37 key questions to ask when evaluating digital marketing agencies

Deciding on the appropriate digital advertising company associate is vital for companies aiming to drive outcomes and scale effectively. With numerous companies vying for consideration, entrepreneurs should ask the appropriate questions to make sure they make the only option for his or her firm’s wants.

Though I’ve owned an company for seven years, most of my profession was spent engaged on the consumer aspect. I’ve compiled questions I’d have requested after I was on the opposite aspect of the desk and in addition from questions potential shoppers ask us.

These questions can information your company choice course of, aiding in knowledgeable choices. Whereas not all are mandatory for an RFP, they’re useful for discussions with companies.

Primarily for paid search, they are often tailored for website positioning, paid social, retail media or different wants.

Understanding the significance of this a part of the enterprise

1. What number of whole paid search shoppers does the company have and what’s the common annual spend of their shoppers? 

• Understanding the company’s consumer base and their typical funding ranges helps gauge their expertise and the dimensions of their operations. 

2. What proportion of the corporate’s income does paid media administration signify?

• This perception gives useful context relating to the company’s emphasis on paid media and its significance inside its general enterprise technique. It goes hand in hand with the query above.
• Is the company simply beginning out in paid search or is it a core functionality? 

Understanding your place

3. Will your corporation be thought of a giant, medium or little fish of their PPC division? 

• Figuring out the place your corporation stands in relation to the company’s different shoppers offers perspective on the extent of consideration and sources you may anticipate to obtain.
• In a great world, you’ll match someplace within the center – necessary sufficient to get correct consideration however with an company that has expertise with operating bigger accounts in order that they might help you scale.

4. Will you personal your accounts or would they? 

• It’s necessary that you just all the time retain possession of your account. That means if you happen to’re ever dissatisfied, you may simply take your corporation elsewhere.
• You’re hiring an company to handle in your behalf, however that doesn’t imply that you just shouldn’t personal the work.

5. What does a typical contract time period appear like? 

• Do they lock you into lengthy contracts with out an out clause? You’ll by no means understand how the connection seems to be till you’ve began collaborating.
• Ensure you have some flexibility in case the partnership or outcomes aren’t understanding. If you happen to’re OK signing on for a long run with out an out clause, you could possibly get a reduction.

Account audit and optimization

6. Has the company carried out an account audit and what particular observations and areas for enchancment had been recognized? 

• This query delves into the company’s analytical capabilities and its proactive method to optimizing consumer accounts. It additionally helps guarantee they’ve a deep technical and strategic information of discovering alternatives. 
• Ensure you’re getting particular suggestions as a substitute of generalities. Many companies received’t carry out a free audit except it’s for a bigger account.
• Nonetheless, you might take into account paying for an audit as a part of your analysis course of to get a really feel for what they’ve discovered and the way they current data.

7. Primarily based on their audit findings, how a lot restructuring do they imagine is important and what’s their most popular account setup method? 

• Understanding their proposed methods for restructuring gives perception into their experience and methodologies.
• This can even offer you a way of whether or not they’re possible simply to take your current account and make normal optimizations or if they’re bringing new considering to the desk.

Assessing efficiency metrics

8. What do typical reviews appear like? 

• It’s useful to see a pattern of a weekly or month-to-month report. This will provide you with a way of what kind of data shall be shared with you constantly. 
• Do they discuss outcomes or extra vanity-type metrics? Is it the extent of reporting you’d anticipate? Does it really feel very templated or extra personalized and stuffed with wealthy data?

9. Will you may have entry to a dwell dashboard? 

• You’ll wish to know in case you have entry to efficiency knowledge (apart from logging straight into Google Analytics or Google advertisements) straight or if you happen to’ll must request reviews. 
• If you happen to can entry a dashboard, ask to see a sanitized report model. Guarantee that spend and CPA or CPL (or one other efficiency metric) are proven.
• We’ve seen dashboards that report on impressions and shoppers however conceal spend so the consumer doesn’t know what’s worthwhile and what could also be inefficient.

10. What do they usually use to judge efficiency? GA4, platform knowledge or one other supply? 

• Every supply of data has execs and cons. Platform knowledge could be very useful as a result of it gives the richest data, however GA4 will present a deduplicated view of the order/income. You may additionally wish to perceive in the event that they use different know-how like Triple Whale.

11. What attribution methodology do they usually use? 

• This goes hand in hand with the query above. It’s useful to get aligned so that you just’re talking the identical language. Ensure you additionally talk about the attribution window.

Anticipated outcomes, timeline and onboarding course of

12. Primarily based on their findings, how lengthy do they anticipate it should take to see improved outcomes and what are their expectations relating to efficiency positive factors? 

• Setting life like expectations for outcomes and timelines is important for aligning objectives and forming a wholesome partnership. Nonetheless, be a bit of weary of overly aggressive forecasts except that your program is in disarray.

13. What’s their course of and timeline for taking up an account? 

• Understanding their onboarding course of helps handle expectations and ensures a easy transition.
• For bigger packages, you’ll in all probability anticipate a request for an overlap interval with the present company.

14. How do they guarantee a easy transition to keep away from any drop in efficiency throughout restructures? 

• Probing into their methods for minimizing disruptions throughout transitions highlights their dedication to sustaining efficiency consistency. 
• Many companies will recommend a interval the place extra minimal modifications are made whereas they be taught the ins and outs of the account. Whereas this will likely appear lax, it might be on your safety.

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Trade focus

15. Do they lean into one specific {industry} or unfold their focus and why? 

• You’ll have to resolve if you happen to favor to align with a digital advertising company specialised in your {industry} for focused experience or go for one with a broader focus for various views and potential cross-industry insights.

16. If they’ve a number of accounts in your {industry}, how do they guarantee account/consumer separation? 

• Understanding their method to sustaining consumer confidentiality and avoiding conflicts of curiosity is essential for establishing belief and transparency.

17. Which bidding methods do they like to make use of and why? 

• Every kind of account would require totally different bidding methods and the technique will change relying on how a lot knowledge is accessible to drive choices.

For retail or ecommerce shoppers:

18. What do they see because the function of textual content advertisements, purchasing and Efficiency Max (PMax? What about video or different marketing campaign varieties? 

• It’s useful to grasp the company’s philosophy on every marketing campaign kind to make sure a well-rounded technique. This query addresses the company’s understanding of retail-specific promoting dynamics and its capacity to maximise returns for ecommerce companies.

19. How do they navigate optimization challenges in the event that they make use of a ‘go all in on PMax’ method? 

• PMax is simpler to run (and sure extra worthwhile for the company to handle!), however that doesn’t essentially imply it’s greatest for your corporation. 
• Do you actually wish to hand off full management to Google? Would you favor for there to be extra levers to drag to drive scale or management prices when wanted?

20. When you’ve got a bodily presence, have they got expertise with native campaigns? 

• What’s their typical method and the way do they give thought to attributing gross sales from shops or driving foot site visitors?

For B2B or service focus: 

21. Have they got expertise with RevOps and understanding the nuances between optimizing for a lead vs a certified lead and buyer?  

• Not all leads are created equally and it’s necessary in B2B to seek out precise changing clients.

22. Have they dealt with integrations with name monitoring or different offline knowledge sources? 

• B2B and repair companies additionally have a tendency to incorporate extra offline gross sales – captured by telephone or different means – so that you’ll desire a associate that understands seize and leverage the appropriate knowledge

Crew construction and experience

23. What’s the basic construction of their PPC division? 

• Exploring the company’s organizational construction gives insights into its useful resource allocation and specialization. 
• Is there one director over loads of managers? Or is it a group with a transparent hierarchy that’s designed to make sure every account has enough senior-level consideration?

24. How massive is the general PPC group and what number of members are absolutely devoted to paid search or social administration? 

• Understanding the group’s composition and experience distribution informs expectations relating to the depth of expertise accessible to help your campaigns. You may additionally wish to ask in the event that they use a pod construction or have a distinct method. 
• The rationale that group dimension issues is as a result of one of many causes that shoppers usually like companies is as a result of there’s a pool of people who’re specialists and may convey extra concepts to the desk.

25. What’s the common years of paid search expertise of the people on the PPC group? And what’s the minimal? 

• You’ll wish to perceive if the company is utilizing skilled professionals or if there are loads of junior members of the group. Ideally, you don’t have a group that’s “studying in your dime.”

Account administration

26. What number of accounts is the lead chargeable for and what function do they play? 

• This query sheds gentle on the extent of particular person consideration and involvement you may anticipate from the company’s management.

27. Who shall be assigned to your account and what’s every group member’s stage of expertise?

• Understanding the {qualifications} of the group members assigned to your account is essential for assessing their capacity to ship outcomes. An company is simply pretty much as good because the folks in your account!

28. How usually will you be assembly with the group and who shall be on calls? 

• Ensure you are clear about who will attend and at what cadence. You will have some calls with extra members of the group and others that embrace only a restricted set – but it surely’s higher to know upfront.

Day-to-day operations

29. Who handles many of the day-to-day work within the accounts and what number of accounts are they chargeable for? 

• This query gives insights into the workload distribution and the extent of consideration your account will obtain.
• We’ve linked with people up to now who’re chargeable for greater than a dozen accounts. There’s no means that particular person could have time to find out about your corporation.

30. Who shall be your main level of contact for day-to-day communications? 

• Clarifying the communication channels and first contact streamlines collaboration and ensures environment friendly drawback decision. 
• Will you be working with an account supervisor or do you may have direct entry to the folks managing your campaigns?
• You’ll need direct entry to make sure that you aren’t taking part in the sport of phone on technique and different necessary subjects.

31. What’s essentially the most continuously used technique for communication? 

• You’ll wish to discover out in case you have entry to the group by e mail solely or if you too can talk by Slack or one other means.

Third-party involvement

32. Are any duties outsourced offshore or to 3rd events?

• Understanding the extent of third-party involvement helps consider potential dependencies and dangers related to outsourcing.
• Finally, you’re hiring the company to know who is definitely doing the work from finish to finish.

Collaboration

33. What’s their relationship like with the Google group? 

• Entry to Google highlights their capacity to collect knowledge shortly and may convey potential benefits, corresponding to beta options and {industry} insights.

34. How do they view the worth of paid search and website positioning (or Social) partnering and the way do they guarantee efficient communication between groups? 

• Exploring their perspective on cross-channel collaboration demonstrates their holistic method to digital advertising and their dedication to maximizing outcomes throughout channels. 
• How do they collaborate inside their company (if they’re managing a number of advertising channels for you) or with different companies (if the work is split amongst companies)?

Case research and references

35. Can they supply related case research showcasing profitable paid search campaigns? 

• Reviewing case research lets you gauge the company’s observe report and success tales in delivering outcomes for shoppers. 
• Search for one thing that’s consultant of your corporation, whether or not it’s massive or small. That doesn’t imply that it must be on your {industry} – however there must be some parallels.

36. Are there reference shoppers you may communicate to about their experiences with the company? 

• Talking straight with previous or present shoppers gives useful firsthand insights into the company’s efficiency, communication and general consumer satisfaction. It’s uncommon that prospects ask for this and customarily reserved for giant accounts.

Consumer retention insights

37. When the company loses shoppers, what are the everyday causes cited? 

• Understanding the components contributing to consumer churn gives insights into potential dangers and areas for enchancment within the company’s service supply.

Entrepreneurs could make knowledgeable choices when choosing a digital advertising associate by asking a few of these questions and diving into numerous points of a potential company’s operations and experience.

You don’t essentially want to debate each considered one of these, however selecting an excellent cross-section of questions might help make sure you discover a good associate for your corporation.