Clear steps, clear ownership, no surprises in scope

Four stages to go-live

A clear order keeps spend from starting before measurement is ready.

1. Agreement: scope, fee, reporting cadence and notice terms are put in writing.
2. Audit: existing campaigns, pages and tags are checked, and anything broken is noted.
3. Build: the agreed campaigns, pages and tracking are set up in your accounts.
4. Go-live: you approve, ads start running and each conversion type is tested with a real submission.

Scoping checklist

Having these ready makes the first conversation shorter and the quote more accurate.

• What you sell, and which products or services you want to advertise first
• The areas you serve or ship to
• Your monthly ad budget, or a range you are comfortable with
• A list of ad accounts you already own on Google, Microsoft, Meta or LinkedIn
• Who has admin access to GA4, Google Tag Manager and your website
• The CRM or inbox where inquiries should land
• Who answers new inquiries, and how quickly they usually do
• How often you want reports, and who should receive them

Admin access, set the right way

Give access through each platform's user roles. In Google Ads you can link the partner's manager account or invite a user with admin or standard access. In Meta, you assign the partner's business to your ad account and pixel. LinkedIn Campaign Manager and Microsoft Advertising have similar user roles, as do GA4 and Google Tag Manager. Keep at least two people from your own business as admins on every account, so access never depends on one person or on the partner. Billing details stay in your name throughout.

Ending the arrangement

Arrangements end for ordinary reasons: a season finishes, budgets change, or you bring the work in-house. Check the notice period in your agreement and give it in writing. Before the partner leaves, ask for a handover note covering campaign structure, conversion actions, tags and any tools on their account. Then remove their user access from your ad, analytics and tag accounts. Campaigns and data stay where they are, so whoever takes over next starts from the same history. If campaigns should keep running in the meantime, agree who watches spend until the handover is done.