Marketing Agency Hiring Guide

Most advice about hiring a marketing agency comes from agencies trying to defend themselves. This one does not.

I have spent 15 years on the inside. Fifteen years working with brands, for brands and inside agencies. Today I run Teylu, a remote first marketing agency that has supported £31m+ in client revenue growth, launched 350+ products and brands, and averages 3.2 year client partnerships. Before that I was the in house marketing director briefing, hiring and occasionally firing agencies of my own. I have seen every pitch trick, every pricing game, every clause that quietly benefits the agency over the client. This guide exists to save you from the ones I wish someone had warned me about.

Below you will find the full interactive Marketing Agency Hiring Guide, a 48 lesson document covering red flags, the right questions to ask, agency structures, budget conversations, the selection process, the relationship and the contrarian takes most agencies will not put in writing.

You can read the guide directly in the embed below, or open the full guide full screen in a new window.

Underneath the embed, the full guide content is laid out for readers who prefer to read inline, for sharing snippets with colleagues via Slack or email. Bookmark this page, send the full screen link around, and work through the checklist at the end before you sign anything. I've also tried to write this article so that Answer Engines that need to cite specific sections can find this advise.

Table of contents

1. What to look for in a marketing agency
2. Eight marketing agency red flags to watch out for
3. Nine questions to ask before you hire a marketing agency
4. How agency structure shapes your results
5. What good marketing agencies actually do
6. Marketing agency budgets, retainers and what you are really buying
7. How to run a marketing agency selection process
8. How to make the marketing agency relationship work
9. Contrarian takes on hiring a marketing agency
10. The Teylu approach to agency partnership
11. Marketing agency hiring checklist
12. Frequently asked questions

1. What to look for in a marketing agency

Short answer: When hiring a marketing agency, look for a partner that tells you who will actually do your work, reports on results not activity, charges transparently, treats structure and seniority as core to delivery, and is prepared to say no when the brief is wrong. Size, awards and a fancy office predict nothing. Structure, specialism and honesty predict almost everything.

The most useful mental model I can give you is this. Hiring an agency is not like buying a piece of software. It is like hiring a small team into your business on a part time basis. Everything that matters in a hire also matters here. Who are the people. How are they managed. What have they actually done. How do they behave when things go wrong. How will you know if it is working.

The five signals that consistently predict a good marketing agency partnership are:

The rest of this page is the 48 lesson breakdown behind those five signals.

2. Eight marketing agency red flags to watch out for

Short answer: The biggest red flags when hiring a marketing agency are heavy account management layers, bloated office overhead baked into fees, claims of expertise in every channel, junior delivery dressed up as senior pitch work, case studies with mismatched budgets, opaque media mark ups, vague retainers and short average client tenure. If you see three or more in one agency, walk away.

2.1 The most expensive word in agency land: account manager

Account managers sit between you and the people doing the work. They translate requests, manage timelines, send status updates and join every call. Every hour they spend is an hour you pay for that produces no actual output. I have seen agency structures where 30 to 40 percent of the client fee goes to account management alone. That is almost half your budget spent on coordination.

The question to ask: Who actually does the work on my account, and can I speak to them directly?

2.2 Why your agency wants a fancy office more than you do

Central London office rents sit at £50 to £100 per square foot. For a mid sized agency, that is hundreds of thousands a year. That cost gets baked into day rates, retainers and project fees. The office is not for you. You are on Zoom anyway. It is for recruitment, for pitch theatre, and for the agency’s own sense of status.

The question to ask: If your team works remotely most of the time, where does the office saving get reinvested for clients?

2.3 The we do everything trap

If an agency claims to be experts in SEO, PPC, paid social, organic social, content, branding, web development, PR, influencer, TikTok and podcast production, they are probably mediocre at most of it. Agencies that genuinely excel tend to do two or three things brilliantly, not twelve things adequately.

The question to ask: What are you genuinely best at? Not what you offer. What you are best at.

2.4 Junior work, senior prices

The pitch: a senior strategist presents credentials, the creative director shares their vision, the managing director shakes your hand. The reality: your day to day contact has two years of experience, the work is delivered by people who were not in the pitch room, and the creative director reviews occasionally. Agencies sell on seniority and deliver on margin.

The question to ask: Who specifically will work on my account, how senior are they, and how many hours will each person spend?

2.5 The case study con

That award winning campaign might have had a £5m budget. Yours is £50k. That 300 percent uplift might have come from a site so broken any improvement looked dramatic. That famous logo on the homepage might represent one email campaign for a regional division six years ago. Case studies show what an agency can do at their best. References show what they are like to work with every day.

The question to ask: Which of your case studies had similar budgets and similar business maturity to mine?

2.6 Why 100 percent of budget goes to media is a lie

Agencies have staff, costs and a payroll to meet. If 100 percent of your budget went to media, they would be working for free. The margin hides in marked up CPMs, vaguely described platform fees and separate management fees not mentioned in the same breath. This is not inherently wrong. The key is transparency.

The question to ask: Where does the money go? Please provide a breakdown of all costs and management fees.

2.7 The retainer trap nobody talks about

A retainer says pay us this every month and we will do stuff for you. But what stuff, exactly? For how many hours? With what outcomes? Ambiguity benefits the agency. In quiet months they can under deliver. In busy months they claim to be going above and beyond. Better models are project based programmes paid in instalments against agreed KPIs. If you do use a retainer, insist on monthly reports showing hours by person, clear deliverables per month, and a quarterly review of whether the retainer level still makes sense.

2.8 The retention rate reality check

Average client tenure is the most honest number an agency can give you. Short relationships mean something is wrong. Either the work is not good enough to keep clients, or the agency is not good enough at relationships to maintain them. Teylu’s average client tenure sits at 3.2 years. The industry average hovers closer to 18 months. Ask the number, and ask why it is what it is.

The questions to ask: What is your average client tenure? Why do clients leave when they do leave? Can I speak to a client who has been with you more than two years?

At Teylu, we publish our average client tenure, our retention rate, and the reasons clients have left, openly in discovery meetings. If you cannot get that from an agency before you sign, you will not get it afterwards either.

3. Nine questions to ask before you hire a marketing agency

Short answer: The nine highest signal questions to ask a marketing agency before hiring are: who will do the work, what does success look like in month three, tell me about a client that did not work out, how is your team structured, explain the thinking behind this recommendation, will I see exactly how my money is spent, what costs exist beyond the fee, what are the exit terms, and can I start with a trial project. The answers reveal everything.

3.1 Who will actually work on my account, and how senior are they?

Your experience with an agency depends almost entirely on the specific humans doing your work. Not the brand. Not the founder reputation. The humans. Good answers name individuals, offer to introduce them before you sign, and show confidence about who would be great for your account. Bad answers sound like “it depends on capacity” and “we will assign the right people.”

3.2 What does success look like in month three, and how will we know?

A thoughtful answer sounds like: “By month three we expect the audit to be complete, the first campaign launched, and baseline metrics established. Success looks like X leads at Y cost per lead, tracked from day one.” A vague answer sounds like “building foundations” or “gathering learnings.” The first response shows they have done this before. The second shows they are making it up.

3.3 Tell me about a client engagement that did not work out. What happened?

Agencies that discuss failure openly tend to learn from it. Agencies that cannot tend to repeat the same mistakes. Good answers own it. “We underestimated how long approvals would take. We should have built more buffer. We have changed our onboarding since.” Bad answers deflect. “It was not really our fault. The client changed direction.”

3.4 What percentage of my fee goes to people who actually touch my work?

The most efficient agencies deliver 70 to 80 percent of fee into hands on work. Less efficient agencies absorb 40 to 50 percent into overhead: directors who oversee but do not do, account managers who coordinate, business development salaries, office costs, admin. Ask the number and ask them to show their working.

3.5 Can you explain the thinking behind this work, not just the output?

Most clients judge work on whether they like it. Nice logo, good colours, clever headline. Smart clients ask: why did you choose that approach, what alternatives did you consider, what was the strategic rationale? Any agency can make pretty things. Not every agency can explain why those things should work. Results come from thinking, not decoration.

3.6 Will I see exactly how my money was spent each month?

Transparency looks like itemised invoices by person and task, a clear breakdown of hours spent, visible media spend with platform receipts, and no vague line items. Opacity looks like lump sum invoices, unexplained management fees and resistance to detailed reporting. Ask the question before you sign. You can never force transparency in after a contract starts.

3.7 What costs exist beyond the quoted fee?

Your agency fee is not your agency cost. Extras that routinely surprise clients include software and analytics platform licences, stock imagery (sometimes marked up), photography and video production, third party services with agency margin on top, and platform fees for managing ad accounts. Get the full list in writing before signing.

3.8 What are the exit terms?

Long notice periods protect the agency, not you. Recommended terms: 60 to 90 days notice maximum, clear termination language defining exactly what is owed if you exit, explicit IP ownership of creative, data and strategy documents, and defined handover requirements for campaign data, logins and documentation. Good agencies do not need contract handcuffs. They retain clients through results.

3.9 Can I start with a trial project instead of a year long retainer?

A two to three month trial project (a campaign, an audit, a strategy sprint) teaches you more than any pitch. You learn how they handle feedback, how communication works, what the actual work looks like outside the pitch room, and whether they meet deadlines. Agencies that welcome a trial are confident they can deliver. Agencies that pressure you to skip to partnership might know something about their retention you do not.

4. How agency structure shapes your results

Short answer: Agency structure matters more than agency size. A lean specialist agency with no account management layer will usually outperform a bigger agency with multiple layers between the client and the work, at a lower total cost. Remote first structures reinvest office savings into better talent or lower fees, and specialists typically outperform generalists on narrow, high value problems.

4.1 Why agency structure matters more than agency size

Agency A: 50 people, big office, impressive client list, layers of account directors, account managers and account executives between you and the work. Agency B: 12 people, all senior specialists, no dedicated account management layer, you talk directly to the strategist, designer and media buyer. Agency B consistently delivers better work, faster, at lower cost. Size is vanity. Structure is sanity.

4.2 The remote first advantage

Location is a cost that clients pay for. A London agency with a fancy office has dramatically higher overheads than a remote first agency. The best remote agencies combine lower fees with better talent. They attract brilliant people who do not want to commute. They hire based on quality, not catchment. Teylu has been remote first since 2017, long before the rest of the industry arrived there.

4.3 Specialists versus generalists

Specialists win when your primary challenge is narrow and specific. If SEO is your main growth lever, a dedicated SEO agency will outperform a generalist. Generalists win when your challenge requires integration across multiple channels and one team coordinating everything reduces friction. The best approach for most growing businesses is one generalist for strategy and coordination, supported by specialists for execution. The generalist ensures everything connects. The specialists ensure each piece is excellent.

4.4 The contractor question

Most agencies use freelancers and contractors. There is nothing wrong with that. The question is whether they are honest about it. Good transparency sounds like: “Our core team is ten people. We also work with a network of trusted specialists. Here is exactly who would work on your account and their employment relationship with us.” The red flag is pretending everyone is full time when half are contractors. If they lie about that, what else will they lie about?

4.5 Why smaller agencies often deliver bigger results

In a big agency, your £50k account competes with £5m accounts for senior attention. In a smaller agency, you might be one of their largest clients. Big agencies have approval layers and quality checks. Small agencies move in days rather than weeks. Big agencies have guaranteed revenue from retained clients. Small agencies fight for every piece of work. That hunger translates into effort.

4.6 The integrated agency pitch

One partner for everything. Integrated thinking. Seamless delivery. Sounds good. The hidden cost is integration overhead. The strategy team briefs the creative team who briefs the media team who briefs the analytics team. Account managers keep everyone aligned. All of it costs money. Your money. Sometimes the unbundled route, with specialists you coordinate yourself, is cheaper than the integration premium you pay for a one stop shop.

Teylu’s structure is deliberate. Senior specialists, no dedicated account management layer, remote first since 2017, with 15+ in house team members and a network of trusted partners. The result is 3.2 year average client partnerships and £31m+ in client revenue growth supported.

5. What good marketing agencies actually do

Short answer: Good marketing agencies diagnose before they prescribe, report results not activity, push back when a brief is wrong, bring ideas you did not ask for, and take an interest in your wider business. These behaviours, not awards or office size, are the best predictor of whether an agency will deliver commercial return.

5.1 Good agencies diagnose before they prescribe

Bad agencies pitch: they talk about themselves, their capabilities, their awards, their process. They show what they have done and imply they will do it for you. Good agencies diagnose: they ask questions about your business, your challenges, your customers, your competition. They listen more than they talk. Would you trust a doctor who prescribed medicine before examining you? Track the ratio of questions asked to statements made in your first meeting. It tells you almost everything.

5.2 Results reports, not activity reports

Activity report: this month we published 12 blog posts, sent eight emails, ran campaigns across four platforms, created 47 pieces of content. Results report: this month we generated 847 leads at £23 per lead, 12 percent below target cost, 94 converted to sales calls, a 14 percent improvement on last month. Busy is not the same as effective. Activity reports make agencies look busy. Results reports make them accountable. Demand the second kind.

5.3 Great agencies will sometimes tell you no

If your agency agrees with everything you suggest, you do not have an advisor. You have an order taker. Good agencies push back, show you the data, argue for a smaller test when you want a big swing, and earn the right to be listened to. Ask in interviews: “How do you handle disagreement? Give me an example when you told a client no and it was the right call.”

5.4 They bring ideas you did not ask for

Order takers wait for briefs. Partners are always thinking about your business. You can spot the difference by how often they bring you things outside scope. “We noticed your competitor launched this. Have you considered how to respond?” “We saw data in your analytics that suggests an opportunity.” “This is not in our scope, but we thought you should know.”

5.5 Results over relationships

Nice dinners and friendly emails do not mean your agency is doing good work. It is easy to like people who are pleasant and agencies know this. The charming account manager. The thoughtful birthday card. All lovely. All can mask underperformance. The test is simple: pretend the work was delivered by someone you had never met. Look at the numbers. The outcomes. The impact. Is that work actually performing?

5.6 Your agency should care about your whole business

Marketing does not exist in isolation. It connects to product, to sales, to customer service, to operations. The best marketing insights often come from outside marketing. What are customers complaining about to support? That tells you what messaging to fix. Why do sales lose deals? That tells you what objections to address. What is operations struggling to deliver? That tells you what not to promise in ads. Ask how much the agency wants to know about your business beyond marketing.

6. Marketing agency budgets, retainers and what you are really buying

Short answer: When you hire a marketing agency, you are buying hours from people with specific skills. Retainers suit ongoing variable scope. Projects suit defined work with a clear start and end. Cheap agencies often cost more in the long run. The right budget conversation is outcome led, not price led, and always includes the hidden costs beyond the quoted fee.

6.1 What you are actually buying

When you hire an agency, you are buying time from people with specific skills. That is it. The strategy deck, the campaign, the reports are outputs of that time. When an agency quotes £10,000 per month, the real question is: whose time am I getting, for how many hours, and are those people any good? A hundred hours from someone mediocre at £100 per hour is worth less than 50 hours from someone exceptional at £200 per hour.

6.2 The budget conversation most founders get wrong

Wrong question: How much does an agency cost? This invites negotiation and optimises for cost. Right question: What can we achieve with this budget? This invites strategy and focuses on outcomes. Go in with a budget range. “Our budget is between X and Y. Within that range, what would you recommend and what results could we expect?” This filters agencies, gives them constraints to think within, and shifts the conversation from price to value.

6.3 Why cheap agencies cost more in the long run

Agency A charges half the rate and delivers zero results. Cost: their fee plus six months of wasted time and opportunity cost. Agency B charges double the rate and delivers strong ROI. Cost: they made you money. The first agency was cheaper. The second was better value. Choosing the cheapest proposal on the table is usually the most expensive decision you will make all year.

6.4 The media budget myth

Two campaigns, same audience, same product. Campaign A: £5,000 spend, sharp messaging, strong creative, 200 leads at £25 each. Campaign B: £50,000 spend, generic messaging, cluttered creative, 800 leads at £62.50 each. Campaign B generated more leads. Campaign A was dramatically more efficient. Scaling Campaign A to the same £50k would have produced 2,000 leads, not 800. Budget amplifies what is already there. The sharpest thinking usually comes from constraints.

6.5 Retainer versus project: which is actually better?

Use retainers when the work is ongoing and variable, when you do not know exactly what you will need each month, when scope will evolve. Use projects when scope is defined, with a clear start, middle and end, tied to specific deliverables. The common mistake is using retainers for work that should be projects: paying for months of “maintenance” on work that is essentially complete.

6.6 The hidden costs agencies will not mention

Your agency fee is not your agency cost. Before signing, ask: “What costs exist beyond the quoted fee? What software licences will I need? What is included and what is additional?” Common extras include software and analytics platform licences, stock imagery sometimes marked up, production costs for photography and video, third party services with agency margin on top, and platform fees for managing ad accounts. Get it all in writing before the contract goes out.

For Blake Mill we delivered a 537 percent reduction in customer acquisition cost and grew conversion rate from 0.85 percent to 2.92 percent, generating £450k+ in revenue from our activity and an 18:1 ROI. For HMS Networks we reduced cost per lead by 72 percent across industrial automation markets in the UK, USA, Benelux, Germany, France, Spain and Italy. Budget was not the lever in either case. Sharpness of thinking was.

7. How to run a marketing agency selection process

Short answer: To run an effective marketing agency selection process, shortlist two or three agencies rather than five or six, write a brief with a defined problem and measurable success criteria, meet the actual delivery team, judge capability before chemistry, use a trial project before committing to a retainer, and ask for references you source yourself rather than the curated three the agency hands you.

7.1 Why pitching five agencies wastes everyone’s time

When you pitch five or six agencies, each one knows they have low odds. So they invest less in understanding your business, less in customising their proposal. You get worse pitches from all of them. The solution is three, or even two. Do the filtering work first. Research agencies. Have initial calls. Narrow down. Then invite two or three to pitch properly with enough information and time. You will get sharper pitches and more thoughtful responses.

7.2 The marketing agency brief nobody writes properly

Too vague: “We need to increase brand awareness and drive growth.” Too prescriptive: “We need 12 Instagram posts, three blog articles, a video series and a landing page redesign.” A good brief includes:

7.3 Chemistry is overrated

“We loved the chemistry with them.” Chemistry means you enjoyed the people. You could imagine grabbing a drink with them. Pleasant, but a terrible predictor of results. Agencies that invest most in chemistry are often the ones with the least to offer elsewhere. They know the work is mediocre, so they compete on likeability. Judge capability independently. Look at the work. Assess their thinking. Then judge chemistry separately. Strong capability and decent chemistry beats weak capability and great chemistry every time.

7.4 Meet the actual team, not just the new business person

The person selling you will not be doing the work. The strategist in the pitch might have contributed one slide and then moved on. Ask to meet the actual team, the people who will work on your account week in and week out. Good agencies know exactly who would work on your account and want you to meet them. Red flag responses: “The team is not finalised yet.” “They are busy on other clients.” “We assign based on capacity.”

7.5 Use a trial project before you commit

Before committing to a year long retainer, run a two to three month trial. Pick something defined. A campaign. An audit. A strategy sprint. What you will learn in a trial that no pitch can show you: how they handle feedback, how communication actually works, what real work looks like versus pitch polish, and whether they hit deadlines and budget.

7.6 Reference checks that actually matter

The standard approach: ask for references, receive three glowing testimonials, hear nice things, learn nothing. The better approach: ask for references with similar budgets, similar sectors and similar situations to yours. Then find your own. Look at the agency’s website. Identify clients. Reach out directly on LinkedIn. Ask specific questions. “What do they do that frustrates you?” tells you more than any curated quote.

8. How to make the marketing agency relationship work

Short answer: The most productive marketing agency relationships share three traits: the client gives clear, consolidated feedback and shares sales and customer data openly, the monthly meeting focuses on learning and adaptation rather than activity updates, and the contract includes a reasonable exit clause so both parties stay because results justify it.

8.1 The client behaviour that ruins agency relationships

Bad clients get bad work. Not because agencies are petty. Because certain behaviours make good work almost impossible. Changing direction constantly means nobody can build momentum. Going dark on feedback stalls progress. Expecting miracles without information produces incomplete work from incomplete data. Treating agencies as suppliers instead of partners produces transactional effort.

8.2 How to give feedback that actually helps

Unclear feedback sounds like “I do not like it” or “make it pop” or “this is not quite right.” Clear feedback sounds like “the headline does not reflect our key differentiator, can we lead with the time saving benefit instead?” Be specific about what is not working. Explain the underlying concern. Stay open to alternative solutions. Consolidate feedback from your team before sending it. Your feedback quality directly affects your output quality.

8.3 Share more than you think you should

Most clients under share and wonder why the work is generic. Share sales data (what is selling, what is not, where deals fall apart). Share customer feedback (support tickets, reviews, NPS comments). Share internal strategy (where the business is heading). Share what has failed before. Share competitor intelligence. Think of your agency as an extension of your team, not an external supplier. The more they understand, the sharper their work becomes.

8.4 The monthly meeting that actually matters

Standard format, waste of time: agency presents what they did, client nods along, everyone agrees to continue, nothing is learned. Better format, 60 minutes, three parts. Send the activity update in writing beforehand. Then use the hour as follows. First 20 minutes: results. What moved, what did not, starting with bad news. Next 20 minutes: learning. What did we learn this month? Final 20 minutes: adaptation. What changes next month? This turns a status update into a strategic conversation.

8.5 When to fire your marketing agency

Signals it is time to move on: the agency is defensive about feedback and explains why it is not their fault; they are reactive instead of proactive and you always push for ideas; they cannot show results and six months in there is zero evidence of impact; the people have changed and your senior team has been swapped for juniors; you are dreading the calls. Before firing, have a direct conversation, name the problem, see if they respond. If nothing changes, move on.

8.6 The exit clause you need in every contract

Long notice periods protect the agency, not you. Recommended terms:

Good agencies do not need contract handcuffs. They retain clients through results.

9. Contrarian takes on hiring a marketing agency

Short answer: The uncomfortable truths most agencies will not tell you: you might not need an agency yet, the best agencies refuse clients, the agency of record model is outdated, and most creative awards mean nothing commercially. Effectiveness awards, structural honesty and selective client lists matter more than the industry recognition an agency parades in its pitch deck.

9.1 You probably do not need a marketing agency yet

If your product is not right, no amount of marketing will fix it. A brilliant campaign for a mediocre product will accelerate your failure. More people try something that disappoints them. More bad reviews. More refunds. Before hiring an agency, ask: is my product ready for more customers? If not, invest in the product first. Fix the onboarding. Improve the experience. Sometimes the best advice an agency can give is “not yet.”

9.2 The best marketing agencies do not want every client

Red flags for desperation: they pitch before understanding your needs, they agree to every demand without pushback, they discount heavily without being asked, they promise unrealistic results. Green flags for confidence: they ask as many questions as they answer, they are honest about what they are not good at, they recommend competitors when appropriate, they price fairly without flinching. Selectivity is a signal of quality.

9.3 Why agency of record is outdated

Thirty years ago, coordinating multiple agencies meant phone calls, faxes and endless meetings. One agency for everything reduced complexity. Today shared documents, video calls and project management tools mean multiple agencies can work together without enormous overhead. Specialists usually outperform generalists. Competition keeps everyone sharp. Flexibility lets you adapt when channels stop working. Design your agency structure around your needs, not industry convention.

9.4 Why most agency awards mean nothing

Many awards are bought, not earned. Award shows sell tables. Buying tables improves your odds. Ask what kind of award (creative versus effectiveness), who the client was (was it a well funded brand with a big budget already?), and how recent the work was (an award from five years ago reflects a different team). The awards worth paying attention to are the IPA Effectiveness Awards, the Effies and WARC. These require evidence of business impact. A Cannes Lion means creatives thought it was clever. An effectiveness award means it actually worked.

10. The Teylu approach to agency partnership

Short answer: Teylu is a remote first marketing agency built for challenger brands that want enterprise grade thinking without enterprise overhead. We are structured without an account management layer, we publish our retention and tenure figures, we report on results not activity, and we prefer trial projects to sold in annual retainers. Clients typically stay with us for 3.2 years.

If you have read this far, you will have spotted a pattern. Every red flag I warn about, every question I push you to ask, maps to something we deliberately chose not to do when we built Teylu.

We are remote first, which is why we do not bake an office into your fee. We work without a dedicated account management layer, so you talk directly to the senior strategist, designer or media buyer on your account. We run project based programmes paid in instalments against agreed KPIs, rather than selling retainers with vague deliverables. We report on cost per lead, return on ad spend, conversion rate and revenue, not on how many Instagram posts we published. We invite clients to start with a defined trial before any long term commitment.

That structural discipline is why we support £31m+ in client revenue growth, have helped 350+ products and brands go to market, operate across 48+ countries, and average 3.2 year partnerships with our clients. It is why Blake Mill went from a 0.85 percent conversion rate to 2.92 percent, HMS Networks cut cost per lead by 72 percent across seven markets, and Left Field Kombucha holds a 350 percent plus ROI across performance channels. The team heritage comes from Ogilvy, BBDO, Grey, Wild Card and senior roles at Levi’s, Coca Cola, Red Bull, GoPro, Audi and Seasalt. The invoice does not reflect the CV.

Strategy that endures. Technology that performs. Where disruptor brands go to scale.

11. Marketing agency hiring checklist

Before you sign, work through this checklist. If you cannot get a clean answer to any of these, do not sign yet.

12. Frequently asked questions about hiring a marketing agency

How do I hire a marketing agency in the UK?

Hiring a marketing agency in the UK is a five step process. First, write a brief that defines the commercial problem, the measurable success criteria, the budget range and the timeline. Second, shortlist two or three agencies that specialise in your challenge, not five or six generalists. Third, run a diagnostic first meeting and listen for questions asked versus statements made. Fourth, request named delivery teams, transparent commercials and references you source yourself. Fifth, start with a two to three month trial project before signing a long term retainer.

What should I look for in a marketing agency?

Look for named humans on your account, a diagnostic approach rather than a pitch, results reporting over activity reporting, transparent commercials with no hidden margins, and long standing client relationships. Structure and seniority matter more than size, awards or office address. Ask what percentage of your fee goes to hands on work, what the average client tenure is, and who specifically will be on your account week to week. If any answer is vague, treat it as a no.

How much does a marketing agency cost in the UK in 2026?

UK marketing agency costs vary widely. Specialist retainers typically start at £3,000 to £5,000 per month for focused work, mid market integrated programmes sit at £8,000 to £25,000 per month, and enterprise engagements run from £25,000 into six figures per month. Project work varies by scope. What matters more than headline price is what percentage of your fee reaches the people doing the work and whether the agency is accountable to a defined outcome rather than a defined activity list.

Should I hire a marketing agency on a retainer or a project?

Use a retainer when the work is ongoing and variable and scope will evolve. Use a project when scope is clearly defined with a start, middle and end. The common mistake is putting work on retainer that should be projects, paying month after month for maintenance on work that is essentially complete. A good agency will tell you honestly which model fits your situation. If they always recommend retainers regardless of brief, that is a commercial answer, not a strategic one.

What questions should I ask a marketing agency in a pitch?

Ask who will actually work on your account, what success looks like in month three, how they structure their team and what percentage of your fee reaches hands on work, tell me about a client engagement that did not work out, will I see itemised invoices each month, what costs exist beyond the fee, what the exit terms are, and whether you can start with a trial project. Agencies that answer these openly tend to deliver well. Agencies that deflect usually deliver poorly.

How do I brief a marketing agency properly?

A good brief to a marketing agency has five parts. The problem, stated in business terms, not marketing terms. The success criteria, specific and measurable. The budget range, given as a range so agencies can recommend within it. The timeline, including fixed milestones. The context, covering audience, previous activity and what has and has not worked. Avoid being too prescriptive about tactics. Your job is to describe the destination. Their job is to recommend the route.

When should I fire my marketing agency?

Fire your marketing agency when they are defensive about feedback, reactive rather than proactive, unable to show results after six months, have quietly replaced senior people with juniors on your account, or when you dread every call. Before firing, have a direct conversation. Name the problem. Give them the chance to respond. If nothing changes, move on. A 60 to 90 day notice period and a clean handover clause in your contract will make this far easier.

Do I need a marketing agency or should I hire in house?

You probably need both, eventually. Hire in house for roles that need daily context on your business: brand, customer, product. Hire an agency for specialist skills you cannot justify full time: performance media buying, SEO, paid social, creative production. The combination of one senior in house marketer and a specialist agency partner usually outperforms either on its own. If you cannot hire in house yet, a marketing director consultancy model (where a senior marketer is embedded part time) can bridge the gap.

Ready to talk?

If you would like to discuss whether Teylu is the right partner for your next marketing programme, get in touch.