The UK Guide to Hiring a YouTube Ads Expert

Finding a decent YouTube Ads agency in the UK that actually gets it is tough. It feels like every man and his dog is selling the dream of 'going viral' but can't explain how that translates into pounds in your bank account. Tbh, most of them are just good at spending your money, not making you any.

The number one mistake I see businesses make is asking the wrong questions. You're probably asking about their creative process or what kind of click-through rates they get. Forget that. That's surface-level stuff. What you need to know is how they're going to stop you from burning thousands on an audience that will never, ever buy from you. Because that's the default setting on YouTube if you don't know what you're doing.

So, why do most YouTube campaigns go wrong?

Let's be brutally honest. YouTube, by its nature, wants to show your ad to as many people as possible for the cheapest price. This is the core of the problem. When an agency sets up a campaign for "brand awareness" or "reach," they're telling Google's algorithm to find the people whose attention is cheapest. And who are those people? The ones who never click, never engage, and certainly never buy anything. You're literally paying to reach the worst possible audience.

I remember one client who came to us after spending £15,000 with another agency on a YouTube campaign. They had millions of impressions and a sky-high view count. The agency was popping champagne corks. The client? They had exactly three leads to show for it. Three. The agency had targeted anyone in the UK interested in "business," which is so broad it's completely useless. They'd basically paid to annoy half the country.

The key isn't getting seen; it's getting seen by the *right* people. People with an actual problem that you can solve. This is where a deep understanding of the platform's targeting options is non-negotiable, and it's a critical part of how you can stop wasting money on your YouTube ads and start seeing a real return.

What questions should I actually be asking an agency?

When you get on a call with a potential agency, you need to take control. Don't let them run you through their standard glossy presentation. Your job is to find out if they have any real depth to their thinking. Here’s what you should be asking them, point blank.

1. "Walk me through your process for defining my Ideal Customer Profile beyond basic demographics."
If they start talking about "males aged 25-45 in London," it's a massive red flag. That tells you nothing. A good answer will involve digging into the *pain points* and *nightmares* of your customer. For a UK fintech company, the target isn't just 'people interested in finance'; it's a Head of Finance at a 100-person company in Shoreditch who's terrified of out-of-control SaaS spending. They should be asking *you* about the niche podcasts your customers listen to, the industry newsletters they read, or the specific software tools they already use. That’s how you build a real targeting profile.

2. "What's your strategy for the first 30-60 days to prove this is working?"
A vague answer like "we'll test and optimise" isn't good enough. A proper expert will have a clear, phased plan. It should sound something like this: "Phase 1, weeks 1-2: We'll launch with a small budget targeting two core audiences we've identified based on their purchase intent and in-market behaviour. We'll test two distinct creative angles – one focused on the problem, one on the solution. The only goal here is to find a message that resonates and generates a handful of initial conversions, even if the CPA is high. Phase 2, weeks 3-4: We'll kill the losing ad and audience and shift all budget to the winner, focusing on driving the CPA down. We’ll also start building a retargeting pool from the traffic generated." This shows they have a process, not just a credit card.

3. "Show me a UK-based case study and explain the *why* behind the results, not just the *what*."
Don't just accept a slide with impressive numbers. Make them talk you through it. If they show you a 500% ROAS, ask them: "Why did that creative work for that specific UK audience? What targeting did you test that *didn't* work? What was the customer's LTV that made that ROAS profitable?" If they can't answer these questions in detail, it means they either got lucky or they're lying. The story behind the numbers is where you find real expertise.

How to spot the cowboys from a mile off

The UK ad agency scene is full of promises. Your job is to see through them. Here are the dead giveaways that you're talking to an amateur who will waste your time and money.

-> They guarantee results. Tbh, in paid advertising, you can't promise anything. Anyone who guarantees a specific ROAS or number of leads is either a liar or deeply inexperienced. The market changes, auction prices fluctuate, and creative can fatigue. A professional agency guarantees a rigorous, intelligent *process* aimed at getting results, not the results themselves.

-> They focus on vanity metrics. If their pitch is all about impressions, views, view-through rate, or clicks, run for the hills. None of that pays your bills. The only metrics that matter are business metrics: Cost Per Lead (CPL), Cost Per Acquisition (CPA), Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), and Customer Lifetime Value (LTV). A good agency will want to understand your business model so they can prove the ROI of their work directly to you or your board.

-> They have a one-size-fits-all package. If they're trying to sell you a "Gold Package" for £2,000 a month without first doing a deep dive into your business, they're not a strategic partner. They're a service reseller. Every business is different, and a proper stratgey needs to be custom-built around your specific goals, margins, and customers.

-> They lack specific UK experience. Running ads in the US is not the same as running them here. The culture is different, the humour is different, the competition is different, and the costs are different. An agency that just copies and pastes a US strategy will fail. Ask them about their experience with UK comapnies and what adjustments they make for this market.

To help you navigate this, I've put together a simple flowchart that outlines a solid vetting process.

What does a *good* UK YouTube Ads strategy actually look like?

A winning strategy is built on three pillars: the right audience, the right creative, and measurble results that actually matter to your business.

Pillar 1: Audience First, Always.
This is where the magic happens. A smart agency won't just use YouTube's generic interest targeting. They'll get creative. They'll build custom audiences based on people who have searched for specific competitor names on Google. They'll target viewers of specific, niche YouTube channels that your ideal customer watches. For some of our B2B SaaS clients, we've had great success targeting people who watch product review channels for related software. For a luxury eCommerce brand, we might target users who visit specific high-end retail websites. The possibilities are huge if you think beyond the basics. If you are based in London, for instance, your agency should be able to offer specific advice, as vetting a paid ads agency in London comes with its own set of challenges and opportunities.

Pillar 2: Creative That Converts, Not Just Entertains.
Your ad is not a TV commercial. You have about five seconds to stop someone from hitting "Skip Ad." The hook is everything. A good agency will test multiple hooks against the same ad body to find what works. The creative needs to be direct and value-driven. For the UK market, overly polished, corporate-style American ads often fall flat. A more authentic, straight-to-the-point approach tends to work better. We've seen User-Generated Content (UGC) style videos work wonders for SaaS clients, as they feel more like a real recommendation than an ad. This is especially true in regulated industries, where a clear and compliant YouTube ads strategy for UK financial services is absolutely critical.

Pillar 3: Measurement That Matters.
This is the final piece. How do you know if it's working? The agency must be obsessed with tracking conversions back to business results. This means having flawless conversion tracking set up, connecting ad spend to leads and, ideally, to final sales value. This is how you calculate a true ROAS. It's not about how many views you got; it's about asking, "For every £1 we put in, how many pounds did we get out in profitable revenue?"

To give you a clearer picture of what's possible, here's an interactive calculator to estimate your potential ROI. Play around with the numbers to see how small changes in conversion rate can have a massive impact.

How much should I expect to pay in the UK?

This is the million-dollar question, or rather, the few-thousand-pound question. It breaks down into two parts: your ad spend and the agency's fee.

Ad Spend:
For YouTube in the UK, I'd say you need a minimum of £2,000-£3,000 per month in ad spend to get enough data to make intelligent decisions. Anything less and you're just gambling. A more realistic starting budget for a small business wanting to see real traction would be closer to £5,000/month. We have clients spending well over £50,000 a month, but you don't start there. You earn your way up by proving the model at a smaller scale first.

Agency Fees:
You'll typically see three models in the UK:
1. Percentage of Ad Spend: Usually 15-20%. It’s simple but can incentivise the agency to just spend more, not smarter. 2. Flat Retainer: A fixed monthly fee, regardless of spend. This is common and can range from £1,500 to £5,000+ per month depending on the agency's size and reputation. This aligns your interests better as the agency is focused on performance, not just spending your cash. 3. Performance-Based: A lower retainer plus a bonus for hitting certain targets (e.g., a fee per lead or a percentage of revenue). This can be great but the tracking needs to be perfect.

The real cost isn't the fee; it's the cost of hiring the wrong agency. Paying a cheap agency £1,000 a month to waste £5,000 in ad spend is far more expensive than paying a great agency £3,000 a month to turn £5,000 into £25,000.

The Final Hurdle: DIY vs. Hiring a Specialist

You could try to learn all this yourself. There are plenty of courses and blogs out there. But you need to be honest about the cost of your own time and the cost of the mistakes you will inevitably make along the way. The learning curve is steep, and a few wrong clicks can cost you thousands of pounds in a single afternoon.

This is the classic debate, and there are good arguments on both sides. We have a full guide that breaks down the pros and cons of DIY vs hiring a UK paid ads agency which is worth a read. But in short, hiring a specialist agency is about buying two things: expertise and speed. You're paying for their past mistakes so you don't have to make them yourself. You're paying for a team that lives and breathes this stuff every single day and knows what works *right now* in the UK market.

Choosing the right agency is a huge decision. It's not just about finding a supplier; it's about finding a partner who is as invested in your business growth as you are. A great agency relationship is built on trust, transparency, and a shared obsession with results. Use the advice here as a framework, trust your gut, and don't settle for anyone who can't back up their claims with a clear process and real, UK-based proof.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

Choosing the right partner is tough, but it's probably one of the most important marketing decisions you'll make. Getting it right means unlocking a powerful channel for scalable growth. Getting it wrong means a lot of wasted money and frustration.

If you're currently running YouTube ads and are not happy with the results, or you're considering it but want to start on the right foot, it often helps to get an expert second opinion. We offer a free, no-obligation strategy session where we can take a look at your account or discuss a potential strategy for your business. It's a good way to get some immediate, actionable advice and see if we might be the right fit to help.

Hope that helps!