15 Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Marketing Agency

By the Oski Marketing team · Updated 5 October 2026 · 6 min read

Before you hire a marketing agency, ask who does the work, what they will check first, how results are measured, who owns your accounts, how you leave, and what they will not promise. Good agencies answer with specifics about your business; weak ones with packages, jargon and guarantees. Here are 15 questions to ask.

How should you use these questions?

Send the same short brief to three to five agencies, then ask every one of them the same questions, ideally on a call where they share their screen and look at your website and Google listing with you. Write the answers down. The point is to compare like with like, so the agency with the best presentation does not win by default.

Listen for two things: whether they talk about your business or about themselves, and whether they ask you questions back. A good agency is as keen to find out whether you are a fit as you are.

Questions about the work itself

1. What would you check first on our account, and why? Good: "How enquiries reach you and what happens to them, then your Google profile and the pages that matter most." Weak: "We'd start with a full rebrand" or a list of services with no reason.

2. Who exactly will do the work each month? Good: names or clear roles, and whether any of it is outsourced. Weak: "Our team" with no detail, or a senior person who sells and then disappears.

3. What will you do in the first 90 days? Good: a short written plan with dates and things you can see, such as tracking set up, profile fixed, pages rewritten. Weak: "Strategy and research" with nothing visible.

4. Can you show us work for a business like ours? Good: live examples, ads or pages you can look at, and a client you can speak to. Weak: big-brand logos and nothing in your size or sector.

Questions about results and reporting

5. What results do you expect, and by when? Good: realistic ranges with reasons, and what depends on you. Google's own advice says no one can guarantee a number one ranking. Weak: "Page one in 30 days" or "leads guaranteed".

6. What will the monthly report show? Good: enquiries, where they came from, cost per enquiry or booked job, what was done and what is next, in plain English. Weak: impressions, reach and a 30-page export.

7. How will you track calls and forms? Good: call tracking, form tracking and a check that both work before ads go live. Weak: "Google Analytics will show it" with no detail.

8. What will you need from us? Good: specific asks such as photos, approvals, an hour a month, answering the phone. Weak: "Nothing, we handle everything." Marketing that needs nothing from you rarely sounds like you.

Questions about ownership and access

9. Who will own the website, domain, Google profile and ad accounts? Good: "You do. We'll be added as a manager." Google Business Profile managers cannot add or remove users or delete the profile, and Google Ads admins control who else can access the account. Weak: "We set everything up under our account to keep it simple."

10. What happens to our data and customer details? Good: they explain what they will hold and offer a written agreement. The ICO says that when a business uses a processor to handle personal data, UK GDPR requires a binding contract. Weak: a blank look.

Questions about the contract and leaving

11. How long is the contract, and how much notice do we give? Good: rolling monthly or a short fixed term with clear notice. Weak: twelve months with an exit fee "because SEO takes time". More on this in marketing agency contracts.

12. If we leave, what do we take with us? Good: everything: logins, content, ad history, reports, photos. Weak: "The website stays on our platform."

13. What exactly is included, and what costs extra? Good: a written scope, and ad spend paid straight to the platform. Weak: "It depends," or ad spend mixed into the fee so you cannot see either.

Questions about honesty and rules

14. What will you not do for us? Good: they name things, such as buying reviews, cold texting bought lists or making claims you cannot back up. Google bans incentivised or selectively solicited reviews. Weak: "Whatever it takes."

15. What claims will our ads make, and can we back them up? Good: claims you can prove, and an understanding that the ASA treats "best" and "No.1" as objective claims needing evidence. Weak: "Everyone says they're the best."

What do the answers tell you?

Score each answer from 0 to 2 (weak, fair, good) and total them. The numbers matter less than the pattern. An agency that is strong on ownership, contracts and honesty but a bit rough in presentation is usually a safer choice than the reverse. If an answer worries you, look it up in our list of marketing agency red flags.

Our own prices and contract terms are published on our site, and if you want to put the rest of these questions to us, get in touch. Whoever you choose, these questions should get the same straight answers.

Which answers should end the conversation?

Some answers are enough on their own to walk away:

• Any guarantee of rankings, leads or a set number of jobs.
• Refusal to let you own your domain, Google profile or ad accounts.
• An offer to get you reviews, or to only ask happy customers.
• A long contract with an exit fee and no clear scope.
• No straight answer to "who does the work?"

For the full buyer's guide, see how to choose a marketing agency in London.

What to do this week

1. Write a one-page brief: what you sell, where, average job value, enquiries a month, budget.
2. Copy these 15 questions into a document with a column for each agency.
3. Check today that you own your Google profile, domain and ad accounts.
4. Send the brief and questions to your shortlist and ask for written answers before any call.
5. Score the answers 0 to 2 and only take calls with the top two.