TLDR;
- Stop looking for an agency with a DD postcode. The best agency for your Dundee business is the one with proven, relevant experince in your specific niche, even if they're based in London or Manchester.
- Don't get fooled by flashy presentations. Your entire vetting process should revolve around one thing: evidence. Dig into their case studies and demand proof that they can solve problems like yours.
- Before you speak to a single firm, you must know your numbers. Use the LTV (Lifetime Value) calculator in this guide to figure out exactly how much you can afford to spend to acquire a customer. This is non-negotiable.
- The questions you ask on the first call are critical. Ditch generic queries and ask questions that force them to demonstrate their problem-solving process, not just their sales pitch.
- The cheapest agency is almost always the most expensive one in the long run. We'll break down the real costs and what you should expect to pay for genuine expertise in the UK market.
Right, so you're looking to hire a paid ads agency in Dundee. The first mistake most businesses make is thinking they need someone just down the road, maybe with an office in the Technology Park or overlooking the Tay. Tbh, that's probably the least important factor. What you actually need is an agency with a deep, proven track record of getting results for a business exactly like yours, in your specific sector. Whether they're in Dundee, Glasgow, or working remotely from the Highlands is irrelevant.
The truth is, finding the right partner is a minefield of slick salespeople and impressive-sounding pitches that often lead to nothing but wasted ad spend and frustration. I've seen it countless times. Businesses get locked into long contracts with agencies that apply a generic, one-size-fits-all approach that was never going to work for a niche B2B software firm or a specialist e-commerce brand based out of Tayside.
This guide is going to cut through that noise. I'm going to walk you through the exact vetting process you should use, from dissecting case studies to asking the right questions on that first call. This isn't about finding the 'best' agency in Dundee; it's about finding the *right* agency for you.
So, why do so many local businesses get burned?
It usually boils down to a few core issues. The biggest one is mistaking a good sales pitch for actual expertise. An agency can show you a fancy deck full of jargon and projected ROAS figures, but that means absolutely nothing without hard evidence to back it up.
Another issue is the 'local generalist' trap. Many local agencies have to be jacks-of-all-trades to survive. They'll do a bit of SEO for a local solicitor, run some Facebook ads for a restaurant, and then try to tackle a complex lead generation campaign for a life sciences company. The problem is, the strategy required for each of those is wildly different. The targeting, the messaging, the platforms – none of it is interchangeable. You need a specialist, not a generalist who's learning on your dime.
I remember one client, a B2B software company, who came to us because their previous agency was struggling. They were trying to find decision-makers using broad social media campaigns, but it just wasn't working. It was a classic case of using the wrong platform for a specialist audience. We shifted their strategy to focus entirely on LinkedIn Ads, where we could target the specific job titles and industries they needed to reach. The change was immediate. We started generating highly qualified leads for them at around $22 each. It wasn't magic; it was about understanding the audience and choosing the right tool for the job.
Your goal isn't to hire a friendly local face; it's to hire a team of stone-cold specialists who live and breathe your industry. The rest is just noise.
How do I tell a good case study from a bad one?
This is where you need to become a bit of a detective. Don't just look at the headline result, like "10x ROAS for eCommerce Client!". That number is meaningless without context. You need to dig deeper.
Here’s what to look for:
-> Relevancy: Is the case study for a business similar to yours? I'm not just talking about industry. Is it a similar business model (e.g., SaaS vs. service-based)? Similar price point? Similar target audience (B2B vs. B2C)? An agency showing off results for a fast-fashion brand tells you nothing about their ability to market high-ticket industrial equipment.
-> The Problem: A good case study starts by clearly defining the problem. "The client's CPL was too high," or "They were struggling to scale past £10k/month in ad spend." If it's just a vanity piece about how great everything was from the start, it's probably marketing fluff.
-> The Solution: This is the most important part. What did they *actually* do? Did they just say "we optimised the campaigns"? That's a huge red flag. A proper case study will detail the specific strategic shifts they made. "We restructured the Google Ads account from broad match keywords to a Single Keyword Ad Group (SKAG) structure, giving us granular control over bids. We then A/B tested landing pages, finding that a page with video testimonials converted 30% higher." That's a real insight into their process.
-> The Numbers: The results should be clear and transparent. What was the starting metric and what was the final one? What was the timeframe? What was the ad spend? Generating £100k in revenue is impressive, but not if it took £90k in ad spend to get there. The numbers must tell the full story.
Frankly, if an agency's case studies are vague and lack specific details about their strategy, it's a good sign they either don't have one or they got lucky. A great agency is proud of their process and wants to show you how they think. When you're ready to start vetting, our guide on hiring paid ad agencies in the UK provides a full checklist for this.
Step 1: Find
Shortlist 3-5 agencies with case studies in your specific niche.
Step 2: Dissect
Analyse their case studies. Look for the 'why' behind the results, not just the numbers.
Step 3: Interrogate
Book the initial call and ask tough questions about their process and past failures.
Step 4: Decide
Choose the partner who demonstrated the most relevant expertise, not the best sales pitch.
How much can I actually afford to spend on ads?
This is the question you absolutely MUST answer before you even think about hiring someone. If you don't know your numbers, you're flying blind, and you'll have no way to judge whether the agency is actually delivering value.
Forget Cost Per Lead (CPL) or Cost Per Click (CPC) for a moment. The single most important metric is your Customer Lifetime Value (LTV). This tells you what a customer is actually worth to your business over the entire time they stay with you. Once you know this, you can work backwards to figure out what you can afford to pay to acquire them (your Customer Acquisition Cost, or CAC).
A healthy business model typically aims for an LTV to CAC ratio of at least 3:1. This means for every £1 you spend to get a customer, you should get at least £3 back in profit over their lifetime.
Let's do the maths. You need three pieces of information:
- Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA): How much does a typical customer pay you each month?
- Gross Margin %: What's your profit margin on that revenue?
- Monthly Churn Rate: What percentage of customers do you lose each month?
The formula is: LTV = (ARPA * Gross Margin %) / Monthly Churn Rate
Let's say you're a Dundee-based SaaS company. Your average customer pays £200/month (ARPA), your gross margin is 80%, and you lose 5% of your customers each month (churn).
LTV = (£200 * 0.80) / 0.05 = £160 / 0.05 = £3,200.
Your average customer is worth £3,200 in gross margin. With a 3:1 LTV:CAC ratio, you can afford to spend up to £1,066 (£3,200 / 3) to acquire a single new customer. Now you have a concrete number. It changes the conversation completely. An agency promising you £10 leads might sound great, but if those leads are poor quality and don't convert, they're useless. You'd be far better off paying £200 for a lead that has a high chance of becoming a £3,200 customer.
Use the calculator below to figure out your own numbers. This is the foundation of a successful paid advertising strategy.
Customer Lifetime Value (LTV):
£3,200Affordable Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) (at 3:1 ratio):
£1,067What questions should I ask on the first call?
The initial call or meeting is your chance to really test their expertise. Don't let them control the conversation with a rehearsed presentation. You need to come prepared with questions that cut through the fluff and reveal how they actually think and operate.
Forget questions like "Have you worked in the gaming industry before?". A simple 'yes' doesn't tell you anything. Instead, rephrase it to expose their thought process.
Here are some better questions to ask:
Instead of: "What results can you get me?"
Ask: "Talk me through a campaign you ran that *failed* initially. What were the metrics telling you, what was your diagnosis of the problem, and what specific steps did you take to turn it around?"
Why it's better: This tests for honesty, problem-solving skills, and resilience. Any agency that claims they've never had a failing campaign is either lying or inexperienced. You want a partner who can navigate challenges, not just ride the easy wins.
Instead of: "Who will be working on my account?"
Ask: "What's your process for creative and copy testing? How do you decide what messaging to lead with, and how do you iterate based on performance data?"
Why it's better: This gets to the heart of campaign optimisation. The answer should involve a structured process of creating hypotheses, testing variables (headlines, images, audiences), and making data-driven decisions. If they give a vague answer like "we make great ads," it's a major red flag.
Instead of: "Are you a Google Premier Partner?"
Ask: "Based on my business goals and my LTV of [your calculated LTV], what would be your recommended starting budget and channel mix, and why? What would be the key performance indicator you'd focus on in the first 90 days?"
Why it's better: This forces them to demonstrate strategic thinking specific to your situation. It shows you've done your homework (by mentioning your LTV) and requires them to justify their recommendations. A good agency will give a thoughtful answer about starting with one core channel, proving the model, and then scaling. A poor one will suggest a bit of everything, which just spreads your budget too thin.
The goal of this call is not for them to sell to you. It's for you to determine if they have the strategic depth and operational rigor to be a true growth partner. For more ideas on this, the principles in this guide to vetting a B2B agency in London apply just as well to Dundee.
🚩 Red Flags
Vague Answers
"We use our proprietary optimisation process to leverage synergies and maximise ROI."
Guarantees & Promises
"We guarantee we'll double your revenue in 3 months."
Focus on Vanity Metrics
"We got the client 10 million views and a huge increase in followers."
Lack of Tough Questions
They don't ask you about your LTV, profit margins, or sales cycle.
✅ Green Flags
Specific Processes
"We start with a small test budget on 3 core audiences based on your customer data, then scale the winner."
Managing Expectations
"The first month is about data collection. We expect to be optimising for profitability by month 3."
Focus on Business Metrics
"The ROAS was 4x, but more importantly, the cost per qualified appointment was £150, which is viable for them."
They Grill You
They want to know your numbers inside-out before they even talk about strategy.
What should I expect to pay for a good agency?
This is always a tricky one, and the answer is 'it depends'. But let's be clear: if you're looking for the cheapest option, you're setting yourself up for failure. The cheapest agency often becomes the most expensive one through wasted ad spend, poor results, and massive opportunity cost. You're not just paying for someone to click buttons in an ad account; you're paying for strategy, experience, and expertise.
In the UK, agency fees are typically structured in one of three ways:
1. Monthly Retainer: A fixed fee paid every month, regardless of ad spend. This is common for smaller budgets or for campaigns that require a lot of strategic work upfront. For a decent specialist, you should expect this to start at around £1,500 - £2,000 per month and go up significantly from there.
2. Percentage of Ad Spend: The agency takes a cut of whatever you spend on ads, usually between 10-20%. This model aligns the agency's incentives with scaling your spend, which can be good, but you need to ensure they're focused on profitable scaling, not just spending more for the sake of it.
3. Hybrid/Performance Model: This is often a combination of a lower fixed retainer plus a performance bonus tied to specific results (e.g., a percentage of revenue generated or a bonus for hitting a certain CPL target). This can be a great model as it directly aligns the agency's success with your own.
For a small to medium-sized Dundee business, you should be prepared to invest at least £2,000/month in management fees for a competent specialist agency, on top of your actual ad spend. If an agency quotes you £500 a month, you should be very, very skeptical about the level of expertise and attention your account will actually recieve. They're likely running a volume-based business, with one account manager juggling 30-40 clients, and your account will get a generic, templated approach.
You can get a more detailed breakdown of what to expect by reading our 2024 guide on UK Facebook Ads management costs, as the principles apply across platforms.
My Final Recommended Vetting Process
Alright, let's tie this all together into a straightforward, actionable plan. If you follow these steps, you will drastically reduce your chances of hiring the wrong agency and give yourself the best possible shot at a profitable partnership.
I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:
| Step | Action | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Know Your Numbers | Use the LTV calculator in this guide to determine your Customer Lifetime Value and affordable Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). | This is your north star metric. It allows you to judge an agency's performance based on real business impact, not vanity metrics like clicks or impressions. |
| 2. Create a Niche Shortlist | Identify 3-5 agencies (regardless of location) that have multiple, detailed case studies for businesses exactly like yours (same industry, model, and price point). | You're hiring for pattern recognition. An agency that has already solved your exact problems for other clients will get you results faster and more reliably than a generalist. |
| 3. The Evidence-Based Call | Schedule initial calls and use the tough questions from this guide. Focus on their process, problem-solving abilities, and how they handle failure. | This separates the expert practitioners from the slick salespeople. You want to see how they think, not just what they promise. |
| 4. Request a Mini-Audit/Strategy | Ask your top 1-2 candidates to provide a brief review of your current efforts or a high-level strategic plan. A good agency will often do this for free to showcase their value. | This is like a "try before you buy". It gives you a tangible sense of what it would be like to work with them and the quality of their strategic thinking. We offer this as a free consultation. |
| 5. Check References (Smartly) | Don't just ask for their best client. Ask to speak to a client who has been with them for over a year, or one that is in a similar niche to you. | This gives you a more realistic picture of the long-term relationship and their ability to sustain results beyond the initial "honeymoon" period. Tbh if they have great case studies, this step might not be needed. |
When should you consider getting expert help?
Hiring a paid ads agency is a massive decision for any Dundee business. Get it right, and it can be the single biggest driver of growth in your company. Get it wrong, and it's a fast way to burn through cash and morale.
The process I've outlined above is rigorous, and it takes time and effort to do properly. You might be running your business day-to-day and simply not have the bandwidth to conduct this level of due diligence. Or you might not feel confident enough in your own paid media knowledge to accurately judge an agency's expertise. The final option to consider is whether you should be doing this yourself, or hiring an agency to do this for you.
That's where getting some outside help can be invaluable. A consultation with an independent expert can help you clarify your goals, understand your numbers, and give you the confidence to vet agencies effectively. It's about making a major investment decision with the best possible information.
If you'd like an expert, unbiased opinion on your current advertising efforts or help in navigating the agency selection process, we offer a free, no-obligation 20-minute strategy session. We can audit your existing campaigns and give you actionable advice you can implement immediately.
Hope this helps!
