In agency life, teams frequently inherit projects that they did not originally design or launch. Campaigns change hands for many reasons: staff turnover, client reassignment, or shifts in portfolio responsibilities. Regardless of the cause, inheriting ads campaigns brings a unique set of challenges.
The reality is rarely straightforward. There may be limited documentation, fragmented structures, or reporting systems that fail to align with business goals. Moreover, clients may carry expectations shaped by previous managers, while internal teams may assume continuity that is difficult to guarantee.
This article outlines practical strategies for handling inherited ads campaigns in an agency environment. From the initial audit through communication and long-term restructuring, it provides a survival guide for transforming a chaotic inheritance into an opportunity for clarity, method, and measurable progress.
The Reality of Inherited Ads Campaigns
Inherited ads campaigns are not an exception but a recurring scenario across agencies. Therefore, understanding why they happen and what challenges they bring is the first step toward managing them effectively.
Why Campaigns Are Inherited
- Team transitions: colleagues leave or change positions, and accounts move to new managers.
- Client changes: brands switch agency partners, and the new team takes over live campaigns.
- Portfolio growth: agencies redistribute workload as new clients or products are added.
The Most Common Challenges
- Lack of documentation: often there is no clear record of strategic choices, keyword rationales, or budget splits.
- Disorganized structures: campaign and ad group naming appear inconsistent or misleading.
- Unclear KPIs: performance goals may not match the client’s expectations.
- Historical baggage: past optimizations or mistakes continue to influence results.
As a result, inherited ads campaigns require more than operational management. They demand investigative skills and structured recovery planning.
First Steps: The Initial Audit
When inheriting ads campaigns, the most critical task is to build a clear understanding of what exists. Jumping directly into optimization without proper auditing risks compounding existing problems.
Establishing a Baseline
The audit serves as a snapshot of the account in its current state. It should cover the following areas:
- Budgets: allocation across campaigns, pacing trends, and overspend or underspend signals.
- Campaign structures: number of campaigns, ad groups, and their alignment with objectives.
- Targeting: keyword strategies, audience segments, and placements.
- Creatives and assets: ad copy, visuals, landing pages, and consistency with brand guidelines.
- Tracking and reporting: conversion tracking accuracy, attribution models, and dashboards.
The Value of Documentation
Even when no documentation exists, creating one from scratch is essential. In addition, screenshots, spreadsheets, and short notes help establish a baseline report that future improvements can be compared against.
Checklist for the Initial Audit
- Verify campaign objectives and KPI alignment.
- Review at least 90 days of historical performance data.
- Identify anomalies: sudden budget shifts, spikes in CPC/CPM, or unusual conversion drops.
- Map out campaign hierarchies to understand logic—or lack thereof.
Consequently, an effective audit transforms uncertainty into structure. It provides the foundation for all subsequent steps.
Communication is Key
No inherited ads campaign succeeds in isolation. Communication with both the client and internal stakeholders is central to aligning expectations and building trust.
Explaining the Situation
It is crucial to clarify that the initial weeks focus on understanding the current setup. This avoids unrealistic demands for immediate turnaround results. Presenting the audit as a professional necessity reinforces confidence.
Managing Expectations
Clients and managers often expect continuity. However, inherited campaigns may include inefficiencies that require correction before performance can scale. Positioning the process as “stabilization first, growth second” helps frame priorities.
Outlining a Transition Plan
A transition plan works best when divided into two layers:
- Short-term actions: quick fixes to prevent wasted spend or missed opportunities.
- Long-term actions: structural changes that require testing and staged implementation.
Regular updates, even if preliminary, remain essential. For example, a weekly email or short deck summarizing audit findings and next steps creates transparency and reduces anxiety on both sides.
Quick Wins vs. Deep Fixes
Not every problem requires a rebuild, and not every issue can be solved with a quick fix. Striking the right balance between immediate actions and long-term restructuring is critical.
Quick Wins
- Add negative keywords to reduce wasted spend.
- Adjust bids to correct underperforming placements.
- Refresh creatives that look outdated.
- Confirm that conversion tracking fires correctly.
Deep Fixes
- Redesign campaign structure to align with funnel stages.
- Establish consistent naming conventions.
- Reallocate budgets across portfolios based on current priorities.
- Rebuild reporting systems to match KPIs.
On the other hand, deep fixes demand more time and should be introduced gradually. Abrupt changes risk disrupting continuity and confusing stakeholders.
Building Sustainable Structures
The goal of inheriting ads campaigns is not only to fix problems but also to ensure long-term sustainability. A solid structure prevents the same challenges from recurring when accounts change hands again.
Naming and Tagging
- Adopt a standardized naming convention that includes campaign type, objective, geography, and date.
- Use tagging or labeling tools for easier filtering and reporting.
Templates and Documentation
- Create campaign templates that can be replicated for new launches.
- Maintain a shared document detailing objectives, targeting logic, and optimization rules.
Reporting Systems
- Implement dashboards that are simple to read and align with client KPIs.
- Separate “health metrics” (CPC, CTR, CPM) from “business outcomes” (ROAS, revenue, acquisition).
External Best Practices
Guidelines from platforms such as Amazon Ads and Google Ads Help provide standardized recommendations for structuring and maintaining campaigns at scale.
Turning Challenges Into Opportunities
Although inheriting ads campaigns may appear as a burden, they can also become an opportunity to demonstrate value.
Learning From Past Work
Inherited campaigns provide insight into how previous managers approached strategy. Moreover, mistakes and inefficiencies become lessons that inform better practices.
Building Trust Through Method
Clients frequently appreciate transparency and method more than immediate results. Showing a structured plan, backed by evidence, creates long-term confidence.
Demonstrating Leadership
Taking control of a disorganized setup and guiding it toward clarity demonstrates leadership, adaptability, and problem-solving skills—traits that are highly valued in agency environments.
For a broader perspective on governance and programmatic activation, see the article Retail Media Programmatic Guide.
Conclusion
Managing inherited ads campaigns is a challenge that every agency professional eventually encounters. The lack of documentation, unclear objectives, and structural inefficiencies can create frustration. However, with a structured audit, transparent communication, and a balance between quick wins and deep fixes, the situation can be transformed.
The process is not only about fixing campaigns but also about building sustainable systems that outlast team changes. In addition, it is an opportunity to demonstrate leadership, establish trust, and deliver clarity in environments where uncertainty often prevails.
Finally, inherited ads campaigns should not be considered a setback. They are a proving ground where professionalism, method, and resilience make the difference.
Further Reading and Resources
Inherited ads campaigns highlight the importance of structured processes, clear documentation, and reliable best practices. For readers interested in exploring external perspectives and practical tools, the following resources provide valuable support:
- Amazon Ads Learning Console – official guidance and resources for structuring campaigns and applying platform best practices.
- Google Ads Help – detailed explanations on campaign setup, reporting accuracy, and troubleshooting common issues.
- World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) – global benchmarks and research on marketing capability building and governance.
- IAB Europe – Programmatic Advertising Research – insights into programmatic structures and industry-wide standards.
- HubSpot – PPC Audit Checklist – a practical framework for conducting structured audits on inherited accounts.
- Think with Google – case studies and thought leadership on optimizing media strategies.
- Marketing Week – industry articles on agency-client relationships and handover processes.
Inherited ads campaigns are advertising accounts or campaigns that a professional takes over from a previous manager or agency. They typically involve structures, budgets, and reporting systems that were not originally designed by the current team.
They often come with limited documentation, inconsistent naming conventions, unclear KPIs, and historical optimizations. As a result, understanding and improving them requires extra effort in auditing and communication.
The audit should include budget allocation, campaign structure, targeting logic, creatives, and tracking accuracy. Creating a baseline report with screenshots and notes ensures a reliable starting point for future improvements.
Quick wins include adding negative keywords, adjusting bids, refreshing outdated creatives, and verifying conversion tracking. These actions prevent wasted spend and stabilize performance while deeper fixes are prepared.
If the inherited structure is too fragmented or inefficient, rebuilding can be more effective than incremental fixes. However, this decision should be communicated clearly to clients, with a transition plan that balances stability and improvement.
By creating standardized naming conventions, maintaining documentation, and building shared dashboards. These measures ensure continuity and reduce dependency on individual managers.
Senior E-commerce & Retail Media Leader with 8+ years across Amazon and leading marketplaces. Focus on full-funnel strategy, programmatic retail media, and international media governance. Sharing frameworks and operating models for growth.
