A Comprehensive Guide: Key Questions to Ask When Assessing Digital Marketing Agencies
Selecting the right digital marketing agency partner is crucial for businesses looking to drive results and efficiently scale. With numerous agencies competing for attention, it’s essential for marketers to ask the right questions to ensure they make the best choice for their company’s needs.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore a range of questions that can guide your agency selection process, providing valuable insights and aiding in informed decisions. While not all of these questions are necessary for a Request for Proposal (RFP), they are valuable for discussions with agencies. The questions primarily focus on paid search but can be adapted for other areas such as SEO, paid social, retail media, or other specific needs.
Understanding the Importance of the Business
The first set of questions focuses on understanding the agency’s experience and scale of operations. By asking these questions, you can gauge their expertise and assess whether they align with your business goals.
1. How many total paid search clients does the agency have, and what is the average annual spend of their clients?
Knowing the agency’s client base and typical investment levels helps gauge their experience and the scale of their operations. This information provides valuable context for assessing their capabilities.
2. What percentage of the company’s revenue does paid media management represent?
Understanding the agency’s emphasis on paid media and its significance within its overall business strategy is crucial. This insight helps determine if paid search is a core capability for the agency or if it’s just starting out in this area.
Understanding Your Position
The next set of questions focuses on understanding your position within the agency’s client base. By knowing where your business stands in relation to their other clients, you can assess the level of attention and resources you can expect to receive.
3. Will your business be considered a big, medium, or little fish in their PPC department?
Knowing where your business stands in relation to the agency’s other clients provides perspective on the level of attention and resources you can expect. Ideally, you want to fit somewhere in the middle – important enough to receive proper attention but with an agency that has experience with running larger accounts to help you scale.
4. Will you own your accounts or would they?
It’s important to retain ownership of your account, even when hiring an agency to manage it. This ensures that you have the freedom to take your business elsewhere if you’re dissatisfied with their services.
5. What does a typical contract term look like?
Understanding the contract terms is crucial to ensure flexibility in case the partnership or results aren’t working out. It’s important to have an out clause or some level of flexibility in case you need to make changes.
Account Audit and Optimization
The next set of questions focuses on the agency’s analytical capabilities and their proactive approach to optimizing client accounts. By asking these questions, you can assess their technical and strategic knowledge.
6. Has the agency performed an account audit, and what specific observations and areas for improvement were identified?
Understanding the agency’s account audit process helps gauge their analytical capabilities and proactive approach to optimization. Ensure that you’re getting specific recommendations instead of generalities.
7. Based on their audit findings, how much restructuring do they believe is necessary, and what is their preferred account setup approach?
Understanding their proposed strategies for restructuring provides insight into their expertise and methodologies. This question helps determine if they are bringing new thinking to the table or if they are likely to make standard optimizations.
Assessing Performance Metrics
The next set of questions focuses on understanding the agency’s reporting and performance evaluation methods. By asking these questions, you can assess the level of reporting, access to performance data, and their preferred sources for evaluation.
8. What do typical reports look like?
Reviewing a sample of a weekly or monthly report helps understand the type of information that will be shared continuously. Assess if the reports focus on results or more on vanity-type metrics.
9. Will you have access to a live dashboard?
Understanding if you’ll have direct access to performance data or if you’ll need to request reports is crucial. Ensure that you can access a dashboard and ask for a sanitized report version to see the key performance metrics.
10. What do they typically use to evaluate performance? GA4, platform data, or another source?
Understanding the agency’s preferred sources for evaluating performance helps align expectations. Each source has its pros and cons, and it’s important to understand their methodologies.
11. What attribution methodology do they typically use?
Aligning on the attribution methodology ensures effective communication and understanding. Also, discuss the attribution window to ensure clarity on how they track and measure performance.
Expected Results, Timeline, and Onboarding Process
The next set of questions focuses on setting realistic expectations, understanding timelines, and evaluating the onboarding process. By asking these questions, you can align goals and assess the agency’s commitment to maintaining performance consistency during transitions.
12. Based on their findings, how long do they anticipate it will take to see improved results, and what are their expectations regarding performance gains?
Setting realistic expectations for results and timelines is essential for aligning goals and forming a healthy partnership. However, be cautious of overly aggressive forecasts unless your program is in disarray.
13. What is their process and timeline for taking over an account?
Understanding their onboarding process helps manage expectations and ensures a smooth transition. For larger programs, expect a request for an overlap period with the existing agency.
14. How do they ensure a smooth transition to avoid any drop in performance during restructures?
Probing into their strategies for minimizing disruptions during transitions highlights their commitment to maintaining performance consistency. Many agencies suggest a period of minimal changes while they learn the ins and outs of the account.
Industry Focus
The next set of questions focuses on the agency’s industry focus and their approach to maintaining client confidentiality and avoiding conflicts of interest.
15. Do they lean into one particular industry or spread their focus, and why?
Decide if you prefer a digital marketing agency specialized in your industry for targeted expertise or one with a broader focus for diverse perspectives and potential cross-industry insights.
16. If they have multiple accounts in your industry, how do they ensure account/client separation?
Understanding their approach to maintaining client confidentiality and avoiding conflicts of interest is crucial for establishing trust and transparency.
Which Bidding Strategies and Campaign Types?
The next set of questions focuses on the agency’s preferred bidding strategies and their approach to different campaign types, such as text ads, shopping, Performance Max (PMax), video, or others.
18. What do they see as the role of text ads, shopping, and Performance Max (PMax)? What about video or other campaign types?
Understanding the agency’s philosophy on each campaign type ensures a well-rounded strategy. This question addresses their understanding of retail-specific advertising dynamics and their ability to maximize returns for ecommerce businesses.
19. How do they navigate optimization challenges if they employ a ‘go all in on PMax’ approach?
Assessing their strategies for optimizing PMax campaigns helps determine if it aligns with your business goals. Consider if you want to have more control over your campaigns or if you’re comfortable handing off full control to Google.
Collaboration and Team Structure
The next set of questions focuses on the agency’s team structure, expertise distribution, and the level of attention you can expect from their leadership.
23. What is the general structure of their PPC department?
Understanding the agency’s organizational structure provides insights into resource allocation and specialization. Assess if they have a clear hierarchy and sufficient senior-level attention for each account.
24. How big is the overall PPC team, and how many members are fully dedicated to paid search or social management?
Understanding the team’s composition and expertise distribution informs expectations regarding the depth of talent available to support your campaigns. Consider if they use a pod structure or have another approach.
Account Management and Day-to-Day Operations
The next set of questions focuses on the agency’s account management, communication channels, and day-to-day operations.
26. How many accounts is the lead responsible for, and what role do they play?
Understanding the level of individual attention and involvement you can expect from the agency’s leadership is crucial. Assess the level of attention and availability of the lead responsible for your account.
29. Who handles most of the day-to-day work in the accounts, and how many accounts are they responsible for?
Insights into the workload distribution provide clarity on the level of attention your account will receive. Ensure that the person responsible for your account has sufficient time to learn about your business and make informed decisions.
Third-Party Involvement
The next question focuses on understanding the extent of third-party involvement in the agency’s operations.
32. Are any tasks outsourced offshore or to third parties?
Understanding the involvement of third parties helps evaluate potential dependencies and risks associated with outsourcing. Ensure that you know who is actually doing the work from end to end.
Collaboration and References
The next set of questions focuses on collaboration with Google and other teams, as well as references and case studies showcasing successful paid search campaigns.
33. What is their relationship like with the Google team?
Access to Google highlights their ability to gather data quickly and can bring potential advantages, such as beta features and industry insights.
36. Are there reference clients you can speak to about their experiences with the agency?
Speaking directly with past or current clients provides valuable insights into the agency’s performance, communication, and overall client satisfaction.
Client Retention Insights
The final question focuses on understanding the typical reasons cited when the agency loses clients.
37. When the agency loses clients, what are the typical reasons cited?
Understanding the factors contributing to client churn provides insights into potential risks and areas for improvement in the agency’s service delivery.
By asking these key questions and delving into various aspects of a prospective agency’s operations and expertise, marketers can make informed decisions when selecting a digital marketing partner. It’s important to choose a good cross-section of questions that align with your business goals and ensure you find the right partner for your needs.
