-based digital agency specializing solely in paid advertising. They provide advertising services across a range of popular platforms, including Google, Bing, Instagram, YouTube, and others. Pareto has transparent flat-rate pricing (found on their pricing page), which will appeal to ecommerce companies who want a clear idea of what their potential investment will be.
Agency Snapshot
| Services | Google Ads, Google Shopping, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, Microsoft Ads, YouTube Ads |
| Year founded | 2019 |
| Location | Philadelphia, PA |
| Number of employees | 15 |
| Focus area or niche | Performance-driven PPC advertising |
| Client experience | Misha Nonoo, World Wide Stereo, Red Raider Outfitter |
Pareto's Top Content to Explore
Here’s their best content on ecommerce SEM to get a feel for how they think:
- PPC Optimization Strategies: 4 Tips to Get the Results You Want
- How We Used Googles pMax to Increase Primal Muscles' ROAS by 60%
- Why Should You Hire a Digital Advertising Agency
9. Black Propeller
Best for: Ecommerce companies with a focus on ROI
Black Propeller is a PPC advertising agency based in Maryland and founded in 2012. With a small but experienced team of marketers, they have knowledge in-house to manage PPC campaigns spanning all of the major digital platforms. Black Propeller’s pricing is structured as a flat fee based on total ad spend rather than a percentage of spend like many PPC agencies use.
Agency Snapshot
| Services | Paid Search Marketing, Paid Social Media, Advertising, Remarketing Services, Display Ads, Video Advertising, Ecommerce PPC Management |
| Year founded | 2012 |
| Location | Abingdon, Maryland |
| Number of employees | 25 |
| Focus area or niche | ROI-driven paid media management |
| Client experience | Pandora, outdoorsolarstore.com, Microscope Central |
Black Propeller's Top Content to Explore
Here’s their best content on ecommerce SEM to get a feel for how they think:
10. Disruptive
Best for: High-revenue accounts
Disruptive has been growing since it’s beginning in 2011. With nearly 100 employees it is guaranteed that your team will have a variety of expertise and your needs will be addressed.
Working with mostly larger account, Disruptive is great at sustainable growth when the floor is already pretty high. By providing a full funnel marketing strategy they will be able to adjust strategy to make the most of any opportunity whether it be SEO, SEM, or Amazon.
A full team ensures all of your needs are covered from strategy, to ad development, to execution and monitoring.
Agency Snapshot
| Services | Lead gen, PPC, SEO, Amazon Marketplace |
| Year founded | 2011 |
| Location | Pleasant grove, UT |
| Number of employees | ~100 |
| Focus area or niche | Wholistic Search with an Emphasis on PPC |
| Client experience | Adobe, Guitar Center, Penny Mac |
Disruptive's Top Content to Explore
Here’s their best content on ecommerce SEM to get a feel for how they think:
- How to Improve Your CTR Across All Platforms
- Top 5 Marketing Mistakes Your Ecommerce Business is Making
- What is Marketing Segmentation? 6 Examples
11. Scube Marketing
Best for: PPC, Shopping, and Social Ads
Scube Marketing can be considered a specialist. If you need a group of experts in a single channel, then this could be the right fit.
Scube preaches results-driven marketing, and they achieve that through their six traits:
- Results-oriented
- Adaptable
- Strategic
- Responsive
- Proactive
- Transparent
If you are looking for an SEM-focused company because your other areas are covered, SCUBE could be the right fit.
Agency Snapshot
| Services | Google ads, Google shopping, Social Ads, Remarketing & Display |
| Year founded | 2009 |
| Location | Chicago, IL |
| Number of employees | 12 |
| Focus area or niche | Scalable PPC, Shopping, and Social ads |
| Client experience | Brandable Box, Chicago brick Oven, Hoonigan |
Scube Marketing's Top Content to Explore
Here’s their best content on ecommerce SEM to get a feel for how they think:
12. Grow My Ads
Best for: A niche Google Ads agency
Some agencies can provide a full suite of services, and some agencies decide to double down on a specific service. Grow My Ads is of the latter. As the name implies, grow My Ads is a PPC-only agency, but more specifically, Google Ads.
Founded in 2019, Grow My Ads serves to help websites reach their full potential in the Google paid space. This can range from landing page design, to Google Analytics configuration for reporting, as well as the deployment and management of campaigns.
Grow My Ads promises a strategy assessment every 90 days to evaluate if things are working and if the strategy needs to change.
If you are looking for help in the Google paid space, and want a hands-off approach, Grow My Ads could be the right fit.
Agency Snapshot
| Services | Google Ads, Google Merchant center |
| Year founded | 2019 |
| Location | Fort Wayne, IN |
| Number of employees | 10 |
| Focus area or niche | Google paid |
| Client experience | N/A |
Grow My Ad's Top Content to Explore
Here’s their best content on ecommerce SEM to get a feel for how they think:
