Much of the money wasted in paid media isn’t lost in the campaign — it’s lost before it. A conversion that isn’t recorded makes the algorithm optimize for the wrong thing; a form that never reaches sales turns leads into silence; an account created on a supplier’s email becomes a problem the day the partnership ends.

This checklist brings together what we check in every Manáry media onboarding before switching on the first campaign.

Why each block matters

Tracking

Ad platforms optimize delivery for the event you report as a conversion. Without that signal — or with a wrong one, like counting a thank-you page visit twice — the campaign learns to bring in the wrong audience. Meta’s Conversions API and Google’s enhanced conversions help recover some of the data that blockers and cookie restrictions hide.

Accounts and access

An ad account’s history is an asset: audience learning, conversion data and reputation with the platform. It needs to belong to the company. Agencies and freelancers should be given access as partners, never own the account.

Landing page

An ad promises; the page delivers. When the message changes between the two, conversion rate drops and cost per result rises. And nothing is more expensive than a broken form nobody noticed for weeks.

Strategy

Setting the acceptable cost per acquisition and evaluation period upfront prevents anxiety-driven decisions: pausing a campaign on day three or keeping another at a loss for three months.

What happens when tracking is wrong

Ad platforms learn from the conversion events you report. If the event fires twice, the campaign thinks it’s doing better than it is and doubles down on the wrong audience. If the event doesn’t fire, the platform optimizes for clicks or views and shows the ad to people who click a lot and buy little.

The most common errors we find in audits:

• conversion counted when the thank-you page loads, which fires again on every reload;
• Google Ads tag and GA4 import both active for the same event, doubling the count;
• Meta pixel installed without the Conversions API, losing some events to blockers;
• form submitted via AJAX with no event set up, leaving the lead invisible to media.

Who should own the accounts

The rule is simple: the accounts belong to the company. Agencies, freelancers and consultants get access at the permission level they need to work, and the company keeps at least one internal admin on each platform. That applies to Google Ads, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Search Console, Meta Business Portfolio, LinkedIn Campaign Manager and TikTok Ads.

When the account is created on a supplier’s email, the learning history, audiences and conversion data are stuck with them. Getting that back later usually takes a long time — when it’s possible at all.

How to validate events before launching the campaign

1. Use Tag Manager’s preview mode

   Walk the user’s path and check that each tag fires once, at the right moment.

2. Check GA4 DebugView

   Watch events arrive in real time, with value and currency parameters filled in.

3. Test the Meta pixel and Conversions API

   In Events Manager’s test events tool, confirm events arrive from the browser and the server without duplicating.

4. Make a real conversion

   Submit a form or make a test purchase and confirm the lead reached the CRM with its source recorded.

In Manáry’s paid media onboarding, this setup is the first step, alongside agreeing timelines and processes — and no campaign goes live before it.

Frequently asked questions