How to Choose a Digital Advertising Partner
Choose a digital advertising partner not based on promises of “lots of customers”, but on whether they can connect advertising to a real enquiry, phone call and sale. Ask for access to the advertising accounts, a specific plan for Google Ads and Facebook/Instagram, a clear report and an explanation of how results will be measured. This way, you compare the way they work, not just the monthly fee.
Владислав БарковManaging Director
What should you compare between advertising partners?
Start by comparing the scope of the service. One agency may only set up campaigns. Another may review your website, build a landing page, set up call tracking and connect enquiries to your CRM. These are different services, and it is not fair to compare them based on a single monthly fee.
Find out who will actually work on the account. Ask whether you will have a dedicated specialist, who approves changes and how quickly the team responds. If it is not clear who is responsible even before the contract is signed, you may later receive vague answers passed between the salesperson, specialist and developer.
Look for a partner who understands your sales process. For a services company, phone calls and qualified enquiries are important. For an online store, orders, purchase value and profit by product group matter. For a B2B company, a sale may be completed after several proposals and conversations, rather than when a form is submitted.
| Criterion | What to check | Warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| Access and ownership | Do the advertising account, pixel, analytics profiles and data remain in your company’s name? | The partner refuses access or insists that everything be held in their account. |
| Strategy | Is there a plan covering services, audiences, keywords, messaging and landing pages? | You are promised “ad launch” without any questions about your business. |
| Measurement | Are forms, calls, orders and sales tracked, rather than just clicks? | Impressions and likes are presented as the main results. |
| Communication | Is there a set schedule for reports, meetings and material approvals? | There is no reporting deadline or point of contact. |
| Experience | Can they show relevant examples and explain their decisions? | They show generic charts without context or access to verifiable data. |
What questions should you ask about Google Ads?
Ask how the account structure will be divided. For search campaigns, this could mean separate campaigns for services, cities or customer types. For an online store, you should discuss the product feed, categories, dynamic remarketing and stock availability. A good structure is not just a technical matter. It should reflect the way you sell.
Ask how keywords will be selected and how unsuitable searches will be excluded. Request examples of negative keywords, ad messaging and landing pages. If you sell a professional service, a search from someone looking for a job or a free consultation can spend your budget without generating a customer.
Ask how decisions will be made about changing bids and the budget. The specialist should talk about enquiry quality, cost per acquisition, available capacity and margin-not just a lower cost per click. A cheap click has no value if it leads to unsuitable calls.
Clarify what happens when the website changes. A new form, a different phone number or a change to the thank-you page can interrupt tracking. The partner should have a process for checking after such changes, rather than discovering the problem in the monthly report.
How to assess their approach to Facebook and Instagram
For Facebook and Instagram advertising, ask how audiences are defined. Possible approaches include interests, geography, customer lists, website visitors and people who have interacted with your content. The partner should explain why they choose a particular audience and how they will avoid overlap between campaigns.
Clarify who prepares the copy, visuals and videos. Ask how many variations will be tested and who approves them. For Facebook and Instagram advertising, an image or short video can attract attention, but the result also depends on the offer, trust, contact form and how quickly your team responds. The Facebook and Instagram advertising service should include a discussion of all these elements, not just posting visuals.
Ask how Facebook forms, calls and website purchases are tracked. Platform data is useful, but it is not the only source of truth. Advertising results should be compared with the information in your website, store, CRM or accounting system.
For messaging campaigns, clarify who responds to people after they click. If a customer messages you on Facebook or Instagram but nobody replies promptly, the ad may look weak even though it has generated genuine interest.
How can you check the agency’s experience and results?
Ask for examples from companies with similar processes, not just companies in a similar industry. What matters is whether the partner has worked with phone enquiries, catalogues, bookings, B2B proposals or online payments, depending on your business model. Review the portfolio, but also ask for an explanation of exactly what the agency did.
Ask each agency to answer four specific questions about every example: what was the business objective, what was measured, what changes were made and what did not work. An honest answer about an unsuccessful test is more useful than a general claim that every campaign was successful.
Do not treat a screenshot from an advertising platform as proof of sales. It may show spend, clicks or reported conversions, but it does not prove whether someone bought, signed a contract or was a suitable customer. To answer these questions, advertising data must be compared with your enquiries, orders and deals.
Check whether the agency’s clients retain ownership of their data. If the relationship ends, you should be able to continue with another specialist without starting from scratch. Access rights, tags, audiences and campaign history are all business assets.
What should a good monthly report contain?
The report should start with the objectives and the period it covers. It should then show spend by channel, campaign and main area. Impressions and clicks only become meaningful when they are linked to traffic quality.
- budget spent by platform and campaign
- number and type of reported conversions
- calls, forms, chats, purchases or other specific actions
- cost per enquiry or order, when the data is reliable
- key changes made during the period
- unsuccessful tests and next hypotheses
- questions for the client: stock levels, capacity, sales and the quality of enquiries
For a B2B business, the report should go beyond the enquiry form. It is useful to assign each enquiry a status: new, qualified, proposal sent, won or lost. This shows which campaigns are creating genuine opportunities, rather than just cheap contacts.
For an online store, orders should be compared with the store’s data. Cash on delivery, refused shipments, returned products and margin by category all change the real picture. The advertising account alone does not know whether an order was delivered and paid for.
How are enquiries and sales measured?
Before launch, list every way a customer can get in touch: form, phone, email, chat, Facebook message, Instagram message and order. For each contact point, clarify how the source is recorded and who is responsible for the follow-up conversation.
Calls require a setup that connects the ad click to the phone call. Your team must then record whether the conversation was relevant and what the outcome was. Not every call is a sale, and missed calls must be visible too.
For forms, check the submission, thank-you page, email to the team and record in the CRM or another system. Submit a test from a mobile phone. This helps uncover problems that look like a lack of interest in the advertising report.
If the website is not prepared for the campaign, part of the budget is wasted immediately after the click. A landing page for one service should have a clear offer, proof, answers to objections and an easy way to get in touch. If needed, the partner should be able to offer a landing page, rather than sending every campaign to the homepage.
How should you assess the budget and working model?
Split the budget into two parts: the amount paid to the advertising platform and the fee for the work. They are not the same thing. The advertising budget should reflect demand, team capacity, customer value, margin and the time to close a deal.
Do not start with a budget your team cannot handle. If advertising generates more calls but nobody answers the phone or there are no available slots for site visits, the problem will not be solved by spending more. Agree in advance how many enquiries you can handle.
Managing Google Ads, Facebook and Instagram costs €250-€2,500. What is included in the scope and where the service falls within this range depends on the number of platforms, campaigns and ad formats, the need for content, measurement setup and optimisation frequency. The advertising budget paid to Google or Meta is determined separately.
Discuss the working model from the outset. A monthly service is suitable when there are ongoing campaigns, tests and optimisation. A project-based start may include an audit, analytics setup, conversion tracking and account structure, after which you can move to ongoing management. For a seasonal business, you can agree on active periods and support between them.
Avoid a contract that does not clearly describe the activities included. It should cover the channels, number of campaigns, reporting, communication, approval of materials, account ownership and termination terms. If the partner proposes a minimum term, ask them to explain what will be built during that period and what signals will guide decisions.
How should you compare agencies before signing?
- 01Describe your goal and sales process
Write down what you sell, who you sell to, which areas you serve, which channel customers come through, and when an enquiry counts as qualified. Add the average deal value and your team's limitations, if you can determine them.
- 02Send the same brief to everyone
Give all candidates the same information and ask for a plan for Google Ads, Facebook and Instagram. This lets you compare their thinking rather than different assumptions.
- 03Request a sample report
Check whether the report shows actions, quality and next steps. Do not settle for a promise that the details will be clarified after the contract is signed.
- 04Check access and tracking
Clarify who will create the advertising accounts, Google Analytics, conversions, the pixel and the CRM integration. Ask for a plan to test forms, phone calls and purchases before launch.
- 05Compare offers by scope
Separate management, ad spend, design, copy, landing pages and technical setup. Choose the offer that matches your actual needs, not the one with the lowest total price.
What signs show that a partner is not a good fit?
Be cautious of guarantees for a specific number of customers, a first position or an immediate return on investment. A partner does not control demand, competition, pricing, your website, stock levels or how your team handles leads. They can take responsibility for setup, testing and analysis, but cannot promise results without understanding the entire process.
Another problem is a lack of questions. If the agency does not ask about margin, service areas, capacity, seasonality and customer quality, it will probably optimise for what is easiest to see in the platform. These are often clicks and forms, not profitable deals.
Change partners or request a corrective action plan when, month after month, there is no explanation of what was changed and why. The same applies if you cannot access the data or connect reported conversions with the company's actual leads.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does Google Ads and Facebook advertising management cost?
- Management of these campaigns costs €250-€2,500. Within this range, the price is affected by the number of platforms and campaigns, ad formats, content, tracking and optimisation frequency; the ad budget is determined separately.
- How can I tell whether an advertising agency is bringing in real customers?
- Ask for tracking of forms, calls, orders and deals, not just clicks and impressions. Compare the report with your CRM system, phone records, shop and the status of actual enquiries.
- Should the advertising agency have access to my Google Ads account?
- Yes, but access should be granted in a way that preserves your company's ownership of the account and data. It is not good practice for campaigns to exist entirely in an account that you lose access to when the relationship ends.
- Are Google Ads or Facebook and Instagram ads better?
- It depends on how your customers search and make decisions. Google Ads captures existing demand, while Facebook and Instagram can reach audiences through interests, content and remarketing; the channels are often compared after measuring the quality of results together.
- What ad budget should I set aside to start?
- The budget is determined by demand, customer value, margin, geography and your team's capacity. Start with a testing plan and clear quality criteria instead of an arbitrary amount or a promise of guaranteed results.
