Common
questions.

Most accounts see meaningful movement in 4–6 weeks. The first month is build and clean-up. Negative keywords, restructured campaigns, fresh tracking. From week five onwards the data is clean enough for Smart Bidding to learn properly, and that's when CPA and ROAS start to shift.

Full transformation. The kind that ends up in a case study. Usually takes a quarter. Anyone promising you results in two weeks is either inheriting an account that's already half-working or telling you what you want to hear.

Yes. Always. You own the Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Meta and LinkedIn accounts, plus every conversion tag, audience and creative asset we build. We manage them under your MCC. If we ever part ways, you keep everything and lose nothing.

It's the single biggest red flag we see when auditing agencies: accounts held hostage. We don't do that.

For Paid Search retainers we like to see at least £2–3k/month in media spend. Below that, Google's bidding algorithms don't get enough data to learn, and your retainer ends up outweighing the media. For Paid Social channels the floor is similar. If you're under that, talk to us anyway: a one-off audit or a tactical sprint might be a better fit than a retainer.

We write the ad copy, RSAs and responsive display assets in-house. For static and motion creative. Video, photography, banner sets. We either work with your in-house team, your existing creative partner, or one of the design and motion partners we trust. We'll always tell you which mode is cheapest and best for the brief.

For white-label engagements, yes. We'll show up under your brand for sales calls, QBRs and strategy sessions. For direct retainers it's the consultant who runs your account on every call, every time. No account-manager middle layer, no rotating juniors.

We set up Google Tag Manager (server-side where possible), enhanced conversions, offline conversion imports from your CRM, and a unified GA4 + Looker Studio dashboard. Every conversion we report on is reconciled against your CRM. If the platforms disagree with reality, we trust reality.

If your tracking is a mess (it usually is), the first 30 days of the retainer goes into fixing it. There's no point optimising against bad data.

Most accounts see meaningful movement in 4–6 weeks. The first month is build and clean-up. Negative keywords, restructured campaigns, fresh tracking. From week five onwards the data is clean enough for Smart Bidding to learn properly, and that's when CPA and ROAS start to shift.

Full transformation usually takes a quarter. Anyone promising you results in two weeks is either inheriting an account that's already half-working or telling you what you want to hear.

Yes. Always. You own the Google Ads account, every conversion tag, audience and creative asset we build. We manage them under your MCC. If we ever part ways, you keep everything and lose nothing.

PMax is included in every Google Ads retainer, but we run it on a tight leash. Brand exclusions on by default, asset groups segmented by audience signal, and a weekly negative-keyword sweep using the Scripts API. We never let PMax replace Search. It complements it.

Yes. RSAs, responsive display copy, sitelink and callout extensions are all written in-house. For static and motion creative (YouTube video, banner sets) we work to a brief with your in-house team, your existing creative partner, or one of the design and motion shops we trust.

Yes. We encourage it. We share search-term data, brand-defence findings and audience insights with SEO partners. Paid and organic should be reading the same demand signals; we'll happily sit on shared calls and align quarterly.

Yes. We run half-day and full-day training sessions for in-house marketing teams who want to manage day-to-day in-platform but keep a senior consultant on retainer for strategy. Tailored to your account and your team's existing knowledge.

For most B2B and considered-purchase B2C clients, yes. CPCs are typically 15–50% cheaper than Google for the same intent, and you reach a demographic Google often misses (older, higher-income, more decision-maker-heavy). The honest answer for low-budget DTC fashion is sometimes no. We'll tell you which side of the line you sit on.

No. We import the structure but rebuild bidding, negatives and creatives for the Microsoft Ads audience. Different match-type behaviour, different competitive dynamics, different creative best practice. Treating Microsoft Ads as a Google copy is the #1 mistake we audit.

Microsoft owns LinkedIn, so you can layer LinkedIn job function, company, industry and seniority signals on top of any Microsoft Ads Search campaign. It's the closest thing to LinkedIn Ads quality at search-CPC pricing. And unique to Microsoft.

Yes. We import and adapt your Google Merchant Center feeds into Microsoft Merchant Center, keep them in sync, and run Shopping campaigns natively. Performance is generally weaker than Google, but the CPCs are cheaper too. So the maths still works.

Microsoft Ads is typically run as part of a Google retainer, so there's no separate floor. Standalone Microsoft Ads-only engagements start at around £1k/month in media spend.

For warm-audience and retargeting campaigns, days. For cold prospecting, we expect to see meaningful patterns in 3–4 weeks once the algorithm has enough conversion data to optimise against. The first month is usually creative testing. Finding which hooks earn the scroll. By month two CPA and ROAS targets become real.

We write scripts, brief into your team or our creator network, and review every cut before launch. Static graphics, motion edits and templated UGC we can produce in-house. Bigger productions. Photography, original branded video. We work to brief with your existing partner or one of the studios we trust.

Useful as a scale layer for established DTC accounts with healthy creative supply and good signal density. Not a substitute for proper account structure. We use it deliberately, with manual prospecting and retargeting underneath, never as the entire account.

CAPI server-side via GTM, deduplicated against the pixel, with modeled conversions reconciled against your CRM. We treat Meta's reported CPA as a directional signal and trust the CRM for source-of-truth attribution.

£3k/month media spend is a good floor for Meta. Below that, the algorithm doesn't get enough conversion volume to optimise, and the retainer outweighs the spend. We'll tell you if you're below where Meta makes sense.

Paid only. We work alongside in-house social or organic-content partners and share insights from paid creative testing. But we don't run organic accounts.

For B2B with deal sizes above £5k it usually is. But only with the right setup. Account-list-led targeting, lean creative cadence and tight conversion definitions. Without those, you're paying premium CPCs for awareness you didn't need. We'll tell you honestly whether your ICP and deal size justify the spend.

We can run productive LinkedIn programmes from around £3–5k/month. Lower than most agencies will accept. Below £3k it's hard to get enough conversion data to learn from, but a tight ABM list and document-led playbook can still get you measurable meetings.

For B2B SaaS and services we look for cost-per-MQL of £80–£300 depending on category, and cost-per-meeting of £400–£1,500. Pipeline shows up by month two, deal velocity by month four. We track all four metrics, not just the first.

Yes. We work from your existing CRM lists, build look-alikes off your closed-won accounts, and add intent layers (Bombora topics, web-visit signals, hiring data) to the targeting. The list-building is half the LinkedIn engagement.

Insight Tag on the site, server-side via GTM where we can, plus offline conversion uploads from your CRM so we measure against meetings and pipeline rather than just form fills. LinkedIn's reported CPA is a directional signal, not the truth.

Yes. We encourage it. We share the account list, the creative cadence and the engagement data with the SDR team so cold-outreach can ride on the back of warmed audiences. Paid and SDR working as one programme outperforms either run separately.

For DTC, beauty, lifestyle and considered-purchase B2C. Usually yes. For most B2B and high-ticket services. Usually no. There are exceptions on both sides; we'll tell you honestly whether your category, margins and creative supply support TikTok before we sell you a retainer.

For testing, six to ten short concepts per month is the minimum. For scale, weekly creative. If you can't supply at that cadence we'll plug into our creator network. Or recommend that you don't scale TikTok at all until you can.

Spark Ads boost a real creator's organic post from their handle. They get real comments, real algorithm signals, and typically 3–5× higher engagement than branded ads. In-feed is your brand creative running as an ad. Useful as a base layer but rarely the headline performer.

Not strictly. TikTok lets you run "non-spark" in-feed ads without an organic presence. But organic credibility helps performance, and Spark Ads need either your account or a creator partner. We'll work to whichever model fits your team.

£3k/month media spend is a sensible floor. Below that, you can't test enough creative to find the winners, and TikTok's algorithm needs volume to optimise. Lower budgets work for highly creative-rich clients running pure Spark Ads. But it's the exception.

TikTok Events API server-side, deduplicated pixel, plus offline conversion uploads from your CRM. We reconcile reported CPA against your CRM and trust the CRM for source-of-truth. TikTok's in-platform reporting is directional.

We sign a mutual NDA before any client details are shared, and a separate Master Services Agreement covers our partnership terms: IP ownership, confidentiality and the no-poach commitment around your client roster. Rolling month-to-month, 30 days notice. We never approach your clients independently and never claim credit publicly without sign-off.

Only if you choose to tell them. We work fully behind the scenes by default. Your domain on our email, reporting templates branded as yours, and your team fronting all client communication. Some partners prefer a co-branded model where we're introduced as the specialist team; others keep us invisible. We work either way.

Yes. We can attend client calls, QBRs and pitches as part of your team. Introduced as your in-house paid lead, with a @youragency.co.uk email and on-brand slides. We've done it for sales pitches, quarterly reviews and onboarding sessions. You stay in the room as the primary relationship owner.

There's no hard minimum, but the hourly rate scales with volume. Up to 10 hours/month we charge £70/hr; 10–30 hours/month is £65/hr; 30+ hours/month is £60/hr. Most partnerships find their natural footprint after the first month or two and settle into one of those bands.

We build a Looker Studio template in your brand. Colours, logo, your KPI layout. That the client sees as yours. We also export to whatever cadence and format you already use: monthly PDF decks, weekly Slack digests, a shared Notion page. The dashboard is the source of truth; the format around it is yours.

For ad-hoc and short-notice work. New business audits, sprint builds, last-minute campaign launches. We run a separate ad-hoc rate (£70/hr) with no retainer commitment. If the partnership tips into ongoing volume, we move you onto the retainer band that matches.

Yes. Paid Search (Google, Microsoft Ads) is our deepest specialism, but we run full Paid Social programmes (Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok) under the same retainer model. The hourly rate is the same; the team that covers your account picks up whichever channels the client roster needs.

Three steps. (1) 30-minute discovery call to scope volume, channels and reporting rhythm. (2) NDA + MSA signed. Typically inside 48 hours. (3) Onboarding: branded reporting templates, shared Slack or Teams channel, your domain on our email, and a kick-off call with the client. Most partners are live with their first account inside a week.

All retainers run month-to-month after a three-month initial term. The first three months protect both sides. We can't reasonably move the needle on an account in less. From month four onwards it's a rolling 30-day notice period.

Pro-rata. If you add Meta to a Google retainer halfway through the month, we bill the new tier from the date the build starts, not the calendar month. We'll send a written variation to the contract and an updated invoice at month-end.

No setup fee on standard retainers. The first month covers account build and tracking work as part of the retainer. For larger or complex builds. Multi-region, multi-language, large product feeds. We'll quote a one-off build fee on top, agreed in writing first.

No. Ad spend is invoiced separately by the platforms (Google, Meta, etc.) directly to you on your own payment method. Our retainer covers management only. Keeping ad spend off our invoice means you keep cleaner books and we have no incentive to inflate it.

Yes. With 30 days notice you can drop a tier or pause a channel. The same applies in reverse if you want to scale up. We'll always tell you proactively if the work shape suggests a different tier than the one you're on.

Monthly in advance, on the 1st. 14-day payment terms by BACS or direct debit. For larger annual commitments we'll discuss quarterly billing if it's helpful for your finance team.

No. All displayed prices are ex-VAT. UK invoices include 20% VAT as standard. For EU and international clients we apply the appropriate reverse-charge or zero-rating rules.

30 days in writing after the initial three-month term. We don't lock anyone in beyond that and we don't take a cancellation fee. But we'd rather you tell us early so we can wind work down cleanly. The accounts stay yours, the work continues until your notice period ends, and we hand over a clean transition document.