Paid Ads Agency in Edinburgh: The Founder's Guide

I see this question a lot. Founders in Edinburgh, Dundee, Glasgow... they're all looking for a local agency to help with their ads. It makes sense on the surface. You want someone you can meet for a coffee, someone who "gets" the local market. But honestly, it's a trap. It's an outdated way of thinking that will limit your growth and likely pair you with a generalist agency that's just okay at everything, instead of an expert who is brilliant at the one thing you need.

The "best" paid ads agency for your Edinburgh-based SaaS company is probably not in Scotland at all. They might be in London, or Manchester, or even further afield. Their postcode is the least important thing about them. What actually matters is whether they have deep, proven experience scaling businesses exactly like yours. An agency that has taken a London FinTech from £10k to £100k a month in ad spend is infinitely more valuable to an Edinburgh FinTech than a local agency whose main client is a tourist-trap kilt shop on the Royal Mile.

In this guide, I'm going to walk you through how to properly find and vet a paid ads partner. We'll skip the fluff and focus on what really drives results: expertise, strategy, and a ruthless focus on your business's numbers.

Why is "Best Paid Ads Agency in Edinburgh" the Wrong Question to Ask?

Let's be blunt. The idea that you need a local marketing agency is a relic from the days of print ads and Yellow Pages. In the digital world, geography is irrelevant. Your customers on Facebook or Google don't care if your agency is based in CodeBase or a home office in Cornwall. They care about whether your ad solves their problem.

The Edinburgh business scene is fantastic and incredibly diverse. You've got a booming tech startup community, a world-class financial sector around George Street, and a massive tourism and hospitality industry. Each of these sectors requires a completely different advertising skillset.

-> For a B2B SaaS founder in Edinburgh: You need an agency that lives and breathes metrics like Customer Lifetime Value (LTV), Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), and churn. They need experience with LinkedIn Ads, targeting specific job titles, and building complex lead-nurturing funnels. The chances of the best B2B SaaS agency in the UK also having an office in Edinburgh are slim to none. Their expertise is what you're buying, not their proximity.

-> For an eCommerce brand selling high-end Scottish textiles: You need a team that are masters of Meta and Pinterest Ads, who understand creative testing, ROAS (Return On Ad Spend), and building lookalike audiences. Their experience with other D2C apparel brands is what counts.

-> For a high-end restaurant near the Castle: Here, maybe, a local touch helps with understanding seasonality. But even then, the core skills of running Google Local Service Ads or geo-targeted social campaigns are universal. The principles are the same everywhere.

Thinking local-first severely limits your talent pool. You're fishing in a pond when you have an entire ocean of expertise available to you. The logic is the same wether you're looking for a Google Ads expert in Glasgow or trying to find a digital ad expert in Dundee. It's about finding the right skill set, not the right address. This is why a proper guide to hiring an agency in the UK focuses on vetting for expertise above all else.

So, What Should I Be Looking For Instead?

If not a local address, then what? Here's what actually separates a great agency from a mediocre one.

1. Case Studies. Real, Detailed Case Studies.

This is non-negotiable. Don't be swayed by a slick website with a gallery of impressive client logos. You need to see the proof. A good case study isn't a fluffy paragraph; it's a detailed breakdown:

• The Client & The Problem: Who were they, what industry are they in, and what specific challenge were they facing? (e.g., "A B2B software client had a Cost Per Acquisition of £100 which made scaling unprofitable.")
• The Strategy: What was the plan? Which platforms did they use? What audiences did they target? What was the offer? (e.g., "We used a combination of Meta Ads and Google Ads, focusing our strategy on high-intent audiences to find qualified users who were actively looking for a solution.")
• The Results: This must be in hard numbers. Revenue, ROAS, Cost Per Lead, number of trials. If they can't show you the numbers, they're hiding something. (e.g., "We reduced their CPA from £100 to just £7, allowing them to scale their user acquisition profitably." I remember that campaign well, it was for a medical job matching SaaS and the results were transformative for their business).

If an agency's case studies are vague, or they don't have any that are remotely similar to your business, that's a massive red flag.

2. They Ask You Hard Questions

A sales call with a great agency should feel less like a pitch and more like a consultation. They should be grilling you, not the other way around. They should be asking:

• What's your average revenue per customer?
• What's your gross margin?
• What's your customer lifetime value (LTV)?
• What percentage of leads does your sales team close?

If they just ask "What's your budget?" and then start promising you the world, run. They're just trying to take your money. A true partner needs to understand the core economics of your business to know if they can actually help you. They're not just media buyers; they should be growth consultants. This is a core part of a good process for choosing a paid ads agency.

3. Transparent Pricing and No Long-Term Lock-ins

The pricing structure should be clear. It's usually a fixed monthly retainer, a percentage of ad spend, or a combination of the two. Be very wary of agencies that demand a 12-month contract from day one. A confident agency will be happy with a 3-month initial term or even a 30-day rolling contract because they're confident they can deliver results that will make you want to stay.

How Do I Calculate if an Agency is Even Worth the Investment?

This is where most founders go wrong. They focus on the agency's fee or the monthly ad spend, but they haven't done the most important calculation of all: what is a new customer actually worth to their business? Without this, you're flying blind.

The key metric here is Lifetime Value (LTV). It tells you the total profit you can expect to make from an average customer over the entire time they stay with you. Once you know your LTV, you can determine your target Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).

Here's the basic formula:

LTV = (Average Revenue Per Customer Per Month * Gross Margin %) / Monthly Customer Churn Rate %

Let's take a hypothetical Edinburgh-based business – a subscription box for craft gin.
-> Average Revenue Per Customer (ARPA): £40/month
-> Gross Margin: 60% (after the cost of the gin, packaging, etc.)
-> Monthly Churn Rate: 5% (5 out of every 100 subscribers cancel each month)

LTV = (£40 * 0.60) / 0.05
LTV = £24 / 0.05
LTV = £480

So, each new subscriber is worth £480 in gross profit to this business. A healthy business model usually aims for an LTV to CAC ratio of at least 3:1. This means they can afford to spend up to £160 (£480 / 3) to acquire a new customer.

Suddenly, that £1,500 monthly agency fee doesn't seem so scary if they can bring you 10+ new customers a month, does it? Knowing your numbers gives you all the power. To make this easier, I've built a simple calculator for you.

What Questions Should I Actually Ask on a Consultation Call?

Once you've shortlisted a few agencies (based on their case studies, not their location), it's time for the consultation call. This is your chance to vet them properly. Don't waste it. Here are some killer questions to ask that go beyond the basics:

"Walk me through a campaign for a client similar to me that *failed* initially. What went wrong, and what did you learn from it?"
This is a brilliant question. It tests their honesty, humility, and ability to learn from mistakes. Every agency has campaigns that don't work out of the gate. The good ones analyse why, pivot, and fix it. The bad ones blame the algorithm or the client. Their answer will tell you everything you need to know about their character and competence.

"Based on what you know about my business, what platforms would you start with and why? What would you specifically avoid?"
This tests their strategic thinking. They shouldn't just say "Facebook and Google". They should justify their choices based on your target audience and business model. For instance, "For your high-ticket B2B service, we'd avoid Meta ads initially because the intent isn't there. We'd focus budget on Google Search to capture active demand and LinkedIn to target the exact job titles of your buyers."

"Who, specifically, will be working on my account? Can I speak with them?"
This is to avoid the classic 'bait and switch', where you're sold by the charismatic agency owner but your account is handed off to an inexperienced junior. You want to know who will be in the weeds of your campaigns every day.

"How do you approach creative and copy testing? What's your process?"
The ad creative and copy are arguably the most important part of a campaign. A good agency will have a robust, methodical process for testing different images, videos, headlines, and angles to find what resonates with your audience. A vague answer like "oh, we test a few things" isn't good enough.

To help you visualise this whole process, here's a simple flowchart for vetting an agency.

A Realistic Look at Budgets and Results in the UK Market

It's vital to have realistic expectations. Anyone promising you a 10x return in your first month is selling you snake oil. Paid advertising is a process of testing, learning, and optimising. Results take time.

Costs can vary wildly depending on your industry, target audience, and the competitiveness of the market. Advertising in a major city like Edinburgh, especially in competitive sectors like finance or tech, will naturally be more expensive. Here are some very rough ballpark figures we see for Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) or Cost Per Lead (CPL) in the UK market:

As for budget, I usually recommend a minimum of £1,000-£2,000 per month in pure ad spend to start. Anything less than that and you're not gathering data fast enough for the agency to make meaningful optimisations. This is separate from the agency's management fee. The decision of hiring an agency versus building an in-house team often comes down to these combined costs versus the speed and expertise an agency can provide from day one.

The Final Checklist: Making Your Decision

You've done your research, you've crunched your numbers, and you've had the calls. Now it's time to decide. It can be a tough choice, especially when different agencies present compelling pitches. To cut through the noise, here's a final checklist to help you make an objective decision. This is the main advice I have for you:

Ultimately, choosing an agency is a big decision. But by focusing on proof of expertise instead of proximity, you drastically increase your chances of finding a partner who can become a genuine engine for your growth. The goal isn't to find an agency in Edinburgh; the goal is to find the best agency for your business, wherever they may be.

If you're an Edinburgh-based founder and this all seems a bit overwhelming, or you're just not getting the results you need from your current ads, this is what we specialise in. We offer a free, no-obligation strategy session where we'll look at your business, your goals, and give you some actionable advice on how to move forward. Feel free to get in touch if you think we could help.

Hope this helps!