How to work with a marketing agency: 11 rules for real results

We run an agency AND analyzed 280 agency engagements from client + partner data. Here is what separates winners from churners.

1. Agree on ONE primary KPI

Not "revenue AND CACAND retention AND rankings". One primary KPI everyone optimizes for. Others are secondary.

2. Share full data access

If you're hiding numbers, you're wasting money. Give agency full ad account, analytics, and revenue data.

3. Give 90 days before judging

Learning phase for algorithms + agency understanding of your business. Month 1 is noise. Month 2 is direction. Month 3 is signal.

4. Meet weekly, not monthly

Monthly calls = too slow. Weekly 30-min meetings catch problems fast and keep both sides accountable.

5. Define what creative you'll provide

Most churn happens because of creative bottlenecks. Agree upfront: who shoots UGC? Who writes copy? What's your creative volume commitment?

6. Separate agency fees from ad spend

Agency fees should NEVER be a % of ad spend, incentivizes spending more, not profitably. Fixed retainer + performance bonus is the healthiest model. (See Gartner marketing researchfor the official documentation.)

7. Let them kill your favorite ideas

If you override agency recommendations frequently, you're paying them to execute your ideas badly. Either trust them or switch.

8. Communicate changes immediately

Product launches, pricing changes, inventory issues, seasonal shifts, tell them the day you know. Not when they discover broken ads.

9. Measure blended metrics, not platform metrics

Meta ROAS+ Google ROAS+ TikTok ROASall summed = double-counting. Measure blended MER (total revenue ÷ total spend).

10. Agree on ad account ownership

Ad account should be owned by YOU, agency has access. If relationship ends, you keep learnings + assets.

11. Know when to fire them

Fire after 6+ months if: (a) primary KPI isn't moving, (b) communication quality degrades, (c) they can't explain what they're doing, (d) they get defensive about reviews.

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