questions to ask before you hire a marketing agency.

Ask any agency nine things before you sign: what you will be measured on, when results start, who owns the accounts, who does the work, what it needs from you, how it is paid, what happens if it misses, whether it works with your competitors, and what the monthly report contains. A good agency answers each plainly and in writing. A weak one answers with confidence and no detail.

Each question below says why it matters, what a good answer sounds like, and what to treat as a red flag. Use it as a marketing agency checklist on the first call.

results

1. What exactly will you be measured on?

The answer should be a number you can check, such as qualified leads, booked calls or cost per lead, not “visibility” or “engagement”. If leads are the target, ask how a lead is defined; our guide to what a qualified lead is shows what to write down. Red flag: a target nobody can verify without the agency’s help.

2. When should I expect first results, and what counts as a result?

Honest timing differs by channel. Paid and social can show movement in the first month. Search usually takes longer; see how long SEO takes. A good answer gives a range per channel and names what you will see at each point. Red flag: “quick wins” on search, or no answer at all.

ownership

3. Who owns the accounts, ads, content and data, and what happens when we part?

You should own all of it throughout. The agency should hold management access, not the keys. A good answer names the handover: what you get back and how fast. Ours is that the client owns the accounts and content throughout, and we hand admin control back within 14 days of the end date. Red flag: ad accounts opened in the agency’s name, or content you can only keep by paying a release fee.

4. Whose ad account does the spend run on?

Your own is the safe answer. You see every charge, and the account history stays with you if you leave. Red flag: spend routed through the agency with a markup you cannot see.

the work

5. Who does the work: your staff, or subcontractors?

Subcontracting is not wrong, but you should know. Ask who will write, design and run the campaigns, and who you speak to when something breaks. A good answer names roles and gives you one point of contact. Red flag: the people who pitched are not the people who deliver, and nobody will say who is.

6. What do you need from us each month?

Campaigns stall on missing approvals, not on bad ideas. A good agency lists what it needs: product facts, screenshots, account access, how fast you approve content, how fast you follow up leads. Red flag: “we handle everything”. Nobody does; work they cannot do without you will quietly slip.

money and terms

7. How are you paid, what is the minimum term, and how much notice do I give?

Get the fee model, the term and the notice period in writing before you compare prices. Terms of several months are normal for work that compounds. Red flags: auto-renewals buried in the contract, long notice periods, or fees that change with the agency’s costs rather than the scope.

8. What happens if you miss the target, and do you work with our competitors?

Two questions, both about alignment. A good answer to the first is a remedy, not an apology. Ours is a monthly lead floor set from the first three months of data; miss it two months running and the client can end early. For the second, the best answer is no competitors in your category during the term, written into the agreement. Red flag: “we can’t promise anything”, or a shrug about competitors.

reporting

9. What does the monthly report contain?

A useful report shows the target metric first, then what was done, what changed and what happens next month. It should come from data you can open yourself. Red flag: a report full of impressions, followers and charts that never mention the number you agreed on.

how to use this list

Ask every agency the same questions, in the same order, and take notes. Compare the answers, not the presentations. Ask for the important ones, ownership, term and the miss-the-target remedy, to be shown in the draft agreement, not just said on a call.

Pay attention to how an agency handles a question it does not like. Plain answers, including “that depends, and here is why”, are a better sign than polish. If you want to hear our answers, put these questions to us on a call.