Why Questions Matter More Than References
References from previous clients are selected by the agency. Portfolios show success cases, not failures. The only real tool you have as a business owner before signing a contract is to ask the right questions and evaluate the quality of the answers.
Below are ten specific questions with what a good answer looks like versus an answer that signals potential problems.
1. Who Owns My Google Ads or Meta Ads Account?
Good Answer
"You are the account owner. We receive manager access through our MCC or Business Manager. At the end of the contract, our access is revoked and you keep everything: history, audiences, configurations."
Bad Answer
"We create the account on our infrastructure" or "The account is on our MCC but you have access to it." If you're not the owner, when you leave you lose all data history.
2. What Does a Typical Account Structure Look Like for a Store Like Mine?
Good Answer
Describes separate campaigns by type (branded vs. non-branded Search, standard Shopping or PMax, Display remarketing), explains the segmentation logic by product categories, and mentions how they handle attribution conflicts between campaigns.
Bad Answer
"It depends on the situation" without details, or a generic description like "a few Search and Shopping campaigns." Lack of a structured answer indicates lack of a structured process.
3. How Do You Measure Campaign Success?
Good Answer
"The main metric is ROAS or CPA target established with you based on your margin. We also track cost per new vs. returning customer acquisition, and compare monthly against the same period last year."
Bad Answer
"CTR, impressions, site traffic." Or "average account ROAS" without segmentation by campaign type or product category. Vanity metrics hide real performance.
4. What Do You Do in the First Month of Working Together?
Good Answer
"Existing account audit or new account setup, tracking verification and remediation, keyword and audience research, test campaign launch with controlled budget. The first 30 days are for data collection, not scaling."
Bad Answer
"We launch campaigns immediately and optimize as we go." Lack of a structured onboarding process means decisions are made without sufficient data.
5. How Do You Handle Seasonality and Black Friday?
Good Answer
"We prepare campaigns 3–4 weeks in advance, increase budgets gradually, configure offer extensions, and adjust bids on audience segments with seasonal purchasing behavior. We have a pre-Black Friday optimization calendar."
Bad Answer
"We increase the budget a week before." Or lack of a concrete answer. Black Friday isn't prepared a week before — it's prepared a month before.
6. What Happens if Performance Falls Below the Agreed Target?
Good Answer
"We have an escalation protocol: within 72 hours of detecting the decline we analyze causes, communicate what happened, and propose corrective actions with a clear timeline. If the decline is systemic over 2 months, we revise the strategy together."
Bad Answer
"We optimize continuously" without a clear protocol or "Results vary, we can't guarantee anything." True that you can't guarantee ROAS, but you can guarantee a response process for performance problems.
7. How Do You Report Monthly and What Format Does the Report Take?
Good Answer
"Monthly report with spend vs. planned budget, ROAS per campaign, CPA, number of conversions, compared to previous month and same period last year, plus recommendations for next month. Live dashboard access if you want to monitor daily."
Bad Answer
"We'll send you a screenshot from Google Ads." Or "You have account access to check anytime." Account access doesn't replace data interpretation and strategic recommendations.
8. How Many Clients Does the Person Who Will Work on My Account Manage?
Good Answer
"Your specialist actively manages maximum 8–12 accounts. This means they can allocate real time for weekly optimizations, not just quick monthly checks."
Bad Answer
Avoiding the question, a vague number ("we have a team"), or a large number (20–30+ accounts per specialist). At 20+ accounts, management becomes reactive, not proactive.
9. How Is Your Fee Calculated and What Does It Include Exactly?
Good Answer
"€X/month fixed which includes: campaign setup and optimization, monthly report, weekly communication, ad testing. Billed separately: banner design, advanced feed optimization, technical tracking audit. Here's the complete list of what's included and what's not."
Bad Answer
"We manage everything" without a clear breakdown. Or a price that includes "whatever is needed" — in practice, either the service is limited, or unexpected extra costs will appear.
10. Can You Show an Example of an Account You Manage (Even Anonymously)?
Good Answer
"Yes, I can show the structure of an account similar to yours (with client consent or anonymized). Or I can show a typical monthly report so you can see the format and type of analysis we do."
Bad Answer
"We can't show client accounts" with no alternative. Confidentiality is legitimate, but an experienced specialist can show anonymized examples or at least the generic structure of their approach.
Why the Right Questions Don't Guarantee a Good Choice
The questions above help you eliminate obviously weak agencies. But even an agency that gives good answers can disappoint in practice — either because the person who gave the presentation isn't the one who will manage the account, or because their processes work well for large clients but poorly at medium budgets, or simply because the working dynamic isn't suited to your communication style.
An agency's quality shows over time, not in the call. The first 30 days are the earliest available signal: how the real onboarding looked compared to what was promised, what problems arose and how they were handled. These concrete details tell you more than the answers given during the selection process.
At DAFE Digital we answer all the questions from the article before you sign any contract. Full transparency, no evasive answers.
The right questions expose agencies that don't deliver. Use the list from the article when talking to us — we expect them and have clear answers for each one.
Adela Mincea
Marketing Economist · Fondatoare DAFE Digital · Formator ANC
Adela is a Marketing Economist with over 10 years of paid media experience across Europe, the US and Asia. She founded DAFE Digital for one reason: serious Romanian businesses deserve the same paid media expertise companies get in any other market. That's what DAFE Digital does.
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