Practical thinking on paid media audits, agency reporting, and budget efficiency, from 10 years at Starcom and Criteo.
Retargeting looks good on paper. Low CPA, high ROAS, strong reported returns. But in most accounts, it is the biggest source of invisible waste.
Most agency reports are built to look good, not to be useful. Here's what to ask for instead, and the red flags to watch for.
You don't need a full audit to spot serious problems. These five metrics, available in any account, tell you most of what you need to know.