Google Ads Consultant
Google Ads Consultant
for Ecommerce Brands
I run Google Ads for direct‑to‑consumer brands on Shopify. Strategy, budget and execution, owned by one person, with no account manager in between. Pricing is published, the numbers below come out of live accounts, and you get an audit before you commit to anything.
The Work
What a Google Ads Consultant
Actually Does
Most pages ranking for this term describe outcomes. Here is the job. A consultant is not a freelancer you hand a task list to, and not an agency that assigns you a junior behind an account manager. The job is to own the channel.
01
Month one is diagnostic
Before anything is rebuilt, the account gets read properly. Most underperforming accounts are not a bidding problem — they are a measurement problem, and the bidding is only doing what the bad data tells it to.
- Account, campaign and search-term audit, including wasted spend
- Conversion tracking verified end to end, not assumed
- Merchant Center and feed health for Shopping and Performance Max
- Landing pages reviewed, because the page decides what the click is worth
- A written list of what is wrong, in the order it is worth fixing
02
Then it becomes a weekly job
Google Ads is not a project you finish. Budgets move, competitors change their bids, and Performance Max will quietly spend on branded traffic you were already winning for free unless someone is watching.
- Weekly: search terms, negatives, budget moved to whatever is earning
- Fortnightly: ad copy and creative testing, Shopping feed adjustments
- Monthly: a written report and a call — what changed, what it returned
- Quarterly: channel mix, and whether Google still deserves the next dollar
The Comparison
Consultant, Agency
or In-House?
All three work. They fail in different ways, and the right answer depends mostly on your spend.
| Consultant | Agency | In-house hire | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $1,500–$7,000 | $2,500–$10,000+ | $10,000–$13,000 fully loaded |
| Who does the work | The person you hired | Usually a junior, behind an account manager | One employee, learning on your budget |
| Time to start | Days | 4–8 weeks onboarding | 2–3 months to hire |
| Breadth | One person across every channel | Specialists per channel | Whatever that one person knows |
| Fails when | You need volume of production | Your account is too small for their senior people | They leave, and the knowledge goes with them |
Under roughly $10,000 a month in ad spend an agency will not give you their best people, and a full-time hire costs more than the media. Above roughly $100,000 a month you want a team and should build one. The middle is where a consultant is simply the cheapest way to get senior attention on the account.
Proof
Numbers From
Real Accounts
Pulled from live ad accounts, not estimated. Every figure covers the last 24 months. Real brands, real numbers, named.
17.5x
The Lifeguard Store — spend scaled from $1,500 to $14,600 a month
3.6x
Shurhold — seven years on the account
3.9x
Petticoat Lane — paid spend cut by a third while organic replaced it
Operator Experience
I Have Spent My Own Money
On Google Ads
Before consulting I co-founded ModernReform, a high‑ticket direct‑to‑consumer fitness equipment brand. I ran its entire marketing function — the site, the branding, the ad accounts, the vendors — took it to $2.5 million in annual sales in 2021, and sold the business through Flippa in 2024 for a seven-figure sum.
Most consultants have only ever spent someone else’s budget. More on that here.
How To Buy It
Consultant, Agency
Or In‑House
Who should run your Google Ads is a different question from how to run them. Here is the comparison as a buyer actually experiences it.
| Independent consultant | Agency | In-house hire | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who is in the account | The person you hired | Often a junior, supervised | Your employee |
| Cost structure | Flat monthly fee | Often a percentage of ad spend | Salary, plus tools and training |
| Incentive alignment | Flat fee does not reward spending more | A percentage of spend rewards spending more | Neutral |
| Capacity | Limited by one person’s hours | Can absorb a lot of work at once | Full time on you alone |
| Breadth of channels | Whatever that person actually runs | Widest — design, email, dev under one roof | Whatever you hire for |
| Continuity | High until they are busy or unavailable | Survives staff turnover | Highest, while they stay |
| Best when | You want one accountable operator | You need many disciplines coordinated | Spend is large enough to justify a salary |
An agency is the right answer more often than consultants like to admit — particularly if you need paid media, creative, email and development moving together. What you give up is knowing who is actually in the account.
Pricing
What It
Costs
Published, so you can rule me in or out without booking a call.
Channel Management
$1,500 /month
You own the plan. I run the channels.
- Campaign build and management
- Conversion tracking and reporting
- Monthly performance call
- Additional channels +$500 each
- Minimum ad spend $5,000/month
- 6 month commitment
Most Popular
Growth Partner
$4,000 /month
I own paid strategy end to end.
- Everything in Channel Management
- Every channel included, priced as one
- Channel mix and budget allocation
- Creative direction and briefs
- Quarterly CRO roadmap
- 25 hours a month included
- Minimum ad spend $10,000/month
- 3 months, then month to month
Fractional CMO
From $7,000 /month
I own the whole marketing function.
- Everything in Growth Partner
- Email, SEO and site direction
- Contractor sourcing and management
- Quarterly planning with you
- 40 hours a month included
- Minimum ad spend $20,000/month
- 6 month commitment
Fit
When You Do Not
Need a Consultant
Worth being direct about, so neither of us wastes a call.
Hire someone else if
- You are spending under $5,000 a month — my fee would be too large a share of your budget
- You want someone to execute a plan you have already written. That is a freelancer, and cheaper
- You need volume of creative and production. That is an agency, and they are better at it
This works if
- You sell direct to consumers, usually on Shopify
- You are spending at least $5,000 a month on ads
- You want one person accountable, not a team you never meet
- You would rather hear what is not working than have it smoothed over
FAQ
Questions About
Hiring a Consultant
If yours is not here, ask it on the call.
What does a Google Ads consultant cost?
Is a consultant better than an agency?
How long before Google Ads improves?
Do I keep ownership of my Google Ads account?
What if I am spending less than $5,000 a month?
Do you work with brands outside ecommerce?
What is PPC management?
What is PPC campaign management?
How much does PPC management cost?
Let’s Talk
Book a free 30 minute call. I will tell you what I would do with your accounts, whether or not you hire me.
Book a Discovery Call
30-minute strategy session
Prefer to Reach Out Directly?
Happy to talk it through over email or a quick call. I usually reply within a few hours on weekdays.
- greg@digitalkarbon.com
- Massachusetts • Nationwide
Who You Talk To
Me, Every Time
What to Expect
- 30 minutes with me, not a salesperson
- What I would change in your account first
- No pitch deck, no obligation