5 Red Flags You're About to Hire the Wrong Marketing Agency
By Kobi Miller ·
We win a fair number of clients who were burned by their last agency. The stories are different, but the warning signs almost always show up before the contract is even signed — if you know what to look for.
1. They guarantee rankings or results
No one controls Google's algorithm or Meta's ad auction. An agency promising a #1 ranking or a specific ROAS before they've even looked at your account isn't being confident — they're telling you what you want to hear to close the deal.
2. You can't tell who's actually working on your account
Ask directly: who will be managing my campaigns day to day? If the answer is vague, or the senior person who ran the sales call disappears after signing, expect your account to land with the newest, most overloaded junior on the team.
3. You don't get access to your own accounts
Your Google Ads, Meta Ads and Analytics accounts should be owned by you, with the agency added as a user — not the other way around. If an agency builds everything under their own login, switching or leaving later means starting from zero.
4. The reporting is all vanity metrics
Impressions and clicks are easy numbers to make look good. If a monthly report doesn't tie back to leads, cost per lead, and revenue, you have no real way to know if the spend is working.
5. Everything is locked into a long contract
Confidence looks like month-to-month terms. A 12-month lock-in with cancellation penalties is usually there to buy time, not to protect a strategy that's already working.
- Guaranteed rankings or ROI before any account access
- No clarity on who's actually running your campaigns
- You don't own your own ad and analytics accounts
- Reports lead with impressions and clicks, not leads and revenue
- Long lock-in contracts with steep cancellation terms
A good agency should make it easy to leave. They keep your business by delivering, not by making the exit expensive.
None of this means every agency with a contract or a big report is doing something wrong. But if you spot two or more of these at once, slow down and ask more questions before you sign.
