Platform-attributed ROAS counts branded clicks.
PMax and Advantage+ claim credit for buyers who would have searched the brand and converted regardless. ROAS checks strong; incremental revenue does not.
Problem Stan Consulting · Agency relationship
Agency reports growth. Bank revenue does not match. Open the decision log.
When agency reporting and collected revenue do not reconcile, compare metric definitions, attribution windows, branded demand, customer status, refunds, the approved brief, and the decision log before assigning the cause.
Scope confirmed after intake
Timing confirmed after access review
Reviewed by Stan Tscherenkow
Get this fixed
Last reviewed 20 May 2026 · Updated as agency tracking patterns shift
The structural truth
Decision log.A decision log should state what changed, why, who approved it, and how the result will be evaluated. The decision log is the truth metric; the dashboard is the marketing.
What this marketing work does
When the agency dashboard looks healthy and revenue stays flat, the gap is structural. The written marketing plan covers five signals: whether the agency is selling activity versus judgment, whether platform-attributed ROAS reflects bank revenue, whether the brief is aligned to the right decision, whether attribution deduplication is honest, and whether the retainer scope matches the actual problem.
The output is a marketing plan naming the structural cause and the recommended next move. Sometimes the answer is fire the agency. Sometimes it is keep the agency and change the brief. Sometimes it is consolidate three vendors into one. The written review states the supported next move. Scope, price, timing, access, deliverables, and any follow-on obligation are confirmed after intake.
What to review before changing the plan
Check the leak before you change the build.
Diagnostic use: Agency, vendor, retainer, or outsourced marketing spend is not producing a clear return. The business may renew, fire, or switch vendors before the real problem is known. The next step is to separate the visible symptom from the real problem before changing budget, vendor, page, or offer.
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to check | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Problem repeats | The visible symptom is not the root leak. | Compare the related problem before changing the channel. | Open the related problem |
| Weak revenue from the same source | Source quality or conversion path does not match the business outcome. | Review the closest proof before changing spend or scope. | Review proof |
| The buyer journey loses qualified buyers | Page, offer, account, form, or follow-up friction is suppressing action. | Use the related service only after the likely leak is named. | See the service |
| Summary cannot explain loss | Tracking, offer, source quality, or follow-up is muddy. | Get a Written marketing plan before another fix. | Request a quote |
| Rebuild or vendor decision is pending | The next move is being chosen before marketing services. | Name the first real problem before changing everything. | Start with an audit |
What to check
Seven sections, in this order.
Why this keeps recurring
Four reasons the agency-vs-bank gap hides for months.
Activity numbers replace decision numbers.
Monthly review shows campaigns launched, creatives tested, audiences refreshed. None of those are decisions; they are activity. The decision the agency made is invisible.
Attribution overlap inflates lead counts.
The same lead counts in GA4, Google Ads, and Meta. The dashboards stack the count; the bank counts it once.
The brief is wrong, not the agency.
Agency executes faithfully against a brief that targets the wrong layer. The work is good; the result is flat because the brief was off.
The pattern in one diagram
The agency reports improvement. The bank account stays flat.
Illustrative. The gap between platform-claimed lift and bank revenue is the structural truth the audit surfaces.
DThe marketing services
The 5-Signal Agency Relationship Marketing Services.
Five structural signals. The Written marketing plan each against the agency relationship and names the recommended move.
01
Decision log vs activity log.
the agency reports activity. The decision log records what the agency decided and why. An agency that cannot produce the decision log is selling activity.
Diagnostic tellsMonthly review centres on creatives tested and campaigns launched; no documented decisions on budget allocation, channel mix, or audience strategy; quarterly review reads as activity recap rather than judgment review.
02
Platform ROAS vs bank revenue.
Platform-attributed ROAS can include branded clicks and returning customers. Reconcile it with store or bank revenue.
Diagnostic tellsROAS rises while revenue stays flat; brand contribution is not separated; no incrementality test; PMax claims branded demand.
03
Attribution dedup honesty.
GA4, Google Ads, Meta, and the CRM can each claim the same lead. Honest CAC requires a documented deduplication rule.
Diagnostic tellsCRM lead count differs from platform totals; Pixel and CAPI fire without a correct deduplication key; no documented attribution policy.
04
Brief alignment.
The agency executes against a brief. If the brief targets the wrong layer (channel growth instead of offer clarity, for example), the agency cannot win. The brief is the upstream decision.
Diagnostic tellsBrief written in vanity-metric language; brief targets channel KPIs without naming the commercial outcome; brief signed off without sales team input; brief unchanged for over 12 months despite category shifts.
05
Retainer scope vs actual problem.
Retainer covers channel management; actual problem is offer clarity. Retainer covers content; actual problem is attribution. The retainer that does not match the problem cannot solve the problem.
Diagnostic tellsRetainer scope unchanged in 12+ months; retainer covers tactics, not strategic decisions; agency owns admin-level access to client accounts; percentage-of-spend pricing without ceiling.
The inflection
Activity is visible.
Decision is load-bearing.
Stan Consulting · pattern seen in agency-relationship audits
An activity report records what was done. A decision log records what changed, why, who approved it, what evidence supported it, and how the result will be evaluated.Pattern observation · Stan Consulting
Three priorities before the fire-the-agency call
01
Ask for the decision log, not the dashboard.
02
Run the bank-account dedup against platform numbers.
03
Open the brief; check whether the agency can actually solve it.
The decision question
Audit before you fire.
Firing without marketing review often hires the same problem with a different name. The marketing review names whether the build is fire, rebrief, or leave alone.
Where the agency-vs-bank gap typically lives
Signal incidence across Stan Consulting agency-relationship audits.
Checklist, not incidence data. Reconcile platform attribution with order, customer, refund, branded-demand, and collected-revenue evidence before assigning a cause.
What you receive
The marketing review deliverable.
Signal scorecard
Each of the 5 signals scored Green / Amber / Red with rationale.
Platform-vs-bank dedup
Claimed ROAS reconciled against bank-account revenue on a 90-day sample.
Brief assessment
The current agency brief checked against the actual commercial decision needed.
Recommended move
Fire, rebrief, consolidate, or leave alone. With the reasoning in writing.
Decision-log template
The decision-log structure to require from any agency going forward.
30-minute walkthrough
Live call with Stan to walk findings. Recording shared. No upsell.
The position
Open the decision log.
Not the dashboard.
Dashboards report activity. Decision logs record judgment. The agency that cannot produce the decision log is selling activity.
Scopedafter intake
A scoped review documents scope, decisions, ownership, access, evidence, outcomes, and the supported next step. Timing and deliverables are confirmed after intake.
Stan Consulting · marketing services format“
Compare the approved brief, decision rights, execution record, reporting definitions, and commercial outcomes before assigning responsibility or changing providers.Review principle · verify against dated evidence
What to check next
The audit is useful only if it changes the next revenue decision.
If this is happening in your business, check the marketing problem first: Agency reports growth. Bank revenue does not match. Open the decision log. Then look at proof, the matching service, and whether a Written marketing plan is the right next step.
Buyer problem: the buyer is paying for marketing help but cannot see the commercial fix sequence.
Money consequence: retainer spend continues without proof that the right leak is being fixed.
What to do next: assess the matching proof, then use the Conversion Marketing Plan when the problem crosses account, page, numbers, offer, and follow-up.
Open CSO implementation proof · Open the problem page · Use the Conversion Marketing Plan
FAQ
Buyer questions, plain answers.
Why does my agency report show growth and bank stay flat?
Agency reports may include platform metrics that use different definitions from collected revenue. Reconcile conversion events, attribution windows, branded demand, existing customers, refunds, orders, and deposits before assigning the gap.
Activity vs judgment, how do I tell?
An activity report records delivery. A decision log records what changed, why, who approved it, and how the result will be evaluated. Review both.
Should I fire the agency?
Review the approved brief, scope, access, decision rights, execution record, measurement definitions, and commercial outcomes before changing the brief or provider.
Platform ROAS vs bank revenue?
Platform-attributed ROAS and collected revenue answer different questions. State the numerator, denominator, attribution window, branded treatment, customer status, cancellations, refunds, and source records before comparing them.
How long before firing?
No universal waiting period decides the relationship. Use the campaign history, conversion volume, learning status, agreed milestones, decision log, and commercial evidence in scope.
What does this cost?
Price, scope, timing, access, deliverables, and any follow-on obligation are confirmed after intake.
Will you replace the agency?
Not by default. The marketing review names the right next move; sometimes that is firing, sometimes rebriefing, sometimes leaving alone.
Stan’s take
Most "the agency is not producing" cases are brief problems, not agency problems.
Operators arrive ready to fire and shop for replacements. The replacement search takes 90 days; onboarding takes another 90; results take another 180. By the time the new agency proves itself or fails, twelve months have passed. The faster move is scanning the brief against the actual decision and scanning the platform ROAS against the bank.
Sometimes the agency genuinely is the problem and firing is right. More often the agency is executing a brief that targets the wrong layer. The marketing review names which case is yours so the next 12 months go to the right work, not to onboarding a different agency to the same wrong brief.
Stan Tscherenkow · Principal · Stan Consulting LLC
Adjacent checks
If the question is broader.
Request a quote
The agency-relationship marketing services. Scoped after intake.
Scope, evidence limits, timing, deliverables, walkthrough, and any follow-on obligation are confirmed after intake.
Get this fixed
Scope, price, timing, access, evidence limits, and the written deliverable are confirmed after intake.