Monday, leadership meeting. The Meta dashboard shows a lovely cost per purchase. Finance brings a different, smaller number. Someone suggests raising the budget, and nobody is sure which figure should decide.
There is a reason for the gap. Meta estimates some of the sales it can't see, and it takes credit for people who were going to buy from you anyway. So before we touch the budget, we check which sales your systems confirm and which only exist in the dashboard.
What a Meta Ads agency does (Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads)
Meta Ads is paid advertising on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Meta's Audience Network, all run from a single Ads Manager. A Meta Ads agency handles four things, in this order:
- Measurement: pixel and Conversions API set up and reconciled with your store or CRM. Without it, everything else is decided blind.
- Campaign structure: how many campaigns and ad sets, how much goes to new customers versus people who already know you, and when to use Meta's automated campaigns (Advantage+) and when not. Comparison in Advantage+ Shopping vs manual campaigns.
- Creative: which ad gets tested, against which, and judged on what cost per sale.
- Budget: how much goes up or down and based on which number, without losing sight of your other channels. If you also invest in Google or LinkedIn, how we split budget across all of them is on paid media agency.
Five questions to ask before hiring a Meta Ads agency
Under each one, what we do. That way you can compare.
1. Which sales will Meta actually see, and who checks?
The pixel is the bit of code that tells Meta about a sale from the browser; ad blockers and phones get in its way. The Conversions API (CAPI) sends the same sale from your server. We set up both and make sure the sale isn't counted twice. Every week we compare what Meta reports with your store or CRM.
2. Who decides which ad gets made?
On Meta, the ad decides who it reaches: the system looks for people similar to those who respond. Every new asset starts from a question (does price work better than proof?) and is judged on cost per confirmed sale, not on taste. If you have a creative team, we hand them the brief; if not, we produce the assets.
3. How do you know a piece of creative is worn out?
We watch frequency: how many times, on average, the same person has seen the ad. When it climbs and cost per sale climbs with it, the asset is retired, with the date and the number that triggered it. More in how to read frequency in Meta Ads.
4. How much of the revenue would have come in anyway?
We separate new customers from people who already buy from you. Meta's automated campaigns (Advantage+) drift towards the easy win, and the easy win is your existing customer. We cap how much budget can go to them and measure what is left. Background in what Meta Advantage+ is.
5. Whose name are the account and the data in?
Your company's: ad account, pixel and audiences. We get management access. If we ever part ways, all of it stays with you.
What you can do today, before talking to anyone
Export the ad-level report for the last 90 days from Ads Manager and run it through the dead spend auditor. It shows which part of your budget went on ads that produced nothing. The file never leaves your browser.
Then compare the purchases Meta reports for that period with the ones your store recorded. If the gap bothers you, request an audit of your account. We look at it and tell you what to fix first.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to work with you?
It depends on scope: how many accounts and markets, whether measurement needs rebuilding and whether we produce the creative. We quote after we have seen the account.
What happens to my campaigns if we are switching from another agency?
They stay. We review what is there, keep what works and change things gradually, so Meta doesn't have to learn from scratch.
How many of your Meta sales does your store confirm?
Request the audit. We compare what Meta reports with your sales and send back the order: what to fix first and why.
Specific actions for your account.