How do I know if my marketing agency is doing a good job?
Judge a marketing agency on two things: how many customers its work brought you, and what each one cost. Everything else is supporting evidence. If you can't get a straight answer on those two, that's your answer, however handsome the monthly report looks. There's a scorecard at the end.
Ask the two questions in writing
"How many enquiries or sales came from your work last month, and what did each one cost?"
A good agency answers with a number, a caveat about attribution, and an explanation of what changed since the previous month. Attribution, deciding which piece of marketing gets the credit, is genuinely hard, because customers see several things before they get in touch, and an honest answer admits as much. What an honest answer doesn't do is change the subject.
Then listen for these replies:
- "Impressions are up." Impressions aren't customers, and never were.
- "Engagement is up." Engagement isn't customers either.
- "It takes time to build." Sometimes that's true, especially for SEO and content. But it should come with a date by which you'll see something, set in advance rather than moved each month.
- "Here is the dashboard." A dashboard isn't an answer. Ask them to read it to you.
- "Rankings are improving." Ask for which searches, and whether those searches are bringing enquiries. A top position for a phrase nobody uses is worth nothing.
Check that the tracking is real
Before you judge anyone's numbers, make sure the numbers exist. Send a test enquiry through your own website and check that it appears in the reporting. Accounts can measure the wrong thing, count the same enquiry twice, or track nothing at all after a website change, and we go through how to check for each in the five reports you actually need.
If the tracking is broken, nobody knows whether the work is good, the agency included. That's a fixable problem rather than a firing offence, but it needs fixing before anything else is discussed.
What's reasonable to expect from each channel
Channels move at different speeds, and a fair judgement allows for that. What is never reasonable is having no agreed measure and no date.
| Channel | What you should be able to see | When it is fair to judge |
|---|---|---|
| Google Ads and other paid search | Enquiries or sales recorded against spend, and the cost of each | Once tracking works and there have been enough clicks to be meaningful for your business |
| Paid social | Enquiries or sales, and cost per result, alongside reach | As above; allow for longer decision times if you sell something considered |
| SEO | Search Console showing more of the searches that matter, then more visits and enquiries from them | Over months rather than weeks; ask for the date and measure up front |
| Content | Visits to the pieces from people who could buy, and enquiries that started there | Over months, with a plan that says which pieces are meant to do what |
| Replies, clicks and sales from each send | Straight away, send by send | |
| Website work | More enquiries from the same traffic | Once enough visitors have seen the new version |
Be wary of anyone who is precise about SEO timings. Google's own guidance on hiring an SEO suggests asking what results they expect and in what timeframe, and warns that no one can guarantee a number one ranking. A good agency gives you its expectation and its reasoning in writing before it starts.
What a useful monthly report contains
A good report is short, and it answers questions in the order you'd ask them. If yours runs to twenty slides of charts, ask for this instead, on one page:
- Results. Enquiries or sales from each channel, what each one cost, and the same figures for last month and for the same month last year.
- What changed, and why. One or two sentences per channel, in plain English.
- What was done. The main pieces of work, briefly. This belongs third, not first.
- What didn't work. Every month has something, and a report with nothing in this section isn't being straight with you.
- What happens next month, and what they need from you.
Activity charts, impressions and follower counts can sit in an appendix for anyone who wants them. They should never be the headline.
How to raise it without wrecking the relationship
If you suspect the work isn't delivering, a direct conversation is fairer, and usually quicker, than quietly looking elsewhere. Send the two questions in writing first, so they can prepare an answer rather than improvise one. Then, in the meeting:
- Start with the numbers you want, not the verdict you've reached. "I need to see enquiries and cost per enquiry each month" gets a better response than "this is not working".
- Agree one measure and one date, such as cost per enquiry from paid search, reviewed at the end of next month.
- Ask what they need from you. Sometimes the honest answer is faster approvals, better access, or the landing page they've asked for twice.
- Write down what was agreed, and send it to them the same day.
A good agency will welcome this, because it gives them a clear target. One that gets defensive when asked for results has told you something useful.
Notice what they say no to
This is the strongest signal in the relationship. An agency that has never talked you out of anything is selling, not advising. Over a year you'd expect at least one "do not spend that", one "this channel is not for you", and one "you could do this yourself".
An agency that agrees with every idea you have is charging you for your own judgement.
Find out who is actually doing the work
Ask who wrote the last thing you received, and who'll be in the next meeting. There's nothing wrong with junior people doing the delivery, as long as somebody senior reads it before it reaches you. The problem comes when the person who sold you the work hasn't looked at your account since.
Check you own what you're paying for
This matters most when things are going badly, which is exactly when it's hardest to fix. Your website, domain, ad accounts and analytics should be in your business's name, with the agency given access, not the other way round.
- Google Ads has five access levels: Email only, Billing, Read only, Standard and Admin. Someone in your business should hold Admin access to your own account.
- Google Analytics should list someone in your business as an administrator of the property.
- Your domain should be registered to your business, with the login in your hands.
- Your website's hosting and content management logins should be yours, even if the agency manages them day to day.
If an agency holds any of these and won't hand them over, that's a serious problem, and one to solve now rather than at the end of the contract.
The scorecard
Fill this in once, honestly, and again in three months. It takes ten minutes, and the answers are saved in this browser.
I get a monthly answer to "how many enquiries or sales, and what did each cost" without having to chase it.
How to tell
Every month, without asking, you receive the number of enquiries or sales from the agency's work and what each one cost, with a note on what changed. A dashboard link on its own does not count.
I have tested the tracking myself with a test enquiry, and it was recorded.
How to tell
You sent an enquiry through your own website, and it appeared in the reporting as one enquiry, from the right source, within a day.
We agreed in writing what success looks like and by when, and it has not been quietly moved.
How to tell
There is an email or document that names one measure, such as cost per enquiry from paid search, and a date to judge it by. That date has not moved since.
The reports lead with results, not activity.
How to tell
The first thing in each report is enquiries or sales and their cost, compared with last month and last year. Work done, impressions and follower counts come later, if at all.
I have been told "no" or "not worth it" at least once in the last year.
How to tell
You can name a time in the last year when the agency advised against spending money, dropped a channel that was not working, or told you something could be done in-house.
I was told about the last bad month before I noticed it myself.
How to tell
When results last dipped, the agency raised it first, with a reason and a plan, before you noticed and asked.
I know who does the work on my account, and someone senior reviews it.
How to tell
You can name the person who does the day-to-day work and the senior person who reads it before it reaches you, and you have spoken to both.
My business holds Admin access to the ad accounts and administrator access to analytics.
How to tell
Someone in your business is listed with Admin access in Google Ads and as an administrator of the Google Analytics property, using a business email address, not a personal one.
My business owns the domain and the website logins.
How to tell
The domain's registrant is your business, you hold the login to the registrar, and you have an administrator login to the website and its hosting.
I could explain, in one sentence, what they are trying to achieve for me this quarter.
How to tell
Without looking at a document, you can say what the agency is trying to achieve for you this quarter, and they would describe it the same way.
When I ask "what would you do if this were your money?", I get a plain answer.
How to tell
You asked "what would you do if this were your money?" and got a direct recommendation, including what to stop, not a list of options.
Most businesses can't say yes to every one, and a few gaps are normal and fixable. If fewer than half are a yes, have a direct conversation using this list, and give it a month. If it's still under half after that, it's time to look elsewhere. Before you do, it helps to know what marketing costs in the UK for the same work, and whether to hire an agency, consultant or freelancer next.
When the answer is that they're doing fine
Sometimes the work is good and the problem lies elsewhere in the business: the pricing, the offer, the sales follow-up, or a website that loses people who were ready to buy. Agencies get blamed for all four.
If the marketing is bringing the right people and they aren't buying, the problem has moved, and changing agency won't fix it. Establish that before you start again with someone new. It's usually a short piece of work, not a long one.
That question is where our analytics and reporting service starts, and the GA4 and tracking fix costs a fixed £2,500.
Questions people ask
How do I know if my marketing agency is doing a good job?
Ask two questions in writing: how many enquiries or sales came from their work last month, and what each one cost. A good agency answers with numbers, an honest caveat about attribution and an explanation of what changed. If you can't get a straight answer, that's the answer.
How long should I give a marketing agency before judging results?
It depends on the channel. Paid ads can be judged on weeks of data once tracking works, while SEO and content take longer. What matters is that the agency set a date and a measure in advance, rather than moving the goalposts each month. Google itself says nobody can guarantee a number one ranking.
Who should own my Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts?
You should. The accounts, the website and the domain should be in your business's name, with the agency given access. Google Ads has access levels from Email only up to Admin, so make sure someone in your business holds Admin access.
What are the warning signs of a bad marketing agency?
Reports full of impressions and engagement but no enquiries or sales, targets that move each month, accounts held in the agency's name, never being told no, and nobody senior looking at your account once the sale is made.
Should I change agency if results are poor?
Not until you know where the problem is. If the marketing is bringing the right people and they aren't buying, the issue may be the pricing, the offer, the website or the sales follow-up, and a new agency will hit the same wall.
I founded oXo Creatives, an independent marketing agency and consultancy, in 2013 and run it full-time. Until 2026 I ran it alongside senior in-house marketing roles at Google, PlayStation and King, partner management at Meta, and digital product at NatWest.
Want help with analytics and reporting?
Know where your customers come from and which marketing pays for itself, in plain English. A week or two to set up, then a report each month.
