Percentage of spend
The traditional model, and still the commonest. The agency takes a percentage of whatever you spend on advertising.
What it rewards: spending more. Not maliciously — but consider what a month looks like where the honest recommendation is "cut this budget in half, it is not working". That recommendation costs the agency money every time it is right.
When it is defensible: at large scale, where the buying itself is the skilled work and the sums justify a dedicated team.
The question to ask: *"If you told me to halve my spend tomorrow, what would that do to your invoice?"* The answer tells you which way the contract points.
Flat fee
A fixed price for a defined scope of work, with your media budget paid directly to the platforms on your own card.
What it rewards: doing the work well and keeping you as a client. Efficiency costs the agency nothing, so recommending a cut is a normal conversation rather than an act of self-harm.
What to watch: the scope has to be properly defined, or a flat fee simply becomes a smaller amount of work.
The question to ask: *"What exactly is included, and what would count as extra?"*
Monthly retainer
A recurring fee for ongoing management. Often sensible, and often where the value quietly drains away.
What it rewards: continuity — which is good when a campaign needs weekly attention, and less good in the months when it does not and the invoice arrives anyway.
The question to ask: *"What am I paying for in a quiet month?"* A good answer exists. An uncomfortable pause is informative.
Performance-based
The agency is paid on results — a share of revenue, or a fee per lead.
What it rewards: results, obviously. It sounds like perfect alignment and it usually is not, for two reasons.
First, attribution. Both sides have to agree what counts as a result and how it is measured, and that argument is much harder than it sounds once organic traffic, repeat customers and offline sales are in the mix.
Second, it pushes the agency towards whatever converts fastest today, which is not always what builds a business over two years.
The question to ask: *"Whose analytics decides whether a result happened?"*
The two things that matter more than the model
Whose accounts are they? Your advertising accounts, your payment method, your pixel history, your audiences. If you leave, you should keep all of it. An agency that runs your advertising inside its own accounts holds something you cannot rebuild.
Is the media spend marked up? Ask directly, and ask for it in writing. Money going to the platforms on your own card is visible and verifiable. Money routed through an agency is neither.
Where we sit, since you will ask
A flat fee for the work, quoted in writing before anything starts, and your media spend billed to you directly by the platforms and never marked up. If we thought a percentage of your spend was the right way to be paid, we would say so — but we would rather not be paid more for spending more of your money.
In shortAsk any agency: "If you told me to halve my spend tomorrow, what would that do to your invoice?" The answer tells you which way the contract points.
Flat fee, your accounts, your card, never marked up — the model is on the campaigns page in full. More about marketing campaigns and advertising →