What are you paying for when you pay for Meta Ads management? Often, the answer is not in the proposal. It reads "Facebook and Instagram advertising management" and stops there, which could describe a few hours of account maintenance or a full creative and testing programme.
Why Meta differs from Google on price
A search campaign lives on keywords and can run for a while on text ads. A Meta campaign lives on creative: the image, the video, the first line. That makes production the largest hidden variable. Two agencies charging the same management fee may produce very different amounts of new creative, or none.
What "management" might include
| Item | Sometimes in the fee | Often extra |
|---|---|---|
| Account audit and structure | Yes, at the start | A full rebuild of a messy account |
| Weekly optimisation | Yes | Nothing, if the scope is written well |
| New creative (static) | A set number per month | Anything beyond that number |
| New creative (video and reels) | Rarely | Shoots, editing, actors, locations |
| Landing page | Rarely | Design and build |
| Tracking and pixel setup | Sometimes | Server-side events, custom conversions |
| Reporting | A standard summary | A custom dashboard |
Fee models you will meet
The same structures apply as for search: a fixed retainer, a percentage of ad spend, or a hybrid. The important question is different. With Meta, ask how much new creative the fee buys each month. A fee that includes no creative production leaves you paying separately, or running the same ad until it tires.
A warning about boosting
Some low fees are for boosting posts. That is not the same as managing campaigns. A boosted post uses a simple audience choice and has little structure, so it teaches you less about what works. It has a place for a quick reach lift. It is a poor way to generate leads.
Questions to ask a prospective agency
- How many new creatives will you produce each month, and in which formats?
- How do you test creative, and how will I see the results?
- What is the campaign objective for lead generation, and how will you judge lead quality?
- What happens to the account if we stop working together?
How creative production changes the total
Because Meta depends on creative, the amount of new material produced is a major part of the real cost. A single reel shot with a director, a location and an edit can cost more than the month’s management fee. An image adapted from an existing asset costs very little. Neither is wrong. But a proposal that says nothing about creative is hiding a decision you will have to make anyway.
Six line items to ask for on any proposal
- Management fee, and what it covers.
- New creative each month, by format and quantity.
- Landing page work, if needed.
- Tracking and pixel setup.
- Reporting frequency and format.
- Ad spend, shown separately, with who controls it.
Cost mistakes we see
- Choosing an agency on fee alone, then paying separately for everything that makes the ads work.
- Spending on ads before the page and follow-up are ready.
- Judging the fee against leads, not against customers.
- Running one ad for months because new creative is treated as a luxury.
Judge by what the fee produces
A lower fee is not cheaper if it produces nothing you can use. A higher fee is not better if it buys activity without results. Ask what you should see at thirty, sixty and ninety days, and write those expectations into the agreement. They do not have to be promises of numbers. They can be milestones: a tested structure, a set of creative variants, a report that explains each change.
Where we stand
Our own scope on Meta covers an account audit and rebuild, weekly creative tests, audience and pixel setup and a weekly report. For video, see our reel and video production page. We do not promise leads or a return, and ad spend is paid to Meta and is separate from our fee. For the wider view of budgets, read how much a small business should spend.