How to Choose an Advertising Agency in Bulgaria
Choose an advertising agency in Bulgaria based on its process, access to advertising accounts and quality of reporting—not promises of cheap clicks. The right partner first understands how your business makes money, sets up lead tracking, and only then recommends a budget and channels.
What are you really comparing between advertising agencies?
An advertising agency is not simply someone who creates campaigns. It should connect a search on Google or a social network to a real action: a phone call, form submission, enquiry, office visit or purchase.
When comparing advertising agencies, look at five things: how they set goals, how they audit your website, how they set up tracking, how they make decisions and how they report results to you. The same monthly fee can mean a completely different scope of work.
Look for a partner who asks specific questions about your services, margins, regions, team capacity and how you process new enquiries. If the conversation starts and ends with “we'll bring you traffic”, it probably has not yet established how advertising will generate revenue.
| What are you comparing | Good sign | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | The discussion focuses on qualified enquiries, sales and acquisition cost | Only clicks and impressions are reported |
| Account | Your advertising account and data remain accessible to your business | The agency keeps everything in its own account |
| Tracking | Forms, calls, purchases and deals are tracked | You receive a report with no connection to sales |
| Workflow | There is a plan for testing, changes and content approval | Campaigns are launched without clear hypotheses |
| Reporting | It explains what was changed and what comes next | You receive an automated PDF with lots of metrics |
What should online advertising management include?
Good management starts with reviewing the business and the landing page. For an online store, this may include the product page and checkout process. For a services business, it may be the phone, contact form and the way the salesperson handles enquiries.
Next comes a technical check. The agency should confirm that Google Ads, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager and the tool used to process calls or enquiries are connected. For a store, it should also check the product feed, purchase values and connection to the e-commerce platform.
The campaigns are then prepared. This includes researching searches, grouping services by intent, creating ad copy, extensions, audiences, locations and schedules. Not every campaign needs to go live at the same time. It is better to test the strongest demand first and have the resources to handle the customers you acquire.
The work does not end when the campaigns go live. The agency should monitor enquiries, costs, search terms, traffic quality and the team's response. Keywords, ads, pages, audiences and budget should be changed as needed. If you need a separate page for a specific offer, the landing page should be part of the conversation, not an afterthought at the last minute.
How do you evaluate a Google Ads proposal?
Google Ads is suitable when customers are already searching for your service or product. That does not mean every keyword is useful. A search may be informational, too broad or aimed at a competitor who is not your customer.
Ask the agency how it will divide campaigns by service, location and intent. For a company that operates only in Sofia, a nationwide campaign may spend the budget without delivering any real benefit. For a B2B company, it may be more important to exclude searches from end consumers, job candidates and people looking for support rather than a purchase.
Check whether the proposal includes negative keywords, ads for the different services, analysis of search terms and landing page changes. Also ask what happens when search volume is low. A professional agency should propose the next verifiable hypothesis, rather than promise a result that does not depend entirely on it.
Separate the advertising budget from the management fee. They are different costs. Ask to see what is included in the monthly service: setup, optimisation, copy, banners, tracking, meetings and reporting. The price for online advertising management may be €250–€2,500; where it falls within the range depends on the number of campaigns, channels, tracking complexity and the need for ongoing testing.
How do you evaluate Facebook and Instagram advertising?
Social media works differently from Google. On Google, users generally express intent through a search. On Facebook and Instagram, an ad interrupts content browsing and must quickly explain why the offer is relevant.
Ask who will prepare the messaging, images, videos and test variations. It is not enough for the agency to choose an audience. There must be a clear plan for the offer, supporting evidence, the enquiry form and the follow-up action.
Good Facebook advertising includes managing campaigns on Facebook and Instagram, audiences, copy, creative and tracking enquiries or sales. If you are offered only post publishing, that is social media profile management, not necessarily advertising management.
Be careful with audiences built solely around interests. They may deliver inexpensive visits, but that does not prove that the right customers were attracted. Require a comparison between campaigns for new audiences, retargeting visitors and ads aimed at people who have already started an order or enquiry.
What results should you expect?
The result depends on the objective. For a service, it may be a qualified call or a completed form. For an online store, it is an order with its value recorded. For a B2B company, an initial enquiry may turn into a sale after a conversation with a sales representative, so advertising should be connected to the CRM or at least to an organised deal register.
Do not accept “more traffic” as an adequate answer. Ask to see which actions count as conversions, how their validity is checked and how duplicate or low-quality enquiries are identified. For calls, it should be clear which channel the call came from and whether it was answered.
With a small or new account, an agency cannot honestly promise a specific number of sales in advance. It can promise a process: checking the data, controlling the budget, documenting changes and setting clear criteria for the next decision. That is more useful than guaranteed results without an understanding of the market and the offer.
What should a monthly report look like?
The report should be easy to understand and lead to a decision. In addition to spend, impressions, clicks and click-through rate, you should see conversions, cost per conversion, purchase value or the status of received enquiries.
Ask for a brief commentary on the data. Which campaigns worked? Which searches were unsuitable? What ads were tested? What will change during the next period? A table without an explanation shifts the analysis back to you.
Check that you have access to Google Ads, analytics, the pixel and the other tools. The account should be connected to your business, rather than depending on an employee’s personal profile or the agency being the only party with access. If the contract ends, the data and history should remain with you.
What should you ask for before signing?
- 01Describe the objective and sales process
Write down which services or products you want to advertise, which cities you operate in, the value of a customer and who handles new enquiries. Clarify how you determine whether a contact is qualified.
- 02Check the technical foundations
Ask for a list of the required access permissions and an audit of the website, forms, phone, analytics and CRM system. If tracking is not ready, it should be described as a separate task with a clear outcome.
- 03Compare the scope of the proposals
Put the channels, number of campaigns, copy, creative, optimisation, meetings and reports side by side. This will show you why two seemingly similar proposals are not the same.
- 04Ask for a plan for the first period
The plan should specify what will be set up, what data will be collected, what will be tested and when decisions will be made. Do not look for a fixed scenario for the entire contract, but for a logical first stage.
- 05Clarify ownership and termination
Specify in the contract who owns the accounts, advertising materials, data and audiences. Clarify how access will be handed over and what happens to active campaigns when the contract ends.
How do you know whether an agency is right for your company?
The right partner is not necessarily the largest advertising agency in Bulgaria. What matters is experience with your type of sales, the team available and the ability to speak your business’s language. An agency that works mainly with online stores may not be the best choice for a complex B2B service with a long sales cycle.
Ask who will actually work on the account. Will you speak to the person who sets up the campaigns, or only to a salesperson? How often will you receive feedback? Who is responsible when there is an urgent problem with the budget, forms or advertising account?
Look for evidence, but consider it in context. A website such as Dobrite Hamali is a useful example because it shows the link between a conversion-focused website, Google Ads integration and call tracking. That does not mean the same setup will work for your company without changes. It is important for the agency to explain how it will adapt the approach to your specific process.
If your ads lead to a slow website, an unclear offer or a form that nobody processes, a new campaign alone will not solve the problem. Sometimes changes are needed to the website, content, CRM system or the way your sales team works. A good partner will tell you this in time instead of masking poor conversion with more traffic.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does an advertising agency cost in Bulgaria?
- For Google Ads management and other marketing services, the price may be €250–€2,500. What you will pay in your specific case depends on the number of channels, campaigns, ad creatives, tracking and optimisation frequency. The advertising budget is paid separately.
- How can I tell whether my Google Ads agency is doing a good job?
- Check whether calls, forms, purchases or deals are tracked correctly and whether the report shows what has changed. A good agency explains its decisions and connects advertising data with the quality of the leads generated.
- Do I need to advertise on Google and Facebook at the same time?
- Not always. Google is strong when there is existing demand, while Facebook and Instagram can create interest and reach specific audiences. The channels should be chosen based on the product, sales cycle, content and how you measure results.
- Who should own the Google Ads account?
- The account should be linked to your company, and you should have access to it. The agency can manage the campaigns with the permissions you grant, but it is not wise to leave the entire history and all the information in someone else’s account.
