1. Turn the case study into a contextual evidence record
Performance marketing examples should show how the proposed work relates to your needs. Record the period, objective, media spend, conversion definition, attribution setting and work the agency actually performed. An authorised, anonymised example may be sufficient. Do not request another client’s personal information or confidential commercial exports as proof.
The starting problem, intervention and limits of the result should be distinguishable. Where a case uses ROAS, ask how returns, existing customers and other channels were considered. Missing information is not automatically evidence of poor work, but it does limit the conclusion you can draw. The acceptance condition is an understandable basis for the claim, rather than a guarantee that your company will reproduce the same result.
2. Record a current source for credential claims
B2B lead generation requires asking who will work on the account and what relevant experience that person brings. A badge on the company website may not establish the assigned person’s capability. Request the claimed partner profile or certificate verification link, legal company name and scope. Programme terms and validity can change; an old sales presentation is insufficient evidence.
Not every capable small team holds the same credential. Documented implementation experience and a clear working approach also matter. Do not treat a badge as access to every platform feature, guaranteed approval or privileged resolution of account problems. A delivery specialist explaining how they would investigate a measurement issue may provide more useful evidence than a broad statement from the sales team.
FROM READING TO A NEXT STEP
Review your proposal against eight evidence areas
Share the need and unresolved questions. Define Prix’s deliverables, acceptance conditions and access requirements before making the commitment.
3. Obtain a deliverable and creative acceptance table
Ad creative production proposals should distinguish strategy, copy, design, filming, editing, format adaptation and revisions. If the brand provides existing assets, who decides whether those assets are sufficient? Where an external producer is involved, establish their costs, data access and responsibilities rather than assuming everything is included in account management.
Usage rights matter alongside quantity. Specify source-file delivery, music and talent permissions, channels and licence duration. Turning an approved asset into new ad variations may require a separate scope. AI-generated people or customer experiences should not be represented as genuine customer references; applicable claim and disclosure requirements need review. The table should identify the format and check that demonstrates completion.
| Output | Acceptance evidence | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Brief | Approved offer, claims and sources | Brand and strategist |
| Creative | Formats, rights, revisions and files | Production owner |
| Launch | Budget and final approval record | Authorised manager |
| Refresh | Hypothesis and previous test notes | Media and creative team |
4. Separate total cost from authority to spend
CAC, ROAS and MER decisions require distinguishing the media budget from service fees. Identify management, production, tools, implementation, taxes and third-party charges. Compare flat, percentage and incentive proposals using those categories. If an incentive uses revenue, define which revenue measure and verification source will determine the payment.
Record who is notified as a spending limit approaches, how an increase is authorised and who can pause delivery. Clarify the billing entity and payment responsibility. Review the rationale for a minimum term, notice requirements and final payment separately. A universal market commission is not a substitute for pricing the actual deliverables. Your approval process should remain understandable when account performance or operational capacity changes.
5. Make an asset and access inventory before signing
Server-side tracking and other integrations depend on existing ownership. List the business portfolio, ad account, Page, Instagram account, dataset, catalogue, domain and connected systems. For each, record the owning organisation, authorised person and assigned tasks. Stating that an asset belongs to the client in a contract does not automatically change its ownership inside a platform.
Meta partner sharing supports selected assets and tasks when the required ownership and control conditions are met. Use an appropriate permission model rather than sharing personal passwords. Include external tools, system users and applications in the inventory. That starting record tells you what must be reviewed at exit. Do not rely on a promise that every audience, historical record or asset can instantly move to another portfolio.
6. Name the delivery team and communication arrangement
Remarketing management requires continuity beyond a sales meeting. Identify the account practitioner, strategic lead, production owner and backup. Ask how work is handed over during absence or departure. Where subcontractors are used, clarify responsibility and data access. The person pitching the work may not be the person implementing it.
Separate routine reporting, urgent incidents and work awaiting brand approval. A response time is different from a resolution time. Delays in your own assets or decisions also affect delivery. Make the arrangement workable by naming decision owners and mutual availability. Do not force every account into the same meeting cadence; use the complexity and risk of the work to decide what communication is needed.
7. Accept a metric glossary and sample report
For tracking implementation and reporting, every primary metric should have a source, scope and calculation method. Impressions and clicks can be useful intermediate signals without establishing profitable sales. Align definitions for qualified enquiries, accepted opportunities, net orders and returns. Differences between advertising and analytics systems should be explained rather than suppressed.
The sample report should contain changes made, uncertainty and the next decision, not only historical values. Time zones, attribution settings and delayed conversions affect comparisons. If CRM feedback is proposed, review the data-use conditions separately; sending every customer field is not an acceptable default. Where a required system is missing, state which business question the initial report cannot answer. Agree that limitation before accepting outcome claims.
Definition
Record the event counted, its source and the scope of the figure.
Interpretation
Explain the change, context and uncertainty relevant to the result.
Decision
Name the next action, its owner and the evidence it should produce.
8. Prepare the exit and handover plan at the start
For your performance marketing engagement, write down what happens to active campaigns, approved spending, outstanding payments and technical maintenance when the relationship ends. Define delivery formats for source files, permitted reporting archives, test learnings, setup notes and open work. Platform ownership constraints require separate consideration from handing over files.
An appropriately authorised person should remove access and review related staff, applications and integrations. Secret keys do not belong in a reporting archive. Seek relevant specialist review for retention, deletion and processing responsibilities where needed. In the final pre-signature meeting, mark open items across all eight evidence areas. An undocumented promise is not an accepted deliverable; postponing dependent work until the necessary clarification arrives can be a sensible business decision.
File handover
List sources, learning notes and open work with acceptance conditions.
Asset review
Verify current ownership, administrator access and connections that will remain.
Close the relationship
Record payment, maintenance responsibility and access-removal tasks.
BEFORE YOU DECIDE
Frequently asked questions
Is this the same as an agency selection guide?
No. Selection examines whether a candidate fits your needs. These checks turn the chosen team’s promises into evidence, responsible owners and acceptance conditions before signature.
Is a partner badge sufficient evidence?
It should be current and officially verifiable, but it is not sufficient alone. Review the assigned person, specialist scope and delivery approach as well as the company claim.
Does every business need both Pixel and CAPI?
No. Decide based on infrastructure, objectives, processing conditions and maintenance capacity. Any implemented event flow needs validation and appropriate handling of user choices.
Can a contract automatically transfer an ad account?
A contract does not automatically change platform ownership or transfer limits. Check the current owner and available processes; separate account control from the handover of files.
What should the agency report contain?
Metric definitions, data sources, changes, uncertainty and the next decision. If commercial records are unavailable, the report should avoid treating platform results as verified sales or profit.
Are all these documents necessary for a small business?
They can be brief. Scope, access, costs, decision owners and exit conditions still need clarity. Workload changes the level of detail; it does not remove the need to allocate responsibilities.
LET’S DEFINE THE SCOPE
Review your proposal against eight evidence areas
Share the need and unresolved questions. Define Prix’s deliverables, acceptance conditions and access requirements before making the commitment.
Discuss the proposal scope