Questions to ask an agency before you shortlist it

The point of a first call is to find out how an agency thinks. Asking every agency the same questions, in the same order, makes the answers comparable afterwards. Take notes in a grid with one column per agency, or use the scorecard, which holds the same questions.

Before the call

Send your one-page brief in advance (the method is in how to choose a marketing agency in the UAE). Ask the agency to say, at the start of the call, what it would want to know that the brief does not tell it. An agency that has nothing to ask has not read the brief.

Who you are dealing with

• Which legal entity will sign the contract and issue invoices, and what is its licence number?
• Who will work on my account day to day, and how many other accounts do they look after?
• Which parts of the work do you do yourselves, and which do you hand to other suppliers or freelancers?
• How long have you been in business, and how long has the person leading my account been with you?

The second and third questions matter more than the agency’s size. Google’s guidance on hiring an SEO includes asking how long a business has traded and how you can expect to communicate^[2], which is the same instinct.

The work and the evidence

• Can you show examples of previous work and explain what you did and what changed as a result?
• What experience do you have in my industry, and in my country or city?
• What results should I expect, over what timeframe, and what would make you say it is not working?
• What would you do in the first month, and what would you need from me?

These follow the questions Google suggests putting to a prospective SEO: previous work, expected results and timeframe, and experience in your industry and your country or city^[2]. Treat an answer that is all outcome and no method as an unanswered question. Treat a guaranteed result as a reason to look elsewhere: Google says no one can guarantee a number one ranking^[2].

Measurement

• What will you count as a conversion for my business, and who decides?
• How will you separate enquiries that came from advertising from those that did not?
• Will I be able to check every figure you report against my own accounts?

Google describes a conversion as an interaction with an ad that leads directly to a behaviour valuable to your business, such as a purchase or a phone call^[3]. The valuable behaviour is for you to define with the agency. If a report’s headline number is something you would not call a result, say so before you sign.

Access and leaving

• Will the advertising and analytics accounts be created in my business’s name, with me as owner?
• What will I be given, and by when, if I end the contract?
• Is there a minimum term, and what is the notice period?

In Google Ads a client account has one owner, and ownership carries full administrative access and data access^[1]. The agency should be comfortable with that being you. The guide on who should own your ad and analytics accounts explains why.

My own services are described on the services page of my own site, and I would expect you to put these questions to me as you would to any other agency.