How to choose a digital marketing agency: 10 questions to ask first.

Choosing a digital marketing agency is a trust decision. You are handing over budget, brand voice, and access to your accounts, and results take months to judge. The right agency becomes an extension of your team. The wrong one burns a quarter of your budget before you realize it. These ten questions help you tell the difference.

Ten questions to ask

1. 1What results have you delivered for businesses like mine, and can I speak to a client?
2. 2Who will actually work on my account, and how often will we talk?
3. 3How will you measure success? Ask for leads, cost per lead, and revenue, not impressions.
4. 4Will I own my ad accounts, analytics, website, and content?
5. 5What does your pricing include, and is any of it percentage-based?
6. 6How long is the contract, and how do I exit if it is not working?
7. 7What is your process for the first 90 days?
8. 8How do you handle my market, language, and competitors?
9. 9What would you not recommend for my business?
10. 10What will your reports look like? Ask to see a sample.

Red flags

• ▸Guarantees of rankings, such as number one on Google, or overnight results.
• ▸Vague explanations of tactics, or reliance on buzzwords.
• ▸Long contracts with high cancellation fees.
• ▸No willingness to share access or documentation.
• ▸A one-size-fits-all package offered before they have looked at your business.
• ▸Case studies with no numbers, or numbers with no context.

What a good proposal includes

• ▸A summary of your current situation based on an actual audit.
• ▸Clear goals and how they will be measured.
• ▸A list of specific deliverables and a timeline.
• ▸Itemized pricing, with ad spend shown separately.
• ▸The reporting schedule and who your point of contact is.

Specialist or full-service?

Specialist agencies go deep on one channel, which suits businesses with a clear need such as SEO only. Full-service agencies coordinate several channels under one plan, which suits businesses that need search, ads, content, and email to work together without duplicated cost. The question to ask either way is who owns the overall result.

If you are also hiring for web design, our guide on how to choose a web design agency covers the equivalent questions. And if you would like to see how we answer all ten, book a free audit.