Optimizing keywords, match types, bid prices and ad copy. Managing multiple campaigns with Google, adMarketplace, and Yahoo/Bing. Translating and understanding performance reports and trends. Communicating with clients in a language that is easy to understand. These are the day-to-day actions of a digital agency’s search marketing team. But for all the technical challenges these teams face, the biggest may be hiring the right people.

With larger portions of advertising budgets migrating to digital, agencies must find top-notch talent to manage campaigns at greater scale than ever before. This is crucial to a campaign’s success, and directly related to an agency’s ability to retain and grow client relationships. As clients get increasingly aggressive with managing profit margins and demand more from their partners, agencies are left with little room for error.