Agency is suggesting Google Ads campaigns, but idk how to control spend and budget

In B2B businesses with high ticket sizes like industrial kitchens, cost per click can be steep, but landing a single contract pays for your entire annual ad budget. That's why you should focus on the quality of incoming business inquiry forms and phone calls, not the number of clicks. The agency should be reporting how many quote requests came in, not just clicks.

Non-negotiables you need to lay down with the agency from day one to keep your budget in check: 1) The Google Ads account must be set up under your business name, with billing tied directly to your card. 2) For the first 3 months, run high-intent Search campaigns only. 3) Weekly negative keyword cleanup must be documented and reported. 4) Conversion tracking must be set up on every landing page.

Agencies usually love spinning up Performance Max or Display network campaigns because it's an easy way to show quick numbers. In those formats, your budget evaporates in seconds on kids' mobile games or garbage blogs. If you don't explicitly tell them "we only want search, keep the display network off," your 1,500 EUR budget will go straight down the drain.

We run a heavy vehicle spare parts business in Brescia. We spent 1,200 EUR the first month, and out of 30 calls, 20 were retail folks asking about regular passenger cars. Once we added passenger car brands and "scrap parts" to our negative keywords, irrelevant calls dropped to zero. Now, with that same budget, we're landing 8-10 solid fleet meetings a month.

Before launching the ads make sure conversion tracking codes are set up for all phone numbers and quote forms on your site. Ask the agency: "What is our ad cost per phone call or lead form?" If they can't measure this metric, don't spend a single cent.

definitely check the daily budget cap directly in the dashboard. anyway if its 1,500 eur a month, set a daily cap around 50 eur. if u guys are closed on weekends, set up ad scheduling and turn off weekend impressions so u dont waste money for nothing.

How much profit do you make on average from a restaurant's maintenance contract or a kitchen sale? What's the maximum amount you're willing to spend to acquire one customer? Without knowing these numbers, you can't tell whether getting 10 leads from the agency was a success or a total flop.

Add your credit card directly to the Google dashboard, pay the management fee to the agency separately and never give up control.

Looking at it as a process, the picture changes. When making decisions, write down the worst-case scenario too, not just the best.

If you have questions, write them; I'll answer as best I can.

Here's how it went for us. Trying to do this alone is the most expensive way.

Let me summarize whats been said so far. tbh taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.

If you post the result here it will help others too.

i'd appreciate it if you shared the outcome.

Just a heads-up. A competitor's ranking might come from years of accumulation, not just their content.

If rankings stay the same but clicks drop, the issue isn't your page, but the search result appearance.

Don't miss this: When making decisions, write down the worst-case scenario too, not just the best.

This is my opinion, I'm not claiming it's absolute truth.

I've been down this road, let me tell you. Mistakes made on the Google Ads campaigns side are usually reversible but expensive.

This is my opinion, I'm not claiming it's absolute truth.

I'll try it.

Great work. Taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.

If you have questions, write them; I'll answer as best I can.

Let me summarize the topic since several different answers were given. Most time waste accumulates in tasks waiting for approval.

Taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.