10 Things to Ask Before Hiring a B2B PPC Agency

Hiring a PPC agency is easy.

Hiring the right one? That’s where most marketing leaders go wrong.

You’ve seen the pitch decks. The fancy acronyms. The screenshots of CTRs that mean nothing to your board.

But in B2B marketing, especially in the world of SaaS and Fintech, when you’re managing complex buying cycles, long sales journeys, and pressure to lower CAC without sacrificing quality — you don’t need a generic agency. You need a strategic partner that understands your business model and builds campaigns around your revenue goals.

Whether you’re in SaaS, FinTech or a B2B service-based industry, these 10 questions will help you filter out the fluff and find a PPC agency that can actually perform.

📘 Want the full checklist, interview prompts, and red flags? See Our Complete Guide to Working With a PPC Agency

1. How Do You Tie Campaign Strategy to Business Goals, Not Just Lead Volume?

If the first metric they quote is impressions, bounce.

You need an agency that can talk confidently about CAC payback, lead-to-opportunity conversion rates, pipeline velocity, and net revenue impact.

🎯 Extra points if they’ve worked with teams in your industry, like high-ACV SaaS or regulated FinTech environments.

2. Can You Show Me Results for Companies Like Ours?

A good PPC agency will tailor strategies to different business models.

Ask for performance data specific to your world, B2B SaaS with a 6-month sales cycle? Bootstrapped FinTech going after CFOs? Mid-market enterprise rollouts?

📈 Use this to validate if they’re the right fit and not just repurposing B2C ecommerce tactics.

Explore what success looks like for SaaS and FinTech brands we’ve worked with.

3. How Do You Structure Campaigns to Align With the Buyer Journey?

You want more than branded search and retargeting. You want full-funnel coverage:

• High-intent search for in-market leads
• Thought leadership amplification for mid-funnel education
• LinkedIn content campaigns to shape early awareness

🧠 Bonus if they layer in ICP scoring and CRM signal data.

4. How Do You Handle Tracking, Attribution and Conversion Setup?

If they can’t speak fluently about:

• Enhanced conversions
• Offline conversion imports
• HubSpot, GA4 or Salesforce integrations
• GCLID, Wbraid, Gbraid issues

...then you’re in for a world of wasted budget and missed attribution.

⚙️ You need technical fluency baked into the account — not a last-minute GA4 panic.

5. What’s Your Plan for Search Term Waste and Negative Keyword Strategy?

Broad match is powerful when used right and expensive when it’s not.

The agency should show you how they:

• Audit and adjust search terms weekly
• Use negative keyword lists at campaign + account level
• Balance reach vs. quality without burning your budget

🔍 Ask for examples of how they’ve reduced wasted spend for B2B campaigns.

6. How Do You Report on Campaign Performance?

You don’t need a 20-page PowerPoint.

You need:

• Clean dashboards (Google Looker Studio or Sheets are fine)
• Clear segmentation by funnel stage
• Commentary that explains why performance changed

📊 And it should map to your CRM, not just Google Ads UI.

7. Who Will Actually Be Working on My Account?

Don’t get bait-and-switched by salespeople handing you off to juniors. Ask:

• Will I have a named strategist?
• Do they have experience in my sector?
• Will I get proactive monthly reviews or just reactive responses?

🤝 This matters even more if you're moving fast and need true collaboration.

8. What’s Your Strategy for Scaling While Protecting CAC?

Any agency can get you more leads by throwing more money at the problem.

What you want is an approach that protects cost per SQL or opp as you scale:

• Portfolio bid strategies
• Conversion threshold pacing
• Testing vs core budget balancing

📐 Ask how they structure “experimental” campaigns to test without tanking performance.

9. How Do You Align Paid Strategy With Organic and Brand?

Siloed campaigns underperform.

You want an agency that:

• Understands your positioning
• Works with your internal brand or SEO teams
• Coordinates messaging across paid + owned + earned media

📣 Ask if they’ve worked with brand/creative agencies before and what they need from you.

10. What’s Your Approach to Platform Mix, Especially Beyond Google?

A modern B2B campaign might include:

• Google Search (core demand capture)
• LinkedIn (targeted thought leadership)
• YouTube (awareness + retargeting)
• Bing/Microsoft Ads (high-value spillover)

🧪 An expert PPC agency won’t sell you everything — just what works for your goals, funnel, and budget.

Final Thought: A Good Agency Doesn’t Just Take Orders, It Challenges You

Your ideal PPC agency should feel like a growth partner, not a delivery team.

They should push back. Offer ideas. Stress-test assumptions. Spot patterns you’ve missed.

Because great paid media isn’t about “set and forget.” It’s about constant iteration based on insight.

👉 Ready to Dive Deeper?

Read: Your Guide to Working With a PPC Agency — our step-by-step breakdown of what to expect, what to ask, and how to get the most value from your agency partnership.

Or explore how we help FinTech and SaaS brands design smarter campaigns from day one.

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