PPC management pricing: fees, models and what to expect from a Google Ads agency.

PPC management is the service of planning, running, and optimizing paid campaigns on platforms such as Google Ads, Meta, and LinkedIn. Agencies usually charge in one of three ways: a flat monthly fee, a percentage of your ad spend, or a hybrid of the two. Understanding the models shows you what you are paying for and what each one rewards.

The three PPC pricing models

• ▸Flat monthly fee: a fixed price for managing your campaigns, commonly $500 to $2,000 for small and mid-size accounts. Predictable, and independent of how much you spend.
• ▸Percentage of ad spend: often 10% to 20%. Simple, but the agency earns more when you spend more, whether or not results improve.
• ▸Hybrid: a lower flat fee plus a smaller percentage, or a performance bonus tied to results.

We use flat fees, so we have no reason to recommend spending more than the numbers justify. Ad spend is always paid by you, directly to the platform.

Setup fees and extras

• ▸Account audit and tracking setup, sometimes charged once.
• ▸Landing page design or optimization.
• ▸Creative production for display, video, and social ads.
• ▸Reporting dashboards.

How much ad budget do you need?

The agency fee is separate from your ad budget. Work backward from the cost you can pay per lead: if a customer is worth $1,000 and you close one lead in five, you can afford a cost per lead of up to about $200 and still profit. Our Google Ads beginner guide walks through the math.

Questions to ask a PPC agency

1. 1Do I own the ad accounts and the data?
2. 2How do you charge, and does your fee rise when my spend rises?
3. 3What conversions will you track, and how?
4. 4How often will you optimize and report?
5. 5What is the minimum contract?

See our PPC and Google Ads management service or get a fixed quote after a free ads audit.