TLDR;
- Location vs. Expertise: While hiring someone in Brighton is great for face-to-face meetings, App Ads are a niche skill. Don't prioritise a local postcode over proven experience with UAC (Universal App Campaigns) and MMPs (Mobile Measurement Partners).
- The "Keyword" Trap: If an "expert" starts talking about keyword lists for your App campaign, run. Google App Ads are driven by creative assets and machine learning, not manual keyword bidding.
- Tracking is Everything: You cannot scale an app without rock-solid event tracking (Firebase, AppsFlyer, Adjust). If they can't explain SKAdNetwork to you, they aren't ready to manage your budget.
- Creative is the Lever: Since targeting is automated, your video and image assets are the targeting. You need an expert who understands creative strategy, not just button pushing.
- Included Tools: I've built a CAC vs. LTV Calculator and a Funnel Impact Simulator below to help you check if your numbers actually make sense before you hire anyone.
So, you’re looking for a Google App Ads expert in Brighton. It sounds simple enough, doesn't it? You go to Google, type it in, and you’re met with about fifty different agencies all claiming to be "award-winning" and "laser-focused" (I hate that phrase) on your growth.
Here is the reality of the situation.
Brighton is a fantastic hub for digital. From the freelancers working out of coffee shops in the North Laine to the bigger agencies tucked away near the station, the talent pool is deep. I’ve spent enough time around the digital scene in Sussex to know there are some properly brilliant minds here. But—and this is a big but—Google App Ads (specifically what used to be called Universal App Campaigns or UAC) is a completely different beast to standard Google Search advertising.
Most "Google Ads Experts" are actually Search experts. They are brilliant at keyword research, text ads, and optimising for clicks on a desktop or mobile browser. But if you apply those same logic and strategies to an App campaign, you will burn through your budget faster than a tourist burns through fish and chips on the Palace Pier.
I’m writing this to help you navigate the minefield of hiring specifically for App promotion. Whether you hire someone sitting in an office on Queen’s Road or a specialist working remotely, you need to know what questions to ask, what red flags to look for, and frankly, how to not get ripped off.
The "Local" Myth: Does Being in Brighton Matter?
There is a comforting feeling about hiring local. I get it. Being able to meet for a coffee at Small Batch or jump on a quick call knowing you’re in the same time zone is nice. It builds trust. In a city like Brighton, where networking is half the business, having a local partner can open doors.
However, for App Ads specifically, expertise must trump geography.
If you find a brilliant App Ads specialist in Brighton, grab them with both hands. But don't hire a generalist PPC agency just because they are a ten-minute walk from your office. App promotion requires a technical setup that is far more complex than a standard lead gen campaign. It involves SDKs, deep linking, event mapping, and navigating the absolute nightmare that is Apple’s privacy framework (SKAdNetwork).
If your local agency handles "SEO, PPC, Social, Content, and PR," they probably don't have the depth of knowledge required to scale an app to 45k+ signups (something we’ve done, by the way). You want a specialist.
Why Google App Campaigns Are Different (And Why Generalists Fail)
To understand who to hire, you need to understand the machine they are operating.
In a traditional Google Search campaign, the advertiser has a lot of control. We pick keywords, we match types, we bid on specific terms like "plumber in Hove".
Google App Campaigns are a "Black Box".
You give Google:
1. Your text assets
2. Your images
3. Your videos (lots of them)
4. A CPA (Cost Per Action) target
5. A conversion event (e.g., "Completed Registration")
And then Google’s AI takes over. It mixes and matches your assets to create ads on the fly and serves them across Search, Play Store, YouTube, and the Display Network.
A generalist PPC expert will try to "optimise" this by looking for keywords to exclude or trying to micro-manage bids. But you can't really do that. The "optimisation" in App campaigns comes from two places:
1. The Creative Strategy: Since you can't target "people who like games," you have to make a video that appeals only to people who like games. The creative is the targeting.
2. The Data Feedback Loop: Telling Google exactly which user is valuable. If you feed Google garbage data (e.g., just "installs"), it will find you garbage users (people who install and never open the app).
If the person you are interviewing talks more about keywords than they do about creative assets and event postbacks, they are not an App Ads expert.
Visualising the App Funnel Leakage
One of the biggest issues I see when auditing accounts is a misunderstanding of where the money is actually going. It's not just about the Cost Per Install (CPI). It's about the Cost Per Action (CPA). I've whipped up a little interactive tool here to show you how a small change in your funnel affects your actual costs.
The Tracking Nightmare (And why you need a geek, not a marketer)
I mentioned earlier that data is one of the two main levers. This is where most campaigns fail before they even start.
For a website, you stick a Google Tag on the header, and you're mostly good to go. For an App, it is infinitely more annoying.
You need to choose between:
1. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) / Firebase: The free option. Good for Android, okay for iOS, but can be a bit limited if you're running ads on other networks like Meta or TikTok too.
2. MMPs (Mobile Measurement Partners): Tools like AppsFlyer, Adjust, or Branch. These are expensive but necessary if you are serious about scaling. They act as the "source of truth" for attribution.
A true expert will know how to set up "Conversion Events" properly. They won't just track "app_open". They will track "completed_tutorial," "add_to_cart," "subscription_start," and "free_trial_converted."
Crucially, they need to understand iOS 14+ and SKAdNetwork. Since Apple decided to make privacy their main selling point, tracking iPhone users has become really difficult. We get less data, and it comes in with a delay. If your prospective agency looks blank when you say "SKAdNetwork conversion schema," they are dangerously out of date.
We see this all the time—businesses running ads where they think they are getting zero results because the tracking isn't firing, or worse, Google Ads shows no conversions despite sign-ups happening in the backend. It’s a classic sign of a broken setup.
Creative Strategy: The Hidden Cost
When you hire a freelancer or agency, check if they have design capabilities.
Google App campaigns eat creative for breakfast. You need landscape video, portrait video (for Shorts/TikTok style placements), square video, HTML5 playable ads (if it's a game), and static banners. And you need to refresh them constantly because ad fatigue sets in fast.
If the expert expects you to provide all the creative, make sure you have a videographer on staff. If not, look for an agency that includes creative production or at least creative strategy (writing the scripts and briefs) in their fee. We've found that UGC (User Generated Content) style videos—which look a bit rough and ready, shot on an iPhone—often outperform polished "TV ad" style corporate videos for apps. It feels native to the feed.
Vetting Your Expert: The Questions You Must Ask
Whether you're meeting someone in a fancy office in the Lanes or zooming with a specialist, ask them these specific questions:
1. "How do you handle the 'Cold Start' phase?"
Google needs about 50 conversion events per week to optimise algorithmically. If you have a small budget, you might not get 50 purchases. An expert will tell you: "We'll start optimising for 'Installs' or 'Add to Cart' first to feed the pixel data, then switch to 'Purchase' (tCPA) once we have volume."
2. "What is your approach to Asset Groups?"
You shouldn't just dump all your images into one group. You should have themes. For example, for a meditation app, one Asset Group focuses on "Sleep," another on "Anxiety," another on "Focus." This allows you to see which messaging works.
3. "Do you have experience with deep linking?"
If I click an ad for a specific pair of trainers in your shopping app, but I don't have the app installed, what happens? I should install the app, open it, and be taken directly to those trainers. This is called "Deferred Deep Linking." If the expert doesn't check this, you're losing customers who get annoyed at landing on the homepage.
4. "Can you show me a case study with results?"
Don't just look for logos. Look for metrics. For example, we ran a campaign for an app where we achieved 45k+ signups at under £2 cost per signup. That's a tangible result. If they only show you "Reach" or "Impressions," be wary. Reach doesn't pay the bills.
Costs: What Should You Pay?
In the UK, pricing varies wildly.
- Freelancers: Might charge £400 - £800 per day.
- Agencies: Usually charge a monthly retainer (e.g., £1.5k - £3k minimum) or a percentage of ad spend (10-20%).
Be careful of the "cheap" option. If someone offers to manage your ads for £200 a month, they are likely automating it and checking it once a week. In the volatile world of App auctions, that's dangerous. You need someone monitoring the placements to ensure Google isn't spending 90% of your budget on low-quality "Display" placements in kids' gaming apps (a classic Google move to waste your money).
For a deeper dive on this, check out our guide on the real cost of hiring a marketing agency.
Calculating Your Real ROI
Before you hire anyone, you should know what you can afford to pay for a user. This calculator helps you determine your LTV (Lifetime Value) so you can set a realistic CPA target for your agency.
A Note on Strategy: Don't Put All Your Eggs in Google's Basket
While Google App Ads are powerful because of the sheer scale (YouTube, Play Store, Search, Display), they are not always the best place to start.
Often, we advise clients to start with Meta Ads (Facebook/Instagram). Why? Because the targeting is more transparent. You can target "People interested in Yoga" directly. On Google, you have to wait for the algorithm to figure out who wants your Yoga app.
Meta allows you to validate your creative concepts and your "hook" much faster. Once you know which video makes people click and install, then you move to Google UAC and let the machine scale that winning creative.
Summary: Your Game Plan for Hiring in Brighton
If you're in Brighton, by all means, look for local talent. There's nothing like a whiteboard session in person to map out a strategy. But don't let the convenience of a BN1 postcode blind you to the specific technical needs of App advertising.
Look for:
-> Proven UAC / App Campaign experience (ask for screenshots of campaign setups, not just graphs).
-> Knowledge of MMPs (AppsFlyer/Adjust) and Firebase.
-> A clear strategy for Creative testing.
-> Honest talk about costs (CPI is vanity, CPA is sanity).
I’ve detailed my main recommendations for you below:
| Feature | What to Look For | The Red Flag |
|---|---|---|
| Experience | Specific case studies for Mobile Apps (iOS/Android). Mentions UAC, Firebase, MMPs. | Only shows results for E-commerce websites or Lead Gen forms. |
| Strategy | Focuses on Creative strategy, Asset Groups, and Event optimisation (post-install actions). | Talks endlessly about "Keyword lists" and manual bidding. |
| Tracking | Discusses SKAdNetwork, iOS privacy issues, and the difference between Firebase and MMPs. | Says "We just use the standard Google tag" or doesn't mention iOS 14. |
| Reporting | Reports on CPA (Cost Per Action), ROAS, and Retention rates. | Only reports on CPI (Cost Per Install) or Impressions. |
Hiring the wrong person can cost you thousands in wasted ad spend and months of lost time. If you want to chat about your app specifically, or if you just want a second pair of eyes on your current setup to see if it's actually working, feel free to reach out. It’s better to measure twice and cut once.
