Online advertising: working with an agency on paid search and social ads in Malta

Search ads reach people who are already looking for what you offer, which makes them the usual starting point for enquiries and sales. Social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok are better at creating demand among people who were not searching, and they rely heavily on creative: images and short video. LinkedIn is expensive per click but can target by job title, company size and industry, which suits B2B offers and recruitment. YouTube sits between the two.

Your ad spend goes to the platform; the agency fee is separate. Tell the agency both figures you have in mind, as well as your main goal: enquiries, online sales, awareness or job applications. An agency that proposes every channel at once for a modest budget is spreading it too thin.

Open the ad accounts under your business, with billing on your company card or invoice, and give the agency manager access. If the agency runs your ads from its own account, the campaign history, audiences and conversion data may leave with it when you part ways, and you start from nothing.

The same goes for the analytics property, the tag manager container and any tracking pixels. Ask for this in the contract, along with a clause that the agency hands back full admin rights at the end.

Common models are a fixed monthly management fee, a fee calculated as a share of ad spend, or a combination with a one-off set-up fee. A share of spend is simple but gives the agency no reason to spend less. A fixed fee is predictable but should be tied to a defined scope: number of campaigns, platforms, new ad creative per month and reporting.

Check the minimum term and notice period, whether creative production such as video is included, and whether the agency receives commissions or incentives from platforms or tools it recommends.

• platforms and campaign types included
• who writes and designs the ads, and how many new variants each month
• landing page changes, if any
• conversion tracking set-up and consent management
• reporting frequency and what it measures
• minimum term, notice period and account handover

Advertising pixels and tags store or read information on the visitor's device, so under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations they need the visitor's consent. The recently added exception for first-party statistics used to improve your own website does not extend to advertising or retargeting.

In practice, consent rates mean that platforms will never see every conversion. A competent agency sets up a consent banner that really blocks tags until a visitor agrees, uses the platforms' consent signals, and explains how reported conversions relate to your real enquiries. Be wary of any tracking set-up presented as a way to avoid asking for consent.

You need a lawful basis, and your privacy notice should say that you do it.

The GDPR applies to tracking and customer data; in Malta the Information and Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC) is the supervisory authority. If a supplier processes personal data on your behalf, you need a data processing agreement.

Maltese companies are registered with the Malta Business Registry. Ask suppliers for their company and VAT numbers, and whether they work in English, Maltese or both.

Source: idpc.org.mt · eur-lex.europa.eu · mbr.mt

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