What does paid media management include?

Paid media management includes everything between deciding to advertise and knowing what your ads brought in: setting up your ad accounts, installing conversion tracking, structuring campaigns, choosing keywords and audiences, writing and testing ads, managing the budget and reporting on results. On Google Ads and Meta (Facebook and Instagram), that work runs every week, inside accounts you own, with your ad spend paid straight to the platform and the manager's fee billed separately.

"We'll manage your ads" can mean a full service or someone logging in once a month to nudge a budget. Here's what the job involves, stage by stage, so you can hold any offer up against it.

What counts as paid media?

Paid media is any advertising you pay a platform to show. For a service business, that means two channels doing two different jobs.

Google Ads catches demand that already exists. Someone types "boiler repair" or "accountant for small business" and your ad appears at the moment they're looking. Meta Ads creates demand. Your ad appears in Facebook and Instagram feeds in front of people who match your customers but aren't searching yet, and gives them a reason to get in touch.

Because the jobs differ, the set-up differs. Search campaigns start from keywords and what people type. Social campaigns start from audiences and what makes someone stop scrolling. A paid media manager runs both towards the same goal: enquiries you can count, at a cost you can see.

Who should own the ad accounts?

You should, always. Your ad accounts hold your conversion history, your audiences and every test that's been run, and that history is what makes next month's ads sharper. If an agency owns the account and you part ways, that history goes with them.

On Google Ads, ownership comes down to access levels. Google's help page on access levels, checked in October 2026, shows that only an Admin user "can give account access, change access levels, and cancel invitations from other users". So keep Admin access in your own business's hands and give your manager the level they need to run campaigns. On Meta, the same principle applies to your business page, ad account and Pixel: they belong to your business, and your manager works inside them.

With us, your ad spend is paid directly to Google or Meta, so the accounts are yours and so is the budget. Starting from nothing? We set up your ad account, connect your Facebook page and install the Meta Pixel. Already advertising? We audit what's there first, then run it.

What happens before the first ad goes live?

Tracking comes first, because without it nobody can tell you which ads work. Google's guide to tracking conversions, checked in October 2026, explains that advertisers want to know whether clicks on their ads led customers to take actions such as making a purchase on the website or calling the business. A paid media manager decides which actions count as a result for you, whether that's a call, a form or a booking, and sets each one up as a conversion.

On Meta, that job falls to the Pixel. Meta's developer documentation, checked in October 2026, describes the Meta Pixel as "a snippet of JavaScript code that allows you to track visitor activity on your website." The same page says the conversions it tracks can be used to define custom audiences for ad targeting, which is how people who've already visited your site get shown your ads again.

Alongside tracking comes research. On Google, that's keyword research: the searches your customers use, and the ones you don't want to pay for. On Meta, it's audience research: who buys from you, where they live and what they respond to. With us, all of this follows a free audit, and campaigns go live in 5 days on average.

How should campaigns be structured?

Structure decides where your money goes. On Google, separate services and separate areas need separate campaigns, so a high-value job never shares a budget with a low-value one and you can see what each one costs to win.

On Meta, the working unit is the ad set, and each one reaches a different audience. One can reach homeowners in the postcodes you cover, another the people who visited your site last month and didn't get in touch. Keep the structure simple at the start and build on the ad sets that bring in enquiries.

The two channels also work together. Someone who finds you on Google, reads your services page and leaves without calling can see your ad on Instagram that evening. A manager running both channels plans for that hand-off instead of treating each account as a separate island.

Who writes the ads, and how are they tested?

The manager writes the ads, and keeps writing them. The only way to know which headline, offer or image brings in enquiries is to run versions side by side and keep the winner.

On Google, that means ads written for the exact searches you're paying for. On Meta, the image or video is the first thing people see, so creative direction matters as much as the words. We write the ad copy and give the creative direction, using photos and video you supply, and if you need fresh material, The Edit, our content studio, shoots it.

What does the day-to-day management involve?

This is the part you never see. Every day, a paid media manager checks what's spending and what's converting, then acts on it. On Google, that means adding negative keywords so you stop paying for searches that will never become customers, adjusting bid strategy and moving budget towards the campaigns bringing in work. On Meta, it means watching which audiences and creative bring enquiries, rotating in new ads before old ones wear out and shifting spend between ad sets.

None of this shows from the outside, so ask any provider how frequently they're in your account. We optimise campaigns daily, on every plan.

What should reporting show you?

What you spent on each channel, what came back and what changes next. Impressions, reach and clicks prove the ads ran. They don't prove the ads paid for themselves.

A useful report sets out your spend by channel, the calls, forms and bookings your tracking picked up, the cost of each, and the plan for next month. You should also have one named person who knows your account and answers your questions, rather than a shared inbox.

How do management fees and ad spend fit together?

They're two separate bills. Your ad spend goes straight to Google or Meta, and the management fee goes to whoever runs the campaigns. With us, each channel is priced on its own, on a 6-month minimum term, and every plan comes with a free audit and optimisation every day.

Which plan you're on depends on how much you put through the platform each month. Starter, at £600 a month + VAT, suits ad budgets of up to £2,000. Growth, at £1,000 a month + VAT, takes you to £5,000. Scale, at £1,800 a month + VAT, removes the ceiling altogether. Moving up adds more campaigns and ad sets, remarketing and A/B testing, and on Scale, full funnel strategy and dedicated landing page builds.

Our Google Ads page covers search, our Meta Ads page covers paid social, and our pricing page puts every service side by side.

Frequently asked questions

Is paid media management the same as paid social management?

No. Paid social is one part of paid media. Paid media management covers every paid channel, which for us means Facebook and Instagram advertising, run through Meta Ads, plus paid search on Google Ads.

Do I keep my ad accounts if I stop working with you?

Yes. You pay your ad spend straight to Google or Meta, and the accounts belong to your business, so the campaigns and their history stay with you.

Can one team manage both my Google and Meta ads?

Yes. We run both, each priced as its own channel from £600 a month + VAT, so you can start with one and add the other later.

Should I start with Google Ads or Meta Ads?

It depends on whether your customers already search for what you sell. If they do, start with Google Ads and catch them as they look. If they don't know to look yet, start with Meta Ads and put your business in front of them.

Get a free paid media audit

Want to know what's working in your ads, and what isn't? Our free audit looks at your accounts, your competitors and your tracking, then recommends the right plan. Ring +44 1382 699595 or see how we run Google Ads.