Why this is hard You cannot touch advertising. Until the money is spent you do not know whether it works, and by then two or three months have gone. People use that: they promise a lot, show reach, and answer money questions with "give it more time". The questions below separate those who count your money from those who count their own. # Eight questions before signing ## 1. Who owns the ad accounts The right answer is you. Accounts, pixel, analytics and domain belong to your business, and the agency gets access. Otherwise, when you part ways, you leave without history, without accumulated data and sometimes without the site. ## 2. What do I get in the first month The answer should be concrete: campaigns set up, this many ads, a page, analytics connected, a report in this format. Not "work on brand awareness". ## 3. How do you measure the result A good agency talks about leads, reach rate and cost per customer. If the answer is only impressions, clicks and engagement, you will hear the same words in six months when you ask where the money went. ## 4. What is included and what costs extra Ask specifically about the ad budget: it is paid to the platforms and is not a fee for work. Ask about the shoot, the copy, the page. ## 5. Who will actually run my account Sometimes one person sells and another works. That is fine, but better known in advance, and better to meet them. ## 6. What happens if there is no result Is there a review of the approach, is there a refund, on what terms. "That does not happen" is a bad answer. ## 7. Can I see the account You should always have access to your own account. An agency that hides the account usually hides more than that. ## 8. How do we part ways Notice period, who hands over access, what stays with you. This is much easier to agree at the start. # Three promises that should end the conversation ## A guaranteed number of customers Nobody controls whether a person buys: that depends on price, on the conversation, on your work. You can guarantee process and deadlines, not sales. ## First place in search within a week In paid ads, positions are bought and change hourly. In organic search it is months of work. A promise of quick first place means someone will sell you ads and call them search. ## A secret method The platforms are the same for everyone. The difference is who counts more carefully and fixes things faster. There is no hidden button. # What a report must contain A report should answer three questions in a minute: 1. How many leads and at what cost. 2. How many reached a conversation and a payment. 3. What changed this month and what is planned next. Pretty charts without those three are a presentation, not a report. # About the contract Look for the scope of work, the term, payment terms, termination conditions, and who owns accounts and materials. Paying six months upfront at a discount looks attractive right up to the first month without results. # And the simplest test Ask how the agency checks itself. Someone who keeps records answers immediately and with numbers. Someone who does not will start talking about brand and awareness. On a review call we show our numbers and how we count them. If something does not add up, better to find out before the contract than three months in.
