If you’ve hired a marketing agency, chances are good that you get some kind of report every month. Maybe you get a monthly call to review the report.
But if someone asked you, “Is your agency actually doing a good job?” you might not know how to answer. Here are four signs that your marketing agency is doing a good job.
Sign 1: They’re Focused on Results (Not Just Activity)
This is the difference between what we call an activity agency and a results agency.
An activity agency tells you what they did: we wrote two blog posts, we made changes to your Google Ads campaigns, and we updated your website.
A results agency helps you understand what happened because of what they did.
Of course, activity matters. You want to know your agency is doing the work. But the question is whether the conversation stops at “here’s what we did” or goes further to “here’s what it produced and what we should do next.”
A results agency has real conversations about what the numbers mean, what’s working, and what they think you should adjust.
And if you have questions the current reporting doesn’t answer, a results agency can dig deeper.
Sign 2: They Explain What They’re Doing (and Why)
This is the difference between an open book agency and a black box agency.
We think that an agency should be able to answer a simple question: “What are you doing for me, and why are you doing it that way?”
An open book agency walks you through the work. They explain what they did, why they did it, and what they’re planning to do next.
You don’t need to understand every technical detail. You don’t need to know how a Google Ads bid strategy works or what schema markup is. But you should have a clear sense of what’s happening on your account and why.
A black box agency is the opposite. And there are a few reasons agencies operate that way:
- Some agencies worry that if clients understand the work too well, they’ll try to do it themselves.
- Other agencies are concerned about competitors learning their “secret sauce,” and so they keep their cards close to their chest.
- And in some cases, the lack of transparency is covering up aggressive tactics that violate platform policies. In other words, if clients knew the risks, they wouldn’t agree to them.
We’ve seen all of these examples of black boxes in the agency world.
As the client, you should expect to understand the general strategy, to know what changed from last month and why, and to feel like your questions are welcomed.
Sign 3: They Provide Strategic Advice
This is the difference between what we call a vendor agency and an advisor agency.
A vendor agency does the work you hired them for. They run your Google Ads, or they manage your SEO, and they do a solid job within that scope.
An advisor agency helps you think about your overall marketing, not just the one channel you’re paying them for. When they see an opportunity in a different channel, they bring it up. When something shifts in the industry that affects your business, they flag it. When they think your budget should be allocated differently, they tell you.
Being proactive with strategic advice is an area where most agencies, including ours, can always do better. It’s easy to get focused on the current work and forget to step back and look at the bigger picture for the client. This is something we’re actively working to improve in our own client relationships.
And being an advisor sometimes means providing suggestions to clients that don’t even benefit the agency directly.
For example, we often make recommendations to clients that they should consider redesigning their websites. We can build websites, but we made the decision years ago to stop providing web design work in-house. Instead, we refer that work out to other agencies that specialize in it rather than keeping that revenue in-house.
If your agency has ever proactively recommended an opportunity that didn’t benefit them financially, that’s a signal you’re working with an advisor agency, not just a vendor.
Sign 4: You Can Tell They Actually Care
This is the difference between a transactional agency and a relationship agency.
From our 15+ years of experience working with clients and partnering with other marketing agencies, we can say with confidence that the main reason that clients leave their agencies isn’t just because of results.
It’s most often because of the relationship, or lack thereof.
When an agency genuinely cares, you can feel it. They respond quickly. They bring up ideas without being asked. They remember the details of your business and your goals.
But there are also some warning signs that the opposite is true:
- Slow response times
- Feeling like you always have to chase them for updates
- Getting a different account manager every few months
We’re not perfect on this one either. We don’t always respond as fast as we’d like to. And we’ve had staffing changes that meant a client had to get used to a new account manager.
But there’s a difference between an agency that occasionally falls short on responsiveness and an agency where your questions and requests get ignored. We’re always working to be on the right side of that line.
The question is simple: do you get the sense that your agency actually cares about your business succeeding?
Putting It All Together
These four distinctions are a useful lens whether you’re evaluating your current agency or considering a new one:
- Are they an activity agency or a results agency?
- Are they a black box or an open book?
- Are they a vendor or an advisor?
- Are they a transactional agency or a relationship agency?
No agency is perfect, and we’re no exception. But these are the standards we hold ourselves to at Main Street ROI, and it’s what we’re working toward every day.
In its best form, an agency relationship should feel like having a trusted advisor in your corner. Someone who explains the strategy, helps you understand your options, and makes recommendations based on your best interest.
Need Help With Your Marketing?
If you’re not sure whether your current marketing is working the way it should, we’re happy to take a look. We’ll review what you’re doing now, where the biggest opportunities are, and whether there’s a fit to work together.
