What Does a Performance Marketing Agency Actually Do? (India, 2026)

A proper performance marketing engagement covers more than media buying:

• Measurement set-up: Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, the Meta Pixel and Conversions API, offline conversion import where leads close by phone.
• Channel strategy: which platforms suit your product and budget, and in what order.
• Campaign build and management: Google Search, Shopping and Performance Max; Meta lead and sales campaigns; LinkedIn for B2B.
• Creative and copy testing: new ad angles tested continuously, because creative is the biggest lever on most platforms.
• Landing pages and conversion rate: the page after the click often matters more than the ad.
• Reporting on business outcomes: cost per qualified lead, cost per acquisition, return on ad spend and, ideally, revenue.

Clicks, impressions and click-through rate are diagnostic numbers. A report that leads with them and never mentions leads, customers or revenue is a warning sign.

• Flat monthly retainer. Predictable and does not reward higher spend. Common for small and mid-sized accounts.
• Percentage of ad spend. Scales with the account; can create an incentive to spend more.
• Performance-linked fees. A base fee plus a bonus tied to leads or revenue. Works when both sides trust the tracking.

Whatever the model, ad spend should be billed by Google, Meta or LinkedIn directly to an account you own. Our own pricing is published on the Google Ads and Meta Ads service pages, with ad spend kept separate from our fee.

• The agency wants to run ads from its own ad account rather than yours.
• Guaranteed leads or ROAS before anyone has looked at your tracking, offer or margins.
• Reports full of reach and clicks, with no cost per lead or customer.
• No plan for landing pages or creative testing.
• No access to the person actually running your campaigns.

1. Who will run my account day to day, and what have they managed before?
2. How will you track leads that close by phone or WhatsApp?
3. What will you do in the first 30 days, and what should I expect to see by day 90?
4. How often will you test new creative and landing pages?
5. What happens to my ad accounts, pixels and data if we stop working together?

Our guide to choosing an SEO expert covers similar due diligence for organic search.

E-commerce and D2C

Google Shopping, Performance Max and Meta sales campaigns, judged on ROAS against margin. Product feed quality, creative testing and site speed usually decide results. For organic growth alongside ads, see e-commerce SEO in India.

Local and service businesses

Google Search Ads for high-intent searches, Meta lead ads or click-to-WhatsApp, and a strong Google Business Profile. Judged on cost per qualified enquiry. See lead generation for small businesses.

B2B

LinkedIn Ads and Google Search, judged on qualified pipeline. See our LinkedIn Ads playbook.

Real estate

Project-specific campaigns with strict lead qualification and compliant ads. See digital marketing for real estate.

Campaigns at Digital Marketing By OG are run by Yatin Chaudhary, whose in-house work for a D2C nutrition brand included full-funnel Meta Ads, Google Shopping and Search, and a documented 10X return on ad spend. We set up tracking before spending, build landing pages alongside ads, test creative every month and report on leads and revenue in your own accounts.

Talk to a performance marketing specialist about your goals, or see how the numbers work in Google Ads cost in India.