Ask about ownership, people, reporting, creative, and contract terms before you sign. If an agency cannot answer any of these in plain language, on the record, treat that as your answer.
Ownership: who controls your accounts and data
This is the question most businesses skip, and the one that costs them most when a relationship ends. An agency that builds anything on your behalf, ad accounts, a website, a CRM, should build it inside accounts you own, with you holding admin access from day one.
| Ask | What a good answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| Who owns the ad accounts, the Meta Business Manager, and the Google Ads account? | “You do. We work as an admin inside your business manager, and you can remove our access at any time.” |
| Do we own the domain and hosting for our website? | “Yes, registered in your name, with your billing details.” |
| If we leave, do we keep our historical data and creative files? | “Everything created for you, files, exports, past reports, is yours to take.” |
| Is our CRM or customer data exportable in a standard format? | “You can export a full CSV or database dump whenever you want, no notice needed.” |
People: who actually does the work
A pitch deck introduces you to senior people. Day to day work is usually done by whoever is assigned to your account after the contract is signed. Ask for that person’s name before you sign, not after.
- Who is the named person on our account, and what is their day to day role? A good answer names a real person and a real title, not a department.
- How many other accounts does that person handle at the same time? A good answer is a specific number, and a explanation of how time is split across busy weeks.
- Who builds the ads, the site, and the automations: in house or subcontracted? A good answer tells you exactly, and does not hide subcontracting behind vague language.
- What happens if that person leaves the agency? A good answer describes a handover process, not a shrug.
Reporting: what you will actually see
Reporting should tell you whether the business is making money, not just whether ads are running. Ask what numbers you will see, where they come from, and how often, before you agree to anything.
- What numbers will we see every week or month? A good answer lists specific metrics tied to revenue or leads, not just impressions and reach.
- Where do those numbers come from: the ad platform, a dashboard, or a call? A good answer offers direct access to a live dashboard or the ad accounts themselves, not a static slide deck once a month.
- Will you show us underperforming campaigns, not just the good ones? A good answer is yes, with an example of a recent campaign that was paused or cut.
- How is success defined for our account? A good answer ties back to leads, sales, or revenue, not clicks or likes.
Creative: how ideas get made and approved
Creative work is where budgets get wasted fastest if there is no process. Ask who makes the call on what goes live, how many options you see, and who owns the raw files afterward.
| Ask | What a good answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| Who approves an ad before it goes live? | “You have final sign off, or a fast turnaround review window we agree in advance.” |
| How many creative concepts do we see before launch? | A specific number, with a description of how concepts differ from each other, not small variations of one idea. |
| How do you decide when a creative needs replacing? | A description of specific signals, such as rising cost per result or falling engagement over a defined period, not a guess. |
| Can we keep the raw video and photo files? | “Yes, delivered to you as production wraps, not held back.” |
An in house content and film production team should answer the raw file question without hesitation, because the files already sit on its own drives.
Contract: what you are actually signing
Read the notice period and the early termination terms before anything else in the contract. These two clauses determine how easily you can exit if the relationship does not work out.
- What is the notice period to cancel? A good answer is a short, clearly stated number of days or weeks, not open ended language.
- Is there a fee to leave early, and what does it cover? A good answer explains exactly what the fee pays for, such as work already committed, and not a penalty for leaving.
- What is included in the monthly fee versus billed separately? A good answer separates management fees from pass through costs like ad spend, software, and stock footage, in writing.
- What happens to work in progress if either side ends the contract mid month? A good answer describes a handover of completed and in progress work, not a clean cutoff.
A hypothetical worked example: reading the answers together
Say Company X is comparing two agencies for a monthly retainer of amount P. Agency A gives Company X admin access to its own ad accounts, names a single account manager, and sends a live dashboard updated daily. Agency B asks Company X to run ads through an account the agency owns, cannot name who handles the account day to day, and promises “a report soon.”
On ownership alone, Agency A passes and Agency B fails, because Company X would have no way to take its ad history and audience data if it left Agency B. Score each of the five categories, ownership, people, reporting, creative, contract, as a pass or fail based on the answers given, not the promises made. An agency that fails ownership outright is worth walking away from, regardless of how good the pitch sounds.
Turning us the same way
Ask Arrax these same twenty questions. We work with clients across Canada, the United States, the Gulf, and Pakistan, with our team based in Lahore on Pakistan Standard Time, working overlapping hours with North American clients rather than hiding the time difference. We can name the person on your account, show you our own accounts, and answer the ownership question the same way we would expect from anyone we hired ourselves.
Read more about how we structure client work in our marketing solutions, including performance marketing and the content creation studio behind our in house film production.
If you want a second opinion on an agency you are already working with, or on your own paid media and website, request a free audit. A senior person reviews your paid media, website, and follow up process, and sends you a recorded video within two working days.
Questions people ask
What is the single most important question to ask a marketing agency?
Who owns the ad accounts, the domain, and the data. If the agency owns any of these instead of you, you lose control and history the moment you try to leave.
Should a marketing agency show me underperforming campaigns, or only the good results?
Yes, a marketing agency should show you underperforming campaigns along with the good ones. An agency that only shows wins is managing your perception, not your budget.
How many clients should one account manager handle at a time?
There is no fixed number that fits every agency, which is why you should ask directly rather than assume. What matters is a specific, honest answer, and a manager who can describe how time is actually split.
What should be in a marketing agency contract besides price?
A marketing agency contract should state the notice period to cancel, any early termination fee and what it covers, a clear split between management fees and pass through costs like ad spend, and what happens to data and files if either side ends the agreement.
Can I take my ad accounts with me if I switch agencies?
You can take your ad accounts with you if they were set up in your own business manager or ad account from the start. If the agency created and owns the account, moving your history and audience data becomes much harder.
Do marketing agencies let clients keep the raw creative files?
Agencies vary on this, so ask before signing. A clear answer that raw video and photo files are delivered to you as production wraps is the standard worth holding an agency to.
