The five costs people accidentally bundle together
- agency or freelancer management fee
- advertising media spend
- creative production
- landing-page work
- tracking or software
Two proposals with the same headline fee may therefore deliver very different systems.
Flat fee vs percentage of ad spend
A flat fee gives predictable management cost. Percentage-of-spend pricing scales as media grows. Neither is automatically superior. Ask whether the fee still reflects the actual workload and incentives at your level of spend.
What should management include?
At minimum, expect a defined objective, campaign setup, ongoing optimisation and reporting. Depending on channel, the work may also require search-term management, audience development, creative testing, conversion tracking and landing-page recommendations.
Buying clicks is easy. Buying profitable demand is the job.
When paid media management is worth paying for
It becomes more valuable when mistakes are expensive, tracking is complex, campaigns require regular optimisation, or internal teams lack the time and specialist knowledge to manage the account properly.
When you may not need an agency
A small, simple campaign run by an experienced owner or internal marketer can be perfectly reasonable. Do not outsource merely because advertising platforms look intimidating.
Commercial test
What does the next booking or enquiry cost, all-in?
Add management, media and production before deciding whether a campaign is efficient.
Questions before signing
- Is media spend separate?
- Who owns the ad account?
- Is creative included?
- Are landing pages included?
- Who implements conversion tracking?
- How often is the account optimised?
- What commercial outcomes will be reported?
The NO QUIET NIGHTS take
Give it one proper job.
Paid media performs better as a commercial intervention than as a permanent vague instruction to “get awareness”. Start with the behaviour you need to change.
Frequently asked questions
How much does paid media management cost for hospitality?
Fees vary with channels, media budget, campaign complexity, creative needs, locations and reporting. Some suppliers charge a flat retainer, others a percentage of spend, or a hybrid.
Is ad spend included in the agency fee?
Usually it should be shown separately. Ask for media spend, management, creative, landing pages and tracking costs as distinct lines so proposals can be compared fairly.
Does paid ads management include creative?
Not always. Meta campaigns can require substantial creative production, while Google Search relies more heavily on keyword, ad-copy and landing-page work. Confirm the scope.
What should a hospitality ads agency report?
Commercially meaningful actions such as bookings, qualified enquiries, calls or purchases where tracking permits, plus the diagnostic metrics needed to understand performance.