How we work

Services

Most engagements start with a conversation about what's actually broken or where the upside is. Book A Strategy Call and we'll figure out which model makes sense for you.

Safemode works with brands spending $50,000 or more per month on paid media. Below that, the math on a senior consultant usually doesn't pencil out.

One-Time Engagements

The Audit

Two to four weeks. Flat fee.

A full diagnostic of your paid media operation. Account structure, channel mix, conversion validation, attribution model, reporting infrastructure, and incrementality readiness all reviewed against what your accounts should look like for a brand at your spend level. You walk away with a prioritized action plan: what's leaking budget, what's underbuilt, and what to fix first.

Best for: brands looking for an outside read on their paid media before reallocating budget; companies considering switching agencies who want a third-party perspective; and marketing leaders who want clarity on where the upside is.

Investment: $7,500 to $20,000 flat, depending on account size and channel count.

Digital Marketing Reporting Infrastructure

Build plus optional ongoing monitoring.

Build out the data pipeline that connects your paid media platforms to a central source of truth. Custom BigQuery pipelines, GA4 configuration, automated daily ingestion from Google Ads and Meta, plus dashboards your team and stakeholders can use. Built in your own Google Cloud and analytics accounts. Your data stays yours, and there's no dependency on Safemode if you ever switch directions.

Best for: brands looking for a unified view of paid media performance across platforms; marketing teams who want reporting that lives outside of platform dashboards; and in-house teams who want their own data warehouse rather than relying on agency-owned dashboards.

Investment: Build $5,000 to $15,000 flat, depending on data sources and complexity. Optional monitoring quoted alongside the build, based on what was built.

Optional ongoing monitoring covers pipeline health, alerting when something breaks, schema updates when platforms change, and minor fixes. New dashboards, new channels, ad-hoc analysis, and other custom work are scoped separately as needed.

Measurement & Incrementality

Project-based or ongoing.

Design and execute the causal-measurement layer for your paid program: matched-market geo-lift tests, Bayesian media mix models with macro and seasonality controls, conversion validation against CRM truth, and holdout designs that isolate incremental contribution from credited platform conversions. Tests run in your own cloud environment with code and methodology documented for your team.

Best for: brands at $100,000 or more per month in paid spend where the question is no longer "are the ads working" but "how much of this would have happened anyway"; teams that need to defend paid budgets in front of a CFO or board; and brands operating in regulated or long-cycle industries where last-click attribution doesn't fit the buying journey.

Investment: $15,000 to $50,000 per project for a scoped geo-lift test or MMM build. Ongoing measurement-as-a-service quoted alongside.

Ongoing Engagements

Paid Media Management

Monthly retainer.

Hands-on management of your paid media program across Google Ads (Search, Performance Max, Shopping, YouTube), Microsoft Ads, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), LinkedIn, TikTok, Reddit, programmatic display, and connected TV (MNTN and similar). Channel mix matched to where your audience actually converts. Strategy and execution by the same person.

What's included:

  • Campaign strategy, build, and ongoing optimization across Google Ads, Meta, and other paid channels
  • Performance reporting validated against your own CRM and analytics
  • Coordination with your tracking and analytics team or implementation partner to ensure conversion data flows correctly into the platforms
  • Weekly account ops, monthly performance reviews, quarterly strategic planning

Best for: brands spending $50,000 or more per month on paid media, and companies that want senior-level account work, not a junior buyer at an agency.

Investment: $5,000 to $15,000+ per month based on spend volume and complexity.

Fractional CMO / Paid Media Lead

Monthly retainer. Senior strategic engagement.

Broader than channel management. Full ownership of paid media strategy across all channels, plus marketing org review, vendor and agency management, board-level reporting, and hiring support for in-house roles. This is the engagement when you have an internal marketing team that needs senior paid media leadership without a full-time hire, or when you're scaling fast enough that you need a strategic partner before you're ready to hire a VP of Marketing.

Best for: companies with an in-house marketing team that needs senior paid media direction without committing to a full-time CMO. Common shapes: mid-market operators ($50M to $500M revenue), multi-location services brands, and venture-backed startups (Series A through C). The common thread is an internal team doing the work, missing a senior strategic overlay.

Investment: $15,000 to $30,000+ per month.