How to audit your marketing agency: 12 questions to find out if you're paying for anything

Many companies pay an agency or several digital suppliers every month without knowing for sure what they get in return. Reports talk about impressions, clicks and “reach”, but nobody answers the question that matters: how much does each customer from this channel cost me?

These 12 questions help you audit it yourself. You don’t need to be technical: just ask for access and look carefully.

Block 1: ownership and access

1. Are the accounts in your name? Google Ads, Analytics, Search Console, Tag Manager, Meta Business and the domain should belong to your company. The agency should have access, not ownership. If you leave, you take everything.

2. Do you have admin access to everything? If you have to ask for your own numbers, there’s a transparency problem.

3. Who has access to your website, and with what permissions? Old users with admin rights are a security risk almost nobody reviews.

Block 2: tracking

4. Are real enquiries tracked? Forms, calls and WhatsApp should be recorded as conversions. If your campaigns optimise for “page views”, they’re optimising for something you don’t care about.

5. Do the numbers match? Compare the enquiries you see in your inbox or CRM with what the ad platform reports. Big gaps mean broken tracking or inflated conversions.

6. Is bot traffic filtered out? Some sources generate visits with no value at all. If nobody spots them, reports show growth that doesn’t exist.

Block 3: campaigns

7. What does each enquiry cost, by campaign? You should see the cost per enquiry for every campaign and compare it month by month. A campaign that spends a lot and doesn’t convert needs an explanation and a plan.

8. Is something tested every month? New ads, keywords, landing pages. An account that hasn’t changed in months isn’t being managed.

Block 4: website and content

9. Is your website up to date and fast? Outdated plugins, old versions and slow load times cost money in advertising and rankings.

10. Is useful content published regularly? Articles, case studies, news — and, increasingly, content prepared so AI assistants know you.

Block 5: contract and results

11. What exactly does your fee include? Compare the list of services in the contract with what was actually done in the last three months. Ask for the detail.

12. Do you get a report anyone can understand? A good report says what was done, what business result it had and what happens next month — with invoices included.

How to read the answers

• 10 to 12 good answers: you have a serious supplier. Look after them.
• 6 to 9: clear room for improvement. Ask for a concrete plan with dates.
• Fewer than 6: you’re probably paying for activity, not results.

Rather have us do it?

In Ekualia’s supplier audit we review all of this with read-only access, cross spend and results month by month and hand you a report with priorities and estimated savings. No obligation to hire us afterwards.