A fractional Head of UA costs less than the executive it replaces and more than an agency retainer at the bottom of the market. What decides the number, in the order it gets decided.
This page is for someone who has already decided they want senior help and now needs to know what it will cost and why. It does not publish a retainer figure, and it says why. It does publish the ad production prices, because those are fixed. The accounts behind the numbers are Videa’s D0 ROAS from 20% to a 43% record week and the Horse Racing Solitaire account that doubled its D0 ROAS, and the clients who paid are quoted on the reviews page.
What has a price, and what gets scoped
| What you book | Price | What you get | Terms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intro call | Free | Thirty minutes that cover fit and scope | The call is where the scope, and therefore the number, gets decided |
| Growth audit | Fixed fee, sized to the account, quoted on the intro call | A written read of the paid funnel, the signal and the creative, and the order to fix things in | Any spend level, booked on its own; days from access to the written read |
| Retainer | Scoped on the intro call; no list price | Advisory, embedded, or embedded with creative production | For apps spending around $100K a month on paid UA, or funded to get there; month to month, 14 days notice |
| Ad production: the Sprint | €2,000, one time | 15 ads: 3 ideas, 5 versions of each, tested 14 days in your ad account | Creator fees on top, typically €100 to €300 per creator; credited against the Loop if you continue within 60 days |
| Ad production: the Loop | From €2,000 a month | 15 ads a month: 10 new, 5 versions of the winner | Creator fees on top; month to month, 14 days notice |
What sets the price
- Involvement. The table below sets out the three levels and what I do at each.
- Spend level. The work changes past six figures a month: account consolidation, signal density, incrementality checks, creative volume planning. That is the altitude the retainer is built for, and it shapes what a fractional Head of UA does.
- Whether creative is included. Creative inside a retainer is quoted with the retainer scope. Ad production is priced on its own page, and it can be bought without the retainer.
| Level | What I do | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Advisory | A weekly review of your numbers, strategy direction and priorities, and a second read on your data and decisions | Teams that already run UA in house and want senior direction |
| Embedded | I own the channels, the creative testing and the signal setup, and I am in the account daily | Apps scaling paid UA that want a senior operator owning channels, creative and signal end to end |
| Embedded with creative production | Everything in embedded, plus ad creative produced with my creator network (UGC, AI, gameplay and 2D motion) and a steady pipeline of new concepts to test | Teams that want growth run and the creative produced, end to end |
No retainer figure, and the audit on its own
I do not publish the retainer figure on this page because it is scoped on the intro call, and a number without the scope behind it would mislead in both directions. The growth audit ends in a written verdict, so teams leave with something they can act on whether a retainer follows or not.
What is never on the invoice
A contract that traps you. Nothing locks you in. An account manager. You talk to the person doing the work, and changes happen the day we discuss them. The comparison with an agency and a permanent hire sets the three cost bases side by side.
Questions people ask
Is a fractional Head of UA cheaper than an agency?
At the spend levels I work at, usually yes once you count what the agency retainer buys. The comparison page sets the three options side by side.
What if we are below the spend threshold?
Book the growth audit. It is a flat fee, it can be booked at any spend level, it reads the whole account, and it tells you whether paid UA is even the bottleneck. Several teams have used it to decide whether to hire.
Does creative production have a price?
Yes. A test sprint of 15 ads for €2,000, or 15 ads a month for €2,000. It is on the pricing page, with what is included.