Agency Matters

It’s hard to find good help these days.

That’s true of people and marketing agencies.

In my roles at Watkins Wellness and the American Red Cross over the last 30 years, I’ve hired, managed and parted ways with dozens of agencies, and for the past decade, I have led an agency focused largely on the hot tub retail category.

That experience has reinforced one thing: Agencies can be tremendously valuable partners when the relationship is working well.

Even successful retailers usually can’t justify hiring a full-time email marketer, designer, developer, CRM specialist, paid media manager, SEO strategist and analyst. A strong agency brings those capabilities in a fractional capacity, becoming an extension of your business and helping create a more powerful marketing engine. That said, most of us have some agency scar tissue. Too often, big promises made in the pitch meeting go unfulfilled. Months later, the retailer is left with a report full of numbers, no real sales lift and a bad taste in their mouth.

Why retailers struggle to evaluate agencies

Digital marketing can make this even more frustrating because many of the concepts are hard to understand.

For example, when I meet a retailer who says, “I have a company doing my SEO,” my first question is usually, “Great! What exactly are they doing?”

The answer is often something like, “Um … my SEO?”

That’s the problem.

Retailers tend to write a check every month because they know they should be doing something. Yet, because they don’t fully understand the work, and because the agency isn’t making it clear, they don’t get the results they need or deserve.

The best agency relationships are partnerships

Balanced partnerships are key when considering a marketing agency, says Amy Ogden, founder of The Collective, which focuses on matching brands with the right agency partners.

“A good agency should bring ideas, be honest about what’s working and what isn’t and help you make better decisions,” she says. “But the retailer has a role, too. The agency needs your input — your goals, your promotions, your sales feedback and what’s happening in the store. The first few months with a new agency often take more time, not less, but that investment usually leads to much better work and a stronger relationship.” 

Let’s focus on signs that your current agency isn’t working.

1. You don’t know what they’re actually doing

Your agency should be an extension of your team.

Whether they are helping with SEO, CRM, design, paid media, email or your website, their work should be tied to clear outcomes.

You don’t need to understand every technical detail, but you should understand the basic plan.

At a minimum, your agency should be able to explain:

• What they are working on
• Why they are working on it
• What outcome they expect from the work
• How success will be measured

Using SEO as an example, “We’re doing SEO,” is not enough.

A better answer would be: “We are completing a technical audit, reviewing competitors, building a content strategy and creating new pages designed to increase qualified traffic and leads over time.”

That is clear. That is measurable. That is manageable.

Key takeaway: If you don’t know what your agency is doing each month, you’re probably not getting everything you should.

2. You’re getting reports, but not insights

Reporting is important, but reporting alone is not enough.

When I managed agencies earlier in my career, my boss called bad reports a “data puke.” That meant a report full of numbers, charts and metrics with little explanation of what it meant.

Sometimes the numbers went up; sometimes they went down, but there was no clear connection to what was happening in the business.

Good reporting should answer three questions:

• What work was done?
• What happened as a result?
• What should we do next?

Data should lead to insight and insight to action.

If leads are down, the conversation should not stop at “leads are down.” It should expand to: “Why are they down? What can we control? What are we going to do about it together?”

Key takeaway: If you are getting numbers without insights, recommendations and next steps, you are not getting the information you deserve. 

3. You don’t have regular meetings and accountability

Meeting with your agency regularly is critical. Think of it as a one-on-one with an employee. It’s a time to review performance, talk through priorities, ask questions and ensure alignment.

At a minimum, every retailer should have a monthly meeting with their agency that includes an agenda, updates and next steps.

These meetings are where you should ask questions like:

• What worked this month?
• What didn’t work?
• Are my ads being refreshed?
• Which ads are performing best?
• Is my paid media being optimized?
• What work is being done by AI, and what human oversight is in place?
• What are the priorities for next month?
• What are we testing next?

A good agency will welcome these conversations because they create dual accountability.

Key takeaway: If your agency is not meeting with you regularly, reviewing performance and providing clear next steps, they may not be paying enough attention.

4. You don’t own your channels and assets

This is a big one. You should own your website, domain, ad accounts, analytics, search console, CRM and social channels.

Some agencies create unnecessary dependency by controlling important assets. In some cases, they may even build your website but include language in the agreement that says they own it. So if you leave, you may not be able to take your website with you.

Avoid that at all costs.

Your agency should be invited into your accounts as a partner or guest.

The same goes for paid media. In most cases, you should have your own Google Ads and Meta accounts, and your business should pay the ad platforms directly. Your agency can manage the campaigns, but the account history, data and access should remain with you.

Even if your agency is performing well, it is worth confirming this now. It is much easier to clean up ownership while the relationship is healthy than during a transition.

Key takeaway: Ask your agency directly: “Do we own all of our
accounts, assets and data?” If the answer is unclear, fix it. 

5. You don’t understand your ad spend or performance

You should understand how your budget is being used and why.

Your agency should be able to explain:

• How much budget is going to each channel
• What each channel is meant to accomplish
• Which campaigns are driving leads
• Which campaigns are building awareness
• What is being tested or optimized
• How campaigns are being refreshed to prevent ad fatigue
• How spending is being shifted to match demand 

Too many agencies take a “set it and forget it” approach to paid media. That is not good enough. You should also understand where your marketing dollars are being invested throughout the customer journey. Some budget may be focused on building awareness, while other dollars are directed toward lead generation, retargeting or customer retention. The mix should align with your business goals and market conditions.

For example, we recently partnered with a retailer who was locked into a three-year contract with an agency. Nearly all of the retailer’s ad spend was devoted to awareness campaigns, with very little investment in lead generation. Awareness has value, but if your primary goal is driving showroom traffic and sales, an imbalanced media mix can limit results.

Big impression numbers can look impressive, but impressions do not pay the bills.

Key takeaway: Be an active participant in your advertising program. You should understand the strategy, spend and results.

Agency health checklist

Here are a few questions every retailer should ask about their current agency relationship:

• Do we own our website and intellectual property?
• Are Google Ads, Meta and other platforms run through our accounts?
• Do we have direct access to analytics, search console, CRM and reporting?
• Is there constant turnover on our account team?
• Does our reporting include insights and recommendations?
• Do we know what work is being done monthly and quarterly?
• Do we have regular meetings with clear next steps?
• Does the agency understand our value proposition and goals?
• If they are a national agency, do they understand our local market?
• Do we understand where our money is going?
• Is there trust, accountability and alignment?

If you feel good about most of the answers above, you may already have a strong agency relationship.

If you are unsure, it may be time for a more direct conversation with your agency, and if you answered negatively to many of them, it may be time to evaluate other options.

Later in this series, we’ll look at how to find and choose the right agency partner and get the most out of your agency.