Should PPC and Social Media Ads Be Done by the Same Agency?

When you evaluate pay-per-click (PPC) agencies, one of the first choices you will make is whether to keep paid search and paid social under the same team. Both approaches work, but they shape your reporting, creative workflow, lead quality expectations, and how your internal team operates. In this guide, we’ll help you identify if all your PPC and social media should be managed by a single agency, or if you’ll find a better fit and stronger results by splitting the two.

“PPC” vs. Social Media Ads: A Brief Primer

Before we break down what type of agency you need, let’s take a quick look at these advertising options to ensure you’re signing up for the services you need.

PPC is Short for Pay-Per-Click Advertising 

PPC refers to any advertising model where your business pays when someone clicks on an ad. The format is broad and includes multiple platforms. PPC can appear in search engines such as Google and Bing, social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and X, or other placements that use an auction-based system. The unifying idea is the click-based cost model, not the targeting method.

Paid Search is a Type of PPC

Paid search targets people who already intend to act. These users enter keywords into search engines to find solutions or compare choices. Because paid search focuses on active interest, it tends to generate higher-intent leads. Campaigns center on keywords, text ads, landing pages, and structured bidding strategies built around user queries.

The average business gets an average return on investment (ROI) of two times its Google ad spend, according to the platform. Because of these strong results and its extensive reach, it tends to be the network that businesses leverage first. 

Social Media Advertising is a Type of PPC, Too

Social advertising uses the same pay-per-click model, but it works earlier in the customer journey. Instead of keywords, social platforms rely on signals like interests, behaviors, demographics, and lookalike audiences. These environments depend on creative variation, visual storytelling, and faster testing cycles to reach people who have not begun searching yet.

Each social network has a different level of ROI. For instance, on Facebook, it’s typically four or five times a business’s ad spend, Sprout Social reports. Most marketers agree that the platform delivers the best results, with Instagram trailing slightly behind. Of course, these results are contingent on ensuring the right social network is selected and that the creative (copy/text, images, videos, calls-to-action, etc.) is designed with the platform and audience in mind.

Consolidating Search and Social Media PPC Reshapes How Your Marketing Works

When a single agency manages PPC and paid social together, your marketing follows one strategic direction. As mentioned in the outline, this structure is common, but it changes how performance is interpreted, how budgets move, and how insights flow through your business. Understanding these shifts helps you decide if this setup fits your goals.

Combined PPC and Social Media Marketing Reporting Creates a Different View of Performance

A unified structure blends awareness-driven signals from social and intent-driven signals from search. This gives leadership a clean, high-level view, but it also changes how you read individual channel behavior.

• Cross-Channel Performance Stories Replace Channel-Specific Views: Your reports present themes across both platforms instead of separating social-driven exploration from search-driven action.
• Assists and Influenced Behavior Become More Central: Because both channels feed into a single narrative, your business sees more emphasis on incremental gains rather than isolated channel results.

Budgets Shift More Quickly When One Agency Owns Both Channels

With consolidated management, the agency moves spend based on opportunity rather than fixed allocations. This speeds up learning cycles and broadens your testing range.

• Faster Testing Cycles Lead to Quicker Adjustments: When performance changes, the agency can respond without waiting for cross-team approvals.
• Spend Allocation Reflects Real-Time Signals: Budgets move toward the channel gaining traction, which helps momentum but requires comfort with more fluid distribution.

Insights Flow Through One Strategic Lens

When one team manages both channels, insights connect more easily across platforms. Patterns discovered in one place influence decisions in the other, which increases coordination.

• Shared Learnings Create More Cohesive Strategy Decisions: Audience trends from social inform keyword choices, and search behavior shapes remarketing and creative direction.
• Interpretation Depends on Agency Expertise: Because all insights flow through a single group, your business relies on their ability to separate awareness signals from intent signals clearly.

Unified Social Media PPC Advertising Management Works Best When the Agency Has True Channel Specialists

A unified structure works well when the agency has deep expertise in each channel, supported by clear roles, strong creative resources, and processes designed for cross-channel decision-making. When these pieces are in place, you gain the efficiencies of consolidation without losing the strengths that come from focused talent.

PPC and Paid Social Specialists Keep Each Channel Performing at its Best

Search and paid social behave very differently. Search is intent-driven and structured around keywords, while social relies on creative, audience signals, and constant testing. Agencies that perform well with unified management build their teams around these distinctions.

• Dedicated Channel Experts Maintain Quality Across Platforms: Your campaigns benefit from strategists who focus on either search or social every day instead of switching between disciplines.
• Clear Roles Prevent Channel Blending: When responsibilities are defined, insights stay accurate, and your business can still understand how each channel contributes to results.
• Mature Processes Support Consistent Optimization: Strong agencies use established workflows that keep testing on track across both platforms, even when performance shifts quickly.

Creative Resources Play a Central Role in Unified Management

A combined setup only works when the agency can support the creative demands of social without slowing down search performance. Social platforms require ongoing refreshes, and the agency’s creative structure determines how well they can keep up.

• Creative Capacity Matches Social’s Higher Demand: Agencies with designers, editors, and copywriters available on a predictable schedule maintain the pace required for social testing.
• Creative Workflows Move Quickly Enough to Support Performance: Approvals, revisions, and production timelines run smoothly, so campaigns do not stall while waiting for new assets.
• Creative Strategy Aligns with Channel Needs: Teams understand how messaging and visuals differ between intent-driven and awareness-driven environments, which keeps both channels effective.

Cross-Channel Strategy Strengthens When Search and Social Media Ad Management Specialists Work Together

When specialists communicate clearly, unified management becomes more valuable. Each channel carries signals that support the other, and experienced teams know how to use those signals without diluting the distinct purpose of each platform.

• Shared Insights Improve Targeting and Messaging: Audience trends discovered in social inform keyword choices, and search behavior helps refine social segments.
• Testing Becomes More Coordinated Across Channels: A well-structured team understands how to sequence experiments, compare results, and build on successful patterns.
• The Overall Roadmap Becomes Easier to Interpret: With specialists contributing from each channel, your business sees how both platforms support long-term goals without losing clarity.

Split Social PPC Management Performs Better When Social Needs More Creative Support

Split management becomes the stronger choice when paid social requires a level of creative volume, experimentation, or audience refinement that a PPC-focused team cannot fully support. Social platforms depend on visuals, messaging tests, and quicker refresh cycles, and those needs often exceed what a traditional search-driven structure can deliver.

Creative Volume Becomes the Deciding Factor

Paid social relies on constant variation. Audiences respond to visuals, motion, and messages that evolve quickly, and campaigns often slow down when creative output cannot keep up with the platform’s pace.

• High Creative Demand Outpaces Standard PPC Workflows: Search campaigns require fewer updates. When an agency’s structure leans toward search, creative delivery for social often slows down performance.
• Rapid Refresh Cycles Matter More on Social: A strong social partner keeps new concepts in rotation before ad fatigue sets in, which protects your results as audiences change.
• More Formats Require More Specialized Skills: Carousel ads, short-form video, static images, and motion graphics each need different skill sets. Dedicated creative teams support these needs more consistently.

Specialized Social Media Marketing PPC Teams Increase Experimentation Capacity

Paid social thrives on experimentation. When teams have the time, tools, and focus to test audiences and creatives in structured cycles, campaigns evolve faster and deliver stronger outcomes.

• Testing Schedules Stay Consistent with Social’s Requirements: A team focused solely on social builds its calendar around variation rather than keyword movements, which keeps momentum steady.
• Audience Development Gets More Attention: Dedicated social teams explore lookalikes, interests, and behavioral mixes with a depth that unified PPC teams usually cannot maintain.
• Creative and Targeting Insights Grow More Quickly: Social-focused teams spot patterns faster and translate them into stronger messaging, formats, and segmentation choices.

Channel Separation Preserves Clarity in Performance

When search and social sit with different partners, it becomes easier to see how each channel contributes to your funnel. Each team focuses on the outcomes specific to their discipline, which helps your business understand shifts in quality, volume, and behavior.

• Social Metrics Stay Distinct from Search Conversions: Your reports show awareness and engagement patterns without blending them into intent-driven results.
• Lead Quality Trends Become Easier to Interpret: Search brings users who already intend to act, while social introduces new audiences. Separate teams help you see those differences clearly.
• Budgets Can Follow Each Channel’s Natural Rhythm: Search budgets often stay stable, while social budgets move based on creative cycles. Separate ownership reflects this difference.

Your Internal Processes Influence Whether You Need a Specialized Social Media PPC Agency, Too

As you can see, both unified and split management can work well when the structure aligns with the agency’s strengths. The other half of this decision, however, comes from your internal workflow. Even the most capable agency setup will struggle if it does not match the way your team reviews creative, handles leads, or interprets performance. Many businesses initially focus on agency capability, but your internal processes often shape the outcomes far more than people realize.

Creative Approvals Shape How Well Social Can Perform

Paid social relies on quicker creative cycles than search. If your internal timelines or review steps move slowly, it affects how quickly new concepts enter the market. This becomes a deciding factor when choosing between unified and split management.

• Approval Timelines Influence Creative Momentum: If your team signs off on new assets once every few weeks, social performance may slow, regardless of the agency’s structure.
• Brand Requirements Affect the Pace of Production: Some industries require more compliance review. When this applies, you may benefit from a team that can manage creative volume around stricter checks.
• Your Feedback Style Shapes Agency Workflow: Direct, actionable feedback helps both unified and split teams move faster. Slow or unclear feedback delays testing cycles.

Your Sales Team’s Expectations Influence Channel Performance

Search and social bring in different types of prospects. If your sales team reads them the same way or adjusts too slowly, it affects your perception of performance.

• Search Leads Behave Differently from Social Leads: Search users already intend to act. Social users often begin earlier in the journey. Your sales team must interpret these patterns correctly.
• Follow-Up Speed Affects Social Outcomes: Social leads benefit from earlier and more consistent contact. If your team moves at a search-driven pace, results may feel uneven.
• Lead Handling Structure Shapes Your Experience: Some teams use dedicated roles for earlier-stage leads. When this applies, social becomes easier to support.

Leadership’s Reporting Preferences Shape Channel Strategy

Leadership often guides how performance is presented. Their preferences influence which structure works best for your business.

• Top-Level Dashboards May Favor a Unified View: If leadership prefers a single performance story, unified management becomes easier to maintain.
• Deeper Channel Separation Works Better for Analytical Leaders: Some leadership teams want clear isolation between awareness, intent, and conversion. Split management helps achieve this.
• The Level of Detail Your Leaders Expect Affects Agency Workflow: Agencies adapt their reporting to leadership preferences. The clearer the expectation, the better aligned the structure becomes.

Operational Rhythm Determines Which Setup Feels Natural

Every business has a unique workflow. Some teams hold weekly creative reviews. Others process approvals monthly. Some require multiple layers of signoff. The right agency structure depends on how you already work.

• Faster Rhythms Support Unified Management: Frequent check-ins, quick decisions, and simple approvals help a unified agency maintain momentum.
• Steadier Rhythms Support Split Management: If your team moves more slowly, social benefits from a partner who can maintain creative volume without waiting on search-related updates.
• Your Comfort with Fluid Budgets Plays a Role: Unified management shifts spend more quickly. Teams that prefer stability often find separate structures easier.

You Can Identify the Best PPC Agency Services with a Few Key Questions

Once you understand how your team works, the next step is to evaluate whether an agency can support that rhythm. A few direct questions reveal how the agency thinks, how they organize their teams, and whether their approach matches the way your business operates.

These questions are straightforward on the surface, but the explanations and examples the agency provides will help you distinguish between maturity and general capability.

Ask How Their Team is Structured Across Search and Social

The simplest way to understand an agency’s depth is to learn who owns each channel. This gives you clarity on expertise, workflow, and the resources that will support your campaigns.

• Role Definitions Reveal Where Expertise Lives: Clear descriptions of who handles search, who handles social, and who handles creative help you see whether your channels will receive focused attention.
• Team Size and Availability Indicate Capacity: Agencies that can support both channels have enough strategists and creatives to handle a steady volume of work without sacrificing quality.
• Communication Flow Shows How Insights Move: Understanding how strategists share findings across search and social helps you predict how cross-channel decisions will develop.

Discuss Their Approach to Creative Development and Refresh Cycles

Creative is one of the largest deciding factors in choosing between unified and split management. Asking about their creative process shows how well they can support social’s faster pace.

• Creative Scheduling Explains How Quickly They Can Deliver: Social performs best when new assets enter the market regularly, so timelines matter.
• Production Details Clarify Their Internal Workflow: Understanding who writes, designs, and edits helps you predict how smoothly the process will run.
• Review and Revision Steps Show How They Handle Your Feedback: Agencies with structured feedback loops maintain performance even when your team requires multiple rounds of review.

Learn How They Manage Budgets Across Channels

Budget flexibility differs between unified and split management. The way an agency describes this process helps you see how they make decisions and how those decisions align with your comfort level.

• Real-Time Budget Movement Indicates Their Testing Style: Agencies that shift spend quickly often favor unified management because it supports coordinated testing.
• Channel-Level Budget Planning Explains Their Strategic Priorities: If your business prefers stability, you will want a partner that sets clear expectations for each channel.
• Communication Around Budget Changes Shows Their Transparency: Understanding how they notify you of shifts helps you maintain visibility.

Request Reporting Samples to Understand Their Detail Level

Reports show you how an agency thinks. They reveal whether the agency can deliver the clarity your leadership expects and whether their insights match your goals.

• Dashboard Structure Reflects Their Understanding of Each Channel: Some agencies present a combined narrative, while others separate results more clearly.
• Insight Summaries Reveal Their Analytical Depth: Agencies with strong specialists identify patterns and provide direction, not just numbers.
• Attribution Details Show How They Interpret Assisted Actions: Clear explanations of influenced conversions help you understand their perspective on social’s role in the funnel.

The Right PPC Advertising and Social Media Marketing Setup Supports How Your Team Works

You now have a clear view of how consolidation reshapes your marketing, when unified management performs well, when split management gains an advantage, and how to evaluate an agency’s structure with targeted questions. At this point, the decision comes down to how your business operates. The strongest setup is the one that aligns with your internal rhythm, creative capacity, leadership expectations, and long-term goals. When those factors match the agency’s strengths, your marketing runs more smoothly and delivers stronger results.

Unified PPC and Social Media Strategy Works Well When Your Team Moves Quickly

As we covered earlier, unified management thrives when both channels follow the same strategic cadence. This works best for teams that communicate often and make decisions promptly.

• Fast Approvals Keep Creative Cycles Healthy: If your team can review and approve creative within shorter timelines, social testing continues without interruption.
• Leadership Prefers a High-Level View: Some leadership teams want a combined performance story. Unified management supports that preference naturally.
• Budgets Can Shift Comfortably: Teams that are open to fluid spend allocation benefit from the faster adjustments unified agencies make.

Split Management Fits Teams That Prefer Stability and Distinct Workflows

Split management becomes the better choice when your business moves at a steadier pace or requires clearer separation between channels.

• Slower Creative Approvals Need Dedicated Social Support: If your team takes longer to review assets, a separate social partner can maintain momentum without waiting on search cycles.
• Leadership Wants Channel-Level Clarity: Teams that depend on detailed breakdowns between awareness, intent, and conversion gain stronger visibility with separate partners.
• Budget Stability Feels More Natural: Teams that prefer consistent allocations across channels often find split management easier to manage.

Your Internal Comfort Level Matters More Than the Agency Structure

Both unified and split management can succeed with the right conditions. The key is choosing the structure that feels natural for your business rather than forcing your workflow into a system that does not match your pace or expectations.

• Match the Structure to Your Creative Capacity: Faster creative rhythms align with unified setups, while steadier rhythms benefit from split arrangements.
• Support the Sales Team with the Right Lead Patterns: As mentioned earlier, social and search leads behave differently. The structure you choose influences how easily your team handles those patterns.
• Choose the Setup That Reduces Friction: When your internal processes align with the agency’s strengths, collaboration becomes easier and decision-making feels more predictable.

Get Help Outsourcing Your Paid Search and Social Media Advertising

Whether you’re hoping to find a single PPC agency that can manage it all, would prefer the split approach, or still aren’t sure which is right for your business, we can help. During a brief consultation, we’ll get to the heart of how your company operates and explore your goals, then we’ll review our network of trusted PPC partners to identify the best match or matches for your needs. To get started, simply request your free consultation.

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