Before giving notice, make sure your ad accounts, analytics and tag manager are in your company's name and that you have admin access. Collect your reports, account history and creative, keep campaigns running through the handoff, and have the new agency review everything and fix tracking before making big changes. A smooth transition usually takes 30 to 60 days.
The transition, step by step
Secure your accounts
- Confirm Google Ads, Meta Business Manager, GA4, Tag Manager and Merchant Center are owned by your company
- Make sure someone on your team has admin access to each
- List any tools, vendors or contracts the agency manages for you
Collect your history
- Export performance reports, at least 12 months if you can
- Save creative files, ad copy and landing pages
- Document how tracking and conversions are set up
- Keep campaigns running. Don't pause during the handoff
Review before changing
- The new agency audits accounts, tracking and analytics
- Agree on baseline numbers to measure against
- Fix tracking first, since everything else depends on it
Change in stages
- Make the highest-impact changes first, one area at a time
- Give each change time to show results
- Report on what changed and what it did
Accounts to check before you give notice
Google Ads & Microsoft Ads
The account should be in your name, not under the agency's manager account only.
Meta Business Manager
Your ad account, pixel and page should belong to your business.
GA4 & Tag Manager
Admin access matters most here. Losing it means losing your data history.
Merchant Center & feeds
Feeds and product data often live in tools the agency set up.
- Pausing everything during the switch. Campaigns lose momentum and the platforms have to relearn.
- Rebuilding from scratch on day one. Big changes without a baseline make it impossible to know what worked.
- Losing access to the pixel or Tag Manager. Tracking can break without anyone noticing.
- Switching without baseline numbers. You need a clear before to judge the after.
What to expect on performance
Some short-term movement is normal. When campaigns change, the platforms need a few weeks to relearn. A good transition plan keeps the core campaigns steady while improvements roll out in stages, so any dip is small and short. Agree up front on what you'll measure and when you'll review it.
We start every new relationship with a review of what you're running, so nothing changes until we know what will help most. See how we can help →