How to choose a paid media agency

Paid media, meaning ads on Google, Meta, TikTok, YouTube and similar platforms, is one of the fastest ways to win customers and one of the fastest ways to waste money. The agency you choose decides which one you get. This guide covers what to look for, what to avoid and the questions that separate a strong partner from a polished pitch.

Start with your goal, not the platform

Before you talk to agencies, write down what a good result looks like: enquiries per month, booked calls, online sales or a cost per lead you can afford. Note what a customer is worth to you, even roughly. An agency that understands these numbers can tell you which platforms fit. One that jumps straight to "you need TikTok" without asking is selling a tactic, not solving your problem.

Ask for relevant proof

Ask to see work for businesses like yours: similar customers, similar price points, similar sales process. A lead-generation campaign for a local service business is very different from an e-commerce catalogue. Good agencies can walk you through what they changed, what happened and what they learned, including what did not work.

Platform badges help as a filter but are not proof on their own. Google says its Partner badge requires meeting performance, spend and certification requirements, and that Premier Partner status is reserved for the top 3% of participating companies each year. Meta runs a similar Business Partner program with its own badge. A badge shows platform knowledge; your own results come from the work done in your account.

Make sure you own your accounts

Your ad accounts, analytics, tracking, audiences and creative should belong to your business, with the agency added as a user. If an agency runs ads from its own account, you can lose the history, data and audiences when you leave. Ask this question early and get the answer in writing.

Tracking comes before scaling

Ads can only be improved against something that is measured. Before budgets grow, an agency should check that form submissions, calls, bookings or purchases are recorded correctly in the ad platforms and in your analytics. If a proposal does not mention conversion tracking, ask how they will know what is working.

Look for reporting you can understand

A monthly report should answer four questions: what did we spend, what did it produce, what did we learn and what changes next. Impressions and click-through rates are useful for the team running the ads, but your report should lead with leads, bookings or sales and the cost of each. Ask to see a sample report before you sign.

Understand the fee

Paid media agencies usually charge a flat monthly management fee, a percentage of ad spend, or a mix of the two for larger budgets. Any of these can be fair. What matters is that the fee is quoted separately from the ad budget, you know what is included, such as campaign setup, creative, landing page advice and reporting, and you know what costs extra.

For reference, our paid media packages start at $1,500 a month for one priority platform, $3,000 a month for two or more platforms with a testing roadmap, and $5,500 a month for multi-market programs. Ad spend is always separate, and higher-spend accounts may use a hybrid fee.

Red flags

• Guaranteed results, rankings or a fixed number of leads before they have seen your account.
• Running your ads from an account you do not own.
• No mention of conversion tracking or landing pages.
• Reports that only show reach, impressions and clicks.
• A long minimum contract with no review point.
• Vague answers about who does the work day to day.

Plan the first three months together

Ask how the first months would run. A sensible plan usually starts with an account and tracking check, then a focused launch on one or two campaigns, then regular testing of audiences, offers and creative. Agree a review date up front, so both sides know when you will decide what to scale, change or stop. How long that takes depends on your budget and how many conversions the account gets, so be cautious of anyone who promises a fixed timeline without seeing your data.

If you would like a second opinion on your current ads or a proposal you have received, book a free call. We will look at the account with you and tell you what we would keep, fix or stop.