I Audit Ad Accounts for a Living. Here’s What Bad Management Looks Like.

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This is a post close to my heart. I’ve sat through enough discovery calls and run enough audits for business owners to know the difference between a collaborative agency that delivers and one that’s about to waste your budget.

Here are the red flags to watch for, whether you’re about to sign with a new agency or you’re already a bit suspicious of the one you’re with.

  1. The bait and switch. You have your discovery call with a senior strategist or the founder, sign the contract, then get handed to someone junior you’ve never spoken to. The original contact disappears entirely.
  2. No reporting. Nothing weekly, no regular contact points, updates only if you chase them, and when you do, you’re made to feel like you’re asking for too much, that it’s too early, or your questions get brushed off.
  3. Slow basic set up. Pixel, conversion tracking, account structure, or even the basic campaigns still not sorted three months in.
  4. Scaling spend without hitting ROAS targets. Budget increases recommended before the current spend is even proving efficient.
  5. Extra fees for things that should be core service. Creative revisions, reporting calls, strategy changes, all billed separately.
  6. No clear KPIs agreed upfront. Targets should be set based on realistic, current performance, not just a number that sounds good on a pitch deck.
  7. Assets created for you, ownership kept by them. Anything built for your account should belong to you, full stop.
  8. Contracts that trap you in. A fair minimum term is around four months, because that’s roughly how long it takes to properly fix an account, build audiences, get the strategy going, and start seeing results. What’s not fair is agencies that quietly roll you into another four months the moment the initial term ends, with no easy way out.

Questions worth asking before you sign

A good discovery call should hold up to scrutiny. A few worth asking:

  • Who specifically will manage my account, by name? Can I speak to them before I sign?
  • Is weekly reporting included, and in what format? A meeting, an email, a PDF?
  • What exactly happens in month one?

Why this matters to me

Poor ad management makes me genuinely angry. It’s not okay to sign up a client and then make them feel unimportant. It’s not okay to skip a weekly update on results, actions taken, or decisions, because ad accounts need regular attention. If an agency isn’t sending you anything, how do you know they’re actually in the account, optimising?

I’ve audited accounts where the campaigns were so poorly built that a Performance Max campaign was running on a single search theme. I’ve seen keyword targeting so broad the campaigns were bleeding money by design, not by accident.

That’s not okay, and you shouldn’t have to accept it.

If any of this sounds familiar, I’d be happy to take a look. I offer audits at very reasonable prices, including a video of me navigating your account, a PDF with all the actions needed, and a call to discuss my findings. You’ll see exactly what’s happening in your campaigns and get a clear view of whether your current setup is actually working for you. Get in touch and let’s have a look together.