Choosing the wrong agency can cost an online store far more than the monthly fee. Months of spend go into campaigns that look good in a report but don’t grow profit, and sometimes you don’t even own the accounts when you leave.
We’re an e-commerce PPC agency ourselves, so we know how different agencies can be. Here are the 10 questions we’d ask before hiring anyone, including us, to run your store’s Google, Meta or Amazon ads.
1. “Who will own the ad accounts and data?”
The only good answer is you. Your business should own the Google Ads account, Merchant Center, Meta Business Manager, ad accounts, pixels, Google Analytics and Tag Manager. The agency gets access. If an agency wants to run ads from its own accounts, walk away. You’ll lose years of data and learning if you leave.
2. “How will you measure success – revenue, ROAS or profit?”
Revenue and ROAS are easy to inflate. Look for an agency that talks about contribution margin, break-even ROAS and new-customer acquisition, not just platform ROAS. Ask how they’d set ROAS targets for products with different margins. If they don’t know your margins after the first call, that’s a warning sign.
Want to know your own numbers first? Use our free break-even ROAS calculator.
3. “What will you check in our tracking before spending?”
Good agencies start with measurement: purchase events firing once per order with correct values, the Meta Conversions API, Google enhanced conversions, and consistent attribution settings. Bad tracking makes every optimization decision unreliable.
4. “How do you handle our product feed?”
For Google Shopping and Performance Max, the feed is the ad. Ask specifically how they’ll improve titles, images, attributes and custom labels, and whether they use supplemental feeds or a feed tool. See our feed optimization guide for what good looks like.
5. “Who makes the creative, and how often is it refreshed?”
On Meta especially, creative drives results. Ask who produces ad images and videos, how many new concepts they test each month, and what happens when ads fatigue. “Send us your assets and we’ll run them” isn’t a creative strategy.
6. “How will you separate new and returning customers?”
Retargeting and brand search are cheap sources of sales that can make ROAS look excellent while your customer base stops growing. A good agency reports new-customer acquisition separately and excludes branded searches from Performance Max where appropriate.
7. “Who will actually work on our account?”
Many agencies sell with senior people and hand the work to juniors. Ask who you’ll speak to, who builds and optimizes the campaigns, and how many other accounts they manage.
8. “What does reporting look like, and how often?”
Ask to see a sample report. It should be clear, focused on business outcomes (revenue, profit, new customers, cost per acquisition) and explain what changed and why – not just screenshots of platform dashboards.
9. “What’s included in the fee, and how are you paid?”
Common pricing models include:
| Model | How it works | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Flat monthly fee | Fixed fee regardless of spend | Make sure the scope is clear |
| Percentage of ad spend | Fee rises as spend rises | Can reward spending more rather than earning more |
| Performance-based | Fee tied to revenue or profit targets | Agree the exact definitions and tracking |
| Hybrid | Base fee plus a performance or spend component | Check the total at different spend levels |
Also ask whether creative, landing pages, feed work and tracking setup are included, and what the notice period is.
10. “Can you show results for stores like ours?”
Ask for case studies from similar industries, price points or platforms, with specific numbers. For example, one of our e-commerce clients saw 600% revenue growth and an 800% traffic increase while cost per acquisition fell by 50% across Google, Meta and Amazon. Numbers like these should come with context: what the starting point was and what changed.
What the first 90 days should look like
A good agency should be able to explain its plan for the first three months before you sign. For an e-commerce account, it usually looks like this:
| Period | What should happen |
|---|---|
| Weeks 1–2 | Account, tracking and feed audit; confirm margins and break-even ROAS; fix measurement issues; agree targets |
| Weeks 3–6 | Restructure campaigns around profitability, improve the feed, launch new creative, set up brand and new-customer reporting |
| Weeks 7–12 | Optimize based on product, search term and creative data; scale what works; first quarterly review of results against targets |
Expect some volatility in the first few weeks as campaigns are restructured and bidding systems re-learn. What you shouldn’t see is silence: you should get regular updates on what changed and why.
Questions to ask yourself before hiring
Agencies work best when the client is ready too. Before you start conversations, have answers to these:
- What are your gross margins by product or category? Without them, nobody can set profitable targets.
- What does a customer cost you today, and what are they worth over time? Even rough numbers help.
- Can you keep popular products in stock? Ads can’t sell what you can’t ship.
- Who on your side will review creative, answer questions and approve changes? Slow approvals slow results.
- What does success look like in six months? More revenue at the same efficiency, better profitability at the same revenue, or entering a new market such as the US or Canada?
Red flags to watch for
- Guaranteed results or “first page in 7 days” promises.
- Running ads from agency-owned accounts.
- Long lock-in contracts before any results.
- No questions about your margins, stock or customer lifetime value.
- Reports full of impressions and clicks but no revenue or profit.
How TheAmpify works with e-commerce brands
TheAmpify is a performance marketing agency focused on e-commerce and DTC brands across the USA and Canada. Our founder, Rikita Shah, has more than 10 years of experience in performance marketing, growth, e-commerce and retail, including managing $40K–$400K+ in monthly media budgets.
You keep ownership of every account, we start with tracking and your margins, and we report on the numbers that matter to your business. We manage Google Ads, Meta Ads, Amazon Ads and Microsoft Ads.
Book a free consultation – we’ll review your current accounts and give you honest recommendations, whether or not you decide to work with us.