“What kinds of questions to ask when hiring a marketing firm” is how one person put it in a thread on Reddit’s r/marketing, and it is the right worry to have before a first meeting.
The short answer: ask about six things. What will be measured, who does the work, who owns the accounts and files, what the fee covers, how you leave, and what the agency refuses to do.
The questions are the easy part. Knowing what a good answer sounds like is harder, so each one below comes with the answer to listen for and the warning sign.
We are an agency ourselves, so under each group we give our own answers, using only what our website states. Where our site does not answer a question yet, we say so.
Twelve questions, with the good answer and the red flag
| Question | A good answer includes | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| 1. What will you measure each month, and how does it connect to sales? | Named numbers tied to your goal (calls, bookings, orders, quote requests) and where each one comes from | Only followers, likes or impressions |
| 2. Can I see a sample report? | A real report with client details removed, or the actual template you would receive | A promise to send something later that never arrives |
| 3. What happens in the first 30 days? | A sequence: access, review of what exists, a written plan, first content or campaigns, first review | Spending starts before any plan is written |
| 4. When will I see what? | Which signals come first and which take longer, channel by channel | A promised number of leads, sales or followers |
| 5. Who will do the work day to day, and can I meet them? | Names and roles for content, filming, ads and reporting | You only ever meet the salesperson |
| 6. Is any of the work outsourced? | A plain yes or no, and which parts | A change of subject |
| 7. Whose name are the ad accounts, pages and files in? | Your business’s name, with the agency given access | Accounts opened under the agency, or files kept when you leave |
| 8. What does the fee cover, and what is paid separately? | A written scope, with ad spend shown apart from the agency’s fee | One number and no list of what it buys |
| 9. How long is the contract, and how do I end it? | Term, notice period and handover, in writing | Automatic renewal or exit penalties you hear about later |
| 10. Will you ever buy followers, views or reviews for us? | A flat no | “Growth packages” or rewards for five-star reviews |
| 11. Do you work with my direct competitors? | A straight answer, and how conflicts are handled | A refusal to answer |
| 12. How will we communicate, and how often? | A named contact, a channel and a meeting rhythm | “Whenever you need us,” with nobody responsible |
About results and the monthly report
Questions 1 to 4 decide whether you will be able to judge the work at all. Ask the agency to name the numbers it will report and to show where each comes from: the platform’s insights, the ad account, your phone log or your booking system.
Then ask for a sample. A report you can read in five minutes, with the numbers that matter to you on the first page, says more than a long pitch deck.
On timing, a careful agency separates channels. Paid ads produce data within days; organic posting and reputation build more slowly. Anyone who promises a fixed number of leads before seeing your accounts is guessing.
Our answers. Both of our plans include a monthly performance report with reach, engagement and conversion data for every campaign.
Our landing pages describe the sequence we follow: a review of your current marketing and competitors, a strategy with KPIs, channels and a timeline, then launch, testing and reporting. For timing, ask us channel by channel in the first meeting.
About the people who will do the work
Questions 5 and 6 matter more for a small business than for a large one, because a small account can end up with the most junior person or with a freelancer you never meet.
Ask who writes, who films, who runs the ads and who prepares the report, and ask to meet at least one of them before signing. Ask directly whether any part of the work is subcontracted. Outsourcing is not wrong in itself; not knowing about it is the problem.
Our answers. Our team photographs and films at the client’s business, so the content shows your own place and people, and we work in English and Portuguese.
Names of the people on your account and how outsourcing is handled are fair questions to put to us in a first meeting. For a fuller picture of how the work is split between an agency and the business, see what an agency takes off your plate.
About accounts, files and leaving
Questions 7 and 9 are the ones owners regret skipping. The ad accounts, the Facebook Page, the Instagram profile, the Google Business Profile, the website and the raw photo and video files should be in your business’s name, with the agency added as a user or partner.
Ask what you receive when the contract ends and how much notice either side has to give. The path to check who owns a Google Ads account is laid out in our guide on how to choose a marketing agency.
Our answers. Our site does not publish contract terms or an ownership policy. Ask us for both in writing, as you should with any agency you are considering.
About the fee and the ad spend
Question 8 separates two kinds of money that are easy to confuse. The agency’s fee pays for the work. Ad spend is what Meta or Google charges to show the ads, and it is usually billed to a card on the ad account.
A proposal should show both, plus anything else that costs extra, such as a filming day or a new logo.
Price itself depends on scope: how much content, how many filming visits, which platforms, whether ads are included and how many campaigns run at once. How monthly agreements are usually set up is explained in how retainers are structured.
Our answers. We have two plans. Start covers social media management, video and photo production, performance marketing campaigns, branding and logo design, and the monthly performance report. Premium adds paid traffic management, sales support and training, expert consulting and full social media. The plans are listed without prices; the proposal is built on your goal and scope.
About what the agency will not do
Question 10 has a legal side. The Federal Trade Commission’s final rule on fake reviews and testimonials, announced on August 14, 2024, prohibits buying or selling fake indicators of social media influence, such as followers or views generated by bots or hijacked accounts, when the buyer knew or should have known they were fake.
The same rule bars offering compensation or incentives conditioned on a review being positive or negative.
Google sets its own limits for reviews on Maps: businesses may not offer incentives for reviews and may not ask only happy customers to leave one. An agency that offers either is putting your profile at risk, and your name is the one on it.
Question 11 is simpler. Some agencies work with several businesses in the same trade and town and manage the overlap openly; others avoid it. Either can work if you know the answer before you sign.
Our answers. Our home page states that every strategy we build is aimed at real revenue rather than visibility alone. How we handle two clients in the same trade and town is a question to ask us directly.
What to bring to the first meeting
An agency can only answer these questions well if it knows your situation. Bring four things:
- The one result you want six months from now, in a sentence.
- Your current numbers for the last three months: calls, bookings or orders, and where they came from, even if the source is a guess.
- A list of your accounts (ad accounts, social profiles, Google Business Profile, website) and who holds the login for each.
- The range of monthly ad spend you are comfortable testing, kept apart from what you expect to pay for the work.
Question 12 we can answer now. In the Premium plan, expert consulting includes a monthly alignment meeting and direct support between meetings, and our contact page lists phone and WhatsApp, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. To put all twelve questions to a marketing agency in Charleston, start there.