What Shopify Founders Get Wrong When Hiring an Ads Agency
- Diana Dela Cruz
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
TL;DR
Most ad agency failures come from misalignment, not bad ads. Shopify founders often hire agencies that don’t understand ecommerce unit economics, attribution, or how paid media impacts actual profitability- leading to misleading ROAS and stalled growth.
Ads don’t scale brands- systems do. Sustainable growth comes from agencies that combine creative testing frameworks, funnel optimization, and new customer acquisition strategies rather than chasing short-term wins or vanity metrics.
The right agency acts like a growth partner, not a media buyer. Founders should look for partners who understand the full revenue system- ads, site experience, attribution, and LTV - so paid traffic compounds into long-term, predictable scale.
Hiring a paid ads agency should feel like a growth unlock for your Shopify brand. Instead, for many founders, it becomes an expensive lesson in misaligned incentives, vague reporting, and underwhelming results. The truth? Most Shopify founders don’t fail at ads because Facebook or Google “stopped working.” They fail because they hire the wrong kind of ads agency- often for the wrong reasons. After managing tens of millions in ad spend and working with scaling ecommerce brands across Meta and Google, we’ve seen the same mistakes repeat themselves again and again.
This article breaks down what Shopify founders consistently get wrong when hiring an ads agency, why it happens, and how to avoid it before wasting six figures and six months.
If you’re serious about scaling profitably, this will save you time, money, and frustration.
Mistake #1: Hiring an Ads Agency That Doesn’t Understand Ecommerce Unit Economics
Many agencies can “run ads.” Very few understand ecommerce math. A Shopify store is not a lead gen business. It’s not a local service. And it’s definitely not a SaaS funnel. Yet founders routinely hire agencies that apply generic ad strategies without understanding:
Without this context, an agency may optimize for vanity metrics - CTR, CPM, even platform ROAS- while your actual business profitability erodes.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Ads are “profitable” on Meta but cash flow is shrinking
Discount-heavy campaigns that inflate ROAS but destroy LTV
No distinction between new vs returning customers
Scaling spend without understanding fulfilment or inventory
What to Look For Instead
A real ecommerce ads agency should:
Ask for your COGS, margins, and fulfilment costs upfront
Optimize toward new customer ROAS, not just blended numbers
Tie media performance to actual business outcomes, not dashboards alone
If an agency can’t clearly explain how ads impact your P&L, that’s a red flag.
Mistake #2: Choosing an Agency Based on Creative Promises, Not Systems
“High-performing creatives” has become the most overused phrase in paid advertising.
Yes- creative matters. But creative without a system is just guesswork at scale.
Many founders are sold on:
Viral-style ads
Trend-jacking hooks
“We’ll test 50 creatives a month”
What they don’t realize is that volume without structure rarely scales.
Why This Fails
Without a repeatable creative system:
Learnings aren’t documented
Winners can’t be scaled predictably
Performance becomes inconsistent
Costs spike as spend increases
What Actually Scales
High-growth Shopify brands rely on:
Structured creative testing frameworks
Iterative variations based on performance signals
Messaging mapped to funnel stages (prospecting vs retargeting)
Creative informed by on-site data, reviews, and customer objections
The best agencies don’t just “make ads.” They build creative engines that improve over time.
Mistake #3: Not Understanding Attribution (and Believing Platform Numbers Blindly)
Meta says your ROAS is 4.2x. Shopify says it’s 2.3x. Google says something else entirely.
So… who’s right? Most Shopify founders don’t realize that attribution is directional, not absolute. And many agencies either don’t understand this- or worse, intentionally ignore it.
Common Attribution Traps
Trusting platform-reported ROAS as the sole truth
No use of blended metrics
No understanding of incrementality
Ignoring post-click behavior and retention
What a Strong Agency Does Differently
If an agency can’t explain why numbers differ across platforms, they don’t control the system- they’re reacting to it.
Mistake #4: Hiring an Agency That Only Manages Ads- Not the Funnel
Paid traffic doesn’t convert in isolation. Yet many agencies draw an artificial line around their responsibility:
“We drive traffic. What happens on-site isn’t our problem.”
For Shopify brands, that mindset kills scale.
Why Funnel Blindness Is Expensive
You can’t out-advertise:
Poor product pages
Weak offers
Slow site speed
Confusing checkout flows
No post-purchase retention
Even small on-site improvements can dramatically increase ROAS without increasing spend.
What to Expect From a Growth Partner
A performance-focused ecommerce agency should:
Ads don’t exist to “get clicks.” They exist to move customers through a revenue system.
Mistake #5: Optimizing for Short-Term ROAS Instead of Long-Term Scale
One of the most damaging mistakes Shopify founders make is rewarding agencies only for immediate ROAS.
This pushes agencies toward:
Aggressive retargeting
Heavy discounts
Brand search cannibalization
Scaling spend on existing customers
It looks good in reports- and stalls growth long-term.
The Real Cost of Short-Term Thinking
Prospecting never matures
New customer acquisition slows
LTV declines
Growth plateaus
Smarter Optimization Metrics
Sustainable ecommerce growth focuses on:
New customer ROAS
Cost per new customer
LTV:CAC ratio
Payback period
MER over time
The best agencies help you build demand, not just harvest it.
Mistake #6: Expecting an Agency to “Fix” a Broken Business Model
Ads amplify what already exists. If your product-market fit is weak, your offer is unclear, or your margins don’t support paid acquisition - no agency can magically fix that. Yet many Shopify founders hire agencies as a last resort rather than a growth accelerator.
Signs Ads Aren’t the Core Problem
Conversion rate below category benchmarks
No clear differentiation
Low repeat purchase rate
Weak customer feedback
A good agency will tell you this- even if it delays the engagement. If an agency promises scale without asking hard questions, they’re selling hope, not strategy.
Mistake #7: Choosing the Cheapest Agency (or the Most Expensive One)
Price anchoring is another common trap.
Some founders assume:
Cheap agency = low quality
Expensive agency = guaranteed results
Both assumptions are wrong.
What Actually Matters
Alignment of incentives
Transparency in reporting
Proven ecommerce experience
Clear testing and scaling frameworks
In many cases, performance-based or hybrid pricing models create the healthiest partnerships- because the agency wins when you do.
What Shopify Founders Should Look For in an Ads Agency
Before hiring your next agency, ask these questions:
How do you measure success beyond platform ROAS?
How do you approach new customer acquisition vs retention?
What systems do you use for creative testing and scaling?
How do you handle attribution discrepancies?
How involved are you in on-site optimization and funnel strategy?
Can you explain how ads impact our actual profit- not just metrics?
If answers are vague, walk away.
The Bottom Line: Ads Agencies Don’t Scale Brands- Systems Do
The biggest misconception Shopify founders have is believing that an ads agency is the growth lever. It’s not. Systems scale brands. Ads are just the distribution layer. When you hire an agency that understands ecommerce economics, funnel dynamics, creative systems, and long-term growth, ads stop feeling unpredictable- and start feeling controllable.
Ready to Scale the Right Way?
If you’re a Shopify founder looking for a performance-driven, system-first approach to paid growth, RCKSTR Media helps brands scale through:
Proven Meta & Google ad frameworks
Creative systems built for ecommerce
Funnel-aware optimization
Hybrid, performance-aligned pricing
Scaling doesn’t have to feel like gambling. With the right partner, it becomes a process.
Conclusion: Choosing the Right Ads Agency Is a Growth Decision, Not a Gamble
Hiring an ads agency isn’t about finding someone to “run Facebook ads”- it’s about choosing a partner that understands how paid media fits into your entire Shopify growth system. Most founders don’t fail because ads stop working; they fail because they hire agencies that optimize for the wrong metrics, ignore unit economics, and treat ads as a silo instead of a revenue engine. When you align with an agency that prioritizes systems, attribution clarity, creative frameworks, and long-term customer acquisition, paid ads become predictable, scalable, and profitable. The right agency doesn’t just spend your budget- they help you build a business that compounds.
FAQ
How much should a Shopify store spend on an ads agency?
Most Shopify brands spend 10-20% of their monthly ad spend on management fees, though performance-based or hybrid models often create better alignment and results.
Is ROAS the best metric to evaluate an ads agency?
No - ROAS alone can be misleading. Founders should also track blended ROAS, new customer acquisition cost, MER, and LTV-to-CAC ratios.
How long should I give an ads agency before expecting results?
Most Shopify brands need 60-90 days to see meaningful performance trends, assuming proper tracking, creative testing, and funnel alignment are in place.
Should my ads agency help with website optimization?
Yes. High-performing agencies understand that ads amplify the site experience and should advise on offers, PDPs, checkout flow, and AOV levers.
What’s the biggest red flag when hiring an ads agency?
A major red flag is an agency that promises guaranteed results or scales spend without asking about margins, unit economics, or business constraints.
Is it better to hire a niche ecommerce ads agency?
Yes. Agencies that specialize in Shopify and ecommerce understand platform nuances, attribution challenges, and scaling dynamics far better than generalist agencies.
Can a paid ads agency fix a struggling Shopify business?
No. Ads can accelerate growth, but they can’t fix poor product-market fit, weak offers, or unsustainable margins- those must be addressed first.
Stop Wasting Hours. Start Growing.
Every day you delay is revenue lost and hours you’ll never get back.
Join the business owners who’ve already claimed their time and profits back with our $40M+ proven social media ads system.
Book your free call now - before your next hour gets wasted.
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