There's a secret dictionary you only learn after 3 to 4 bad agencies. Each phrase in it sounds professional. Each is actually buying time. I'm writing it out here so you have it from day 1.
„We'll optimize"
Translation: „We don't know what's not working and we hope it fixes itself." Real optimization means specific, written, dated decisions. „We cut creative A because CTR 0.8%, creative B enters on the same audience Wednesday." „We're rebuilding the landing on product X, conversion rate is 0.4%, competition sits at 2%." If the agency can't name EXACTLY what they're optimizing this week, they're not optimizing. They're sitting at the desk hitting refresh.
„It's the algorithm's fault"
Meta or Google's algorithm can't change overnight just for you. Yes, there are updates, yes, there are periods when platforms recalibrate. In 99% of cases, the cause is exactly what you set up in the account. Audience too broad, tired creative, budget forced beyond scaling capacity, broken tracking. The algorithm excuse is the laziest form of disclaimer, and you usually hear it when nobody on the team wants to admit fundamentals need reopening.
„We need more budget"
Sometimes true, I won't hide it. When you have €5,000 a month on 15 campaigns, there's genuinely not enough meat on the bone for the algorithm to learn. But sometimes it's exactly the pretext to turn a bad account into a larger bad account. Ask the filtering question: „At what POAS do you justify raising budget? If we scale 30% now, what's the number that, if we don't hit in 30 days, makes us pull back?" If the answer doesn't contain specific numbers, scaling is speculation.
„Not our fault, it's the product"
Sometimes this excuse is right. A product with 8% margin doesn't scale to 3x ROAS, mathematically. But here's the trick. If the agency throws this at you in month 5, after you've paid 4 months of ads, why didn't they mention margin at the audit call in week one? An honest agency tells you from month 1: „Your margins are too thin for our scaling model, let's see what we adjust on pricing or bundles before we push budget." If you hear blame on the product only when the account is already red, the real explanation is they missed the initial audit.
„We're still testing"
Testing has a limit and a structure. In months 2 and 3, an agency should have rotated minimum 15 to 20 creative variations, 4 to 5 audiences, 2 to 3 different landings. On all these, they should have clear data about what won. Month 4, you scale winners. If at month 5 you're still „testing", either they have no structure, or they're hiding behind the word so they don't have to own results. Ask them for a document with what's been tested so far and what was learned. If they can't write two coherent pages on that, it wasn't tested.
„It's too early to see results"
Week 1 is fine. Month 1 is fine if you had a full setup to do. Month 3 is no longer early. Ask directly: „When EXACTLY should I see the first positive signals on POAS? What numbers do you have in mind for month 3, 6, 12?" If the answer is „depends" or „we can't promise numbers", it's the same line every client gets. A serious agency gives you a range with benchmarks, even if they flag them as estimates.
„We optimize for the long term"
Long term exists, but it's not an excuse for negative short term. If you're losing money now to win in 6 months, the agency must be able to show the METRICS that justify losing now. Improved retention? Rising LTV? Dropping cost per acquisition month over month? If they have numbers on none of those, „long term" is just a phrase that delays confrontation.
„We changed the strategy this month"
Changing strategy often means there is no strategy. A serious direction gets set, measured for 60 to 90 days, then decided on to continue or pivot. If at month 3 you hear the third new strategy, the team is improvising. On your account.