Choosing a Marketing Agency: 10 Questions to Ask Before You Hire

How do you recognise a good marketing agency?

A good marketing agency first understands your business and your target customers before talking about channels and formats. It explains clearly what it does, why it does it and how you can measure success. And it also tells you what it cannot do.

Whether an agency is a good fit rarely shows in the pitch, but in the answers to specific questions. The following ten will help you in the first call.

Which 10 questions should you ask a marketing agency?

1. How do you measure success? Check whether the answer stops at likes and reach or goes all the way to enquiries, meetings and revenue.
2. Who exactly works on my project? You should know who your permanent contact is and whether parts of the work are outsourced.
3. What do the first 90 days look like? A good agency can show you a clear roadmap from analysis to the first results.
4. Who provides ideas, copy and content? Clarify whether you have to write briefings or whether the agency develops topics and writes copy itself.
5. What does the reporting look like? Ask for an example. Good reporting answers the question of what a measure has achieved.
6. How do you connect marketing and sales? If enquiries are not handled quickly and well, even the best marketing fizzles out.
7. What is the minimum term and notice period? Marketing takes time. Still, contract terms should be transparent and fair.
8. Who owns accounts, data and content? Ad accounts, social media profiles, the website and produced content should belong to you.
9. What experience do you have with my target customers? Industry experience helps, but experience with similar target groups and sales processes matters more.
10. What do you need from us? An honest agency tells you what time, approvals and access it needs from you.

What are the warning signs?

• Guarantees for first place on Google or for a specific number of leads. Reputable agencies give estimates, not guarantees.
• Unclear contracts, hidden costs or long terms without a recognisable reason.
• Reports full of numbers but without any statement about what the work achieved.
• No questions about your offer, your customers and your sales in the first call.
• Ad accounts or profiles registered to the agency instead of your company.

Agency, freelancer or in-house team: what fits?

• An agency is worthwhile if you need several areas such as strategy, content, ads and website from one source and do not want to build your own team.
• A freelancer fits if you have a clearly defined task and can manage it yourself.
• An in-house team is worthwhile if marketing has a large ongoing scope and you can provide leadership and training yourself.

Many companies combine the models: an agency for strategy and execution, plus one person in-house who approves content and contributes knowledge from the company.

Conclusion

You recognise the right marketing agency by concrete answers, not by promises. Take your time for the first call, ask the ten questions and compare several offers. In the end, choose an agency that understands your business and is measured against your goals.