25 questions to ask before hiring a marketing agency
The best questions before hiring a marketing agency test its understanding, relevant experience, proposed team, commercial terms and evidence. Ask finalists the same core questions and record what supports each answer. Confidence is easier to compare when it has to bring documentation.
Use the agency comparison scorecard and one-page brief alongside this guide. The five scorecard categories match AFG's existing 100-point buyer's scorecard.
You do not need to read all 25 questions aloud in one exhausting meeting. Resolve basic fit in writing, use the working conversation to test judgment, and review commercial terms with the relevant decision-makers.
Understanding and service fit
1. What do you believe our main business problem is?
Listen for a diagnosis in your language, connected to the evidence you supplied. Ask what is known and what still needs investigation. An immediate service pitch is weaker than a clear explanation of the problem.
2. Why is your proposed service the right intervention?
Ask for the connection between the work and the condition you want to change. The agency should identify assumptions and dependencies, including work your team must complete.
3. What would you deliberately leave out?
A useful answer sets priorities and protects resources. Request the reason for each major exclusion and the evidence that might justify adding it later.
4. What would make you advise us not to hire you?
Look for specific limits involving fit, resources, readiness or expertise. A provider willing to name those limits gives you something to test beyond enthusiasm.
5. What should the first phase leave us able to do?
Request concrete milestones and usable outputs. Separate setup, learning and delivery from the timetable for business results, especially where the sales cycle is long.
Relevant experience
6. Which clients had problems and constraints similar to ours?
Ask about business model, economics, budget and internal capacity. A familiar industry is helpful but insufficient if the agency's role was unrelated to your need.
7. What work did you personally perform in that case study?
Identify the agency's scope, the client team's contribution and other partners. Record the time period and whether the relationship is current. A logo establishes less than a clearly described engagement.
8. What was the baseline before the work began?
Request starting values and the comparison period. For percentage claims, ask for the denominator. Confirm whether the result is revenue, attributed revenue, profit, a rate or a count.
9. What else changed during the engagement?
Discuss promotions, budget, pricing, inventory, tracking and other marketing. An agency that recognizes alternative explanations is giving you a more credible account of the result.
10. Can we speak with a relevant client about the working relationship?
Ask the reference about communication, mistakes, handoffs and the staff who did the work. Respect confidentiality. A relevant private reference can be more useful than another public testimonial.
The team and operating model
11. Who will do the work after we sign?
Meet the delivery lead and essential specialists. Ask about their roles, experience and availability. Record which senior people provide ongoing supervision rather than attending only the pitch.
12. Which work is subcontracted?
Request the management and quality-control arrangement, including access to sensitive systems. Evaluate how the work is supervised; outsourcing by itself does not establish poor quality.
13. How will the delivery team receive what you learned during sales?
Ask to see the handoff structure, with sensitive information removed. Expect objectives, constraints, promises and unresolved questions to reach the team before onboarding.
14. What do you need from us each week?
List approvals, assets, data access, implementation and meetings. Assign an internal owner before signing. A dependency you cannot supply belongs in the negotiation now.
15. What happens if our account lead is unavailable or leaves?
Ask about backup coverage, documentation and the replacement process. Request a realistic example of a staffing change and how continuity was protected.
Price, scope and control
16. What is the full cost of the first six months?
Separate setup, management, production, media, tools and third-party charges. Use the quote worksheet, with the same scope and time horizon for each finalist.
17. What triggers an additional charge?
Ask about revisions, rush work, meetings, added markets and technical fixes. Have the agency explain how extra work is estimated and who must approve it.
18. How do your fees change when our spending or revenue changes?
Identify percentage fees, minimums, caps and performance components. Ask for a worked invoice and the measurement rules behind it. Examine incentives rather than assuming a pricing label aligns them.
19. Which accounts, files and rights remain with us?
Request an asset-and-access schedule. Distinguish owned deliverables from licenses and proprietary tools. Ensure your team can continue operating after handoff.
20. How do termination and renewal work?
Review minimum term, notice method, automatic renewal, outstanding fees and transition support. Use the contracts checklist and obtain legal review appropriate to the agreement.
Measurement and judgment
21. Which measures will tell us the business is improving?
Ask how each headline measure connects to a commercial consequence. Keep results, diagnostic indicators and delivery counts distinct. Require definitions and data sources.
22. How will you reconcile your reporting with our business records?
Discuss attribution, time windows, refunds and duplicate credit across platforms. Ask which differences are expected and how unexplained discrepancies are investigated.
23. Show us a report from a period when results disappointed.
Request a redacted example and the decision that followed. Look for candid interpretation, ownership and evidence of a changed approach. A perfect sample month reveals less about the working relationship.
24. How do you use AI, and who checks the output?
Ask about relevant tools, data handling, human review and rights. The answer should describe the actual workflow and accountability, not simply whether the agency is for or against AI.
25. What evidence would make you change or stop the plan?
Agree on review points, decision criteria and spending limits. A good answer names uncertainty and explains how it will be reduced without promising every result in advance.
Score evidence consistently
Resolve non-negotiable conflicts, security, budget and availability requirements before scoring. Then rate services fit, client fit, team, pricing and evidence on the same 0–5 scale, using weights of 25, 20, 20, 15 and 20 respectively. Multiply each rating by its weight divided by five.
Keep an unanswered question separate from a proven failure. Both may block selection, but they call for different follow-up. Write down the evidence beside each rating, then have stakeholders compare their reasoning before averaging anything.
The ANA and 4A's joint agency-search research provides useful background on making a search more disciplined and proportionate. A clear brief and evaluation process also help agencies decide whether they can serve you well. ANA/4A's Agency Search Simplification Report.
Choose the team whose answers survive the follow-up questions. The pitch only starts the evaluation.