I’ll start by saying if you’d asked me this question ten years ago, I’d probably have given you a very different answer!

Back then, I was the one looking for marketing agency support; I was working client-side at Edale, a UK-based flexo printing machine builder, juggling everything that comes with being an in-house marketing manager and trying to work out which agencies genuinely understood our business and which were simply very good at pitching.

Fast forward a good few years and I’m now on the other side of the table, having those very same conversations with business owners and marketing teams.

What’s interesting is that, although every business is different, the questions are usually the same.

• How do we know we’re choosing the right agency?
• What should we be looking for?
• How do we avoid making an expensive mistake…again!?

There isn’t a checklist that magically gives you the answer. Choosing a marketing agency is a bit like recruiting someone into your business. On paper, several people might look like a great fit but the real difference usually comes from the conversations you have, the questions they ask and whether you can genuinely picture them becoming part of your team.

Because that’s what a good agency should feel like.

Not another supplier, but an extension of your business.

I’ve sat on new client meetings and literally been interviewed, but I don’t mind – I love people that question my reasonings and are passionate enough about their business to see if Clairfy would be passionate about it too!

Asking different questions

One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that businesses often start looking for an agency before they’ve really defined what the problem is that they’re trying to solve.

Someone will tell me they need help with LinkedIn personal branding, or they think it’s time for a new website – or they’re looking for someone to do the marketing.

But when we keep talking, those things are rarely the real issue.

Usually, they’re looking for more consistent enquiries because they’re relying too heavily on referrals on the print media isn’t working like it used to. They’ve grown to the point where marketing has become everyone’s responsibility, which usually means it’s nobody’s priority. Or they’ve reached a stage where they know the business could be doing more, but they don’t know how or where to get started or where to focus first.

That’s a very different conversation.

A marketing agency isn’t really the thing they’re looking for, they’re actually looking for confidence that they’re investing their time and money in the right areas to help the business grow.

That’s why I’m always a bit wary of any agency that’s quick to recommend solutions before they’ve really understood the business. If someone is talking about SEO packages, paid advertising or posting three times a week on LinkedIn before they’ve asked about your customers, your sales process or your commercial goals, I’d be wondering how they know that’s the right answer.

The best first meetings rarely feel like sales meetings

I’ve thought about this quite a lot recently because some of the strongest client relationships we’ve built over the years at Clarify started in exactly the same way.

We spent most of the initial meeting talking about the business.

Where do you want to be in three years? What does success actually look like? Where are your best customers coming from today? What are your sales team hearing? What’s changing in your industry?

Marketing naturally finds its place within that conversation, but it isn’t the conversation.

I’ve thought about this a lot and I think it’s because so often marketing has a habit of being treated as a standalone function, when in reality it touches almost every part of the business. It influences sales, recruitment, customer perception, product launches and the long-term growth we’re all chasing. You can’t make good marketing decisions without understanding the commercial picture first.

That’s one of the reasons I don’t think choosing an agency is about comparing service lists. For me, it’s about finding people who are genuinely interested in understanding your business before they start talking about theirs.

A portfolio only tells you part of the story

Every agency has examples of work they’re proud of, and rightly so. If I was choosing an agency though it wouldn’t be the main thing I’d spend most of my time looking at. I’d want to dig in and know what happens once the proposal has been signed.

• Who am I actually going to work with?
• How often will we speak?
• Will they challenge my thinking when they think I’m wrong, or it could be done in a better way?
• Will they explain why they’re recommending something, or simply expect me to trust them?

One of the reasons agency relationships sometimes fall apart isn’t because the work is poor, it’s often because communication breaks down (it’s happened to us too) The business thinks the agency is ‘just posting on LinkedIn’ and the agency thinks they’re delivering exactly what was agreed in the initial proposal.

Neither side is necessarily wrong, but they’re no longer working towards the same outcome.

The best agency relationships I’ve seen evolve over time. Priorities change, markets change, businesses change and staff change. Your marketing partner should be able to adapt with you rather than simply working through the same monthly task list because that’s what’s in the contract.

Curiosity over expertise?

People often ask whether they should choose an agency that specialises in their industry and my answer is usually… it depends.

Working with an agency that already understands manufacturing, engineering or industrial businesses certainly has its advantages. They’ll understand long sales cycles, technical products, distributors, specification selling and the fact that not every buying decision happens overnight.

But just having sector experience doesn’t necessarily make a great agency. And we’re an agency who specialise!

I like people to stay curious.

The agencies that ask thoughtful questions, perhaps challenge assumptions and genuinely want to understand how your customers buy are usually the ones that produce the strongest, most thoughtful work. They don’t assume every engineering business is the same or every manufacturer faces identical challenges.

They take the time to understand what makes your business different, and that’s where better marketing starts.

Where marketing goes wrong

If I’m honest, I think marketing has created some of its own problems over the years, and with AI it’s definitely getting trickier.

We’ve become very good at selling activity. More posts, more blogs, more videos, more ‘stuff’ to keep us busy.

Sometimes those things are exactly what’s needed, but sometimes they aren’t.

I’ve worked with businesses producing lots of marketing but seeing very little commercial impact, and I’ve worked with others where changing the messaging, improving the website or simply creating a clearer plan made a much bigger difference than doubling the amount of content they were producing.

Activity isn’t the goal, but commercial progress is.

That’s why I’d always ask any agency how they’ll measure success before asking them what they’ll deliver each month.

Sometimes an agency isn’t the answer

This probably isn’t something agencies say very often, but I think it’s worth saying anyway. There have been conversations where I’ve left thinking that outsourcing wasn’t the right answer. Sometimes a business needs an experienced in-house marketing manager to run the day to day, sometimes they need to improve their internal process before investing in more enquiries and sometimes the foundations aren’t there yet. They’re maybe trying to run before they can walk.

Could we still have worked together? Probably.

Would it have been the right thing to do? I don’t think so.

I’ve always believed that long-term relationships are built by giving honest advice, even when that advice doesn’t immediately benefit you. I’d much rather someone came back in twelve months’ time because we pointed them in the right direction than became a client before they were ready. I remember at the start of Clarify back in 2022 and a client was referred to me, he wanted to sign up for a retainer but I had to say I didn’t think we’d the best fit – and I gave them details of another agency who they went on to work with successfully, to this day. Of course, the monthly income would have been nice, but I knew we couldn’t have done the account justice.

So, how do you choose?

If I was looking to onboard a marketing agency today, I don’t think I’d start by comparing pricing or downloading proposal after proposal. I’d pay attention to how the conversations make me feel. It’s abit like going to your child’s potential new school, hundreds of people could tell you its the best school, highly sought after, the best OFSTED reports etc – but until you go in, speak to the staff, observe how the kids act – sometimes, you should trust your gut instinct.

If I was back at an inhouse role, I’d look at whether a potential new agency seemed genuinely interested in understanding my business? If they asked questions that got me thinking? Can they explain their thinking in simple terms without blindsiding me with buzzwords? Do they seem genuinely interested in helping me achieve the business goals or just selling me a particular service?

And perhaps most importantly, could I work with these people on a professional level every day?

Because to me, that’s the reality of a good agency relationship. It’s not all built on a proposal or presentation – it’s built on trust, honest conversations and a shared commitment to moving the business forward.

If my thoughts and ramblings encourage you to ask a few more questions before choosing a marketing partner, then my job here is done!

And if one of those conversations happens to be with Clarify, I’d love to hear about your business. To me, whether we end up working together or not, those conversations are often where the best ideas begin.