The Agency Accountability Audit
Three years with the same agency. Reports that looked fine. Then we looked under the hood.
Good relationship. Comfortable reports. No results.
A business had been with the same digital agency for three years. Good relationship, responsive account managers, monthly decks with green arrows. But CPA had been creeping upward for 12 months, and the agency's explanation was always some variation of "increased market competition."
When the CEO brought me in, the brief was simple: find out what's actually happening in those accounts.
Four findings that changed the conversation
The account structure was identical to what was built at the start of the engagement — despite significant changes in business strategy, product mix, and audience data. No structural optimisation had been done.
The contract specified a senior strategist. The change history in the accounts showed that 90% of the work was being done by a junior analyst — identifiable by the account user timestamps and the nature of the changes being made.
Target CPA bidding was in use across all campaigns — but the targets hadn't been updated in 14 months. As actual performance drifted, the bidding algorithms were still chasing obsolete targets.
Search term reports showed significant budget being spent on irrelevant queries — queries that had been appearing for months. No regular search term audits were being done.
A new brief, not a new agency
My recommendation wasn't to fire the agency — it was to restructure the relationship. The agency had the capability to do better work; the client just hadn't given them clear enough direction or accountability.
We introduced a new accountability framework: monthly account audits with specific checklists, SLA on senior resource time, quarterly structural reviews, and clear KPIs tied to business outcomes — not platform metrics. The campaign architecture was rebuilt over four weeks. Bidding targets were reset. Negative keywords were rebuilt from scratch.
43% CPA reduction in 60 days
Within 60 days of implementing the structural changes and accountability framework, CPA had dropped 43%. Not from creative changes. Not from budget increases. From fixing the fundamentals that should have been maintained throughout the engagement.
The agency kept the business — and delivered significantly better results once the expectations were clear.
You get the agency behaviour you accept, not the agency behaviour you pay for
Agencies aren't bad actors — they're rational ones. They allocate their best people to clients who demand the most and hold them accountable. If you're not checking the accounts, asking the hard questions, and demanding structural rigour, you'll get the agency's C-team. Not because they're being dishonest, but because no one's enforcing the standard.