Start with what you need, not who's available
Before you speak to anyone, write down what you want to change in the business. 'More enquiries from commercial clients in the East Midlands' is useful. 'We need to do more marketing' isn't. Then note what you've tried, what worked and what didn't, and what you can realistically put in, in time as well as money.
That note does two jobs. It lets you judge whether an agency is actually listening, and it stops you being sold whatever the agency happens to specialise in. An SEO agency will tend to recommend SEO and a paid media agency will recommend ads. That's natural, but it isn't always what you need.
The questions most people forget to ask
Most agency conversations cover services and fees. These are the questions that tell you what working together will actually be like:
- Who will actually work on our account, and how experienced are they?
- Can we speak to a current client, not just read a case study?
- Who owns the ad accounts, analytics, website, content and data if we part ways?
- What will you need from us each month, and how quickly?
- Will your reports show enquiries and revenue, or just clicks and impressions?
- What's the minimum commitment, and what's the notice period?
- What would make you tell us this isn't working?
Ownership: the one that causes the most trouble
It happens more often than you'd think. A business leaves an agency and discovers it doesn't own its own Google Ads account, can't get into its analytics, or has a website on a platform only the agency can edit. Occasionally that's deliberate. More often it's just how things were set up, and nobody thought about it until the relationship ended.
The fix is simple. Your Google Ads, Meta, Google Analytics, Search Console and domain accounts should be in your name, with the agency given access. Your contract should say you own the website, content, creative and data produced for you. A good agency will agree without hesitation. At Brintech it's the default: you own everything we make for you, and you're free to stop at any time.
Red flags
Walk away, or at least slow down, if you see any of these:
- Guaranteed rankings, guaranteed page one, or a promised return before they've seen your data
- Long lock-in contracts for a service you haven't tried
- Vague reports full of numbers that don't connect to enquiries or sales
- Reluctance to explain what they'll actually do each month
- Pressure to sign quickly, or discounts that expire in 48 hours
- Case studies with big percentages and no starting numbers
Specialist or full-service?
A specialist agency goes deep on one channel. A full-service agency or growth partner covers several and should be able to join them up. Neither is automatically better.
A specialist makes sense when you already know which channel matters and you have someone in-house who can connect the pieces. A broader partner makes sense when the problem isn't one channel: when your website, ads, content, sales follow-up and brand all need to work together and nobody currently owns the whole picture. The risk with several specialists is that each one optimises its own piece and nobody is responsible for the result.
How to judge the first three months
Agree at the start what 'working' should look like after three months, bearing in mind that some channels are slower than others. With paid ads you should see clear learning and early results. With SEO and content you should see the work being done, technical issues fixed and early movement, though not necessarily a flood of leads.
The best sign is communication. A good agency tells you plainly what's working, what isn't and what they're changing, without waiting to be asked. If you're chasing them for updates by month two, that tells you something.
One last test
Notice how they behave before you sign. Did they ask good questions about your business, or mostly talk about themselves? Did they tell you anything you didn't want to hear? After the meeting, did they send something useful, or just keep pushing for a decision? How an agency treats you as a prospect is usually a fair preview of how it will treat you as a client.
Should I sign a 12-month contract with a marketing agency?
Be cautious about long commitments before you've seen how an agency works. Some work, such as SEO, does need time, but that's an argument for a realistic plan, not for a contract you can't leave. Look for a reasonable notice period and clear ownership of everything produced.
How do I know if my marketing agency is doing a good job?
Check whether the reporting connects activity to enquiries and revenue, whether they explain what they're doing and why, and whether results are moving the right way over a sensible timescale for the channel. If you can't tell what you're paying for, ask. A good agency will welcome the question.
What should I own when I leave an agency?
Your domain, website, content, creative, ad accounts, analytics, Search Console, social profiles and any data collected for you. Make sure these are in your name from the start, with the agency given access, rather than the other way round.
Looking for a growth partner rather than another supplier?
Tell us what you want to change. No pitch deck and no pressure, and if we're not the right fit, we'll say so. It's a free, no-pressure consultation, and we never chase you afterwards.
