Share or not access Google Ads accounts with customers?

Yesterday I read a debate that was generated in the Facebook group of Clickomi, on whether or not we should share access to customers to the accounts with which we manage their Google Ads campaigns. So I decided to participate in the debate with this article.

Many Digital Marketing agencies and consultants do not offer their clients access to the different accounts they use to manage campaigns or analyze client results. (Google Ads, Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, Twitter Ads, etc.)

They do not share accesses with the client for different reasons, many of them valid, such as protecting their know-how by arguing that they sell their knowledge and the results they generate to the client, not the accounts they use or the structure of the campaigns.

Other arguments are less defensible, for example, trying to make the customer a "prisoner" of your services.

Normally the accounts belong to the company or person to whom the media invoices, not necessarily to the advertised business, so in case the agency or the consultant makes the payment of the advertising expense, they have every right to claim the account used. for campaigns as your own and do not share access.

The argument in favor of sharing all accesses is based mainly on offering transparency to the client, so that they can see how the work is done. In my personal case, I go one step further and only request my clients administrator access to an account created by themselves, if they do not have an account then I explain how to create one.

There is more than one way of doing things and in this industry the rules are not set in stone. In 10 years of experience I have never seen two agencies or consultants that work exactly the same.

So, should we share accesses or not? In this article I want to explore the different reasons why I am in favor not only of sharing accesses, but also that clients always own their own accounts.

1) Transparency

As we mentioned earlier, transparency is a key factor in gaining customer trust. If in doubt, you can always check with your own eyes the work done, the investment amounts consumed, etc.

Transparency made me win several accounts, since when faced with similar proposals, the one that guarantees the client that they can check how the work is being done usually wins.

It also gives an extra security to know that if a truck steps on me, they will be able to continue with the campaign structure and strategy that has been working for them and not start from scratch.

2) Experienced customers

The vast majority of my current clients have a lot of experience in Digital Marketing and they started working with me precisely to escape from agencies that held them as "prisoners".

Over time, the different digital properties of a company, such as its Google Ads accounts, Facebook Ads, etc. They are increasingly important within the organization, which is why it is practically crazy that these properties are in the hands of third parties.

More experienced clients understand this and are looking for a consultant or agency that can manage and optimize their campaigns, maintaining ownership of the accounts for any eventuality.

At least for me, these are the clients who are the most satisfying to work with and who appreciate the work you do best.

3) Machine Learning

If our service consists of being a little machine that creates campaigns and manages them in a robotic way without understanding the REAL objectives and needs of the client, then Machine Learning is going to eat us alive when we become redundant.

On the contrary, if we offer a service where we prioritize the interpretation of the objectives and needs of the client, turning the campaigns to the service of these objectives in an intelligent way, then Machine Learning will be a blessing that will take hours of ant work. above so we can focus on what we do best as humans. (Still)

4) Added value

Continuing with the previous point, we must seek to generate added value not only from the technical aspect of our work, but also from the humanistic side.

The relationship we create with our clients is often worth more than technical work, since they can trust us with information that in turn helps us to do a better job or provide some type of additional value.

Personally, I try not to limit myself to campaign management, reporting with Analytics, etc. But rather to provide support and consulting for all issues related to digital where I consider myself competent.

With some clients the relationship is such that they even ask for my opinion to select providers of other digital-related services when they have more than one proposal hanging around and they can't decide. This is an important added value.

5) It's the chef, not the recipe

I love this Gordon Ramsay video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUP7U5vTMM0

It is a fairly simple recipe, with no unusual ingredients or rare utensils, something that anyone could replicate at home.

¡Good luck trying to match it!

Even if we have the same recipe, the same ingredients and the same utensils, the experience of who cooks makes all the difference between a meal looking like something out of a hangover young adult living alone for the first time or a Michelin star chef.

To give another similar example, you could have the script with Tony Montana's dialogue in Scarface, but you hardly get a performance like Al Pacino's.

Like cooking or acting, there is art to the job of managing both campaigns and customer relationships and goal tracking.

Tools don't always do what they say they do, nor do they behave the way they say they should. This is known to anyone who has blindly obeyed all the suggestions of their Google Ads account executive.

In conclusion

If the only value that would make a client continue working with me was the concealment of information, then I should fire me now.

However, all clients are different and so are their needs. It is understandable that many find value in the fact that an agency or consultant takes care of everything and they only have to pay the investment and fees, without taking care of anything else.

Simplifying processes has an added value in itself, and many clients look for it.

As long as the customer is happy, ¿who am I to judge the work of a colleague?