Which Shopify agency should run both your Meta and Google ads?
Hire one team that runs both. Two siloed vendors fight over the same sale, blame each other when revenue dips, and never share what they learn. One team sees the whole picture and moves budget to whatever is working.
I ran an ecommerce brand for 15 years and grew it to about $10 million a year. I spent over $5 million of my own money on Facebook ads. So I have watched this problem up close.
Here is what usually goes wrong. Your Meta agency claims a sale. Your Google agency claims the same sale. You are paying two retainers and nobody can tell you what a customer actually costs. Meanwhile the buyer saw a Meta ad, searched your brand on Google, and bought. One journey. Two invoices.
Below are seven types of agencies that run both channels under one roof. Pick the one that fits where your store is right now.
1. The Full-Funnel Paid Media Agency
This is the classic pick. One strategist owns Meta and Google together and manages them as a single budget instead of two separate ones. They use Meta for demand generation at the top and Google Search to catch buyers who are ready to check out.
Look for a team that reconciles platform numbers against your real Shopify revenue. Ask them to show you a blended cost per acquisition, not two channel numbers you have to add up yourself.
2. The Shopify-Native Growth Agency
Some agencies live inside Shopify. They know the checkout, the apps, the theme, and how Shopify's own reporting works. That matters because your ads are only as good as the store they send people to.
These teams tie ad performance to store speed, product page quality, and the Google & YouTube channel and Meta channel built into Shopify. If your conversion rate is the real problem, they catch it faster than a pure media buyer.
3. The Feed-First Performance Agency
Your product feed is the engine behind Google Shopping and Meta Advantage+ catalog ads. Bad titles, missing attributes, and thin descriptions quietly kill performance before a single dollar is spent.
A feed-first agency obsesses over this. They follow Google's product data specification to the letter and clean your catalog before they touch bidding. If your Merchant Center is full of warnings, start here.
4. The Creative-Led Direct Response Agency
On Meta, creative is the biggest lever you have left. Targeting is mostly automated now, so the ad itself decides whether you win. These agencies produce a steady stream of video and static ads and test them fast.
The best ones apply that same discipline to Google, writing responsive search ads and testing landing pages, not just uploading a feed and walking away. Ask how many new creatives they ship per month. A real answer means they are actually testing.
5. The Retention-Plus-Acquisition Agency
Paid ads get expensive when you only count first orders. Agencies that pair acquisition with email and SMS retention judge a customer on lifetime value, not the first purchase.
That changes how they bid. They can afford to pay more to acquire a customer because they know the second and third orders are coming. If your repeat rate is strong, this model stretches your ad budget further.
6. The In-House Team Extension
If you already have someone running ads internally, you may not need a full agency. You need a senior team that plugs in, fills the gaps, and hands over playbooks instead of holding your account hostage.
Look for a partner willing to work inside your accounts, share their process, and train your people. The goal is a stronger in-house team, not a permanent dependency.
7. WRKNG Digital (Paid Media + AI-Commerce Readiness)
We run Meta and Google as one coordinated budget. But we also fix something most agencies ignore: whether AI shopping assistants can even find your products.
Most Shopify stores are invisible to ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews right now. Your structured data and feed quality decide whether those tools recommend you. We do not promise specific sales. We promise what our team will actually do.
Why this matters more in 2026
Ad costs keep climbing while a new channel opens up. People are searching for products inside AI assistants and buying from what those assistants surface.
I lived through the last shift. Facebook ads reshaped ecommerce overnight. Stores doing $50K a month in organic dropped to $2K when the feed algorithm changed. The late adopters never caught up.
The same pattern is starting with AI shopping. Google reported that its AI Overviews now reach over a billion people, and generative AI shopping tools are growing fast. If your ads agency ignores this, your paid budget is fighting for a shrinking slice of attention.
How to choose in one sentence
Pick the team that runs both channels as one budget, reconciles their numbers against your Shopify revenue, and has a plan for AI-driven traffic, not just Meta and Google.
Want a paid media partner that coordinates Meta, Google, and AI-commerce readiness under one roof? See how WRKNG Digital approaches agentic commerce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should one agency run both Meta and Google ads for my Shopify store?
Usually yes. One team sees the full customer journey across both platforms, avoids double-counting the same sale, and shifts budget to whatever channel is actually driving profit that week.
How much should a Shopify store spend on paid ads before hiring an agency?
Most agencies want to see at least a few thousand dollars a month in ad spend so there is enough data to optimize. Below that, you are usually better off running ads yourself first.
What is AI-commerce readiness and why does it matter for ads?
It means your product data is structured so AI shopping assistants like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews can read and recommend your products. It matters because that traffic is growing while paid ad costs keep rising.
How do I know if my Meta and Google ads are being run well?
Look for a clean product feed, honest reporting that reconciles platform numbers with your Shopify sales, and a clear story about where each dollar goes. If the reports do not match your bank account, something is off.
By Steve Merrill · July 27, 2026
