What to Ask Your Marketing Agency Every Month

You do not need to understand every marketing acronym to hold an agency accountable. You need the right questions and the confidence to keep asking until the answers make sense.

Here is a situation that plays out in boardrooms and home offices across South Africa every month. The agency presents. The slides look professional. Words like “optimisation”, “engagement” and “momentum” float past. You nod, because asking a question might reveal you do not follow it. The meeting ends, the invoice gets paid, and you still have no idea if it is working.

That ends here. You do not need a marketing degree to run a sharp monthly review. You need a checklist of questions that force clarity and tie everything back to the only thing that matters: did this make the business money.

Group 1: The lead and revenue questions

Start here every single month, because this is the scoreboard. Everything else is detail.

Group 2: The “what actually happened” questions

Now you understand the results, find out what drove them. This separates agencies that are thinking from agencies that are coasting.

• What specifically did you do this month? You want concrete actions, not “we managed your campaigns”.
• What worked, and how do you know? Look for evidence, not opinion.
• What did not work, and what did you learn? An agency that never reports a failure is not testing anything.
• What changed compared to last month, and why? Marketing should evolve, not repeat the same actions on loop.

Group 3: The forward-looking questions

A monthly review that only looks backwards is half a review. The best part is what happens next.

Group 4: The accountability questions

Use these less often, perhaps quarterly, but do use them. They keep the relationship honest.

• Are we on track against the goals we agreed? Compare against the target set at the start, not a moving goalpost.
• If you were in my seat, would you be happy with this return? A revealing, human question that cuts through spin.
• What would you do differently if this were your own business? This tests whether they actually think like an owner.

How to read the answers

The questions matter, but the way they are answered matters more. Watch for these signals.

You are not trying to catch your agency out. You are trying to build a relationship where money in and money out are both visible. The right partner finds these questions refreshing, because they finally get to prove their value with numbers instead of adjectives.

The bottom line

An agency is a partner you pay to grow your revenue, so treat the monthly meeting like a board meeting, not a presentation you sit through. Ask how many leads, what they cost, how many converted, and what it returned. Then ask what changes next. Keep asking in plain language until the answers are clear.

Agencies that work for your business will rise to it. Agencies that work for their own renewal will start to squirm. Either way, you will finally know which one you are paying.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I ask my marketing agency every month?

Lead and revenue questions first: how many leads, cost per lead, qualified leads, conversions, and return versus spend. Then ask what they did, what worked, and what they will change next month.

How do I know if my marketing agency is doing a good job?

They answer in plain language, tie everything to revenue, openly share what did not work, welcome tracking, and tell you when a blocker is on your side. Vague, jargon-heavy, wins-only reporting is a warning sign.

What questions hold a marketing agency accountable?

Ask whether you are on track against the goals you agreed, whether they would be happy with this return in your seat, and what they would do differently if it were their own business.

What if my agency cannot answer revenue questions?

It usually means tracking is not connecting marketing to sales. Set that up first. A strong agency will help; a weak one will deflect. The reaction tells you a lot.