Here is how it usually goes. Things go sour with the agency, you give notice, and a week later your website is offline, your Facebook ad account has been detached, and the phone number on all your van signage was a call-tracking number owned by someone who no longer works for you. Three years of spend history, reviews and campaign data, gone, because of a clause you skimmed on page four.
This is the most under-asked question in trade marketing and it takes about ten minutes to get straight. Ask it before you sign, not after you leave.
The Assets Worth Arguing About
"Marketing assets" is vague, so here is the specific list. Some of these are non-negotiable and some are genuinely debatable, and knowing which is which is the whole skill.
Notice the split. The first seven are yours by right, because they are either your identity or data you paid to generate. The last three are somebody's work product, and reasonable people disagree about them.
The Three Ownership Models
Model 1: you own everything
You own the accounts, the domain, the data, and the deliverables outright. Agencies that work this way usually charge more or invoice a separate build fee, because they are handing over an asset instead of licensing it. This is the cleanest arrangement and the best one for you if you can get it.
Model 2: you own your accounts and data, the agency owns its build
You keep the domain, ad accounts, CRM data and every lead. The landing pages, creative and automations remain the agency's intellectual property, licensed to you while you are a client. This is the most common structure in the industry and it is defensible, because those assets often use frameworks the agency reuses across clients.
This is the model LVRG operates on, and we will come back to that below rather than skip past it.
Model 3: the agency owns everything
Your site sits on their platform, your ads run through their ad account, your leads live in their CRM, and your tracking number belongs to them. Walk away. This is not a marketing arrangement, it is a hostage situation, and the moment you try to leave you will discover how well it was designed. This is the pattern behind most of the horror stories in I hired a marketing agency and got nothing.
A Ten-Minute Audit You Can Run Today
If you already have an agency, stop reading and go check these. It is uncomfortable and it is worth it.
- Domain. Look up your domain on the auDA WHOIS lookup. Is the registrant your business, with your ABN? If it is your agency or a web developer from 2018, fix that first.
- Meta. Go to business.facebook.com, then Settings, then People. Are you listed as full admin of the Business Manager and the ad account? "Employee" or "Advertiser" access is not ownership.
- Google Business Profile. Check whether you are the primary owner or just a manager. Managers can be removed by the owner.
- Your leads. Can you export every contact to a spreadsheet right now, without asking anyone? If not, you do not control your customer list.
- Your phone number. Is the number on your ads and signage yours, or a tracking number the agency provisioned?
Every one of these takes two minutes and any of them can save you a year of rebuilding.
What to Ask Before You Sign
- Whose name is on the ad account, and am I full admin from day one?
- If we part ways on good terms, exactly what do I walk away with? Ask for the list in writing.
- What gets switched off, and how much notice do I get before it does?
- Can I export my leads and CRM data at any time, without asking?
- Do you keep any rights over the creative, and can I keep running ads that are already performing?
- Is there a buyout figure to own the build outright?
The answers matter less than the manner. An agency that answers these plainly and quickly has thought about it and is comfortable telling you. An agency that gets vague, redirects to how great the results will be, or says "we'll sort that out if it ever comes up" has told you what you need to know. Add these to the list in what to ask before hiring a marketing agency.
What LVRG's Own Terms Say
It would be easy to write this article, point at the industry, and leave our own arrangement unmentioned. Here it is instead.
You keep: your Meta ad account and its full spend history, since ad spend goes on your own account and your own card. Your CRM data. Every lead and contact record we ever generated for you. That is written into section 7 of our terms.
You do not keep: the landing page, ad creative and automation workflows we build. Under sections 5 and 7, those remain LVRG's intellectual property, licensed to you while the engagement runs, and we may deactivate them when it ends.
So we are Model 2. That is a genuine limitation and you should weigh it, not wave it off because we were candid about it. What we would say in our defence is that the assets that compound over time, the ad account history and the customer list, stay with you, and a landing page is a fortnight of work to rebuild rather than a decade of data.
If owning the build outright matters to you, raise it with Kevin on the call. It is a conversation worth having before you sign rather than after you leave, which is the entire point of this article.
The general rule: anything that represents your identity (domain, phone number, business profile) or your accumulated data (leads, ad history, reviews) should be yours without argument. Anything that represents someone else's labour is a negotiation. Just make sure you have the negotiation while you still have leverage.
Common Questions
Who should own my Facebook ad account, me or my agency?
You should. Create your own Meta Business Manager and ad account, then add the agency as a partner with admin access. If the agency runs your ads through their own account you lose the entire spend history, custom audiences and pixel learning the day you leave, and you cannot independently verify what was actually spent.
What happens to my leads if I stop working with a marketing agency?
Your leads and CRM data should always be yours, and any reasonable agency agreement will say so. Check that you can export every contact to a spreadsheet at any time without asking permission. If you cannot, you do not control your own customer list, which is the most valuable asset the marketing produced.
Can an agency take my website down when I leave?
If they own the domain or the hosting, yes. Check the registrant on your domain through the auDA WHOIS lookup and make sure it is your business with your ABN. Agency-built landing pages are a different matter and are often licensed rather than sold, so ask specifically what stays live after termination.
Is it normal for an agency to keep the intellectual property in what they build?
It is common and it can be reasonable, particularly where the agency reuses frameworks across clients. What is not reasonable is the agency also holding your domain, ad account, phone number or lead data. Keep those separate in your head: your identity and your data should be yours, and the agency's work product is negotiable.
What is the one thing I should check right now?
Your domain registrant, and your admin role in Meta Business Manager. Both take two minutes. Losing your domain takes your website and your email address with it, and losing the ad account takes every bit of history that makes your campaigns cheaper to run over time.
Should I pay extra to own everything outright?
Often yes, if the figure is sensible. Ask for a buyout price on the build. If you plan to keep the funnel running for years, owning it outright is usually cheaper than the disruption of rebuilding, and it removes the leverage question from the relationship entirely.