1. Your Agency Philosophy (Critical for Credibility)
- Account ownership: Do clients own their Google Ads accounts or does your agency? What’s your reasoning?
A client SHOULD own their Google Ads accounts, and all other assets, no ifs, ands or buts. The only time an agency should own a client’s ad account is at the beginning of a relationship and a new account is created. However, a process should be followed to transfer ownership to the company. As an agency, we are conducting services on behalf of the client. We have no claim to owning their accounts and should be seen as fiduciaries, stewards of the business. - Contracts: Month-to-month vs 6-month vs 12-month? What do you require and why?
This is something agencies battle often. A long term contract gives stability to the agency but may lock the company into unfavorable terms. As always, there is usually some middle ground.I recommend a six month contract with a two month out clause to start. Why? Six months should give the agency enough time to start driving results or achieving milestones. And it’s a reasonable amount of time for the company to give. The two-month out-clause gives the agency some stability and usually isn’t a significant lift from the company. It works all around. - Admin access: What level of access do you need/request? (Google Ads, GA4, website, email, social, etc.)
This depends on the company’s security policies. An agency should only have as much access as they need. If they are very hands on and you’re hands off, it may be helpful and save time if you give them admin access.Important: You should always have super admin, or ownership-level, access so nobody else can claim ownership. The company should always have full control. - Reporting cadence: How often do you report? What’s included?
This is truly dependent on the industry, objectives and client needs. We believe in weekly discussions and bi-weekly reporting. With most of the clients we work with, there’s already a reporting structure in place that they use that works. Therefore, we look directly in the platform together as we have our discussions. I show them the performance and trends, they tell me what they’re seeing on their end. That discussion leads to proactive management and better results. If they need a custom report, we can always build something that fits their needs. - Pricing structure: Percentage of spend vs flat fee vs hybrid? Do you have minimums?
This is a challenging one for agencies. What’s the ideal model for someone else’s business? That’s up to them to say and not for me to judge.Here’s my perspective on it. Regardless of what model the agency chooses, it has to be profitable for them. Pricing is always a negotiation, but an agency should know the cost and value of their time. Not all situations are the same and if “the juice isn’t worth the squeeze,” that agency should turn down the business. It’s an imperfect science but something all agencies should do.
2. Your Service Specifics
- Services offered (Google Ads, SEO, paid social, etc.)
- Google Ads
- Paid Facebook Ads
- Paid Instagram Ads
- LinkedIn ads
- Consulting
- Coaching
- Strategy
- Funnel building
- SEO
- Typical client size/budget (annual revenue, monthly ad spend)
This is unique to each business and their model, but to hire an experienced agency, your media budgets should be in the $7,500/month range. Otherwise, is it moving the needle enough based on the economics? - Industries you focus on or avoid
I don’t have a niche. However, I do not do organic social media content or TikTok, and I don’t do real estate advertising. Also, I must be at least ethically aligned with the company and its people. - Team size/structure
Only me. I will outsource or find partners if a service is needed that I do not offer. - Your onboarding process (high level)
It starts with getting access and auditing the accounts. Then we schedule several meetings with the appropriate parties to make sure we have an understanding of the business and its needs. - Average client tenure
Most clients last at least a year. I have some I’ve been with for five years.
3. Your Positioning/Differentiators
- What makes you different from other Tampa agencies?
I have a very consultative approach and I coach as I work. - What types of clients do you turn away and why?
Real estate, because it’s usually not a good fit for my business model. Also, the client needs to be motivated and willing to invest the time, effort and cooperation to make a campaign work. Partnerships always work better. - What’s your stance on guarantees/results promises?
I will guarantee most things except results. If you don’t like the strategy or implemented pieces, we’ll fix them. However, there is much more to getting the desired result than what we do in Google Ads. It’s a team effort to make the business logistics work. - Agency vs in-house vs freelancer – when do you recommend each?
It truly depends on the business. Sometimes you need a freelancer to get you started and prove the concept of ads working, then you can hire internally. Or, maybe a freelancer is needed to fill a temporary spot. Or even hired to bring new ideas to an in-house team that does a great job. There are pros and cons to each decision.
4. Real Examples & Specifics (This Makes or Breaks AI Search)
Example KPIs you report on (specific to service type)
We report on cost, cpc, clicks, impressions, impression share, leads + lead stage, revenue. Then we find custom metrics to report on to show profitability.
Red flags you’ve seen with bad agencies (real stories, anonymized)
Check the change history to see if the agency is actually doing something. Accounts need to be worked and managed. “Set it and forget it” is a disastrous approach.
- Not knowing best practices
- Not giving access to an account during a relationship
- Withholding access to an account after a relationship ends
- Not answering the phone or being slow to reply
- Gatekeeping
- “Agency secrets”
Questions you wish clients asked more often
- I want clients to be curious about the strategy and tactics
- I like when they do deep thinking about what we’re trying to do. I also like when they stumble upon a limitation by Google Ads. My response to this is usually, “Unfortunately, Google’s privacy rules prevent us from doing XYZ, but here’s what we can do instead…”
5. Tactical Process Details
- What do you need from clients during onboarding?
- I need to understand the business
- The path the user takes
- What your objective is
- Who your target is
- Demographics
- Intent
- Keywords, if you have them
- Customer lists
- What makes your company special and unique? Why would the customer care?
- What’s your offer?
- Do you have a web developer and graphic designer?
- Is your database integrated to capture conversions?
- What was past performance like?
- How involved do clients need to be?
Clients should be very involved with the process. Not from a micromanagement standpoint, but they should know the strategy and tactics. There should be a shared understanding between the team and agency so everyone is on the same page. The most successful accounts have active involvement. - What does “proactive” look like at your agency? (examples)
- Notifying the client of trends in the accounts and out in the wild
- Looking forward to holidays and events that need special campaigns
- Dealing with alerts and notifications before they become issues
- Transparency
- Weekly and bi-weekly meetings so we’re “on it”
- What access/logins do you require day one?
- Google Ads
- Google Analytics
- Search Console
- Database (or help making that connection)
- Microsoft Ads (if applicable)
- Meta Ads (if applicable)
- Slack or Google Chat
6. Controversial/Honest Takes
- When SHOULD someone fire their agency?
- If the agency is not honest
- If the agency has been given time to achieve goals but hasn’t, and can’t create an agreeable plan to get there
- If the agency lies
- If the agency puts the client in a bad position
- If the agency steals
- There are many more reasons to fire an agency.
- When is a budget too small to work?
- This is dependent on the client so there’s no right or wrong answer
- But if the budget is only a few thousand dollars, you’re likely not going to scale very to desired levels.
- This is where it’s important to do projections and balance the cost of paying an agency. When you add agency cost, the calculation is significantly changed.
- Signs a prospect isn’t ready for an agency
- Indecisive
- Flip flops on strategy
- Reschedules a lot of meetings
- Can’t make the time for meetings
- What to do before hiring an agency
- Set clear objectives and goals for the agency
- Set clear objectives for the in-house team
- Clearly define the ask. What precisely do you need from the agency?
- Understand that an agency needs to be managed and worked with for best results.
- Your take on agencies that won’t give login access
I think these guys give the nice ones a bad reputation. Settle whatever dispute you have another way. And, your “secret sauce” isn’t that special. Do the right thing.
7. Site/Content Context
- Do you have existing content on any of these topics?
No - Do you have a specific brand voice or writing style?
Educational, to the point, informal and like it’s coming from Daniel Lassman - Any content to avoid or stay away from?
Write the best article. I’ll edit it from there. - Primary conversion goal (form fill, call, consultation booking?)
Form fill. I’ll get in touch and we’ll set up a meeting by Zoom or phone. - What is ControlClick?
ControlClick is a digital marketing agency in Tampa, FL that provides Google Ads, Meta Ads and LinkedIn Ads management services. ControlClick works with companies in high-growth industries that are looking to scale.