7 Red Flags When Dealing With Marketing Companies

One common question I get from potential clients is how best to choose a marketing partner. After all, aren’t they all selling the same thing?

The short answer is “no”— the value is completely different from company to company. Many companies do things the right way and can offer you a tremendous value: more customers, intelligent advertising solutions, and a solid ROI. On the other hand, a lot of companies do the exact opposite, providing their clients with very little data because the value isn’t there.

Here are 7 important questions to ask and red flags to be on the lookout for:

1. “Can you provide me with actual ad spend data?” If they insist on not providing you with the details of the actual ad spend, this is a problem. Google’s guidelines dictate that with Google AdWords, marketing companies must provide clients with data on actual ad spend. If they refuse to do this, it means they either do not correctly understand Google’s guidelines or they aren’t spending as much as they should be.
2. “Do you outsource any of your services?” It is commonplace for many companies to outsource their services to fulfillment companies. Sometimes this is OK if the company is upfront about it and you are talking about things like printing services, video editing services, etc. However, if the company is outsourcing its essential products, that would be a sign to run away.
3. “Are you Google Certified?” This is a very important question. Serious firms are Google certified and have passed classes that demonstrate their knowledge of how to run campaigns. If the company cannot show you their certification credentials, it is also a good indication they do not know what they are doing.
4. “Can I see ad copy before the ads go live?” It is very important for you to look at ads before they go live because they are representing your brand and company. If they are unwilling to send you ad copies before they go live, this is a sign to move on.
5. “What type of ad extensions will you use on my Google Adwords campaign?” The correct answer should be “location extensions, call extensions, callout extensions, snippet extensions, etc.” But if the company cannot put together a plan for your ads that includes the correct use of ad extensions, then it could be a sign you are dealing with an amateur ad manager.
6. “How do you handle reporting?” Reporting should be done monthly and should provide you with data that outlines their activity and the campaign results.
7. “What are the contract terms?” Beware of long contracts that are impossible to get out of. Contracts should be able to be cancelled without paying high fees. It is common to have a 30-60 day out for advertising contracts. Anything longer than that should be the subject of more scrutiny.

There are many other questions that can be used to judge a marketing company, but by using these simple 7 questions you can avoid working with a bad digital marketing company.