The traditional agency model is fundamentally broken.
For decades, businesses have paid marketing agencies a fixed retainer or an hourly fee, regardless of the results achieved. Whether your campaigns generated a 2x or a 10x ROAS, the agency’s check remained the same. This model creates a massive misalignment: the agency is rewarded merely for effort and time spent, while the client bears all the risk.
But there’s a better way.
At SB, we believe that if we succeed, you should succeed first. That’s why we operate on a performance-based fee structure, directly aligning our success to the metric that matters most to your business: your ROAS.
ROAS: True North
In digital marketing, effort is meaningless without return. The noise, the clicks, and the impressions are simply costs until they convert into profitable revenue.
ROAS is the ultimate metric for small and medium businesses because it cuts through the vanity metrics. It answers one simple question: For every dollar you spend on advertising, how many dollars are you getting back?
If an agency isn’t incentivized to maximize this number, they have no skin in the game. A fixed-fee model encourages complacency; a performance-based model demands excellence. By centering our compensation around your ROAS, we ensure that every strategic decision, every optimization, and every dollar spent on your behalf is a calculated move toward greater profitability.
A True Partnership: Shared Risk, Shared Reward
When an agency earns more only when you earn more, the relationship fundamentally changes from a vendor-client agreement to a true partnership.
Shared Risk
In a fixed-fee model, the client assumes 100% of the risk. If a campaign fails, the client loses the ad budget and the agency fee. Under a performance model, we absorb a portion of that risk. Our commitment is inherently tied to driving successful outcomes, not just checking boxes on a scope of work.
Maximized Effort and Accountability
If our goal is to achieve an average 5x ROAS for our clients (as is our benchmark), you can be certain that every tool and every expert is laser-focused on that target. It forces us to leverage the most efficient, data-driven strategies possible—which, for us, means combining Artificial Intelligence (AI) for rapid data analysis and optimization with Human Insights for nuanced strategic direction. This powerful synergy is what makes consistent, high-ROAS results achievable.
The Performance Difference
Opting for an agency with performance-based fees offers three critical advantages over the traditional model:
| Traditional Fixed-Fee Model | Performance-Based Fee Model |
| Focus is on time and effort (billable hours). | Focus is on revenue and profit (ROAS). |
| Agency is secure regardless of campaign performance. | Agency’s earnings are directly tied to client success. |
| Potential for complacency or “coasting.” | Requires constant optimization and innovation to maximize shared reward. |
When an agency’s success is dependent on generating a positive return for you, they become deeply invested in your growth, scalability, and long-term financial health. The incentives are perfectly aligned: the more profitable your ad spend, the more successful we both become.
Ready to stop paying for effort and start paying for measurable, profitable results? Schedule a free strategy session today.