Independent Digital Advertising Audits

Worried Your Advertising Budget Is Being Wasted?

If you’re spending money on Google, Meta or LinkedIn Ads – but aren’t confident you’re getting a worthwhile commercial return – I can give you an independent assessment of what is really happening.

I’ll identify wasted spend, unreliable tracking, targeting problems and missed opportunities, then give you a clear roadmap for improving performance.

No automated PDF. No pressure to change providers. No ongoing management contract required.

Request an Independent Ads Audit

Single-platform and multi-platform audits available.

  • 10+ Years in Digital Advertising
  • Hundreds of Accounts Reviewed
  • Completely Independent Advice
Where Is It Actually Going?

You Should Know Where Your Advertising Budget Is Going

Advertising platforms make it remarkably easy to spend money.

Their automated recommendations, targeting expansions and campaign defaults are generally designed to increase reach and expenditure. They aren’t necessarily designed around the commercial realities of your business.

Meanwhile, agency reports can make almost any account appear successful by highlighting clicks, impressions, platform conversions and other positive-looking numbers.

But those numbers don’t always answer the questions that matter:

  • Is the advertising generating worthwhile enquiries or sales?
  • Are those conversions real, valuable and tracked accurately?
  • How much is being spent on irrelevant audiences, searches or placements?
  • Are automated settings helping performance or simply increasing expenditure?
  • Is your agency actively managing the account or largely leaving the platform to run itself?
  • Which campaigns deserve more budget – and which should be reduced or stopped?

If you cannot answer those questions confidently, it may be time for an independent review.

Advertising spend and placements being investigated
The Service Itself

What Is a Digital Advertising Audit?

A digital advertising audit is a detailed review of how your campaigns are structured, targeted, measured and managed.

I examine the underlying account setup and performance data to determine:

  • What is genuinely working
  • Where money is being wasted
  • Whether tracking and reporting can be trusted
  • Which problems require immediate attention
  • Where opportunities exist to improve performance
  • Whether your current management approach is appropriate

The audit can focus on Google Ads, Meta Ads or LinkedIn Ads – or examine multiple platforms together.

You receive a written report containing the findings and prioritised recommendations, followed by a meeting where I explain what I found and what I believe should happen next.

Find Out What an Audit Covers
Campaign, analytics and sales data being compared
Common Warning Signs

Common Warning Signs That Your Ad Accounts Need Reviewing

An independent audit may be worthwhile if:

  • Advertising costs are increasing while enquiries or sales remain flat.
  • Your cost per lead or customer has risen without a clear explanation.
  • Your agency reports strong results, but those results aren’t reflected in revenue.
  • You cannot confidently explain which campaigns generate your best customers.
  • A large proportion of reported conversions appear low quality or irrelevant.
  • Your provider recommends increasing the budget whenever performance declines.
  • You are unsure whether conversion tracking has been configured correctly.
  • You don’t have full visibility or appropriate access to your own advertising accounts.
  • Your accounts rely heavily on automated campaign types or platform recommendations.
  • You are considering changing providers but want objective evidence before deciding.
  • You want to increase your advertising investment but need confidence in the foundations first.

You don’t necessarily need a new agency or a larger budget.

You may simply need a clear understanding of what is happening inside your existing accounts.

No Conflict of Interest

An Audit – Not a Disguised Sales Pitch

Many agencies and freelancers offer free advertising audits.

These reviews are usually part of their sales process. The provider only benefits if the audit identifies enough apparent problems to justify moving your account or selling you an ongoing management service.

That doesn’t automatically make every finding incorrect. But it does create an obvious conflict of interest.

My audit is different because the investigation itself is the service you are paying for.

I have no need to manufacture problems or reach a predetermined conclusion. If your campaigns are performing well, I’ll tell you. If your current provider is doing a good job, I’ll tell you that too.

And if your budget is being wasted, I’ll show you where, explain the commercial impact and give you practical recommendations for addressing it.

Once the audit is complete, you decide what happens next.

Sam Frost, independent digital marketing consultant
Single Platform or Multi-Platform

Choose the Audit That Fits Your Advertising Activity

Google Ads Audit

Best for businesses concerned about wasted search spend, campaign automation, poor-quality leads or unreliable conversion reporting.

The review can include:

  • Account ownership and access
  • Conversion tracking and conversion quality
  • Search terms and keyword targeting
  • Keyword match types and negative keywords
  • Campaign and account structure
  • Location and audience targeting
  • Bidding strategies
  • Search, Display, Shopping and Performance Max activity
  • Search Partners and Display Network expenditure
  • Auto-applied recommendations
  • Brand versus non-brand performance
  • Budget allocation
  • Agency or freelancer management practices
Learn About the Google Ads Audit

Meta Ads Audit

Best for businesses experiencing inconsistent Facebook or Instagram advertising performance, increasing acquisition costs or uncertainty about tracking and audience quality.

The review can include:

  • Account ownership and Business Manager access
  • Pixel and conversion-event configuration
  • Campaign objectives and optimisation events
  • Audience targeting and exclusions
  • Prospecting and remarketing activity
  • Audience overlap
  • Placement performance
  • Creative performance and fatigue
  • Lead quality
  • Budget allocation
  • Attribution and reporting
  • Agency or freelancer management practices
Learn About the Meta Ads Audit

LinkedIn Ads Audit

Best for B2B businesses spending significant amounts to reach specific industries, companies, job functions or decision-makers.

The review can include:

  • Account ownership and access
  • Conversion tracking
  • Campaign structure
  • Job-title, function, seniority and industry targeting
  • Company and account-list targeting
  • Geographic targeting
  • LinkedIn Audience Network expenditure
  • Lead-generation forms
  • Audience quality
  • Cost per click and cost per lead
  • Budget allocation
  • Reporting and attribution
  • Agency or freelancer management practices
Learn About the LinkedIn Ads Audit

Multi-Platform Advertising Audit

Best for businesses advertising across several channels and needing to understand how the platforms work together.

A multi-platform audit looks beyond the performance reported by each individual platform. It considers:

  • Whether budgets are allocated appropriately between channels
  • Whether multiple platforms are claiming credit for the same conversion
  • Whether tracking definitions are consistent
  • How lead quality differs between platforms
  • Whether remarketing activity overlaps unnecessarily
  • Which platforms contribute to commercially valuable outcomes
  • Where spending should be increased, reduced or redirected
Discuss a Multi-Platform Audit
10+ Years of Experience. Hundreds of Accounts Audited.

More Than a Decade Investigating Digital Advertising Accounts

I have worked in digital marketing for more than 15 years and have spent over a decade directly managing, reviewing and auditing digital advertising accounts.

During that time, I have reviewed hundreds of accounts across B2B, e-commerce, professional services, local services and other industries.

The same problems appear repeatedly:

  • Campaigns optimising towards weak or meaningless conversions
  • Brand searches making wider performance appear stronger than it is
  • Irrelevant search terms consuming substantial amounts of budget
  • Geographic targeting reaching people outside the intended market
  • Automated recommendations being accepted without proper scrutiny
  • Agencies reporting platform conversions without checking lead quality
  • Expensive campaigns continuing because nobody has independently challenged them
  • Businesses lacking proper ownership or administrative access to their accounts

In many audits, I identify potential savings that exceed the cost of the audit. The exact outcome will naturally depend on the account, expenditure and problems uncovered.

The purpose of the audit is not to promise a predetermined saving. It is to give you the evidence needed to make better advertising decisions.

Digital advertising performance dashboard
The Deliverables

What You Receive

A Manual Account Investigation

I personally examine your account setup, campaign data, targeting, tracking and expenditure. The audit is not outsourced or generated by automated auditing software.

Identification of Wasted Spend

I identify expenditure that appears irrelevant, inefficient, poorly targeted or unlikely to contribute to a meaningful commercial outcome.

Tracking and Reporting Assessment

I assess whether the conversions being used to optimise and report on your campaigns are accurate, useful and aligned with real business outcomes.

Performance Findings

You receive a clear explanation of what is working, what is underperforming and what cannot currently be assessed reliably.

Prioritised Recommendations

Recommendations are organised by urgency and likely commercial impact, helping you distinguish immediate problems from lower-priority improvements.

Written Audit Report

You receive a report that documents the findings, evidence and recommended next steps. The report belongs to you.

Review Meeting

We meet to discuss the findings, answer your questions and ensure you understand the available options.

Freedom Over Implementation

You can give the recommendations to your existing agency, implement them internally, engage another specialist or ask me to assist with selected improvements.

A Clear, Manual Process

How the Audit Process Works

  1. 1

    Introductory Call

    You explain which platforms you use, approximately what you’re spending, how the accounts are managed and why you are concerned.

    I’ll determine whether an audit is likely to be worthwhile and which accounts should be included.

    No account access is required for this initial conversation.

  2. 2

    Scope and Proposal

    I provide a written scope explaining:

    • Which platforms and accounts will be reviewed
    • What the audit will cover
    • What you will receive
    • The expected timeframe
    • The audit price
    • Any access or information required

    You can then decide whether you want to proceed.

  3. 3

    Account Access and Investigation

    You provide the appropriate level of access to the relevant advertising, analytics and tracking platforms.

    I then conduct the audit manually, examining both the account configuration and the available performance data.

  4. 4

    Report Delivery

    You receive a written report explaining the findings and prioritised recommendations.

    Where relevant, I’ll quantify the expenditure associated with particular problems or opportunities.

  5. 5

    Findings Review

    We meet to work through the report, discuss the implications and answer your questions.

    After that, the next step is entirely up to you.

Suitability

Who Is This Service For?

A digital advertising audit is best suited to businesses that:

  • Are already spending money on Google, Meta or LinkedIn Ads
  • Are uncertain whether the advertising is producing a worthwhile return
  • Suspect that budget is being wasted
  • Want to assess the performance of an agency or freelancer
  • Need better visibility into account performance
  • Are considering changing providers
  • Want to increase expenditure but need confidence first
  • Need a clear improvement plan for an internal marketing team
  • Value independent advice more than a free sales-led review

The audit may not be appropriate if you are looking for a free account review, speculative recommendations or a proposal that includes unpaid strategic work.

If you’re unsure whether your expenditure justifies a full audit, take the wasted spend quiz or book an introductory call. I’ll tell you honestly whether I believe the service is likely to be worthwhile.

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you audit more than one advertising platform?

Yes.

I can review a single advertising platform or conduct a wider audit covering Google, Meta and LinkedIn Ads.

The appropriate scope depends on your expenditure, business model and the questions you need the audit to answer.

Can you review an account managed by my current agency?

Yes.

A significant proportion of my audit work involves accounts managed by agencies or freelancers.

The objective is not to find reasons to replace them. It is to assess the work objectively, identify genuine issues and help you manage the relationship from a more informed position.

Do I need to tell my agency about the audit?

Not necessarily.

It depends on the access you currently hold and whether additional information needs to be requested from the agency. We can discuss this during the introductory call.

Will you need administrative access?

The appropriate access level varies between platforms and audit scopes.

Where possible, access should be sufficient to review account settings, performance data, tracking and change history without allowing unnecessary changes to be made.

I’ll explain exactly what is required before the audit begins.

Will you make changes to the accounts?

The audit itself focuses on investigation, findings and recommendations.

Implementation can be completed by your current provider, your internal team, another specialist or me under a separately agreed scope.

No changes will be made without your approval.

How long does an audit take?

The timeframe depends on the number of platforms, size of the accounts, available data and complexity of the review.

Your proposal will state the expected delivery timeframe before you commit to the work.

How much does a digital advertising audit cost?

Pricing depends on the number of platforms, account complexity, advertising expenditure and depth of investigation required.

Following the introductory call, I’ll provide a clear written scope and price before any work begins.

What if the audit finds that everything is working well?

Then I’ll tell you.

An independent audit should not manufacture problems to justify its cost. Confirmation that your accounts and providers are performing well can still give you valuable confidence about future investment.

Do I have to engage you after the audit?

No.

There is no ongoing contract and no requirement to use me for implementation or management. The report and recommendations belong to you.

Sam Frost, independent digital marketing consultant
Request an Independent Ads Audit

Stop Guessing Where Your Advertising Budget Is Going

If you’re concerned about wasted spend, underperforming campaigns or reports that don’t reflect what is happening in your business, an independent audit can give you the clarity you need.

Book a free introductory call to explain what you’re running, what you’re spending and why you’re concerned.

I’ll tell you whether I think an audit is worthwhile and recommend an appropriate scope.

No obligation. No account access is required for the initial call.

Prefer to talk directly?

021 0278 1721
info@samfrost.co.nz

Request an Independent Ads Audit

Tell me a little about your advertising activity and what is concerning you. I’ll be in touch to arrange an introductory conversation.

Required

Which platforms are you currently using?

Your information will only be used to respond to your enquiry.