Paid media keeps running whether or not anyone is managing it, which makes this the easiest marketing service to sell badly. The distinction that matters is whether somebody is doing work on the account each week or producing a monthly summary of what the platform did on its own.
What a paid marketing service should do every week
Reading search terms and placements and excluding what does not belong, adjusting budgets and objectives against results, pausing what fails, testing new creative and landing pages, and checking that conversion tracking still reports correctly. On automated accounts the judgement moves up a level: what the automation optimises toward and what data it is fed.
The change log is the evidence
Ask what changed last month and to see the history rather than a report. Every platform records changes. An account with few changes and a polished monthly deck is being reported on rather than managed, and the difference is usually invisible until performance drifts.
Fee structures and incentives in paid marketing services
Percentage of spend rewards budget growth. Flat fees are neutral. Performance pricing aligns interests where attribution is clean. Whichever is used, ask for the number in absolute terms at your intended spend and what it buys in hours, so the comparison across suppliers is possible.
What separates good management at any budget
Discipline about waste, willingness to say a channel is not working, and keeping tracking honest. Those matter more than sophistication, and they are what a buyer can check by asking specific questions about the last quarter rather than by reviewing a portfolio.
Questions people ask about paid advertising management
How often should an account be touched?
Weekly for most accounts, more often during a launch or a test. Monthly touches on a spending account allow waste to accumulate quietly.
Is a percentage of spend fair?
Common and it rewards spending more. Ask for a floor and ceiling, or convert it to a flat fee at your expected budget so incentives are neutral.
How much budget justifies management?
Enough that the fee is a sensible proportion and the campaign gathers data. Below that a carefully built campaign left largely alone often performs better.