Almost half of brands that leave their agency, 48%, name poor delivery as the main reason, according to Setup’s annual Marketing Relationship Survey.
Most agencies sound alike on a sales call, and all of them have a Google Ads or Facebook Ads case study with a big ROAS number. The problems show up later, after months of wasted budget. Switching is slow too: media agencies keep a client for 3.7 years on average, per the ANA and 4As client-agency tenure report.
Whether an agency calls itself PPC, paid media or performance marketing, it runs your Google Ads and Facebook (Meta) ads. These 12 questions help you check it before you sign.
The 12 Questions at a Glance
Short on time? Here’s the full list. The sections below explain what a good answer sounds like for each one.
- How many eCommerce brands like mine do you manage right now?
- Who will actually work on my account?
- Will I own the ad accounts and all the data?
- How do you set up and check conversion tracking?
- Which metric do you optimize for: ROAS, profit or new customers?
- How do you manage the product feed?
- How do you run Performance Max and Advantage+ without losing control?
- How do you split budget between Google Ads, Facebook Ads and other channels?
- Who makes the ad creatives and how do you test them?
- What will the first 90 days look like?
- How do you report, and what happens when results drop?
- How do you charge, and what does the contract say?
Why eCommerce Advertising Needs Different Questions
A store can have thousands of SKUs, each with its own price and margin. In Google Ads, most spend goes through Shopping and Performance Max. In Facebook Ads, it goes through catalog ads and Advantage+ sales campaigns. Both depend on your product feed, and results move with stock, promotions and peak weeks like Black Friday. An agency that runs ads for dentists may know the platforms well but not how to bid on a catalog or protect your margin.
What to Prepare Before the First Call
Bring your own numbers and you’ll get far better answers:
- Monthly ad spend by channel: Google Ads, Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, Microsoft Ads
- Revenue, average order value and gross margin by main category
- Your main goal: a ROAS, cost per acquisition or profit target
- Your best sellers and the products you want to grow
- Your store platform and how tracking is set up
If an agency doesn’t ask for most of this, that tells you something too.
The 12 Questions to Ask Before Hiring an eCommerce Advertising Agency
Ask these on every discovery call. Each one comes with what a good answer sounds like and the red flags to watch for.
1. How Many eCommerce Brands Like Mine Do You Manage Right Now?
“We work with eCommerce” isn’t enough. Ask how many online stores they manage today, in which categories, on which platforms and at what spend levels. A brand spending $10,000 a month needs a different approach than one spending $300,000.
Good answer: Specific numbers, brands similar to yours and case studies with context: the starting point, budget, channels and what changed.
Red flag: Vague claims like “great reAsk these on every discovery call. Each one comes with what a good answer sounds like and the red flags to watch for.sults for our clients,” or an agency that can’t say what share of its clients are online stores.
2. Who Will Actually Work on My Account?
The person who pitches is often not the person who runs your account. Ask for the names of your day-to-day specialists, how many accounts they handle and who checks their work. Google Ads and Facebook Ads need different skills, so ask whether each channel has its own specialist.
Good answer: A named team with a strategist and channel specialists, a reasonable account load and senior people who stay involved.
Red flag: “You’ll get a dedicated account manager,” with no details. Or one junior person juggling dozens of accounts.
3. Will I Own the Ad Accounts and All the Data?
This may be the most important question on the list. Your Google Ads account, Meta Business Manager with your Facebook ad account and pixel, Merchant Center, GA4 and Google Tag Manager should all belong to your business. The agency gets access. You keep ownership. If the agency runs ads inside its own accounts, you can lose years of data and audiences the day you leave.
Good answer: “You own everything. We work through partner access, and you can remove us any time.”
Red flag: The agency wants to build campaigns in its own ad accounts, or gets vague about what happens to them when the contract ends.
4. How Do You Set Up and Check Conversion Tracking?
Broken tracking is the most common hidden problem in eCommerce ad accounts. If purchases get counted twice, or not at all, the bidding algorithms learn from bad data.
Ask how they audit tracking in the first weeks. A strong agency checks purchases in GA4, Google Ads and Facebook Events Manager, looks for duplicate conversions, reviews Consent Mode and brings up server-side tracking and the Meta Conversions API.
Good answer: A tracking audit as part of onboarding, and fixes before spend goes up.
Red flag: “We just add the pixel,” or no mention of tracking at all.
5. Which Metric Do You Optimize For: ROAS, Profit or New Customers?
ROAS doesn’t show profit. A 6x ROAS on low-margin products can earn less than a 3x ROAS on your best-margin items. A high ROAS can also mean spend on people who’d buy anyway, like branded searches in Google Ads and Facebook retargeting of past buyers.
Good agencies talk about POAS (profit on ad spend), MER (total revenue divided by total marketing spend) and the cost to win a new customer.
Good answer: They ask about your margins, set targets by product group and report new customer revenue separately.
Red flag: A promised ROAS number before they’ve seen your margins or your account.
6. How Do You Manage the Product Feed?
The product feed powers Shopping and Performance Max in Google Ads, and catalog ads in Facebook Ads. Titles, images, prices and custom labels decide which searches and audiences your products reach.
Ask whether they rewrite titles, use custom labels for margin or best sellers, and how they fix Merchant Center errors and catalog issues in Commerce Manager.
Good answer: A clear feed process with real examples of changes that moved results. Bonus points if they ask to see your feed on the first call.
Red flag: “Your feed comes from Shopify, so it’s fine.” A raw feed is rarely good enough.
7. How Do You Run Performance Max and Advantage+ Without Losing Control?
Google’s Performance Max and Facebook’s Advantage+ sales campaigns can drive a lot of sales. They can also hide waste: budget poured into your brand name, past buyers or a few products while the rest of your catalog gets nothing.
Ask how they structure these campaigns, handle brand traffic and existing customers, and when they run standard Shopping, Search or manual Facebook campaigns alongside them.
Good answer: Campaigns split by margin or product role, brand and customer exclusions, regular reviews and clear tests.
Red flag: One big automated campaign per platform for the whole catalog and no plan to check what it’s doing.
8. How Do You Split Budget Between Google Ads, Facebook Ads and Other Channels?
Google Ads captures demand that already exists, while Facebook Ads, Instagram and TikTok help create new demand. Ask how the agency decides where the next dollar goes and how it judges each channel beyond platform reports. Both platforms like to take credit for the same sale. A good agency looks at blended MER and runs incrementality tests when the budget allows.
Good answer: A clear role for each channel, blended reporting and a willingness to cut a channel’s budget when the data says so.
Red flag: Every channel always “needs more budget,” or the agency runs only Google Ads or only Facebook Ads and says that’s all you need.
9. Who Makes the Ad Creatives and How Do You Test Them?
In Facebook Ads, TikTok, YouTube and Performance Max, creative is now one of the biggest levers. Targeting is mostly automated, so the ad does a lot of the work. Ask who produces the images and videos, how often new ones go live and how they adapt one idea for Facebook and Instagram feeds, Reels and YouTube.
Good answer: A steady testing rhythm and reports that show which hooks, formats and offers work for your brand.
Red flag: “Send us your assets and we’ll run them.” In other words, making the ads stays your job.
10. What Will the First 90 Days Look Like?
Ask for a week-by-week plan. A strong agency starts with an audit of your ad accounts, tracking and feed, fixes the basics, then moves to structure changes and tests. Quick wins like cutting wasted spend can show up within weeks. Bigger changes take two to three months, because bidding needs fresh data.
Good answer: A clear plan with an audit, priorities and honest timelines.
Red flag: Big promises for month one, or a full rebuild on day one.
11. How Do You Report, and What Happens When Results Drop?
Every account has bad weeks. A good agency spots problems fast and tells you first. Ask for a sample report, how often you’ll meet and whether all channels sit in one report next to your revenue. Then ask: “Can you show me a report from a month when results went down?”
Good answer: Reports tied to revenue and profit, plain comments on what happened and a clear next step.
Red flag: Long decks full of clicks, impressions and CTR, with no link to sales.
12. How Do You Charge, and What Does the Contract Say?
Most agencies charge a flat monthly fee, a percentage of ad spend, or a base fee plus a bonus. A percentage of spend can push an agency to raise budgets even when returns drop. A flat fee keeps costs stable, but check how it changes as you grow or add channels. Also ask about setup fees, minimum terms, notice periods and what happens to your assets if you leave.
Good answer: Clear pricing in writing, a fair notice period and a straight explanation of how the fee fits your goals.
Red flag: Long lock-in contracts, hidden fees for tools or reports, or fuzzy answers about total cost.
Red Flags That Should End the Conversation
If you hear any of these, you can wrap up the call:
- Guaranteed results. Nobody controls ad auctions or platform algorithms.
- No account ownership. If they won’t work inside ad accounts you own, don’t sign.
- No questions about your business. Pitching before asking about margins and stock means a template.
- Vanity metrics. Reports built on clicks instead of revenue and profit.
- High team turnover. Each new specialist means your account loses its memory.
A Simple Scorecard to Compare eCommerce Advertising Agencies
After your calls, give each agency a score from 1 to 5 in every area below. It makes the final choice easier and takes some of the emotion out of it.
| Area | What to Look For | Score (1 to 5) |
| eCommerce experience | Similar brands, spend levels and real case studies | |
| Team | Named senior people and specialists for each channel | |
| Account ownership | All ad accounts and data stay with you | |
| Tracking | Audit and fix plan for GA4, Google Ads and Facebook Ads | |
| Metrics | Profit and new customers, not only ROAS | |
| Feed and automation | Clear feed process and control over Performance Max and Advantage+ | |
| Channel mix | Blended view across Google Ads, Facebook Ads and other channels | |
| Creative | Regular testing with clear learnings | |
| Onboarding | Week-by-week plan for the first 90 days | |
| Reporting | Tied to revenue and honest about bad months | |
| Pricing and contract | Clear fees, fair terms, no lock-in |
If an agency scores a 1 or 2 on ownership, tracking or metrics, it should probably come off your shortlist.
How VIDEN Growth Answers These Questions
VIDEN Growth is an eCommerce marketing agency for D2C brands with more than nine years in performance marketing. We’re a Google Premier Partner, a Meta Business Partner and a TikTok and Microsoft Advertising partner. You own all your accounts, every project starts with a tracking and account audit, and our reports focus on revenue, margin and new customers. Google Ads, Facebook Ads, creatives and analytics sit in one team, so budget decisions look at every channel together.
Want to put us through these 12 questions? Book a call with our team. Still building a shortlist? See our guides to the top eCommerce advertising agencies, the best Google Ads agencies for eCommerce and the top Meta ads agencies for eCommerce.
FAQ
It plans, runs and improves paid ads for online stores. That usually covers Google Ads (Shopping, Performance Max and Search), Facebook and Instagram ads, often TikTok and Microsoft Ads, plus the product feed, tracking and reporting. A good one judges results by revenue and profit, not clicks.
It depends on ad spend, channels and scope. The common models are a flat monthly fee, a percentage of ad spend or a mix. Compare the total yearly cost, including setup and tools. For media costs, see how much Google Ads cost and how much Facebook ads cost.
A freelancer costs less and can work for one channel, say Google Ads only, on a smaller budget. But everything depends on one person. An agency brings specialists for Google, Facebook, creative and tracking, plus backup. Once you run several channels, an agency usually makes more sense.
ROAS is revenue divided by ad spend. POAS is the profit from those sales divided by ad spend. POAS shows whether your ads actually make money once product costs, shipping and fees are counted.
Yes, as long as you own your ad accounts. Plan a short handover, avoid big changes in the first weeks and keep tracking stable.
Conclusion
A good pitch is easy to put together. Good answers are harder to fake. Ask these 12 questions on every call, write down what you hear and score each agency with the table above. The right partner will be glad to answer, and it’ll ask you just as many questions about your margins, stock and goals.
