Remember when we said “polished is out, real is in”? (If not, start here.) Today’s consumers — and by extension, your future customers — aren’t falling for performative perfection anymore. They crave brands that are clear, confident, and real.
That mindset doesn’t just apply to your marketing strategy; it should guide how you choose the people helping you build it.
Yet, too often, the agency selection process feels… outdated. You write a brief. They send a deck. You review the case studies. They show you ROI numbers so high they feel like they came from a crypto scam ad. It’s all very polished. It’s also very broken.
Here’s the thing: you’re not hiring a vendor. You’re choosing a strategic growth partner. One that will help shape how your brand shows up, scales, and survives. So instead of just asking for capabilities and credentials, flip the script.
Learning how to choose a marketing agency shouldn’t feel like gambling. Here are seven litmus tests — seven brutally honest questions — that cut through the gloss and help you find a partner worth betting on
Test 1: Do They Prioritize Foundations or Tactics?
A prospective agency calls you. Five minutes in, they’re excitedly talking about ranking you #1 on Google, launching a viral TikTok dance, and running complex programmatic ad campaigns. It feels energetic. It also completely misses the point.
🚩 Red Flag: The agency immediately starts talking about tactics like SEO, Google Ads, or social media posts without first asking deep questions about your business goals, Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), and market positioning. They’re trying to sell you a hammer before they’ve even seen the nail.
✅ Green Flag: Their first conversation with you feels more like a diagnosis. They ask, “Who is your best customer?” “What problem do you solve better than anyone else?” and “How is your offering currently positioned?” They insist on strategy before tactics. As a Harvard Business Review article points out, strategy is about creating a unique and valuable position; tactics are just the means to get there. An agency that doesn’t obsess over your strategy first is just guessing with your money.
Test 2: Is Their Communication Clear or Clever?
You land on an agency’s website and are greeted with: “We leverage synergistic, multi-channel paradigms to actionably optimize your go-to-market ROI.” You have no idea what they do, but it sounds expensive.
🚩 Red Flag: Their own website, proposal, and conversations are filled with jargon, buzzwords, and vague promises. This isn’t just a stylistic choice; it’s a sign that they either can’t articulate value clearly or are actively trying to obscure a lack of substance.
✅ Green Flag: They speak in plain English. Their proposal clearly outlines the problem they’ve identified, the solution they recommend, and what success looks like in measurable terms. Their own brand is impossible to misunderstand, which is the best proof they can do the same for yours. Clarity is a competitive advantage, and they practice what they preach.
Test 3: Are They Selling Campaigns or Systems?
You see a case study that shows a massive spike in website traffic in a single month. Impressive! But what happened the month after? And the month after that? Often, crickets.
🚩 Red Flag: They focus on short-term, one-off activities and “bursts” of marketing. They’re selling you a marketing sugar rush — a campaign that feels good for a moment but leads to a crash, leaving you no better off than before.
✅ Green Flag: They talk about building a sustainable “marketing engine” or a “repeatable go-to-market motion.” They explain how content, sales, and product can work together as an integrated system that builds momentum over time. This approach, as detailed by marketing leaders, focuses on creating assets that appreciate in value, ensuring that today’s efforts are still paying dividends a year from now.
Test 4: Are You Buying Their Polish or Their Point of View?
You scroll through an agency’s blog and social media. The graphics are flawless, the stock photos are perfect, but the content says… nothing. It’s a sea of generic tips you could find anywhere. You don’t know what they truly believe about marketing.
🚩 Red Flag: Their marketing is all polish and perfection. They feel like a slick, faceless corporation, and it’s hard to find any real, authentic opinions or insights in their content.
✅ Green Flag: They have a clear, and perhaps even provocative, point of view on marketing that they share openly. Their content feels real and human. You feel like you know how they think and what they stand for before you even speak to them. You’re hiring them for their brain, not just their hands. Trust is the foundation of a great partnership, and as Forbes emphasizes, authenticity is a direct path to building that trust.
Test 5: Are They Loud or Are They Smart?
Their pitch is a whirlwind of the latest buzzwords: “AI-powered,” “Web3 integrated,” “the death of SEO,” and “the new growth hack that changes everything!” It’s loud, it’s exciting, and it feels a little desperate.
🚩 Red Flag: They chase every new trend and promise the world with the latest gimmick. Their pitch feels hyped and performative, designed to create FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) rather than genuine confidence.
✅ Green Flag: They exhibit quiet confidence. They can explain why they recommend a certain approach and, more importantly, what they would not recommend for your business. Their strategy is rooted in thoughtful analysis and first principles, not just jumping on the latest bandwagon. Smart is knowing what not to do.
Test 6: Do They Promise Unrealistic Growth or Sustainable Progress?
“We’ll 10x your leads in 90 days!” It’s the promise every SMB owner wants to hear. But can your sales team handle a 10x increase in leads? Can your operations deliver? Is that even the right goal?
🚩 Red Flag: They make massive, unqualified promises without understanding your operational capacity. Their plan feels like a generic “growth at all costs” template, ignoring the fact that unhealthy growth can kill a business faster than no growth at all.
✅ Green Flag: They ask about your actual business goals, not just vanity metrics. They discuss sustainable growth, profitability, and building a brand that lasts. They understand that a 20% increase in qualified, profitable customers is infinitely more valuable than a 500% increase in tire-kickers. They help you grow with intention.
Test 7: Are They Selling a Strategy or Just a Toolbox?
The first thing the agency mentions is that they are a “Platinum HubSpot Partner” or “Google Premier Partner.” Their solution to every problem seems to be a piece of software they are certified in.
🚩 Red Flag: They lead with the tools they use. Their team is full of “certified specialists,” but it’s unclear who the “strategist” is. This is a classic case of the carpenter who only owns a hammer, so every problem looks like a nail. A report from InsightSales notes that an over-reliance on tools without strategy is a major pitfall.
✅ Green Flag: They are “tool-agnostic.” They start by understanding your problem and then recommend the right tools for the job. They emphasize that tools are there to execute the strategy, not be the strategy.
Choosing an agency isn’t a line item in your budget; it’s a strategic partnership. Use these seven tests to look past the polish and proposals, and find a partner who will help you build something that lasts.
Ready to put agencies to the test?
Choosing the right partner is one of the most high-leverage moves your business can make. Don’t settle for surface-level polish or shiny decks. Ask better questions. Demand deeper thinking. And if you’re looking for a team that leads with strategy, speaks like a human, and builds marketing that actually grows your business — we should talk.