How it works
A fixed process, run by a person.
The same review methodology runs every month for every member, so your report is comparable month to month and your agency can see exactly what we assessed.
Share the information
Most members simply forward the monthly PDF or dashboard link their agency already sends. If you would rather grant read-only access to Google Ads, Meta Business Manager, GA4 or Search Console, we send written instructions for doing that safely.
- Upload agency reports, proposals, contracts or screenshots
- Or grant properly scoped read-only access
- We never ask for, store or accept advertising platform passwords
- You choose what we can see, and can revoke it at any time
We independently review it
A human reviewer with real platform experience goes through the account and the report against a fixed methodology. Nothing is auto-generated and published without a person standing behind it.
- Commercial outcomes measured against your stated goal
- Tracking and attribution tested for double counting and mis-fired events
- Account activity checked — what was actually changed and tested
- Recommendations assessed for whether they serve you or the retainer
- Wasted spend identified and quantified where the data allows
Receive the truth in plain English
Your Honest Marketing Report follows the same ten-section structure every month, so you can compare one month to the next without relearning the format.
- A one-paragraph executive verdict you could read to your accountant
- A Marketing Oversight Score across five weighted areas
- Issues ranked by how much money they are costing you
- Questions written so you can send them to your agency unedited
- A prioritised list of what to do next
Ask before you approve
The Priority Question Line is a structured written channel, not an open phone number. That is deliberate: written questions get considered written answers, and you keep a record of both.
- Budget increase second opinions before you commit
- Proposal and contract reviews
- Campaign and lead-quality queries
- Tracking and reporting questions
- Response targets from two business days down to same business day
Published methodology
Our working, in public.
You can hand this to your agency and invite them to check our conclusions against it. We would rather be corrected than be unchallenged.
- 01
Establish the commercial goal
Before anything is judged, we record what the marketing is supposed to produce and what a qualified lead or sale is worth. Without that, every performance number is unanchored.
- 02
Reconcile reported numbers against reality
Platform-reported conversions are compared to what reached the inbox, the CRM or the sales record. The gap between those two figures determines the tracking confidence rating.
- 03
Assess account activity
Change history, tests run, and whether stated work matches observable work. We record what was changed, when, and whether a result was ever declared.
- 04
Quantify waste
Spend on irrelevant terms, audiences, placements or geographies is totalled in dollars for the period, so the size of the problem is explicit.
- 05
Test the recommendations
Any recommendation made by the agency during the period — particularly a budget increase — is assessed on whether the supporting evidence holds up.
- 06
Score against five weighted areas
Account access, tracking and verification, reporting clarity, management transparency and commercial alignment, weighted 20/25/20/20/15.
- 07
Human review before release
Every report is written and signed off by a person. Nothing is generated and published automatically.
The Priority Question Line
Ask before you approve.
A structured written channel inside your member portal — not an open phone number. Written questions get considered written answers, and you keep a record of both.
Questions that simply clarify something in a report we wrote do not count against your allowance.
What you can send us
- Agency report
- Budget recommendation
- Campaign issue
- Lead quality
- Tracking
- Proposal or contract
- SEO
- Website or funnel
- Other
Attach the proposal, the screenshot, the contract or the report. The more context we have, the more specific the answer.
See it for yourself
Read a real report before you decide.
A complete, redacted Honest Marketing Report — the same ten sections every member receives each month.