Freelance media buyer and Facebook Ads agency pricing: the billing models, and what they hide

Comparing two Facebook Ads agency quotes is hard, because they don't bill the same thing. One quotes a flat fee, another a share of the budget, a third talks about results. Before comparing amounts, you need to understand the models.

What you pay, in two parts

Whatever the model, there are always two separate sums:

1. The ad budget, paid directly to Meta. That is the money that shows your ads.
2. The fees, paid to the provider. That is the price of their work: strategy, settings, follow-up, and sometimes creating the ads.

A quote that mixes the two is a first thing to clarify. You need to know how much goes to Meta and how much to the provider.

The four billing models

Monthly flat fee. A fixed amount every month, whatever the budget. Easy to plan. The question to ask: what is included, and what is billed on top (videos, visuals, landing page)?

Share of ad spend. The provider takes a share of what you spend with Meta. The model has a basic flaw: the more you spend, the more they earn, even if results don't follow. They have no direct interest in making you spend less for the same result.

Pay per result. A price per enquiry, appointment or sale. Attractive on paper. Check: what counts as a result? Does a quote request you can never call back count? And who owns the campaigns and the contacts?

Hybrid model. A fixed part that pays for the work, and a part tied to results that aligns interests. That is the model I use: part of my pay depends on what the campaigns bring my clients.

The lines people forget to read

• Setup fees. Audit, account creation, conversion tracking. Sometimes justified, sometimes inflated.
• Creating the ads. Included or not, and how many new videos a month? On Meta, creatives wear out: without renewal, results drop. Ad fatigue.
• Commitment length. Three months minimum can make sense, while campaigns learn. Twelve months fixed, much less.
• Account ownership. The most important. Campaigns must run on your ad account, with your pixel. Otherwise, when you leave, you lose everything Meta has learned about your customers.

How to compare two quotes

Bring them all back to the same number: what a signed customer would cost you, fees included, if the campaigns hit the stated target. A quote with lower fees that never renews the videos can cost more per signed customer. Working out the cost of a signed job.

I don't show prices on this site: they depend on the number of videos, the platforms and the share tied to results. We set it together on the call, once we know what you want to achieve.

---

Further reading: Meta Ads agency or freelancer and What Meta Ads budget to plan.

Got a quote in front of you and want a second opinion? Book a 30-minute call. We go through it together, line by line.