Quick Answer
Choose a Facebook ads agency with a practical interview checklist. Compare creative, reporting, total fees and ownership before agreeing to a first-month plan.
Choose a Facebook ads agency by checking five things: the problem it will own, relevant work it can show, its creative process, how it reports results and the complete contract cost. Give shortlisted agencies the same brief and ask them to explain their first month. Select the team whose evidence and proposed work fit your needs.
This is Knowlify's buying framework for brands evaluating a partner. We offer end-to-end Meta ads, including creative production and campaign management, as well as creative-only work. The checklist is our evaluation framework, not an independent ranking of agencies.
Do you need campaign management, creative or both?
Hire for the gap in your team. Campaign management needs an owner for launch, budgets, optimization and reporting. Creative production needs an owner for concepts, scripts, assets, editing and revisions. Buying one service does not automatically cover the other. The paid social agency guide breaks down those responsibilities.
| Your situation | Scope to request | Responsibility to keep explicit |
|---|---|---|
| A media buyer is waiting for new ads | Recurring creative production | Who turns campaign feedback into the next brief |
| Ads are ready but nobody runs campaigns | Media management | Who supplies replacement creative and approves spend |
| You need to launch a new offer | Research, production and campaign launch | Who approves claims, tracking and the landing page |
| Reports do not answer whether leads become customers | Measurement review plus the required implementation | Who owns CRM access, reporting definitions and follow-up |
Knowlify's video ad production is available as creative-only work or as part of our end-to-end Meta ads service, which combines creative and campaign management. Define the deliverables, campaign responsibilities and separate media budget in the agreement so the scope matches the work you want to hand over.
What should you ask a Facebook ads agency?
If you are still finding candidates, use our Meta ads agency shortlist to identify providers by scope. Then give the relevant candidates the same brief.
Ask questions that require a work sample, a decision or a written commitment. A useful answer makes it clear who does what and what you will see. Copy this interview checklist and record the evidence beside each agency's response.
| Question | Evidence to request | What an incomplete answer leaves unresolved |
|---|---|---|
| Who works on the account after the sale? | Named roles, review owner and communication process | Who is accountable for delivery |
| What will you do in the first month? | Sequence of research, tracking checks, concepts and launch decisions | What the first invoice buys |
| How do you develop and replace creative? | One brief, a finished ad and the reasoning for the next test | Whether production is part of the service |
| How do you judge a campaign result? | A redacted report with metric definitions and business context | What “working” means for your company |
| What is included in the fee? | Deliverables, exclusions, extra-work rates and minimum commitment | The full budget |
| What happens if we leave? | Account access, asset handover and cancellation terms | What you retain at the end |
Do not ask an agency to reveal another client's private information. A redacted sample, permission-cleared case study or walkthrough of its own process can answer the same question. If an important term remains verbal, ask for it in the proposal before treating it as included.
How do you judge the agency's creative process?
Ask the team to walk through one concept from customer problem to final ad and the next proposed test. Look for a reason behind the hook, the proof and the call to action. Meta Blueprint's creative-diversification training distinguishes creative concepts and formats as part of that process.
For a fictional travel bag, “fits under the seat” and “separates laundry from clean clothes” are different selling ideas. Changing the typeface is a different execution of an existing idea. Ask for separate counts of concepts, hook variants, finished ads and aspect-ratio exports so you know what a large asset number represents.
Use a short sample brief to compare how agencies reason. Give them the offer, audience, approved proof, constraints and one business objective. Ask which idea they would test first, what asset they need from you and what would make them revise it. You are evaluating the explanation, not requesting a full unpaid campaign. Our creative-testing guide helps organize the follow-up.
How do you verify case studies and reporting?
Request the context behind a result: the objective, reporting period, budget, starting point and work the agency controlled. Then ask whether the example resembles your business model. A lead-generation project and an ecommerce purchase campaign may need different evidence even when both report a positive return.
In a report walkthrough, ask the agency to distinguish platform-reported conversions from the sales or qualified opportunities your business records. Identify the attribution method, reporting window and known gaps. The point is to understand how the team makes decisions when the numbers disagree, rather than accept a screenshot as a complete explanation.
Use these prompts with a permission-cleared example:
- What changed during the engagement, and what stayed constant?
- Was the improvement sustained beyond a launch or promotion?
- Which costs are included in the result being presented?
- What did the agency recommend when an early test underperformed?
- What would make this example a poor comparison for our business?
These are due-diligence questions, not a scoring model that proves an agency will reproduce a past result.
How should you compare agency quotes?
Compare the same responsibilities, output definitions and budget period. Separate media, management, production, setup and third-party charges. Then write down the work left with your team. Our Facebook agency pricing guide and copyable worksheet give you a place to collect those answers and calculate first-month versus ongoing cost.
One proposal might include new concepts and revisions while another expects you to supply finished ads. One may have a spend-linked minimum while another has a fixed fee within capacity limits. Resolve those differences before choosing on price. If you already have a media buyer, price a separate creative partner as well as a replacement full-service team.
Buy the quantity your team can approve, launch and evaluate. A creative subscription can provide recurring production, but define what counts as an accepted ad and how revisions count. If approved work sits unlaunched, adding more assets alone does not address the queue.
What should the first-month plan and contract include?
Agree on the sequence of work and the conditions for launch. The plan should state what you supply, what the agency delivers, who approves it and when the next decision happens. Use our video ad approval workflow to assign copy, product-claim and spend approvals.
Before signing, record:
- Inputs: account access, approved claims, brand assets and product information.
- Deliverables: concepts, finished files, formats, revisions and delivery milestones.
- Launch controls: budget authority, tracking checks and the person who approves ads.
- Review: reporting access, review cadence and how findings inform the next batch.
- Exit: notice period, remaining fees, rights, asset handover and access removal.
Ask for unresolved assumptions to appear beside the delivery date. A plan that requires product footage or legal approval should name that dependency. If there is a guarantee, read its eligibility rules, measurement period and remedy in the written agreement.
How do you check fit beyond the sales presentation?
Ask to see how the proposed team would handle an ordinary working decision. A portfolio shows finished work; a process example can reveal whether the agency understands your constraints and communicates clearly when something is unresolved.
Use a specific scenario from your business. For example, you may have accurate product footage but limited review capacity, or an established campaign account with nobody consistently requesting new creative. Ask the agency to explain the first decision it would make and the input it needs from you. Evaluate the reasoning rather than expecting a complete free campaign strategy.
If a reference conversation is available with that client's permission, focus on operational fit. Ask what the client had to supply, how feedback was consolidated and what happened when the original plan changed. Do not ask the reference to disclose private account data or treat its results as a forecast for your own campaign.
Compare the reference's working conditions with yours. An agency may work well with a large internal marketing team that supplies approved briefs, while your business needs much more direction. The question is whether the proposed scope accounts for the difference. Ask the agency to name the additional work rather than assuming it will happen inside the same fee.
What should a launch-readiness review actually inspect?
Review the connection between the approved offer, creative, destination and campaign responsibilities. The purpose is to catch an unresolved dependency before it becomes a live campaign problem. Agree the actual technical checks with the campaign owner rather than treating this editorial checklist as a complete implementation specification.
For each planned ad, identify its approved file, intended destination, current offer and final approver. Confirm that the product or service shown can be purchased or requested under those conditions. If a price, feature or delivery promise changed during production, send the affected asset back for the necessary review.
Next, confirm authority. Who can authorize the launch? Who can change the media budget? Who handles an urgent commercial change such as a product becoming unavailable? A shared understanding of those decisions matters whether the same agency produces the creative and runs campaigns or two teams share the work.
End the review with a short list of ready items and unresolved items. Give each unresolved item an owner and the next action. Avoid calling the whole campaign ready merely because the videos have been delivered. Equally, do not allow a minor unrelated preference to obscure a specific launch decision that the responsible owner can make.
How do you compare the first month with the proposal?
Create an engagement review around the promised work. Check whether the agency received the agreed inputs, delivered the expected outputs and explained changes to the plan. Separate a client dependency from a supplier delivery problem so the discussion can resolve the actual issue.
Consider an illustrative engagement promising concept development, finished ads and campaign management. If the ads were approved but never launched, determine who owned launch and why it remained open. If the client changed the offer after editing, record how the change affected the plan. If the campaign ran but the evidence is still limited, evaluate the available information without inventing a performance verdict.
Review the work your team retained. Did briefing and review take the effort you expected? Were product questions raised early enough for the right person to answer? Did reports lead to a clear decision about what happens next? Those observations help you decide whether to refine the working process or change the scope.
A useful review concludes with a specific next assignment and an owner. “Continue the demonstration concept with a clearer offer explanation” is more actionable than “make stronger ads.” Record what supports the decision and what remains a hypothesis.
When should you choose creative only instead of a combined agency?
Choose creative-only support when your current buyer can own the campaign decisions and provide usable feedback to production. Compare a combined engagement when that ownership is missing or when you want one team responsible for making and managing the Meta ads. The decision should follow the work to be transferred, not the assumption that a larger scope is always better.
Knowlify offers both arrangements. Its end-to-end Meta service combines creative production and campaign management; the creative-only option supports an existing buyer. Put the responsibilities, private service price and separate media budget in the agreement. Keep your evaluation focused on whether that arrangement supplies the capability your team needs and makes the next decision easier to take.
To put creative and campaign management in one plan, discuss your Meta ads scope with Knowlify. Bring your offer, an existing ad and the tasks your team already owns. We can scope an end-to-end engagement or creative-only support, with a private quote and a separate media budget.
FAQ
What should I look for in a Facebook ads agency?
Look for relevant work, an accountable delivery team, a clear creative process and reporting tied to your business objective. Require a written scope and total fees. The interview table above helps you compare the evidence behind each answer instead of relying on the presentation or a headline result.
Is creative production included in Facebook ads management?
Check the proposal: Knowlify offers creative production and campaign management together through its end-to-end Meta ads service, and also offers creative-only work. For any agency, record concepts, scripts, finished ads, revisions and campaign responsibilities in the agreement. Name an owner for any work retained by your team.
How do I know if an agency's case study is relevant?
Compare the business model, target customer, budget, objective and measurement method with your own situation. Ask what the agency changed and which costs are counted. A strong result in a different setting is useful background, but it does not establish that the same approach or outcome will transfer to your account.
Can I keep my current media buyer and hire an ad creative agency?
Yes. Assign the creative partner a defined production scope and agree how it exchanges briefs and findings with the media buyer. Name who requests new concepts, approves claims, uploads ads and reports results. That handoff is the practical requirement; both providers do not need to be the same company.
How many Facebook ads agencies should I compare?
Three candidates is a manageable shortlist for this process, not an industry rule. Send each the same brief and compare responsibilities, work samples, fees and proposed next steps. Add another candidate if the current shortlist does not cover the capability you need, rather than choosing a weak fit to finish the exercise.
Should I hire an agency that guarantees results?
Evaluate the work and evidence first, then review any guarantee as a contract term. Ask what result it measures, which conditions you must meet, how disputes are handled and what remedy is available. A guarantee does not remove your need to assess fit, approve product claims or understand the delivery plan.
References
- paid social agency guide
- video ad production
- Meta ads service
- Meta ads agency shortlist
- Meta Blueprint's creative-diversification training
- creative-testing guide
- Facebook agency pricing guide and copyable worksheet
- creative subscription
- video ad approval workflow
- discuss your Meta ads scope with Knowlify