How to switch marketing agencies without losing your accounts or leads

Don't give notice until you know who owns your accounts. Almost everything else about switching agencies can be fixed afterwards, but ownership of ad accounts, tracking and lead data can't, and the order of the nine steps exists to protect those.

Plan the switch to take about as long as your notice period, and plan it backwards from your next busy period. Each step says what to do if it fails.

What is the right order for switching marketing agencies?

Follow these nine steps in order, and don't skip ahead to giving notice.

1. 01Read the contract first. Note the end of the minimum term, the notice period, how notice must be given and to whom, because notice given in the wrong form may not count. If it fails: when the clause is missing or unclear, take the contract to a UAE-qualified lawyer before doing anything else. This isn't legal advice.
2. 02Audit access before anyone is told. List every asset on the handover checklist that follows these steps and write down, for each one, who owns it, who has admin rights and where the login lives. If it fails: when you can't tell who owns an account, check what the platform's own settings show. An asset found in the agency's name becomes a problem to solve in step 3, not a reason to give notice yet.
3. 03Make your business the owner of whatever can be moved, and an admin of whatever can't. Add two administrators from your own team, using company email addresses, while the agency still has its access, and ask in writing for transfer of anything registered to the agency. If it fails: where a platform won't transfer an account, open a new one in your business's name and export the history. If the agency stalls, send a written request citing the contract's ownership clause, and contact the platform with invoices and your trade licence as proof the business paid for the account. Take legal advice before withholding any payment, because that can turn an exit into a dispute.
4. 04Back up tracking and data before anything changes. Export the campaign history, keywords, audiences, conversion settings and tag containers, screenshot every dashboard, copy your UTM naming scheme and the definition of each conversion, and export the CRM and lead sheets. If it fails: when access sits with the agency and exports are blocked, make the exports part of the handover list in your notice letter.
5. 05Choose the new agency and brief it from the backups. Hand over the audit sheet, the exports and your notes on lead quality before it writes a plan, and ask how long it needs to go live. If it fails: when the new agency can't start inside your notice period, ask the old one for a short paid extension instead of letting campaigns idle.
6. 06Time your notice so the two overlap. Count back from the date the new agency needs to be live, and give notice so that its first working weeks fall inside the old agency's notice period. If it fails: when the notice period is shorter than the handover needs, agree a paid transition at the old agency's normal rate for a stated number of weeks, in writing.
7. 07Give notice in writing by the method the contract names, and ask for the handover plan in the same letter. State the last service day, list the assets and formats you expect, and ask for written acknowledgement. If it fails: when nobody acknowledges within a few days, send it again by the second method the contract allows and keep proof of sending.
8. 08Run the overlap. Keep the old campaigns on until the new ones are live, then test one lead end to end on both sides: a form fill, a call and a WhatsApp tap should each reach the CRM and the report. If it fails: when tracking breaks, pause spend on the affected campaign only, not the whole account, until the fix is verified.
9. 09Cut the old agency's access on the last day and not before. Remove their users from every account, change shared passwords, revoke integrations, and ask in writing for your customer data to be returned or deleted. If it fails: when the agency won't return data, put the request on record and ask your lawyer what comes next.

What belongs on the handover checklist?

Every asset that holds your data, your history or your customers' attention belongs on it, and each should be registered to your business.

Treat the WhatsApp number as the most urgent line, because a break there stops enquiries arriving. Our guide to click-to-WhatsApp ads covers the set-up and follow-up behind those enquiries, which matters for step 8.

When is the worst time to switch?

The worst time is the month before your busiest period, because a switch costs a learning period and your peak is when that learning is most expensive. Amazon Ads describes White Friday as beginning on the Friday after US Thanksgiving, which falls on 27 November in 2026, though that date is worked out from the calendar and not announced by a retailer. The Dubai Shopping Festival runs from 4 December 2026 to 17 January 2027 according to its organiser, and Ramadan 2027 is expected to start on 8 February 2027, pending moon sighting.

Pick the nearest peak that matters to your sector and work out whether your notice period would land inside it. If it would, either finish the handover before the peak starts, or keep the old agency through the peak and start the new one straight afterwards. The first 90 days with the new agency are easier when they don't open on a holiday.

If you're moving to us, your accounts, pages and files remain registered to your business from day one, and our prices are on the pricing page. Whichever agency you choose, work through the contract checklist before you sign, so the next exit is shorter than this one. Start step 2 today, and tell nobody until it's done.