We’ve previously discussed how to tell if your current agency is doing a good job, but what if you’re ready to outsource for the first time? Or if you’ve been burnt before, what questions can you ask to safeguard against that happening again.
I’m going to walk you through all the questions you should ask, and how to gauge their answers.
Let’s get into it!
How to tell if your ad agency is doing a good job
This article walks you through the questions and checks you can do to make sure that your agency is actually doing a good job on your ad account. Read more here…
Questions to ask before you outsource your Facebook Ads
Okay – so there are a LOT of questions here, but it’s important to know who you are choosing to work with is going to do right by your business.
What size budgets do they have experience working with?
More is not necessarily better here. If you’re starting with smaller budgets, you want someone who works in that space. If you want to spend $10k+ per month, you want someone in that realm. I’d also be asking their strategies around scaling, and working with smaller and larger budgets.
Have they worked in your space long?
For this I mean, if you’re an eCommerce business – how long have they worked in eComm. If you’re a service based business, a course creator or B2B, same deal. Each industry runs ads very differently and different strategies are needed.
Have they worked with your particular industry before?
They don’t necessarily have had to work in your industry, although it can be a bonus, but their answer will tell you what kind of strategy they use and whether it works well across multiple industries.
The only exception to this would be for industries that require more finesse to get passed Facebooks bots such as politics, real estate, and even lingerie etc.
What is a typical ROAS for their clients?
Again, higher is not necessarily better. We have some clients that need a 2x to break even, so it drags down the average. Even so, ours sits around 10x.
The reason for this question is to find out, firstly do they know the answer, two, who are their best and worst performers and why. They should be knowledgeable about their clients’ stats and be able to discuss those results.
What strategy do they recommend executing for your business?
A good rule of thumb is a way to introduce you to new people, nurture and educate your existing audience and then remarketing – the details of this differ business to business and they should be able to discuss the reasons why they make these decisions.
How often do they change over creative and check performance?
This depends entirely on the budget and scale of your campaigns. But you need to be happy with the answer and their reasoning around why they do what they do. At least once a week would be the bare minimum regardless of budget – twice a week preferred as an absolute minimum.
What’s their strategy or plan when performance falls or your ads don’t perform at the level you need?
They need to talk about reviewing the numbers to see where the problem is, is the frequency too high, cost per click or click-through rate too high, have add to carts dropped off. As well as looking into testing new creative and reviewing audiences. They should have a structure or strategy around this – the way they explain this will tell you a lot.
Who does the creative?
Do they have a graphic designer, are you expected to do it, what are their designs like? Have a look at the creative they’ve done for other clients if you can.
Some have a very salesy/dropshipping style, some keep it organic, make sure it matches what you want to see.
We pride ourselves on, as one client put it the other day, ‘It looks like I did it myself’. The ads should match your brand and website style.
Who exactly will be running the ads, and who will be your contact moving forward?
This is one of the biggest frustrations I hear, you spoke to someone amazing on the sales call and then get palmed off to the interns or sent offshore…
Find out exactly who runs the ads, who your contact will be moving forward and make sure you’re happy with your team.
What reporting/stats will you receive?
A monthly report is not enough without details. Find out what metrics they care and focus about – at the end of the day – it should be dollars in your bank, not cliick through rates. Make sure you’re happy with the communication frequency.
Things you can do to prepare before outsourcing
Often agencies get all the blame when things don’t go to plan, but there are a number of things you can do to give yourself the best chance of success before outsourcing.
- Have ads already running – it’s easier for an agency or freelancer to come in and fix your ads, than it is to start from scratch. And not just because of Facebook. When you have existing sales, even if they are expensive, they prove you have a viable product and then improvements can be made.
- Make sure you have reviews! It’s such an easy thing to set up, Okendo is my personal favourite (yes, it’s an affiliate link – but they’d still be my favourite) but the free Shopify reviews is a perfect start.
- It goes without saying but make sure your Facebook pixel is set up well before you go looking for an agency
- Make sure you have lots of content. The more video, photos and user generated content or influencer content you have the better!
- Don’t use ads and an agency as a last ditch effort – if your business is struggling, spending your last dime on ads management is a recipe for disaster. Make sure you give yourself the time and space to really let it work!
- Know your margins – if you don’t know what ROAS you need to be profitable, you need to find out before hiring someone.
- Enjoy the process and keep honest and open communication. If you’re not happy with something or want to know more, don’t hesitate to ask
Going into a meeting prepared is your best chance of finding a good agency or freelancer to manage your ads. There are some excellent sales people out there, doesn’t necessarily make them great at ads – but asking the hard questions you’ll put yourself in a much better position to find the right fit for your business and your goals.
Want to chat with us? Ask us the hard questions? You can contact us here, or book in a Free Strategy Session and we will review your ads for you!
