What your Facebook Ads Agency Shouldn’t Be Doing

Finding the right Facebook ads agency for your business is not an easy task. There can be a lot of uncertainty around whether they will actually be able to deliver and if they will take the necessary care when managing your ad campaigns as if it were for their own business. A good Facebook and Instagram ad agency has the potential to take your business to the next level and more effectively than a person who is running digital ads part time or trying to do a million other tasks alongside running ads. But how do you find one that is right for your business and one that will passionately work to drive your goals forward? And if you are already working with an agency, how do you know that they are truly looking after your campaigns? What red flags should you look out for that could indicate that your Facebook ads agency might not have your best interests at heart?

This blog post was motivated by the countless stories we’ve heard from our clients and other business owners who have had negative experiences with other Facebook ad agencies in the past. We hope that this information will give you a better idea of what to consider when hiring and working with a Facebook and Instagram ad agency and what to look out for when they could potentially be mismanaging your ad account.

Critical Questions to Ask Your Next Facebook/Instagram Ad Agency

1.     How long have you been running Facebook ads for?

This question shouldn’t be the biggest deal breaker. It’s just something that you should know in order to get an idea of what their level of expertise is. The more ads a person runs, the more experience they have and usually these two aspects go hand-in-hand with time spent. However, this is not to say that you shouldn’t hire an agency who recently started but maybe it would be worthwhile asking follow up questions about their experience, asking for case studies as well as client references. Often a smaller agency or freelancer who isn’t working with 100+ clients will work harder and will be more affordable but do your due diligence first.

2.     What is your general ad strategy when running Facebook ads?

This is an important one. The more in-depth the agency goes in their answer, the better idea you will have of the extent of their knowledge and experience in working with Facebook and Instagram ads. The agency shouldn’t explain their full methodology as that may turn into a training session which they aren’t required to do but they should communicate the framework of their general strategy. Longer answers can also be an indication of how passionate they are about paid ads which is a trait that can be associated with the agency’s enthusiasm and motivation to stay up -to-date with the latest trends, stay on top of their game at all times and really look after their clients’ campaigns on a day-to-day basis. Listen carefully to what they say and how clearly they structure their answer even if you don’t know much about Facebook advertising. An answer to this question will be given based on previous experience in working on other campaigns and will give you insight into how they are likely to approach yours.

3.     Do you require your clients to commit to a certain number of campaigns?

It is important to know from the start if you will need to commit to the agency and for how long. Agencies which require a commitment doesn’t necessarily equate to their level of expertise and their ability to achieve the results that you require in your business. Committing clients to a certain number of campaigns is a business model. Pure and simple. This topic is discussed in a bit more detail in the ‘red flags’ section of this blog…enough said.

4.     What does your service fee include?

There can be a wide variety of different fee structures from agency to agency and it is important that you get, in writing, what tasks the agency is responsible for, for the fee they are charging. This holds the agency accountable for a list of tasks and will give you a good understanding of what they are doing to justify their rate as well as the value you are receiving from their service. It is also important to know whether they are covering all of the basic tasks a standard agency should be doing such as installing the Pixel code, completing the domain verification and setting up tracking events on your website. Many tasks can be left undone, but how will you know whether the agency had the intention of doing them in the first place if you don’t ask what tasks their service includes? As a general starting point, Facebook agency fees generally include:

·      Facebook Business Manager account set up and linking

·      Pixel code installation and event tracking

·      Ad creation - how many ads will they create?

·      Audience set up - how many audiences will they create?

·      Reporting – do you get a report and how often?

·      Emails and phone calls – how often will the agency communicate with you and how?

Keep in mind that the Facebook ad spend is a separate cost to the agency fees so make sure that you are aware of and happy with the amount of ad spend per campaign.

5.     Do you run Facebook ads through my account?

This is a major question that is often left out because businesses simply don’t know to ask it. This topic is another ‘red flag’ discussion (see below) but essentially asking whether the agency will run the ads through your account or theirs will give you the first indication of whether or not they have your best interests at heart. The answer should always be that the ads will be run through YOUR account.

Red Flags to Look Out for in Facebook Ad Agencies

1.     Ensure that they actually run Facebook ads and not boosted posts.

There is a huge difference in the complexity, effectiveness and over all capabilities when it comes to Facebook ads vs boosted posts. For a detailed explanation on the difference between the two, click here. You don’t want to be paying for boosted posts in the first place let alone paying an agency to run them for you.

2.     Ensure that they are managing your advertising budget effectively.

This may be difficult to identify without knowing something about Facebook ad budget management but when you see daily budgets being tripled or quadrupled one day and then drastically dropped the next, for example, then you’ll know something is not right.

3.     They guarantee results and fast growth.

Facebook and Instagram ads are not opportunities to ‘get rich quick’ and cannot exponentially grow your business over night. Sometimes it can take up to a month or two or more. The point is, the agency should be experienced enough to manage your campaigns effectively so that growth can happen as quickly as possible, but no one can guarantee results or predict when those results are going to be achieved, especially in the beginning. Once you have run multiple campaigns and have solid audiences running month-to-month, then you can set benchmarks and expectations but until then, it’s not accurate to 100% guarantee anything. 

4.     Be aware of the pressure that the agency is placing on you to sign a contract on the spot.

The initial call with them should be an introduction after which you should take some time to think about whether you would like to hire the agency or not as well as to ask any other questions that you have post call.

5.     They insist that you commit to working with them for longer than three months.

Some agencies (like ourselves) don’t expect a commitment at all from their clients and see the flexibility as a selling point and benefit to working with them. However, if an agency does require their clients to commit to a certain time period, make sure that it is not for longer than three months. Three months is a reasonable amount of time that will allow you to gauge how the relationship is going, how effectively the campaigns are being managed, how well the agency is doing in terms of achieving results and where this is going.

6.     Your agency is running the same ads over and over again.

Make sure that your agency is being proactive towards your campaigns by changing up the ad creative and writing new copy from time-to-time. Consumer preferences and behaviors change. What may work well for a month or two can stop working. This is especially true for businesses with seasonal products. A good metric to look at is the frequency of your ads – how many times is your audience seeing the same ads in a campaign period? Frequency benchmarks can differ according to what your campaign objectives are, but this is something to keep in mind and ask your agency about. Would you like to see the same ad 10 times in a day??

7.     They haven’t communicated a clear strategy with timelines.

One of the benefits to digital advertising is that everything is instant, and you can adapt quickly to the changing trends and needs of your audiences. However, this doesn’t mean that campaign strategies and creatives should be discussed at the last minute or that ads should be thrown out there indefinitely until you identify a change in the industry. On the other hand, while your agency may have a plan in mind, it is important for you to know what that plan is so that you can ensure that the money you are spending on advertising as well as the time and the effort being placed on these campaigns is aligned with your business goals and expectations.

8.     They don’t install the Facebook Pixel code and set up tracking events on your website.

We have come across numerous websites with no Pixel tracking while the business is running ads on Facebook and Instagram. Installing the Pixel code is one of the first things a Facebook ad agency should be doing before you even start planning a campaign. The Facebook Pixel gathers website data from all sources even when you are not running ads. This data is then used to create highly targeted ads based on the consumer profiles of your website visitors, created by the Pixel. We cannot stress enough how important this tool is when running paid ad campaigns on Facebook.

9.     They insist on running the ads through their Facebook Business Manager account and not yours.

With each ad campaign comes valuable data from your audiences, ad performance metrics and a history of ad creatives and copy. This data paints the perfect picture, showing you exactly what worked well and what didn’t. This is valuable information that you as a business essentially paid for and own. Starting a new Facebook Business Manager account is the same as starting from scratch and all of the money spent in attaining that data is wasted when ads are run through any other account besides your own. In order to have access and control over this information, ads must run through YOUR business’ Facebook Business Manager account. Under no circumstances should the agency run the campaign through their account.

There is clearly a lot to think about and consider when taking on a Facebook ad agency, especially when you are hiring one for the first time but like all relationships, the client-agency relationship is a two-way street. The agency must feel just as comfortable with taking you on as a client as you do taking them on as an agency. Both parties have to work together, effectively, in order to achieve the overarching goal which is essentially to grow your business and profitability. Be open, honest and upfront with the agency and expect the same in return. Make sure to clearly communicate your expectations so that everyone is on the same page and be willing to work with them to create the best campaign that can possibly be created because we can assure you that a good agency will only want the best for your business!