10 Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Marketing Agency, Consultant, or Fractional CMO

10 Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Marketing Agency, Consultant, or Fractional CMO written by Sara Nay read more at Duct Tape Marketing

By Sara Nay, CEO at Duct Tape Marketing If you’re hiring a marketing agency or fractional CMO, these 10 questions will help you evaluate their priorities, processes, and how they treat clients before signing any contract. Recently, I spoke with two small business owners who reminded me why this topic matters. One is locked into […]

10 Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Marketing Agency, Consultant, or Fractional CMO written by Sara Nay read more at Duct Tape Marketing

By Sara Nay, CEO at Duct Tape Marketing

If you’re hiring a marketing agency or fractional CMO, these 10 questions will help you evaluate their priorities, processes, and how they treat clients before signing any contract.

Recently, I spoke with two small business owners who reminded me why this topic matters. One is locked into a three-year, $8,000/month SEO contract they barely understand. Another pays $10,000/month for Google Ads but doesn’t even own their ad account. Small businesses deserve better. This post is about helping you take back control of your marketing.

The best marketing agencies for small businesses lead with transparency, strategic thinking, and collaboration; not just tactical deliverables and fancy metrics. If they can’t answer these questions clearly, keep looking.

10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring A Marketing Agency:

1. Who Owns My Accounts and Data?
2. How Do You Define Success?
3. How Do You Connect Tactics to Strategy?
4. What Happens If I Want to End the Contract?
5. Who Will I Work With Day to Day?
6. Can I See a Sample Report?
7. How Do You Use AI vs. Human Expertise?
8. How Will You Collaborate With My Team?
9. What’s Your Strategy Process?
10. Will You Teach Me Along the Way?

1. Who Owns My Accounts and Data?

Red flag: If it’s not you, walk away.

When outsourcing your marketing, your ad accounts, CRM, analytics, and email lists should always remain your intellectual property.

If an agency insists on creating everything under their own logins or refuses to give you full access, that’s not a partnership.

Why it matters: If you ever want to transition providers or bring things in-house, you shouldn’t have to start from scratch or lose years of data.

Pro tip: Insist on setting up your own accounts and giving the agency access, not the other way around.

A good place to start for ensuring account ownership:

• Google Ads: The advertiser should have admin on the ad account and grant the agency access through a manager (MCC). Ownership access can be revoked by unlinking. Google Help
• Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram): Your business should own the Meta Business Suite and ad accounts and the agency should be a partner, not the account owner.
• Analytics: Create the GA4 account under your legal entity. The account owns the data for its properties. Google Help
• Reporting: Require direct logins and exportable reports. No screenshots only.
• Contracts: Spell out who owns creative, ad accounts, audiences, and CRM lists.

2. How Do You Define Success, and How Often Do We Review It?

Red flag: They focus on clicks, impressions, or follower counts without tying those numbers to business outcomes.

At Duct Tape Marketing, we call these vanity metrics. They make a report look good, but they don’t move the needle for your business.

A good partner defines success around outcomes that matter to your business: qualified leads, consistent sales, and customer lifetime value. They also review results with you on a regular schedule so you can make smart adjustments together.

So, what should you actually track? Here’s an example of what that might look like;

• Top of the Marketing Hourglass (Know, Like, Trust): Focus on visibility and awareness. Measure where your visitors come from,