Evidence-based analysis of marketing agency practices. No fluff, no spin - just what you need to protect your marketing investment.
What to check, in what order, and what to do with the answer. The four questions an audit settles, and how to turn the findings into a standard your agency works to.
The change log settles whether anyone is managing your account, but only if you read the user column. What counts as real work, and the three shapes that reveal neglect.
A change log shows what someone altered. It cannot show a default nobody touched. Four Google Ads settings worth checking, and the score that measures the wrong thing.
The fee structures agencies never explain upfront. Learn how markups on media spend, hidden platform fees, and creative charges can double your actual cost…
Your agency says leads cost £50. The real number is probably much higher. A step-by-step formula to calculate what each lead actually costs your business…
How agencies mark up your ad spend without disclosure. Covers standard vs. inflated rates, where the extra margin hides, and how to negotiate transparency…
One question decides whether you can ever verify your ad spend: whose payment method is on the account. What that determines, and the email that settles it.
Impressions, clicks, and likes look good in reports but don’t pay bills. The four characteristics of vanity metrics and the business metrics you should demand instead…
Every metric is up, every chart trends right, but revenue hasn’t moved. Why this happens, how agencies engineer this disconnect, and the questions that expose it…
Forget the 47 metrics in your monthly report. Here are the ones that actually connect to revenue, plus a framework for telling your agency what to track…
Selective reporting, benchmark manipulation, and complexity as cover. The specific tactics agencies use to make bad results look acceptable, and how to see through them…
