Solved: Should I Pay an Agency to Run Google Ads?

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out!

I understand you're in a bit of a tight spot, weighing up whether to bring your Google Ads in-house or work with an agency. It's a common crossroads for a lot of businesses, and with everything else you've got on your plate like a building move, the pressure must be immense. I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance based on my experience, particularly as it relates to a specialised field like travel nurse staffing.

Honestly, the advice you got about becoming a "pro" with just "30 minutes of free time a day" is probably the most dangerous myth in this industry. It's advice that sounds helpful but can end up costing you a fortune in wasted time and ad spend. Let's get into why that is, and what a more realistic and profitable path might look like for you.

Let's talk about that "30 minutes a day" idea...

Tbh, this is the kind of line that gets repeated by people who've never been truly accountable for a six-figure ad budget. Can you run a Google Ads campaign in 30 minutes a day? Sure. You can set up some keywords, write a quick ad, put in your credit card details, and let it run. But that's not marketing, that's gambling. It's like saying you can build a house because you know how to hammer a nail. The reality is far, far more complex.

A successful paid advertising function isn't about the 30 minutes of "doing" you see on the surface. It's about the hours of unseen work that make those 30 minutes effective. It's the deep research into your competitors, figuring out what messages they're using and where their weaknesses are. It's the continous keyword research, not just finding the obvious terms but uncovering the long-tail, high-intent phrases that your rivals have missed. It's the constant, obsessive testing of ad copy, landing pages, headlines, and calls to action. It's analysing performance data, understanding click-through rates, conversion rates, cost per lead, and attributing it all back to actual, paying customers – or in your case, placed nurses.

I remember one client, a medical job matching SaaS, who came to us after trying the DIY approach. They were spending a lot and getting very little. Their cost to acquire a single user was over £100. They were doing the "30 minutes a day" thing. Through our work, we successfully reduced that cost to just £7. That's not a tweak, that's a fundamental shift in understanding. That's the difference between just 'running ads' and building a profitable acquisition system.

The "previous marketing girl" is not necesserily wrong, she's just giving you a dangerously incomplete picture. What she's describing is maintenance, not management. And for a high-priority, high-stakes channel that your CEO wants to implement, maintenance is not enough. You're in a hugely competitive market. Your competitors, the big staffing agencies, definately aren't spending 30 minutes a day on this. They have dedicated teams or expert agencies whose entire job is to outsmart and outspend you. Trying to compete with that on a sliver of your day is a recipe for burning through your budget with very little to show for it. The biggest cost won't even be the ad spend you waste; it'll be the opportunity cost of what your time is worth when focused on the many other projects you have.

You don't have a Google Ads problem, you have a nurse acquisition problem...

This is the most important shift in mindset you can make. You're not just looking to "run Google Ads". You're looking for a reliable, scalable way to attract high-quality travel nurses. Google Ads is just one tool to solve that problem. And the tool is useless if you don't first understand the person you're trying to reach.

So let's forget about keywords and campaigns for a second. Let's talk about the travel nurse. What is her nightmare? It's not a lack of job listings. It's the soul-crushing experience of dealing with a bad agency. It's getting a call from a recruiter who clearly hasn't read her CV and is pushing a placement in a location she never wanted to go to. It's being promised a certain pay package, only to find it riddled with hidden fees and and deductions. It's arriving at a new hospital and finding the housing is a disaster, or the support from her agency vanishes the second she's signed the contract. It's the paperwork, the uncertainty, teh constant feeling of being just another number on a spreadsheet.

Your ideal customer profile isn't "Registered Nurse, 25-45, interested in travel". That's a demographic. It tells you nothing useful. Your true ICP is defined by this nightmare. She's a talented, dedicated professional who's terrified of making the wrong choice and ending up in a miserable contract for 13 weeks. She's frustrated, cynical, and has been burned before.

Your entire advertising strategy must be built to solve this specific nightmare. When you understand this, you stop writing generic ads about "great opportunities" and "competitive pay". You start writing ads that offer a safe harbour. You sell trust, transparency, and support. You sell the feeling of being looked after by people who actually get it. That's how you stand out in a sea of identical-sounding staffing companies.

We'll need to build a message they can't ignore...

Once you're clear on the nightmare, you can craft a message that acts as the antidote. Most of your competitors' ads are probably bland and feature-focused. They'll say "Travel Nurse Jobs Available" or "High Paying RN Roles". It's boring, and it speaks to no one.

We need to use a framework like Problem-Agitate-Solve. You hit the pain point directly, you twist the knife a little by reminding them how bad it can be, and then you present your agency as the clear solution. It's about empathy, not just broadcasting a job opening. This is how you make a potential candidate feel seen and understood before they've even clicked on your ad.

Here's what that might look like in practice. Notice how it's completely different from the generic stuff you usually see. It's opinionated, direct, and empathetic.

See the difference? We're not selling a job; we're selling the end of a bad experience. This is what stops a nurse mid-scroll and makes them think, "Finally, someone who gets it." This level of messaging doesn't come from a 30-minute daily check-in. It comes from a deep strategic process.

You probably should rethink the "Apply Now" button...

Now, let's talk about what happens after they click. Most agencies will send them to a landing page with a list of jobs and a big, intimidating "Apply Now" button. This is probably the single biggest mistake you can make. "Apply Now" is a huge commitment. It asks a busy professional who is just starting their search to stop what they're doing and fill out a lengthy application. It's high friction and low value for them at that stage.

Think about it from the nurse's perspective. She's just browsing. She's comparing agencies. She's not ready to marry you on the first date. Asking her to apply is like a car salesman asking for your bank details the moment you step onto the forecourt. It's too much, too soon.

Instead, you need to offer something of immediate value in exchange for their contact information. You need to solve a small part of their problem for free. This is how you build a pipeline of leads, not just a handful of applicants. We call these lead magnets.

What could this look like for a travel nurse staffing company?

• -> The Ultimate Travel Nurse Pay Calculator: A simple tool where they can input a location and specialism and see a realistic, estimated weekly take-home pay. This directly addresses their number one concern.
• -> A Free PDF Guide: "The 7 Red Flags to Spot in a Nursing Agency Contract": This positions you as a trusted advisor, not just a vendor. You're helping them make a better decision, even if it's not with you. This builds immense trust.
• -> A Quick 5-Question Quiz: "Find Your Perfect State Assignment": A fun, interactive way to engage them and capture their preferences for future follow-up.

These offers are low-friction. They provide instant value. In return, you get a name and an email address of a qualified nurse you can now nurture over time. You can send them relevant job openings, share useful content, and build a relationship. When they are finally ready to apply, who do you think they'll go with? The generic agency with the "Apply Now" button, or the one that's been helping them for weeks? This is how you win.

I'd say you need to understand the true cost of getting a nurse...

One of the key things that holds businesses back is being afraid of the cost per lead (CPL). Your finance department might see a £50 CPL from Google Ads and panic. But this is because they're thinking about it in the wrong way. The question isn't "how low can our CPL go?". The real question is "how much can we afford to spend to acquire a great nurse who will take multiple placements with us?".

This is where calculating your Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) becomes critical. You're not just getting one 13-week placement. A great nurse might take 3, 4, or 5 placements with you over several years if you treat them well. Let's do some rough, back-of-the-envelope maths. These numbers are just for illustration, you'll need to use your own.

Suddenly, things look very different. If a single nurse is worth £3,600 in gross margin to your business over their lifetime, paying £50 or even £150 for a qualified lead that converts into a placement looks like an incredible bargain. This is the maths that unlocks aggressive, intelligent growth. Without it, you're flying blind, likely turning off campaigns that are actually profitable in the long run simply because the initial lead cost seems high.

This is what allows you to make smart decisions. A healthy business might aim for a 3:1 LTV to Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) ratio. With a £3,600 LTV, that means you can afford to spend up to £1,200 to acquire one nurse. If your sales process converts 1 in 10 qualified leads into a placement, you can afford to pay up to £120 per lead. This is the kind of data-driven approach that an expert partner brings to the table. It moves the conversation from "this is expensive" to "this is a profitable investment".

You'll need the right strategy for Google Ads (and maybe elsewhere)...

So, assuming we have the right message and the right offer, we can finally talk about the tool itself: Google Ads. This is where technical expertise comes in, but it's guided by all the strategic work we've already done.

Your instinct to start with Google Ads is the right one. You want to reach people who are actively searching for a solution, and that's exactly what Google Search is for. We'd focus on keywords that show clear intent.

Beyond Google, you should also have LinkedIn on your radar. For a recruitment business, it's an incredibly powerful platform. You can target nurses with extreme precision – by specialty, years of experience, current employer, and more. While Google captures active searchers, LinkedIn lets you proactively go after your ideal candidate profile. We've run campaigns for B2B clients where we've generated leads from specific decision-makers for as low as $22. The same principles apply to finding specialised nurses.

The campaign must be set to optimise for conversions, not clicks or impressions. This is a non-negotiable rule. You are telling Google's algorithm: "Do not find me cheap clicks. Find me people who are most likely to fill out my form or request my pay calculator." It costs more per click, but far less per actual lead. This alone is a distinction that the "30 minutes a day" approach almost always gets wrong.

So, how do you choose the right partner?

After all this, you might be thinking that doing it yourself sounds like a lot more than you bargained for. If you do decide to go with an agency, the $5k + 15% of ad spend quote is fairly standard in the industry. But the price is irrelevant if they don't get you results. The key is vetting them properly.

First, look at their case studies. Don't just look for flashy numbers. Look for relevance. Have they worked in recruitment, healthcare, or for other staffing companies? Ask them directly. As I mentioned, we've had success with a medical job matching SaaS, which is very relevant to your field. If an agency can't show you relevant experience, that's a warning sign.

Second, on your initial call with them, they should be giving you ideas and strategy, not just a hard sales pitch. You should walk away from that call feeling like you've learned something. They should be asking you smart questions about your business, your nurses, and your goals. Look for expertise, not just promises. Tbh, in paid advertising, you can't really promise anything. It's impossible to predict exact results. Any agency that guarantees you a specific return is lying. A good partner will give you a realistic forecast based on experience and data.

Finally, trust your gut. If it feels like they truly have the expertise you need after you've reviewed their work and spoken to them, that's a great sign. (A little inside tip: if a potential client asks us for references to call after we've shown them detailed case studies and given them a free, in-depth strategy session, it's usually a red flag for us. It signals a deep lack of trust that probably won't get better, and it means we're likely not a good fit.)

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

This is a lot to take on, especially with your current workload. The path forward requires a strategic foundation before a single penny is spent on ads. This is where the real work lies.

As you can see, this is a comprehensive business function, not a simple administrative task. It requires a blend of marketing psychology, strategic thinking, data analysis, and technical execution.

Doing this right takes time, focus, and a depth of experience that's hard to gain on the fly. An expert partner isn't just someone to press the buttons in Google Ads for you; they're a strategic extension of your marketing team who can build and manage this entire acquisition engine, letting you focus on the dozen other critical projects on your desk.

If you'd like an expert pair of eyes on this and want to discuss how a strategy like this could be tailored specifically for your company, we offer a free, no-obligation strategy session. We can take a look at your goals and give you some clear, actionable advice on the best way forward. There's no hard sell, just a genuine conversation about what it would take to make your Google Ads a success.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh