Higher education institutions invest significant resources in paid search, aiming to connect with prospective students. But what happens when that investment turns into a black box?
Too often, colleges outsource paid search management without fully understanding the rules of engagement. Agencies operate under different models – ranging from transparent account management to “pay per click/lead” model where the client never actually owns or has visibility into the ad accounts, particularly on platforms like Google Ads and Microsoft Ads.
Some institutions spend thousands on Google Ads but don’t have direct access or ownership of their data. It might seem obvious that colleges should own their paid search data – but after speaking with higher ed marketing professionals, it turns out that’s not always the case.
The Problem: Colleges Investing in Paid Search Without Owning Their Data
This creates major issues, including:
1.Lack of Transparency
You’re billed for “clicks” or “leads,” but you don’t have visibility into the keywords driving those clicks or whether they’re even relevant to your target audience. Are you actually attracting the right prospects – or just paying for clicks on your own brand name?
2. Limited Insights
Without access to search term data, you lose the ability to analyze emerging student interests – missing opportunities to create targeted content or inform future program development.
3. Vendor Dependency
Switching agencies becomes a nightmare. You’re essentially starting from scratch, losing valuable historical data and spending more time and money regaining lost momentum.
4. Lost Time
Paid search campaigns take time to mature and perform at their highest potential. If you change agencies or bring it in-house, you reset the learning curve and lose valuable campaign history.
5. Reliance on Agency Reports
Without direct access to your data, you’re forced to trust their interpretation of performance instead of analyzing the raw data yourself, potentially missing crucial details or biased reporting.
💡 Why Is This Happening?
With small teams and limited staff, many colleges lack in-house digital marketing experts and trust agencies to act in their best interest. But if marcom teams don’t have deep PPC knowledge, they may not know what questions to ask or how to judge agency performance. This can be compounded by inertia (hesitation to change established processes), misplaced trust in agencies, and a simple lack of awareness about the importance of account ownership.
And without access to their own data, they’re left in the dark.
Red Flags to Watch For 🚩
❌ The agency refuses to give you full account access: This is a major red flag. Agencies may choose how they manage their business, but so can you.
❌ Your paid search data is only available through their dashboard: This prevents you from exporting and analyzing your data independently, creating a dependency on agency reporting.
❌ No keyword/search term level data is provided: You need granular data to understand campaign performance and gain strategic insights.
❌ Obscure definition of conversions: What exactly are they counting as conversions? How is it being tracked? Vague definitions and tracking methods are a sign of trouble.
If You’re Running Paid Search, Own Your Data.
Colleges and universities should own their:
✅ Google Ads account
✅ Google Analytics (GA4) account
✅ Google Tag Manager
✅ Google Search Console
College owns the data. College owns the results. Hire an agency to manage the college’s account for you, not own it.
Are There Any Exceptions?
Some agencies leverage proprietary audience data, AI-driven bidding models, or exclusive partnerships that they can’t share at an account level. However, even in these cases, the agency should provide aggregated and anonymized data that allows the college to understand performance without revealing proprietary secrets.
💡 Transparency is key. Be wary of this being used as a lock-in tactic, making it difficult for the college to leave without losing performance.
Final Thought: Is Your College in Control?
I hope this article prompts you to reassess your current agency arrangement or keep these considerations in mind when working with third-party vendors in the future.
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