Almost every local business owner I speak to has a bad agency story. Money spent, not much to show for it, and a vague feeling they were paying for something they never quite understood. I run a marketing business, so this is a slightly awkward thing for me to write. But you deserve to know how to tell a good one from a bad one, so here it is, from the inside.
The promises that should worry you
Some of the loudest selling points in this industry are actually warning signs.
- “Guaranteed number one on Google.” Nobody can guarantee rankings. Google decides them, not your agency. Anyone promising it is either naive or hoping you are.
- A long lock-in contract. Twelve month tie-ins exist to protect the agency, not you. A good one earns next month by making this month work.
- You never speak to the person doing the work. You get sold by a senior closer, then handed to a junior you never meet. The skill you thought you were buying is not the skill running your account.
- Reports full of numbers that do not mean anything. Impressions, reach, “engagement”. If the report never mentions enquiries, sales, or money, ask why.
- Jargon used to keep you in the dark. If you leave every call more confused than you started, that is sometimes the point.
The questions worth asking
Before you sign anything, ask these, and watch how comfortably they answer.
- Who actually does the work, day to day? You want a name and a real answer, not “our team”.
- What will success look like, and how will you show me? Good answers talk about enquiries and revenue, not vanity metrics.
- What happens if it is not working? Listen for honesty and a way out, not a guilt trip.
- What would you not do for my business? Anyone who says “we would do everything” is selling, not advising. A good marketer rules things out.
- Can I see real examples of your work? Recent, real, and ideally local. Be wary of borrowed screenshots and stock case studies.
If a marketer never tells you something is not worth doing, they are selling, not advising.
What good actually looks like
A marketing partner worth paying does a few simple things consistently. They explain what they are doing in plain English. They report on what it brought in, not just what it did. You can reach the person doing the work. They are honest about timelines and about what is not worth doing. And they do not need to tie you in, because they would rather keep you by being useful.
One person or a big agency?
Both can work, and it is worth being honest about the trade. A big agency has more hands and can take on huge, complex accounts. The risk is that a small local business becomes a small account, handed to junior staff, lost in a queue. One experienced person has less raw capacity, but you get their actual attention and their actual experience, every time. For most local businesses, real attention from someone senior beats being a small fish in a big pond.
The simple test
Here is the test that cuts through all of it: would they ever tell you that something is not worth doing? An agency that only ever finds new things to charge you for is not on your side. The ones worth keeping will sometimes talk you out of spending money. That honesty is the whole job.
If you want a straight, no-pitch look at your marketing and an honest view of what is and is not worth doing, that is exactly what my free website review is for.