The questions to ask a marketing agency before you sign (a founder’s checklist)

After nine years and 600+ clients, we would have you ask a marketing agency nine questions before you sign: who does the work, what they deliver, how success is defined, who owns the accounts, what proof they have, what happens when results miss, what they need from you, how they report, and why you should trust them. Then check the contract for the fee, the term, the exit, ownership and payment. This page gives each question, why it matters, and what a good answer sounds like.

You have probably been here before. The last agency showed you a polished deck, promised a lot, and handed you a dashboard instead of a result. You are not imagining the pattern. In RSW/US's 2023 New Year Outlook Report, marketers asked why they last reviewed agencies put "not happy with strategy or thinking" at the top, tied at 39% with "not happy with creative", with "lack of proactivity" cited by 30% and the agency's "inability to manage or control costs" by about one in five. The fix is not a better gut feeling. It is a better set of questions, asked before you sign.

It also helps to know the market you are buying into. In SparkToro's "The State of Digital Agencies in 2024," a survey of 612 agency owners and consultants by Paddy Moogan, only 10% described 2024 as a healthy year for their business while 44% called it a struggle, and new-business sales was named the number one challenge by nearly 70% of respondents. Our own read: a strained agency is more likely to over-promise to win you and under-deliver once you are signed, which is exactly why hard questions up front protect you.

At The Social Target we welcome every one of these questions. Our experience is that the founders who ask the hardest questions make the easiest long-term relationships, because expectations are set in writing on day one. A great agency wants to be asked this. If an agency squirms, treat that as your first answer.

Each question comes with why it matters and what a good answer sounds like, so you can score the room as you go. Questions one to nine test the relationship. The section after them tests the paper.

1. Who, by name, will actually do my work?

Ask for the specific people on your account, not the agency's headcount. You want to know who runs your ads, who writes your copy, and who you speak to each week. The answer tells you whether you are buying senior attention or a junior with a template.

Why it matters. Plenty of agencies win you with a senior pitch team, then hand delivery to whoever is free. Turnover makes this worse than it looks: in RSW/US's 2024 Agency New Business Report, 76% of the agencies RSW/US surveyed (RSW/US works with agencies across the US) said their most recent new-business director had lasted two years or less. That figure measures the sales hire, not delivery staff. Our read: the person who sold you may be gone before the work matures. If the people in the room are not the people on the account, you are buying a brochure.

A good answer: "Here is your strategist, your media buyer, and your point of contact. You will meet them before you sign." Real names, real roles.

2. What exactly will you deliver, and how often?

Get the deliverables and the cadence in writing: how many ads, posts, emails, or reports, and on what schedule. A clear scope protects both sides. A vague scope is where over-promising lives.

Why it matters. "Full-service marketing" is not a deliverable. It is a mood. When scope is fuzzy, you cannot tell whether you are getting value, and the agency cannot be held to anything.

A good answer: a plain list. "Each month: this many creatives, these channels managed, this reporting cadence, these review calls." If they cannot tell you what lands on your desk and when, they have not thought it through.

3. How do you define success for this engagement?

Ask them to name the single business number this work is meant to move, and how they will measure it. Success should map to revenue, leads, or retention, not to impressions and reach.

Why it matters. If nobody agrees what winning looks like before the work starts, every report becomes a negotiation about whether it worked. Vanity metrics are where weak agencies hide.

A good answer: "We will move qualified leads (or revenue, or repeat purchase rate). Here is the baseline, the target, and the timeframe." A confident agency commits to a number. (We go deeper on this in our guide to what a marketing agency should report on.)

4. Who owns the accounts, the data, and the creative?

Confirm in writing that you keep your ad accounts, analytics, pixels, audiences, and finished creative if the relationship ends. Ownership is the question agencies most hope you forget to ask.

Why it matters. Some agencies build everything inside their own accounts, so leaving means starting from zero: no data, no warm audiences, no creative library. That is a trap sold as a service. The contract section below shows the setting that controls admin access on Google Ads.

A good answer: "Everything is built in accounts you own. If we part ways, you keep all of it." Anything less is a lock-in, and you should treat it as one.

5. Can I see results from a brand like mine?

Ask for relevant proof: work in your sector, at your stage, with outcomes they can speak to. You are testing whether their track record is real and applicable, not whether their portfolio looks nice.

Why it matters. A pretty case study from an unrelated industry tells you little. You want evidence they have solved a problem shaped like yours, and can explain how.

A good answer: a specific story. "Here is a brand in your position, here is what we changed, here is what moved and why." Ours read like that: LokmanVideo grew from 40k to roughly 2M subscribers, Old Dirty Brasstards reached 15x ROAS, and FoundPop has averaged 10.3x blended ROAS across the relationship. If every example is anonymous and every number is round, push harder. Ask to speak to a current client, not only to read a case study.

6. What happens when something is not working?

Ask how they handle underperformance: how fast they spot it, how they tell you, and what they change. The honest answer to this question separates operators from order-takers.

Why it matters. No agency wins every test. The ones worth hiring have a process for failure and tell you bad news early. The ones to avoid go quiet when the chart dips, which maps to the "lack of proactivity" that 30% of marketers in RSW/US's 2023 report named as a reason they went looking for someone new.

A good answer: "We will flag it before you notice it, explain what we are changing, and show you the new plan." At The Social Target our promise is simple: we deliver what we said we would, faster than you expected, and if we cannot, we tell you upfront. That second half is the part that matters.

7. What do you need from me to do your best work?

A good agency will name what it needs from you: access, brand assets, decision-makers, and your time. If they expect you to disappear and reappear for results, lower your expectations.

Why it matters. The best marketing is a partnership, not a vending machine. An agency that has thought about your side of the work has done this before.

A good answer: "We need your brand assets, your sign-off on this cadence, one decision-maker we can reach, and roughly this much of your time per month." An agency that is clear about your role has usually run this process before.

8. How, and how often, will you report to me?

Ask to see a real report before you sign, and confirm the cadence. The report should explain what happened, why, and what is next, in language you can act on.

Why it matters. Reporting is where accountability lives or dies. It is also where retention is won: in AgencyAnalytics' 2025 Marketing Agency Benchmarks Report, a survey of 220+ agency leaders, 70% (7 in 10) rated client reporting as "extremely important" for retention. A wall of metrics with no narrative is the agency hiding. A clear report you can read in five minutes is the agency showing its work.

A good answer: "Here is a sample of the report you will receive." Read it cold. If you cannot tell whether the money is working, that is your answer.

9. Why should I trust you after the last agency let me down?

Ask it directly. You are not being rude. You are giving them the chance to address the wound that brought you here, and watching how they handle the hardest question in the room.

Why it matters. Every founder vetting an agency carries the last one's failure. The relationship is what holds it together or breaks it: in the same AgencyAnalytics report, 81% of agency leaders agreed that strong client relationships are the biggest factor in retaining accounts, ranking above effective communication (67%) and campaign performance (49%). An agency worth signing with does not get defensive. It acknowledges the pattern, then shows you how it is built differently.

A good answer: calm, specific, and a little relieved you asked. We are run by an artist and operated like an engineer: we care about the craft and we are disciplined about the numbers. The right agency answers this by inviting more questions.

The contract: five clauses to read before you sign

Read five things on the paper before you sign: what the fee covers, how long the first term runs and whether it renews on its own, how you can leave and what you owe, who owns the work and the accounts, and how you pay. If a clause is missing, ask for it to be added in writing. The answers you got in the meeting only count if they are in the document.

The nine questions tell you who you are dealing with. This section tells you what happens when the relationship ends, which is the part nobody enjoys discussing in the pitch. Each clause below is a question to put to the agency and a thing to look for in the draft agreement.

1. What does the fee cover, and what sits outside it? Ask for the fee broken down: which deliverables are inside it, whether ad spend is on top of the fee, whether the agency adds a margin to that spend and whether you can audit what was spent, and what an extra round of work costs. Breef makes the same point in its own pre-signing list: ask how an agency estimates costs, handles overages, and bills for additional rounds of revisions (Breef). A good answer names every cost line before you sign. If you are still choosing between a monthly fee and a fixed price, our guides to retainer versus project pricing and what a retainer should cost cover the maths.

2. How long is the first term, and does it renew itself? Ask for the initial term, whether it rolls over automatically, and how much notice stops the renewal. The agency Moburst makes a related point: know the contract length before you sign, and understand the financial penalties if the fit turns out wrong (Moburst). Our view: a fair first term gives the work time to prove itself, and the renewal terms are readable in one sentence. A term you cannot find, or a renewal buried in the small print, is a reason to slow down.

3. How do you leave, and what do you owe when you do? Ask what notice ends the contract, what you still owe for work done and ad spend already committed, and what handover the agency gives you. The answer should be a short list, not a negotiation you start after the relationship has soured. If you have already reached that point with an agency, how to fire a marketing agency without breaking your marketing walks through the exit. In 2015 the UK trade bodies ISBA and the IPA launched model client-agency contract templates for retainer and project work, released to their members only (World Federation of Advertisers). A law firm's review, published in 2000, of the 1998 ISBA, IPA and CIPS suggested terms called them a useful checklist of issues and singled out the scope of services, audit rights and client conflicts as areas needing care (Osborne Clarke). Treat it as a prompt, not a full list: those three areas are worth raising in any agency agreement.

4. Who owns the work and the accounts? Two separate things. First, the accounts. On Google Ads, a manager account that creates a new client account automatically becomes its owner, while a manager linked to an existing account does not get ownership unless the client switches it on, and an owner can remove users and unlink other managers (Google Ads Help). Google is clear that an owner manager does not take data ownership away from the client account, and that the client can unlink it. The real risk is not having your own admin login: if the agency alone holds admin access, leaving depends on their cooperation. So ask whether the account is in your business name with your own admin user and your own billing, and the agency linked in. Second, the deliverables. Ask whether the creative, copy and files become yours on payment, and what licence you hold over any tools or templates the agency reuses across clients. A good answer: you hold admin access to the accounts and own the finished work, the agency keeps its own tools, and the paper says so.

5. How and when do you pay? Ask whether you are invoiced monthly or upfront, how long you have to pay, and what happens on a late payment. For context, AgencyAnalytics' 2025 benchmarks found Net 30 was the payment term most commonly offered by default, listed by 46% of the agencies surveyed, so a request for a large lump sum before any work starts is worth questioning. That last point is our read, not the survey's.

If you are hiring a specialist, add these

A naming agency and a marketing automation provider each need a few extra questions. For naming, ask how they narrow thousands of options to a few and how they handle trademark, linguistic and cultural risk. For automation, ask what the setup fee and subscription cover, how the price moves as your contact list grows, and who owns the account and your workflows if you leave.

Naming or branding agency. Lexicon Branding, a naming firm, lists seven questions for buyers in its 2026 guide. Two are worth borrowing: "How do you go from thousands of options to the right few?", which it says exposes whether there is a real method or just taste, and "How do you handle trademark, linguistic, and cultural risk?", because a name you cannot own or that means something unfortunate abroad is a liability (Lexicon Branding). Also ask which names they have delivered recently. Add two of our own for the contract: who pays for and files the trademark search, and who owns the final name and the rejected options.

Marketing automation provider. JDR Group, a UK HubSpot partner, noted in 2016 that automation platforms usually carry a setup fee plus a monthly subscription, priced by the functionality you need, the number of users and the size of your contact database, with extra fees on top when you work through a partner (JDR Group). That is an older source, so check current pricing, but the structure still shapes the contract. Ask for a quote at your current list size and at double it, so growth does not become a surprise invoice. Then ask the ownership question from clause four: whose name is on the platform account, and what happens to your workflows and contact history if you leave.

One more for 2026: how do you use AI in my work?

Ask where the agency uses AI tools on your account, who checks the output before it reaches you, and what happens to your data and brand files when they go into those tools. A good agency answers with specifics. "We use AI for everything" and "we never touch it" both deserve a follow-up.

Agencies can use AI tools in research, first drafts, reporting or creative production, and as the client you are entitled to know where. We do not hold a survey figure on how common this is, so treat the question as due diligence, not a trend. Ask four things.

First, which parts of my work involve AI tools, and which are done by a person from start to finish? Second, who reviews AI-assisted output, by name, before it is sent to me or published? Third, are my customer data, brand files and unpublished plans put into third-party tools, and what is your rule on that? Fourth, does the contract say who owns the finished work when AI helped make it?

A good answer: specific and unbothered. "Here is where we use it, here is who signs off, and here is what never goes into a public tool." The aim is not to rule AI out. It is to be sure a named person stands behind everything you receive.

Red flags: when to keep looking

Walk away, or at least pause, when you see any of these during the pitch or in the paper. One on its own can be a bad day. Two or three together is a pattern.

• Nobody is named. You hear about "the team" but never meet the strategist or media buyer who will run your account (question 1).
• The scope is a slogan. "Full-service" or "end to end" with no list of what lands on your desk, or when (question 2).
• Success is measured in reach. Impressions, followers and clicks, with no business number and no baseline (question 3).
• The agency holds the keys. Ad accounts, pixels or creative sit in the agency's name, and you have no admin login of your own (question 4 and contract clause 4).
• The proof is anonymous. Every case study is unnamed and every result is a round number, and nobody will put you in touch with a current client (question 5).
• There is no sample report. They describe the reporting but will not show one (question 8).
• The paper is vague or rushed. A renewal you cannot find, an exit with no stated cost, or pressure to sign before you have read it (contract clauses 2 and 3). Our read: a good agency does not need you to decide the same day.

The screenshot checklist

Take this into any pitch and score each answer as clear, vague, or evasive. The nine questions cover the things that decide whether an agency can be held accountable: who does the work, what they deliver, how success is defined, who owns the assets, and how they report and respond when results miss. The five contract lines make sure those answers are on paper.

1. Who, by name, does my work? Named people, named roles.
2. What do you deliver, and how often? A written scope and cadence.
3. How do you define success? One business number, with a target.
4. Who owns the accounts, data, and creative? You do, in writing.
5. Can I see results from a brand like mine? Relevant, explained proof.
6. What happens when something fails? A process, and early honesty.
7. What do you need from me? A clear definition of your role.
8. How will you report? A real sample report, readable in five minutes.
9. Why should I trust you after the last one? A calm, specific answer.

And one for 2026: how do you use AI in my work? Specific tools, a named reviewer and a clear data rule.

Then the paper: fee (every cost line named), term (renewal readable in one sentence), exit (notice and handover listed), ownership (accounts and finished work are yours), payment (clear terms, no large lump sum before work starts).

If most answers come back clear, you are talking to an operator. If most come back vague or evasive, keep looking. The cost of asking nine awkward questions and reading five clauses is one uncomfortable meeting and an evening with the paper. Skipping them costs another year and budget.