11 Questions to Ask a Marketing Firm Before Hiring Them

If you don’t have a background in marketing and aren’t ready to hire an in-house marketing person, turning to a firm for their expertise can help ensure you’re reaching the right audience.

Just like how a client should ask solid questions before hiring you as their landscape company to ensure you’re a good fit, likewise, you need to ask the right questions to find the best marketing firm for your needs.

Foundational Fit & Philosophy

Before you start thinking about hiring a marketing firm, you first need to decide what your primary goal is so you can seek out the right organization. Are you looking to generate more leads, build brand awareness or achieve both? Considering your needs and the timeframe for desired results will help you decide whether to seek a firm specializing in paid ads or organic content.

Typically, most marketing agencies don’t offer every type of marketing service available, so you need to ask which methods they offer and if they provide any support or partners who can supplement those additional offerings.

“If they’re a catch-all firm, these days it’s actually uncommon for the ‘we do everything under the sun’ type of marketing firms to do a great job,” says John Marin, co-founder and CMO of Gozango, a lead-generating marketing platform. “It’s actually more common for a marketing firm to specialize in an industry and/or market.”

Chad Diller, CEO of Landscape Leadership, a sales and marketing agency for lawn and landscape companies, agrees that you’re never going to find an agency that does everything, but some can help craft a broad strategy and connect you with other firms that can execute those elements.  

Asking how a firm differentiates itself from the competition is another vital question to ask.

“We’re not afraid to tell people when their baby is ugly, and I mean that very respectfully,” Diller says. “We like to challenge our clients to think about doing things a different way. There are a lot of agencies that just take orders like ‘What do you want to do? What do you want to put out?’ They just really aren’t really challenging the client.”

Diller also suggests asking agencies what their own marketing and sales strategy looks like.

“If you’re a marketing agency, you should be really good at marketing your own business,” Diller says. “If the agency that you’re working with does really good at promoting and being present, and they have a really great sales process that’s really helpful for people to make decisions. That just pours over into how they suggest that you should market and sell your business, too.”

Client References & Case Studies

Asking for past or current clients that you can contact is essential, as these companies can give you insight into their experience with the agency.

“Reviewing a firm’s references and case studies is extremely important,” Marin says. “There are just too many ‘fly by night’ marketers these days who are inexperienced or simply don’t provide quality results for their clients.”

Diller adds that simply seeing a bunch of other landscape company logos on the marketing agency’s website isn’t enough. Look for case studies that provide background on why the agency was hired and what they contributed to.

“If you can’t find examples of their work, if you can’t read about them in an in-depth manner, or learn about what they do for clients, any business you want to deal with, it’s bad,” Diller says. “Why is that not there? It doesn’t mean that they’re not good. It just helps you to make a more informed decision when you can actually see use cases and actual names and places of brands that they work with.”  

Diller notes you should dive deep when talking to a firm’s references. Ask questions like what it’s like working with them on a regular basis, how often their account manager has changed and how easy it is to get a hold of the agency.

Industry Experience & Working Relationship

Marin says generic marketing firms can be a good fit, but typically it’s better to work with organizations more familiar with your industry.

“Anytime a marketing firm does not have experience with a certain industry and/or geographic location, there is always a learning curve,” Marin says. “If you have to choose whether or not someone understands your industry or your local marketing, it’s usually best to choose your industry, since most of the content, strategies, and tactics are industry-specific. When it comes to your local market, the marketing firm can work with you and conduct their own research to gain more knowledge about the buyer behavior in your specific geographic location.”

Diller agrees that it will take far more time getting a non-industry-specific agency up to speed on landscaping versus one that is already familiar with that type of business.

If you do opt to work with a landscape-focused marketing firm, it’s essential to ask them how they handle working with your competitors.

“An agency should be upfront with that,” Diller says. “Our position is if we are competing with lead generation for one of their competitors, I always say it’s unethical. “Really, we’re competing against ourselves, and then we’re driving up costs for both of those clients.”

One way to set your company up for success early on is to ask the marketing firm what they will need from you and describe how you can be a good client.

“The best clients come in and ask that because they understand that expectations have to be clarified, and they want to know that they’re doing their part to help, because a marketing agency can only take you so far because you have to collaborate,” Diller says.

Pricing & ROI

Last but not least, you need to discuss the cost of the agency’s services, including the initial amount, ongoing costs, ad spend, and other subscriptions.

“I think not talking about price is a big, big problem,” Diller says.

Marin adds that an agency shouldn’t require a long-term contract if they are selling a short-term service like paid ads.

“Anytime we take on a paid search client, it is month to month,” Marin says. “They can cancel whenever. If we were going to take on an organic SEO or organic social media client, for organic SEO, we probably require a six-month minimum and with organic social media, we might require a three-month minimum.”

It’s also critical to talk through what results you can expect to see. Diller says a quality marketing firm will be able to not only provide metrics such as conversion rates and click-through rates, but they will also provide insights on what those metrics mean and how to respond.

While you may want to see more jobs sold, this is not something you should hold a marketing firm accountable for.

“A marketing company should not be held accountable for closed sales,” Marin says. “They should be held accountable for qualified leads, and a qualified lead being someone who’s interested in your services, has a budget and is in your service area.”