Changing an app marketing agency means transferring decisions, access and working knowledge while customers are still seeing your ads. For an established app team, a useful handover should answer three questions: who can operate the accounts, which dependencies could interrupt acquisition, and how will the incoming team judge performance?
Table of Contents
Use this checklist when moving between agencies or bringing work in-house. Assign an internal owner, give each item a completion date, and record the evidence. An invitation email or a folder full of assets is a starting point, not acceptance of the handover.
1. Agree what is changing
Write a short transition brief before anyone rebuilds campaigns. Include the reason for changing partners, the channels and markets in scope, current business targets and the problems that need investigation. Separate the handover from any proposed strategy changes so you can understand what caused a later performance movement.
- Name the person who approves spend, campaign changes and the final handover.
- List campaigns that should continue, planned launches and any agreed pauses.
- Identify product releases, promotions and subscription price changes that overlap with the transition.
- Agree who responds if delivery stops, reporting changes or costs exceed the approved limit.
If you are still deciding the operating model, start with the questions in our mobile growth agency versus in-house guide. This checklist covers the practical transition once responsibilities are clear.
2. Build an asset and access register
Keep a business-controlled record of the account identifier, owner, incoming operator and verification status for each asset. Use named accounts and the permissions each person needs. Do not put passwords, secret keys or customer exports into the handover document.
| Area | Evidence to collect |
|---|---|
| Advertising and billing | Correct account IDs, business administrator access, payment responsibility, credit arrangements and current spending limits. |
| App stores and destinations | Access to the relevant app records, product pages, approved store assets and campaign destinations. |
| Measurement | Analytics and mobile measurement partner properties, event definitions, conversion owners, connected accounts and reporting permissions. |
| Creative | Editable files, final exports, naming conventions, usage rights, licence expiry dates and approval history. |
| Operations | Scheduled campaigns, automated rules, reporting jobs, integration owners and escalation contacts. |
Verify access in the actual account. For example, GA4 permissions can come from account-level or property-level roles. Being able to view a report does not mean someone can manage users or change the property.
3. Check dependencies before removing the outgoing partner
Ask the outgoing and incoming teams to identify anything supplied through the agency’s own accounts. This can include conversion tracking, audience lists, billing, reporting connectors or licensed creative assets. Agree how each dependency will continue or be replaced before access is withdrawn.
Google documents a specific example: unlinking a manager preserves a client’s own Google Ads campaign history, but can disrupt shared audiences, cross-account conversion tracking and manager-paid monthly invoicing. Review the applicable conditions in Google’s account unlinking guidance. Do not assume every platform or account arrangement behaves the same way.
For each dependency, record the replacement owner, planned change, verification step and recovery option. Confirm contractual rights to accounts, data and creative rather than assuming that possession of a file grants unrestricted use.
4. Preserve a performance baseline
Save the reports the business uses to make decisions, with their date ranges, currency, attribution settings and definitions. Include spend, acquisition events and downstream outcomes. Separate first purchases from renewals, paid trials from free trials, and gross revenue from the revenue used in finance reporting.
Keep acquisition cohorts at comparable ages. A new cohort with three days of revenue should not be judged against one that has had a full month to convert. Mark incomplete periods and record known tracking gaps, outages and promotions beside the numbers.
The incoming team should reproduce one agreed baseline report before proposing major budget changes. Where sources disagree, record the difference and its likely explanation. Do not silently replace an old definition to make the new dashboard look consistent.
5. Transfer the learning behind the campaigns
Request a short decision log, not just an export of active ads. For each meaningful test, record the hypothesis, audience, market, dates, spend, outcome and reason it was continued or stopped. Include inconclusive tests and failed ideas so the new team can distinguish unexplored opportunities from work already tested.
Creative notes should explain which customer problem each concept addresses, what evidence supports the claims, and which versions were rejected. Add product context: onboarding friction, renewal patterns, customer objections and any markets the business cannot currently support.
Our TIER case study describes an initial campaign review and creative work across eight languages before further expansion. It is a planning example, not evidence that every agency transition will produce the same result.
6. Sign off on operation before expansion
Run an agreed verification session with the people responsible for media, product and measurement. Use an approved test path where needed, identify test records and keep them separate from commercial reporting. Then record what was actually observed.
- The incoming operators can access the correct accounts and reporting properties.
- Billing and approved delivery are functioning after the changeover.
- Campaign destinations open the intended store page, app journey or website.
- The agreed conversion path is observed in the relevant systems, allowing for documented reporting delays.
- Creative rights, outstanding approvals and scheduled activity have named owners.
- Outgoing access is reviewed after dependencies are resolved, including integrations that need a separate removal or credential change.
Keep unresolved items visible with an owner and next action. Schedule the first performance review around your conversion cycle and reporting maturity. An operational handover can be complete before there is enough evidence to judge a new acquisition strategy.
Discuss your transition
See our app growth consulting service, or share your app and handover context with Admiral Media. Include current channels, approximate monthly media spend, markets, timing and the problem you want the next partner to solve. Keep credentials and customer-level data out of the initial enquiry.
