What to Ask Before Hiring a Marketing Agency for PPC: Avoid These Common Pitfalls
Imagine this: You’re an established home improvement company. You’ve been working with a marketing agency to manage your website, PPC campaigns, and social media. Everything seems fine—until it’s not.
At some point, you decide to move on. Even if the parting is amicable, you suddenly realize that you can’t access your PPC account. You can’t download performance data. You can’t review keyword targeting or SEO insights. All that valuable information? Locked away.
Now you’re starting over with a new agency—and you’re starting from zero.
Unfortunately, we’ve seen this happen more times than we’d like.
Whether you’re in the early stages of vetting a marketing partner or you’re already working with one, these are the questions you must ask upfront to protect your business, your data, and your ability to scale.
Questions to Ask Your Marketing Agency Before Signing On
1. What happens at the end of this relationship?
No one likes to think about a breakup when things are going well—but a good agency does. A true partner will be transparent about how they’ll support a clean transition if and when it’s time to part ways.
🚩 Red Flag: They dodge the question or offer a vague answer.
2. Who has access to what?
You should always have ownership and login access to every account tied to your company’s name—Google Ads, Google Analytics, social media platforms, CRMs, and more.
🚩 Red Flag: They hesitate or refuse to share credentials for accounts they manage on your behalf.
3. Can I review the ads and keywords you’re using?
You should have visibility into your ad content, targeting strategy, and keyword list. If something doesn’t represent your brand accurately, you need a clear way to provide feedback and request changes.
💡 Pro Tip: Stay involved in your PPC strategy—even if you’re not managing it daily—so you’re never blindsided.
4. What exactly am I paying for?
If your agency charges a flat rate (like we do at FatCat!), make sure you know what’s included—and what isn’t. A lack of clarity can lead to frustration and unmet expectations.
💡 Pro Tip: Understanding your scope of work helps you make apples-to-apples comparisons if you ever change vendors.
5. Who owns my data?
If you’re paying for advertising, the data belongs to you—full stop. Make sure that’s clear in your agreement. This includes ad performance reports, lead data, campaign history, and more.
💡 Pro Tip: Adopt this mindset: If I pay for it, I own it.
6. Where is my traffic being sent?
Your ads should drive traffic directly to your own website—not a third-party landing page or tracking domain (unless there’s a strategic reason and you’ve signed off on it).
🚩 Red Flag: You discover your traffic is going to a different domain without your knowledge.
7. Will you integrate with my CRM?
Your agency should be plugged into your CRM to monitor how many leads their efforts are generating—and how qualified those leads are.
🚩 Red Flag: They don’t ask for access or ignore your CRM data entirely.
8. Will you ask for my feedback?
A strong agency relationship is built on communication. You should be reviewing lead quality, approving creative, and providing feedback regularly.
💡 Pro Tip: Make open communication part of your onboarding process so it becomes the norm—not an exception.
9. How often will you make campaign adjustments?
PPC success isn’t set-it-and-forget-it. Your vendor should be monitoring results and tweaking bids, targeting, and creative on a regular basis.
💡 Pro Tip: Set recurring check-in meetings to review performance and discuss optimizations.
10. Do you work with any of my competitors?
Your agency should understand your local market and competitors—but they shouldn’t be generating leads for companies in direct competition with yours. That’s a conflict of interest.
🚩 Red Flag: They’re vague or evasive about who else they work with.
11. Will you build and manage a remarketing audience?
Remarketing is a powerful PPC tactic that shows ads to people who’ve already visited your website. If your agency isn’t using it, you’re leaving leads (and money) on the table.
💡 Pro Tip: Confirm that a Google remarketing tag has been added to your site—and ask for reports on its performance.
Final Thought:
At FatCat Strategies, we believe in long-term partnerships—but we also believe in transparency and accountability. If you’re paying for marketing services, you should never feel like you’re being kept in the dark.
Whether you work with us or someone else, use these questions to make sure your PPC investment is setting your business up for long-term success—not a short-term headache.
If you’re looking for a digital marketing agency that can answer all of these questions with transparency, let’s talk. Our experienced team can help you navigate through the world of PPC with ease.
