How to Choose a Marketing Agency: Checklist, Questions to Ask and Red Flags

What Does a Marketing Agency Do?

A marketing agency plans, executes, and measures marketing for businesses. This can be SEO, Google Ads, social media advertising, or content such as blog posts and newsletters.

Agencies tend to fall into three types. A full-service agency covers most things, from strategy to design and advertising. A digital agency works only with digital channels, such as websites, search, and ads. A specialist agency goes even narrower, for example a pure SEO agency that only works with organic search. None of the models is automatically best. It depends on what you need help with.

Clarify Your Needs Before Contacting Agencies

You can't choose the right agency without knowing what you actually need. Ask yourself three questions before making that first call.

• What's the goal? More inquiries, more sales, or better visibility in search?
• Which channels are relevant? SEO, Google Ads, social media, or a combination?
• What's the total budget? Include the ad budget in addition to the agency fee.

Many people mix up ad budget and agency fee. These are two different things. The ad budget goes directly to Google or Meta and pays for impressions and clicks. The agency fee pays for the work the agency puts in. An agency should always explain this difference clearly, without you needing to ask.

Write down your answers before the first meeting. Then you can compare agencies on equal footing, instead of letting the best sales pitch decide the choice.

The Checklist: 8 Things You Should Consider

Documented Results and References

Ask for concrete figures from businesses similar to your own, not just a nice design. Ask about traffic growth, number of leads, or sales figures over time. Talk directly with a reference customer, not just the one the agency recommends itself. Also see how an agency chooses to document customer stories. Openness about their own results says a lot about how the agency actually works.

Expertise in the Channels You Need

Certifications and specialization matter more than the size of the agency. An agency that's strong in Google Ads isn't automatically strong in SEO, and vice versa. Ask specifically which certifications the team holds, for example from Google or Semrush, and ask for examples of work in the channel you need help with.

If you run an online store, the agency should be able to point to online stores they've worked with before. If you sell services, they should understand how service businesses generate inquiries.

Reporting You Understand

Ask for a sample report before signing anything. A good report shows what's been done, what results it produced, and what happens next. If you don't understand the report, it won't help you. Read more about how an agency measures success to see what should be included.

Pricing and Pricing Model

Agencies price their services differently, with fixed price, hourly rate, or a percentage of the ad budget. No model is right for everyone. What matters most is that you understand what you're paying for, and that the price is proportional to the delivery. See what a marketing agency costs for concrete figures and ranges.

Contract Length and Termination

Many agencies require 3 to 6 months' commitment, which is common practice in the industry. A long commitment period without good justification should still make you skeptical. Some agencies have no minimum commitment at all, for example the marketing agency Mementor. Always ask what happens if you want to end the partnership earlier than planned.

Ownership of Accounts and Data

You should own the Google Ads account, Analytics, Search Console, and the social media ad accounts. The agency should have access to work in the accounts, not ownership of them. A common scenario is that the agency sets up the Google Ads account in its own name, and when the partnership ends, you're left without campaign history. The next agency then has to start optimization completely from scratch.

So ask specifically who is listed as the owner of each individual account. The answer should always be your business. This is what it looks like when it is done right: the online pharmacy Apotek for deg let us run its Google Ads account for a year, until the return reached a ROAS of 10. Today they run the advertising with an in-house team, on the structure we set up, in the account they owned the whole time.

Who Actually Works on Your Account?

The salespeople you meet during the pitch rarely do the actual work afterward. Ask specifically who will work on your account day-to-day, and feel free to ask to meet them before you sign. Then you'll know who you're actually working with, not just who sold you the deal. Also ask how many clients each advisor manages. An advisor with a huge number of accounts rarely has time to do a good job for all of them.

Does the Agency Understand AI Search?

This is a new and important criterion going forward. More and more people find suppliers via ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI overviews in Google, not just through classic search results. Ask how the agency works with visibility in AI answers, and whether they offer AEO optimization as part of the work. Also read how to get cited in AI search to understand what this actually involves.

Also ask how the agency uses AI itself, and who checks what gets published. The article on using AI in marketing shows what an agency should do itself, and what AI can take over.

Questions You Should Ask in the First Meeting

A good meeting gives you answers to what matters, not just a sales argument for the agency.

• Who owns our accounts during and after a potential switch?
• Who specifically works on our account day-to-day?
• What does a typical report look like, and how often do we receive it?
• What is the contract length, and how do we terminate the agreement?
• When can we realistically expect to see results?
• How do you work with visibility in AI search?

A good agency asks at least as many questions back about your business, your goals, and your market. If the agency only talks about its own services without asking about you, that's a bad sign.

Red Flags You Should Avoid

• Guarantees of first place in Google. No agency can promise a specific ranking, since Google alone controls the ranking.
• The agency creates accounts in its own name. Then you lose history and data if the partnership ends.
• Unclear contract. If you have to ask multiple times to understand what's included, the agreement is too vague.
• Reports you don't understand. Complicated reports can hide how little is actually happening.
• Extremely low price compared to what's promised. If the price seems too good to be true, it often is.

How to Check the Agency on Your Own

You don't need to blindly trust what the agency tells you itself. Four simple checks give you a more objective picture before you decide.

• Search for the agency's own services in Google. An SEO agency that isn't visible for its own keywords likely struggles to deliver the same for you.
• Ask ChatGPT or Gemini about recommended agencies in the category. Check whether the agency shows up, and read what's actually said about them.
• Check the agency's financial records. In Norway, you can look up financial statements on Proff.no. In other markets, use the local business registry. An agency with healthy finances is a safer long-term partner than one in constant financial trouble.
• Check whether the agency is listed in Google's Partner directory. Partner status requires ad spend, performance, and certifications, and confirms that the agency actively works in Google Ads.

Where to Find Agencies to Compare

Google shows you the agencies with the best SEO, not necessarily the best agencies. Comparison sites let you line up candidates on equal terms before you call anyone.

• Clutch lists agencies worldwide with verified client reviews, hourly rate bands and minimum project sizes. Filter by service, location and budget.
• National comparison sites. Most markets have one. In Norway, Bestpris.no lists 42 marketing agencies with hourly rates from about $90 to $180, customer reviews and a "Recommended" badge that requires at least 4.5 out of 5, updated September 10, 2026.

Use the lists to find three candidates. Use the checklist above to choose between them.

Marketing Agency for Small Business: What to Expect

A small business does not need a big agency. It needs one person who knows the account, a fixed monthly price, and a report it can read in ten minutes. Three things to expect, and to insist on:

• A fixed monthly fee per channel, typically from around $500, with the ad budget on top and paid directly to Google or Meta. A fee under that rarely buys more than a template.
• One named contact who does the work. At a small agency that is often the owner. At a large one, ask how many accounts the advisor handles.
• Month-to-month terms. A small business cannot afford six months locked into something that does not work. No lock-in is the norm among agencies that trust their own results.

What you should not expect is a guarantee. Advertising can show results in weeks, SEO takes months, and anyone who promises otherwise is selling, not advising.

If you're also choosing a new website in the same round, it might be worth looking at how to choose the right web design agency. Many businesses need both at the same time, and it can pay off to consider the two choices together.

How We Practice the Points Ourselves

A checklist is easy to write. Here is what the eight points look like at our agency, so you can hold us to them.

• No lock-in. Agreements run month to month. If we are not worth the money, you leave.
• You own everything. Google Ads, Analytics, Search Console and ad accounts are created in your business's name from day one. We have access, not ownership.
• Fixed price before we start. Packages cost $499 or $999 per month, and the hourly rate is $140 when something falls outside.
• You know who does the work. Thomas, who wrote this, works in the accounts himself. There is no salesperson between you and the person doing the job.
• A report you understand. On the first Monday of the month we answer five questions: how many inquiries, from which channel, what they cost, whether organic is moving, and whether we are cited in AI answers. The template is in our guide to measurable results.
• Documented numbers. Stas Artist +199% new users from organic search, VuggeBaby +748% revenue from Google Ads in two months. Both are published under our cases.

Compare us with two others. That is what this guide asks you to do.

Summary

Choose the agency that shows figures, explains itself clearly, and lets you own everything yourself. Avoid guarantees that seem too good to be true, and read the agreement carefully before signing. Actively use the checklist above in meetings with several agencies, so you're on solid ground when you decide.

Frequently Asked Questions