11 red flags to look out for when hiring a marketing agency

Choosing a marketing agency is a big decision, and the warning signs usually show up before you sign, if you know where to look. The biggest marketing agency red flags are an agency that can’t show proof of results, can’t tell you what it would actually do for your business, talks about clicks instead of revenue, and wants to lock you into a long contract. There are too many stories of agencies that sell the dream, and months later you’ve spent thousands with no return in sight.

Don’t get stung. Below are the 11 red flags we’d look out for when hiring a marketing agency, plus a short list of checks to run before you commit. If you want the full process for building a shortlist, our guide on how to choose a digital marketing agency in the UK covers that. This article is about what should make you walk away.

On this page

1. No proof of results
2. Communication on their terms only
3. No specific tactics for your business
4. Ads without creative
5. Tunnel vision on one channel
6. Long-term contracts
7. Vague language and jargon
8. All clicks, no revenue
9. No questions about your business
10. Rubbishing everything that came before
11. No integrated ad strategy

Then see what to check before you sign and the FAQs.

1 – The agency can’t show you proof of its results

If an agency is as good as it says, it should be able to prove it. It’s as simple as that.

Plenty of agencies claim they can’t share figures because they’re “commercially sensitive”. There are easy ways round that. Percentage increases in revenue, conversion rate or return on ad spend reveal nothing confidential, and published case studies do the job too. We put ours on our case studies page with the numbers in them; for Fizzy Whiz, for example, we reported an average 10.41:1 return on ad spend across the Meta account (published July 2024). If an agency shows you nothing about revenue, conversions or sales, you’ve got no track record to trust.

It also shows a lack of commercial thinking. Imagine buying a luxury car from a salesperson whose pitch is that it gets you from A to B. They’re not the right person to sell you a luxury car, and the same goes here. Results are what you’re buying, so an agency that can’t talk about them convincingly is telling you something.

Ask for references too, and ring them. Ideally, find a client in a sector like yours and ask what the results were and what the agency was like to work with. Getting it from the horse’s mouth beats any pitch deck.

2 – Communication only works their way

An agency that makes it hard to reach them, or forces you into a system that suits them rather than you, is a red flag. If your sales meetings don’t cover how you’ll actually communicate, expect them to be just as hard to get hold of once you’ve signed.

Some agencies insist every request goes through Slack or a ticketing system. You work around them, whether it suits you or not. Think about how many people grumble about fetching their own cutlery at Nando’s. You let it slide because it’s a cheap meal. You’re not paying thousands of pounds a month for it.

Agencies should make it quick and simple for clients to get in touch, using the tools people already use every day. According to Ofcom, 90% of UK adults use WhatsApp, so a WhatsApp group, email and the phone will cover most clients. Ask directly: will you have access to the person who manages your account day to day, or only to an account manager who passes messages along?

If an agency charges you thousands a month and won’t make communication easy, it doesn’t understand what a premium retainer is for, and expectations won’t meet reality.

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3 – They can’t give you specific tactics and strategies

If you leave a sales call without a clear idea of what the agency would do for your business specifically, think hard before going any further. “We’ll run some ads” isn’t a strategy.

Say you’re a furniture company. What exactly would they do to sell sofas? Without specifics on creative, targeting, calls to action, campaign types and budgets, they don’t understand your needs, your company or your audience. A good answer might point out that someone buying a £2,000 sofa probably won’t buy on the first ad they see, so you’ll need top-of-funnel ads plus retargeting to cover a long consideration period.

An agency that can’t do this on the call is either unprepared, which tells you how prepared it’ll be for your campaigns and reporting, or it doesn’t have the experience to get results for you. Neither is a great start.

4 – They run ads but won’t make the creative

Plenty of agencies say they run ads, then tell you to supply your own images and videos. That’s a concern. A campaign only works when account set-up, targeting, creative, strategy and budget all pull together, and an agency that skips the creative is offering a lazy, out-of-the-box service.

Creative has mattered even more since Apple changed the rules. From iOS 14.5, apps have needed the user’s permission through App Tracking Transparency before tracking them across other companies’ apps and websites. Many older ways of targeting people stopped working almost overnight, and any agency still running on pre-2021 principles is using outdated methods.

Meta’s Advantage+ and Google’s Performance Max now do much of the targeting and bidding automatically. What they can’t do is make your ads worth watching. The video, the imagery, the layout, the colours and the wording are what stop someone scrolling and give them a reason to click. In our own work for Fizzy Whiz, a single how-to video ad for bath bomb kits ran at a 16.86:1 return on ad spend. Creative like that doesn’t come from a client being told to “send over some photos”.

An agency that runs your ads should want control of the creative, because it’s the part that makes or breaks the campaign.

5 – They only see their own channel

Specialist agencies aren’t a problem in themselves; sometimes a specialist is exactly what you need. The red flag is an agency that only looks at its own platform’s numbers, can’t explain how its channel fits with the rest of your marketing, or claims to cover channels it doesn’t really run.

Take a social ads agency that never leaves Meta Ads Manager. The best marketers also check Google Analytics and your Shopify, WooCommerce or Magento back end, because those show things the ad platform can’t. Say ads have been running for 30 days: traffic is up, sales are up a little, but the site’s conversion rate has dropped. That points to a question Ads Manager can’t answer on its own. Maybe the site needs work so more of that paid traffic converts. If so, pouring more money into ads won’t fix it.

The same blind spot causes expensive mistakes. A high click-through rate combined with a low conversion rate could mean the ads are misleading, or it could mean the website isn’t performing. An agency that doesn’t look at the site data might switch off a strong ad when the website was the problem all along, and make sales worse.

Waste like this adds up. Proxima, a procurement consultancy, reckons many companies spend 40 to 60% of their digital budgets ineffectively. Whether you hire a specialist or a full-service team, make sure someone is looking at the whole picture. Our article on full-service versus single-channel agencies sets out when each one makes sense.

6 – They want a long-term contract

Any agency that tries to tie you into a long contract, demanding six months or more upfront, is a red flag. Agencies should be able to offer shorter, rolling agreements. If they prove their worth, you’ll want to keep going.

An agency that’s confident in its work doesn’t need to lock you in, because the results do the talking. We work on a rolling monthly agreement with no tie-in for exactly that reason. So if you’re handed a 12-month binding contract before an agency has done a day’s work for you, run for the hills!

If a longer term genuinely makes sense, for example a website build with ongoing support, read the notice period and the exit terms before you sign. Check what happens to your ad accounts, content and data if you leave, and whether there’s a break clause if agreed targets are missed. A fair agency won’t mind you asking.

7 – They use vague language or bury you in jargon

If the sales call feels vague, or the agency seems to be confusing you on purpose, be wary. Lots of agencies use bamboozlement (yes, it’s a real word): clever-sounding terms that make them seem expert and make you feel you need them because there’s so much you don’t know.

Google gives similar advice about hiring SEOs, warning you to be careful if a company is secretive or won’t clearly explain what it intends to do. It’s good advice for any agency.

Marketing is about taking something complicated and making it simple for people to understand. If an agency can’t do that for its own service, it hasn’t a hope in hell of doing it for yours, especially if your product is niche or technical. If you come off the call unsure what they’ll actually do for you, avoid them.

8 – The conversation is all clicks, impressions and visitors

Clicks, impressions and site visits matter, but they’re a small part of the picture. If the conversation isn’t geared towards sales and how much revenue needs to be generated, the agency is focused on the wrong thing.

These are the agencies that, after a month or two of no results, say “the campaign is still in learning” or “we’ve got some really great traffic coming to the site”. That’s not what you’re paying for. Almost every business that hires an agency wants more sales or leads, so if the sales call is all top-of-funnel activity and nothing about conversion, that’s a big problem.

A good agency talks about your margins, your cost per sale and what it can do for your bottom line. For paid search, our guide to Google Ads management cost shows how to work out what you can afford to pay for a customer, which is the conversation you should be having.

9 – They don’t ask about your business or your customers

No one knows more about your business, your industry and your customers than you. You know who buys from you, roughly how old they are and why they need your product. You know your competitors, what they do well and where they fall down. An agency that doesn’t tap into that is starting from scratch for no reason.

A good agency also asks what you’re trying to achieve. For some businesses that’s straight revenue growth; for others it’s a new market, more leads or a rebrand. Be clear on your own goals before the first meeting, then watch whether the agency asks about them.

Many people on sales calls are too busy selling to ask simple questions. Think of it like a job interview: if a candidate hadn’t researched your company and asked nothing about it, that would be a red flag, wouldn’t it? An agency that wants your money but has no questions about how you operate, or how you’ve made the money to afford them, is no different. You’ve done something right to get here. Why wouldn’t they want to know what it is, so they can build on it?

There’s often no need to reinvent the wheel. If something’s working, it can be scaled and added to. An agency that doesn’t ask probably thinks it knows better than you, and that attitude rarely improves once you’re a client.

10 – They criticise everything done before them

Some agencies are quick to rubbish everything that came before them, whether it was another agency’s work or your own. Often, previous campaigns have good elements that just need better management or a few tweaks.

Sometimes past work really is poor, and it’s fair to point that out and explain why. But if your business has done well enough to afford an agency, it can’t all be bad. If you’ve had a decent return on ad spend and simply want to scale, the old campaigns probably aren’t a disaster.

Agencies sometimes use this tactic to scare you into signing, or to knock out the competition. Don’t let anyone convince you your business is in trouble when it isn’t.

11 – They can’t produce an integrated ad strategy

Search and social ads usually work best together, and an agency that can only offer one should at least explain how it will work alongside whoever runs the other. The two platforms often share the credit for a conversion.

For example, much of your traffic might come from Google while most conversions come through Facebook, because retargeting brings back people who visited your site. Google can retarget through display ads, but Meta ads keep showing up while people are casually scrolling, which keeps your brand front of mind.

Running Google Ads alone leaves a big audience untouched. DataReportal’s Digital 2026 report for the UK puts Facebook’s UK ad reach at 38.8 million people and Instagram’s at 35.5 million. LocaliQ’s 2026 benchmarks put the average conversion rate for Facebook lead campaigns at 8.54%, though that’s US data. Equally, Meta ads without search means you miss the people who are already searching for exactly what you sell, often the easiest customers to convert.

That’s why we run Google Ads and Meta ads side by side. If an agency offers one and has no plan for the other, think twice.

What should you check before you sign?

Spotting red flags is half the job. Before you commit, run these quick checks too. They’re the useful bits from our older checklist, and each one takes minutes.

• Billing you can understand. Good agencies scale their services to your budget and bill clearly. If ad spend and fees are bundled into one figure, ask for them separately.
• Who actually does the work. Big isn’t automatically better. Find out whether you’ll get senior attention or be the smallest account on a junior’s list. The old line “big enough to cope, small enough to care” still holds.
• No guaranteed results. Google says plainly that no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. Treat guaranteed rankings, leads or sales as a reason to leave.
• How success will be measured. Agree the numbers that matter, such as revenue, return on ad spend or cost per lead, and how often you’ll see them.
• Accounts in your name. Your ad accounts, analytics and website should belong to you, with the agency given access. If an agency builds everything in its own accounts, leaving becomes painful and you can lose years of data.
• Badges that check out. Partner badges are easy to paste onto a website. Google’s guide for advertisers suggests clicking a partner’s badge to confirm the certification, which takes you to its profile on Google.
• The people, not just the pitch. Meet the people you’ll work with. This is a working relationship, so if something doesn’t feel right, trust your instincts and choose someone else.

Location can matter more than people admit, especially if you want to meet face to face; we cover that in why agency location still matters.

The right agency can change your business

A good marketing agency is an extension of your business. It takes the time to understand you, asks questions, keeps communication easy, is open about its strategies and performance, and can show you real results. It won’t lock you into a long contract or hide behind jargon, and its goals line up with yours.

Spot these red flags early and you’ll save yourself months of wasted budget. For the full process of building and judging a shortlist, read our guide on how to choose a digital marketing agency in the UK.

Speak to a specialist

FAQs

What are the biggest red flags when hiring a marketing agency?

No proof of results, no specific plan for your business, a sales pitch focused on clicks rather than revenue, and a long tie-in contract. Any one of these is worth questioning. Two or more together usually means you should keep looking.

Is a long contract with a marketing agency always a bad sign?

Not always, but you should be wary of a long binding contract before an agency has proved itself. Rolling monthly agreements are common and keep the agency focused on results. If a longer term is proposed, ask for a break clause and clear performance measures.

Should a marketing agency guarantee results?

No. Results depend on your market, budget, product and competitors, which no agency controls. Google warns that no one can guarantee a top ranking. A good agency will set realistic targets, explain how it will measure them, and show you results from similar clients.

How can I check an agency’s results are genuine?

Ask for case studies with specific figures, then ask to speak to one or two of those clients. Check whether the results relate to revenue or leads rather than traffic alone, and whether they’re recent. A confident agency will happily put you in touch.

Is a specialist agency a red flag?

No. A specialist can be the right choice when one channel matters most to you. The warning sign is a specialist that ignores everything outside its own platform, or claims to cover channels it doesn’t really run.

Sources

• From apps to AI search: how the UK goes online in 2025, Ofcom (December 2025)
• User privacy and data use, Apple Developer
• Eliminate waste and complexity in your digital advertising budget, Proxima (May 2023)
• Do you need an SEO?, Google Search Central
• Digital 2026: The United Kingdom, DataReportal
• Facebook advertising benchmarks 2026, LocaliQ
• Advertiser guide: working with third parties, Google Ads Help