Most bad marketing hires fail for the same few reasons. The buyer was unclear on the goal. The pitch was stronger than the proof. The person who sold the work was not the person who did it. All three are avoidable, and this guide covers what to check before you sign anything.
Define the Problem Before You Search
Outside help is best in the case of a very narrow job. “We need more marketing” isn’t a brief. “Our leads have dropped since the redesign, and we have no idea why” is.
Just write down three things before you speak to anyone:
- The result you’re after
- The number you’re going to use to measure it
- The budget you’re prepared to live with for at least six months.
Search and content work often take that long to show a trend.
Be absolutely honest about what you can actually provide. Good marketers need access to your analytics, your product knowledge, and the ability to answer quickly. If no one on your side has the time to go through drafts or approve changes, then no one is going to be able to fix that.
Choose the Right Type of Help
The three main options are different in cost, range, and risk.
- Freelancer. Cheaper and direct contact. Best if you’ve got a specific job to get done (e.g., email setup, copywriting, site audit). The downside is capacity. One person can’t be everywhere, and if they get busy, your work will stop.
- Specialist. Great skill in one area. Hiring an seo specialist can get you a site audit, a list of technical fixes, and clear priorities that your in-house team then carries out. This suits teams that have people to do the work but lack the expertise.
- Agency. A team with several skills under one contract. An seo agency or a full-service shop suits businesses that need strategy, content, technical work, and reporting handled together. The tradeoff is cost and distance. You may deal with an account manager rather than the person doing the work.
Ask for the Proof Your Case Actually Needs
Case studies are easy to clean up. Read them with three questions in mind:
- Is the client similar to you in terms of size, sector, and objective?
- Does the result contain a real number, a timescale, and a description of what was done?
- Can you speak to that client?
Ask for two references and call them. Ask what went wrong as well as what went well. Every project hits problems, and how the team handled them tells you more than the final numbers.
Treat rankings and traffic claims with care. Traffic that doesn’t turn into leads or sales isn’t a win. Ask how the work changed revenue, sign-ups, or inquiries.
What to Ask on the first call
The first call you make should feel like a working session. Ask:
- Who will do the work, and will I meet them?
- How do you decide what to do first?
- What do you need from us in the first month?
- How often do you report, and in what form?
- What would make you tell us a tactic is not working?
- What do you not do?
The last one is the important one. A good partner has boundaries and will tell you. Someone who says they can do everything well is probably doing absolutely nothing properly.
Notice who asks the questions back. The candidate who asks you about your customers, your margins, and your past attempts is clearly thinking about your business. The one who jumps straight in with a package is clearly selling the package.
Red Flags to Walk Away From
- Guaranteed rankings or results. There’s no way anyone can control the search engines or the ad auctions, so no one can guarantee you’ll get a position.
- Vague reporting. Loads of impressions and clicks with absolutely no link to leads or sales. Hides more than it shows.
- Pressure to sign fast. Limited-time discounts rarely help the buyer.
- Secret methods. You should be able to learn what is being done on your behalf.
- No access for you. You should own your analytics, ad accounts, and domain. If the provider insists on holding them, you could lose them when the contract ends.
- Cheap link packages or mass produced content. These are the kinds of shortcuts that can get you penalized, and it can take months to get out of that.
Scope, Pricing, and Contracts
Get the scope in writing (what the deliverables are, when they’re due, who approves what, and how changes are dealt with). Vague scopes are the root of most disputes.
Know which pricing model you’re buying. Monthly retainer models make sense for ongoing work. Project fees make sense for audits and builds. Hourly rates make sense for small, uncertain tasks. Rates based on a percentage of advertising spend create a conflict of interest for the provider, as the provider makes more when you spend more.
Have a look at the exit clause. In a proper contract, you’d have 30 to 60 days’ notice rather than a long lock in. You should also know what you’re taking away with you: reports, files, access to your account, and any content you’ve paid for. Check who owns the creative work.
Judge the First 90 Days
Set a trial with very clear objectives: an audit, a plan, and working tracking by month one—something published (or fixed) by month two or three. Results will take time, but you should be able to see the activity.
Ask monthly: what have we done, what’s changed, and what’s next?
If the answers are still very vague after a couple of rounds, then say so. If nothing changes, bring it to a close on the terms you agreed.
Keep one person on your side who owns the relationship, and you alone. Anyone trying to help out will drift away if no one actually controls it.
Good hiring takes a few days of preparation, really: a goal, boundaries, and questions. What you do before the first phone call will determine a lot of what happens after.
