I run a performance marketing agency, so take everything I say here with appropriate skepticism. That said, we lose deals to other agencies regularly, and when those prospects come back to us 6-9 months later after a bad experience, the problems they describe are remarkably consistent.
Most of those problems were avoidable. The signs were there from the start; people just didn’t know what to look for.
So here’s the checklist I’d use if I were hiring an agency — the questions to ask, the red flags to watch for, and the things that separate good agencies from ones that will waste your time and budget.
Before You Talk to Anyone: Define What You Need
The biggest mistake companies make is reaching out to agencies before they’ve defined the problem they’re trying to solve. “We need help with marketing” is not a brief. It’s a Rorschach test that every agency will interpret differently — usually in whatever way lets them sell their biggest package.
Get specific. Before you contact a single agency, write down:
What’s your budget? Not the budget you wish you had. The budget you can actually commit for 6 months. If an agency won’t tell you their minimums, ask directly. Wasting two weeks on a sales process only to discover their minimum retainer is 3x your budget helps nobody.
What channels are you already running? Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, nothing? An agency taking over existing campaigns is a different proposition than building everything from scratch.
What does success look like? “More leads” isn’t specific enough. “50 qualified leads per month at under $150 CPA” is. If you can’t define a quantitative goal, you can’t hold anyone accountable — including yourself.
What’s your timeline? Do you need results in 30 days or can you invest in a 90-day ramp? This affects which strategies are viable.
The Questions That Actually Matter
Most people ask agencies about their experience, their team size, and their client logos. Those things matter a little, but they’re easy to embellish. Here are the questions that actually reveal whether an agency knows what they’re doing.
“Walk me through how you’d approach our specific situation.”
Not a generic pitch deck. Not “we’d do an audit and then optimize.” A specific, thoughtful answer that references your industry, your budget level, and your goals. If the agency gives the same answer they’d give to any prospect, they’re selling process, not thinking about your business.
“What does your reporting look like? Can I see a sample?”
Look at what metrics they lead with. If the sample report is all about impressions, clicks, and CTR, that tells you where their head is. If it leads with CPA, ROAS, pipeline value, or revenue, that’s better.
Also look at frequency. Monthly reporting is the minimum. Bi-weekly is better. Weekly check-ins with data reviews are ideal, especially in the first 90 days.
“Who will actually work on my account?”
This is critical. Many agencies sell you on the senior strategist in the pitch meeting, then hand your account to a junior media buyer who’s managing 15 other accounts simultaneously. There’s nothing inherently wrong with junior team members doing execution, but if the senior person disappears entirely after the contract is signed, that’s a problem.
Ask for names. Ask about workload. Ask if the person managing your campaigns has managed budgets similar to yours.
“How do you handle underperformance?”
Every agency will tell you about their wins. Ask about their failures. What happens when a campaign isn’t hitting targets after 60 days? What’s their escalation process? How do they decide when to pivot versus when to push through a learning period?
An agency that’s never had an underperforming campaign is either lying or hasn’t been around long enough. The good ones have a systematic approach to diagnosing and fixing problems.
“Can I talk to a current client?”
Not a testimonial on their website. Not a curated case study. An actual person who’s working with them right now. If an agency won’t let you do a reference call, that’s a red flag worth noting.
When you get on that call, ask the client: “What’s the one thing you wish they did differently?”
Red Flags
Over the years, I’ve collected a mental list of things that signal trouble. None of these are absolute dealbreakers on their own, but two or three together should make you cautious.
Long-term contracts with limited exit options. Some agencies lock you into 12-month contracts with hefty termination fees. Good agencies earn your business every month. A 3-month initial commitment is reasonable — it takes time to build and optimize campaigns. Anything beyond that should come with clear exit provisions.
They won’t share account access. Your ad accounts should be owned by you. If the agency creates the accounts under their own MCC (My Client Center) and won’t give you admin access, your data and campaigns are hostage to the relationship. Always insist on account ownership from day one.
Vague pricing or hidden fees. If you can’t get a clear answer on what you’re paying for, that’s not complexity — it’s evasion. Understand the fee structure upfront: is it a flat retainer, percentage of spend, performance-based, or hybrid? What’s included and what’s extra?
“We do everything.” An agency that claims expertise in Google Ads, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, programmatic, SEO, email, PR, branding, web design, and video production is either enormous or lying. True performance marketing expertise requires deep, focused knowledge of specific platforms. A team of 10 people cannot genuinely be expert at all of that.
They don’t ask about your unit economics. An agency that jumps straight to campaign tactics without understanding your margins, customer lifetime value, and revenue model is going to optimize in a vacuum. They’ll hit CPA targets that make the dashboard look good but don’t actually make you money.
Celebrity client logos but no specifics. “We’ve worked with Nike, Google, and Amazon” is impressive until you realize they ran one $5K test campaign for a subdivision of a subsidiary. Logos without context are marketing, not credentials.
What Good Looks Like
The best agency relationships I’ve seen — from both sides of the table — share a few traits:
Radical transparency. The agency proactively shares what’s working, what isn’t, and what they’re doing about it. They don’t hide behind jargon or cherry-pick metrics for the monthly report.
Skin in the game. Whether it’s performance-based pricing, willingness to adjust scope based on results, or simply caring enough to push back on bad ideas, the agency acts like a partner, not a vendor.
Strategic thinking. They don’t just execute campaigns. They challenge your assumptions, suggest things you haven’t thought of, and connect media strategy to business outcomes. You feel smarter after talking to them.
Proactive communication. You shouldn’t have to chase your agency for updates. If something breaks or performance shifts significantly, they should be the first to tell you — ideally with a plan already in motion.
Systematic process. Good performance is repeatable. If the agency can’t explain their methodology for testing, optimizing, and scaling campaigns, they’re relying on individual talent rather than systems. Individual talent leaves. Systems stay.
A Final Thought
The right agency relationship can meaningfully change the trajectory of your business. The wrong one wastes months and burns through budget while you stand still. Taking the time to evaluate properly upfront is worth more than you’d think.
And one more thing: trust your gut on the people. You’re going to be working with these humans every week, sharing sensitive business data, and relying on them to spend your money wisely. If something feels off during the sales process, it’s not going to get better once the contract is signed.
Curious whether we’d be a good fit? We’re happy to do a free audit of your ad accounts with no commitment. If we’re not the right agency for you, we’ll say so.