Do SEA yourself or outsource it? The pros and cons at a glance

"Anyone can create a Google Ads campaign," says one of our SEA specialists. And that's true: the barrier to entry for Google Ads is relatively low. In recent years, Google has done a lot to make the platform more accessible to beginners. But when is it really wise to do it yourself?

When you manage your SEA campaigns yourself, you have direct control over your advertising budget and strategy. You can make real-time adjustments without the intervention of an external party. This gives you the flexibility to respond quickly to changes in your market or business.

It's no secret that outsourcing your SEA costs money. By doing it yourself, you save costs. This can be particularly attractive for start-up entrepreneurs with a limited marketing budget.

In addition to saving costs by doing SEA yourself, as an entrepreneur you know your own products, services, and target group inside out. You can apply this knowledge directly in your campaigns.

When is it beneficial to do things yourself?

Our experience shows that doing SEA yourself works particularly well in specific situations. For very simple campaigns with a limited number of keywords, it is possible to learn how to do this yourself. If you already have some experience with online marketing, the step to SEA management becomes smaller.

However, time is an important factor. Only when you have enough time to read up on the subject and monitor the campaigns regularly is doing it yourself a realistic option. For very niche companies where specialist product knowledge is more important than SEA expertise, doing it yourself can be a good choice.

Opposite the advantages of doing SEA yourself are the considerable advantages of hiring SEA professionals. As our SEA specialist points out: "A specialist will always know how to spend your money most effectively."

SEA specialists work with Google Ads on a daily basis and stay up to date with all developments, algorithm changes, and new opportunities. This expertise is difficult to match if you do SEA "on the side" alongside your normal work.

In addition, managing effective SEA campaigns takes time—time that you, as an entrepreneur, could also spend on other aspects of your business. By outsourcing SEA, you can focus on your core activities while experts take care of your online marketing.

At Reward, we have access to advanced tools and analytics that are not available or affordable to individual users. In addition, we can implement more complex strategies, such as advanced remarketing campaigns, scientifically based A/B testing, detailed competitive analysis, and data-driven optimized bidding strategies.

Better long-term ROI

Although outsourcing SEA is an investment, at Reward we see that professionally managed campaigns often yield a better Return On Investment (ROI) in the long term. By using your budget more efficiently and achieving higher conversion rates, the investment in a specialist often pays for itself.

Our specialist emphasizes: "You run a business. You focus on attracting customers and selling your products—that's your strength. When it comes to setting up and optimizing Google Ads campaigns, it's better to rely on the knowledge and experience of an SEA expert. That way, you'll ultimately get the most out of your marketing budget."

Outsourcing SEA is particularly advisable for more complex campaigns with multiple target groups or if you have a substantial advertising budget (starting at €500 per month). Outsourcing SEA can also make a difference if you operate in a competitive market where small optimizations have a big impact.

Companies that need to focus on other aspects of their business operations or want to run campaigns in multiple countries or languages also benefit from engaging specialists.

Although Google Ads has become more accessible, the underlying complexity of the platform has only increased. SEA is no longer simply a matter of setting keywords and a budget.

From our experience at Reward, we know that effective SEA campaigns nowadays involve much more than just setting keywords. Google offers increasingly advanced bidding strategies that use machine learning.

In addition, a professional account structure—how you organize campaigns, ad groups, and keywords—has a major impact on performance and ease of management. Beginners often find it difficult to set up this structure properly.

Finally, specific knowledge is required to correctly set up conversion tracking, link Google Analytics, and analyze the results. Without proper analysis, it is difficult to make the right decisions about where to spend your budget.

There is no single correct answer to the question of whether you should do SEA yourself or outsource it. It depends on your specific situation, budget, time, and the complexity of your market.

At Reward, we believe that most companies benefit from professional SEA management in the long term, but we also understand that this is not the right choice for everyone. As our specialist summarizes: "In very simple cases, you can do SEA yourself; anyone can create a Google Ads campaign. Only a specialist will always know how to spend your money most effectively."