Here is how to choose a digital marketing agency: write a one-page brief with your goal, budget and channels, shortlist two or three agencies that have done similar work, and put the same 15 questions to each. Compare the answers on strategy, team, tracking, reporting and account ownership, then compare proposals line by line before you sign.
A multi-channel agency is harder to judge than a specialist, because one proposal can mix search ads, social ads, content, email and website work, each with its own fees and metrics. The questions below are built for that mix, and they cover the point most checklists skip: who owns your accounts. If you only need SEO, our guide to choosing an SEO company goes deeper on links, content and technical work.
Key takeaways
- Write a brief with one business goal, a monthly budget and the channels you’re open to before you contact any agency.
- Ask every agency the same 15 questions in writing, so you can compare strategy, team, tracking, reporting and contract terms.
- Keep every ad, analytics, profile and domain account in your business’s name, and give the agency its own user access.
- Separate the agency fee from media spend in every proposal; Google requires its advertising partners to disclose management fees.
- Judge the first 90 days on tracking, delivery and cost per lead by channel, not on impressions or follower counts.
How to choose a digital marketing agency: start with a one-page brief
Agencies can only send comparable proposals if they answer the same brief. Write one page that covers:
- Goal: one business result, such as more booked consultations, online sales or quote requests, with today’s number if you know it.
- Customers: who buys from you and how they usually find you.
- Budget: a monthly figure for media spend and a separate one for the agency fee, both sustainable for at least two quarters.
- Channels: what you’ve tried, what worked and what you’re open to.
- Access: your website platform, existing ad and analytics accounts, and who approves work.
If you haven’t set targets yet, build them with our digital marketing plan template, then choose what to measure from our list of digital marketing KPIs by channel.
Specialist or full-service agency?
A full-service agency runs several channels as one program under one accountable team. A specialist, such as a Google Ads-only shop, goes deeper in one channel and suits you if the rest is covered. Not sure you need an agency at all? Compare agency vs freelancer vs in-house team.
| Your goal | Channels a good proposal usually starts with | Be wary of |
|---|---|---|
| More calls and visits for a local service | Google Business Profile, local SEO, Google Search ads | Heavy social ad spend before search demand is covered |
| Online sales for an e-commerce store | Shopping and Performance Max, Meta ads, email flows | Awareness campaigns with no sales tracking |
| B2B leads with a long sales cycle | Search ads, LinkedIn, case studies, email follow-up | Judging cost per lead without checking lead quality |
What should a digital marketing agency proposal include?
A good proposal proves the agency has studied your business and prices the work so you can see what each part costs. Expect:
- A short diagnosis of your website, ads, profiles and tracking, with specific findings.
- The recommended channels, why, and which to skip for now.
- Monthly deliverables per channel: campaigns, ads, posts, pages, emails.
- Which actions count as leads or sales, and how each is tracked.
- The management fee shown separately from media spend, plus any setup fee.
- Term, notice period, reporting schedule and a dated onboarding plan.
For Google Ads, fee transparency is a rule. Google’s transparency requirements for third parties say a partner charging a management fee must disclose it in writing before the first purchase and on every invoice, and must report costs exactly as Google charged them, excluding its fee.
15 questions to ask a digital marketing agency
Send these before the first call, ask for written answers, then probe the weak ones live.
Strategy: questions 1 to 3
- 1. Which channels would you use for our goal, and which would you leave out? Good answers tie each channel to your customers and budget, and name one that isn’t worth your money yet.
- 2. What did you notice about our marketing before this call? Look for specifics, such as a slow mobile page or a broken form.
- 3. How will the channels work together? For example, search ads catch people already looking, social ads build an audience to retarget, and email follows up inquiries that didn’t buy.
Team and delivery: questions 4 to 6
- 4. Who will work on our account each week? Names and roles, and roughly how many other accounts each person handles.
- 5. Which work do you outsource? Subcontracting video, development or copywriting is common and fine if the agency tells you and stays responsible for quality.
- 6. Who is our main contact, and how fast do you reply? One named account manager, a regular call, and an agreed response time for urgent problems such as ads stopping.
Tracking and channels: questions 7 to 9
- 7. How will you set up tracking before we spend on ads? GA4 key events for leads and sales, conversion tracking in each ad platform, and call and WhatsApp click tracking where relevant.
- 8. How do you use automation and AI? Performance Max on Google and Advantage+ on Meta automate bidding, targeting and creative. Ask what the agency hands over, what it controls and who checks AI-written copy.
- 9. How do you decide when to move budget between channels? By cost per lead or sale and lead quality from your sales records, on a set schedule.
Reporting and proof: questions 10 and 11
- 10. What will reports show, and can we see the platforms directly? Leads or sales and cost per result by channel, at least monthly, plus live access to every ad account. Google tells advertisers they have a right to know the clicks, impressions and total cost of their ads.
- 11. Can we see work for a similar business and speak to that client? Dated screenshots from the ad or analytics platforms, and a reference you can call.
Ownership and money: questions 12 and 13
- 12. Whose name will the accounts be in? Yours, with the agency added as a user. The next section shows what that means per platform.
- 13. How is your fee calculated, and how is ad spend paid? Flat fees, a percentage of spend or a mix are all normal, as long as spend goes on your own card and the fee is a separate line.
Contract and onboarding: questions 14 and 15
- 14. What are the minimum term, notice period and exit steps? The contract should list what you get back (creative files, reports, content) and commit the agency to removing its access.
- 15. What happens in the first 30 days, and what do you need from us? A dated plan covering access, a tracking audit, a baseline report and first campaigns, plus the approvals it needs from you.
Who should own your ad accounts, analytics and website?
Your business should own every account, and the agency should get its own user access at the lowest level that does the job. If you part ways, you remove a user; you keep your campaign history, audiences and reviews.
| Account | Who owns it | Access to give the agency |
|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | Your business, with someone on your team as Admin | Standard access or a manager account link; spend billed to your card |
| Meta ads, Facebook Page and Instagram | Your business portfolio in Meta Business Suite | Partner access to the Page and ad account, partial rather than full control |
| Google Analytics 4 | You, as Administrator on the account | Editor or Marketer on the property |
| Google Business Profile | You, as primary owner | Manager |
| Google Search Console | You, as verified owner | Full user |
| Domain, hosting and DNS | Your business, in your own registrar and hosting accounts | A separate login, or DNS changes on request |
| Website (WordPress, Shopify) | Your account as owner | A named login for each person |
| Creative files, copy and content | You, once invoices are paid (put this in the contract) | Edit access to a shared folder you own |
Google’s third-party policies back this up for ads: an agency must set up a separate Google Ads account for you and give you its customer ID on request. Google Ads access levels run from Email only up to Admin, and GA4 roles from Viewer to Administrator, so there’s always a level short of full control.
On Meta, share assets from your own business portfolio: in Meta Business Suite, open Settings, choose Partners under Users, click Add and enter the agency’s business portfolio ID. It’s how we onboard digital marketing clients, so handovers stay simple.
Watch out
If an agency set up your accounts in the past, check today that someone on your own team holds the top level: Admin in Google Ads, Administrator in GA4, primary owner on your Business Profile and full control of your Meta business portfolio. Fix gaps while the relationship is friendly.
What are the red flags when hiring a digital marketing agency?
The biggest digital marketing agency red flags are guarantees, secrecy about spend and control of your accounts. Walk away if you see:
- Guaranteed results, such as a top ad position or a fixed number of leads. Google says it’s not possible to guarantee a specific ad position.
- Claims that ads lift organic rankings. Google says advertising has no impact on organic ranking.
- One bundled price for fee and ad spend, so you can’t see what reached Google or Meta.
- Accounts in the agency’s name, or refusal to give you admin access “for security”.
- Vanity reports full of reach and followers that never mention leads, sales or cost per result.
- A long minimum term with no exit clause or handover list.
- Unsolicited contact claiming a Google connection. Google staff use @google.com addresses; a Gmail address proves nothing.
How do you compare proposals from different agencies?
Put every proposal into one sheet, with fee, media spend and deliverables on separate lines, so you compare what each price buys.
| Line item | What to write down | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Management fee | Monthly amount; flat or a percentage of spend | A percentage fee rises with spend even when the workload doesn’t |
| Media spend | Recommended monthly spend per channel | A small budget spread thin gives each channel too little data |
| Setup fee | One-off cost and what it covers | Tracking and account setup should be itemized |
| Monthly deliverables | Campaigns, ads, posts, pages, emails | The real basis for comparing prices |
| People | Named roles and seniority | Who does the work after the sale |
| Reporting | Frequency, metrics, live dashboard | Whether you’ll see leads and cost per lead |
| Term and exit | Minimum term, notice, handover list | Your cost of leaving if it doesn’t work |
Example
You have $3,000 a month in total. Agency A charges a flat $1,000 and puts $2,000 into Google Search. Agency B charges $600 plus 15% of spend and spreads about $2,090 across four channels, roughly $520 each. B’s fee looks smaller, but each channel may get too little to learn from. (Illustrative figures, not market rates.)
What should happen in the first 90 days with a new agency?
The first 90 days are for access, tracking, launch and learning. Judge the agency on delivering its plan on time and on early cost per lead.
| Period | The agency delivers | You should see | You provide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Days 1 to 30 | Access, tracking audit and fixes, baseline report, first campaigns built | A written baseline of leads, sales and cost per result by channel | Logins, brand assets, approvals, past sales data |
| Days 31 to 60 | Campaigns live, first ad and landing page tests, weekly budget checks | Tracked leads that match your own records of inquiries | Feedback on lead quality from whoever answers inquiries |
| Days 61 to 90 | Cost per lead or sale reviewed by channel, budget shifted to what works, next-quarter plan | Which channels to scale, fix or stop | A decision on next quarter’s budget |
Some early wobble is normal: Google Ads shows a Learning status while a new or changed bid strategy adjusts, and Meta ad sets go through a learning phase. Weeks of spend with no tracked leads is not normal.
What should you check before hiring a remote or offshore agency?
A remote or offshore agency works well when these points are agreed in writing first:
- Shared hours for a regular call, and cover for urgent problems outside them.
- The governing law of the contract and the disputes process.
- Invoice currency, payment method and who pays transfer fees.
- How your customer data, such as form leads and email lists, is stored and protected.
- Ad spend charged by Google and Meta directly to your card, so exchange rates never pause your campaigns.
For time zones, contracts and payments with a Pakistan-based team, read our guide to outsourcing marketing and web work to Pakistan.
How TechZone can help
TechZone Services is an Islamabad digital agency with clients in Pakistan, the UK, the UAE, North America and Australia. Put the same 15 questions to us. Our digital marketing services cover Google Ads, social media, content and email, with SEO and web development in the same team. If you are based outside Pakistan, the international clients page explains time zones, communication and handover. Every account stays in your name, and scope, fee and ad spend are listed separately in a written proposal. Book a free 30-minute consultation to talk through your brief.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a digital marketing agency cost?
Digital marketing agency costs depend on the number of channels, the volume of monthly work, your market and the seniority of the team. Common structures are a flat monthly retainer, a percentage of ad spend, a fixed project price or a mix. Ad spend is paid on top of the fee, so ask every agency for a written proposal that lists fee, setup cost and recommended spend separately.
Should I choose a local digital marketing agency or one in another country?
A local digital marketing agency is easier to meet in person and may know your market, while an agency in another city or country can offer specialist skills or different pricing. Relevant experience, clear communication and enough shared working hours for a regular call matter more than distance. Whichever you choose, keep every account in your own name.
Can I work with two marketing agencies at the same time?
Working with two marketing agencies can work if each one owns clearly separate channels, for example one runs paid ads and another handles SEO. Agree who manages tracking, because two agencies editing the same GA4 property or conversion settings causes conflicts. Give your Google Business Profile to one of them only, so edits don’t conflict.
What is the difference between a digital marketing agency and an advertising agency?
A traditional advertising agency focuses on creative concepts and media buying, often across TV, radio, print and outdoor. A digital marketing agency runs online channels such as search ads, social media, SEO, content and email, and usually manages the campaigns and tracking day to day. Many agencies now do some of both, so ask which channels the team actually runs in-house.
How do I end a contract with a digital marketing agency?
To end a contract with a digital marketing agency, give written notice under the notice period in your contract, then work through a handover list: confirm you hold top-level access on every account, collect creative files, reports and content, and ask the agency to remove its own users. Pause or reassign campaigns before access changes so ads don’t stop unexpectedly.
Sources and further reading
- Transparency requirements – Google Advertising Policies Help
- Advertiser guide: Working with third parties – Google Advertising Policies Help
- About access levels in your Google Ads account – Google Ads Help
- Access and data-restriction management – Google Analytics Help
- Manage your Business Profile owners and managers – Google Business Profile Help
- Give a Partner Access to Business Assets in Your Business Portfolio – Meta Business Help Center
