Questions to ask your next media agency

Level up your advertising when you know what questions to ask your next media agency or media buyer. Our comprehensive set of questions covers several subjects including: staffing, workload, tools, expertise, outsourcing, vendors, transparency, and most importantly, how much of your media spend is actually being spent on media.

Get our worksheet (Excel) to help you ask the right questions and track the answers you get.

How many people are on your in-house team?

Find out how large a team you’re considering working with and be sure to always ask about the in-house team. A website can make a one- or two-person shop look like a major player – and maybe that works for you! But what happens when that one- or two-person shop goes on vacation, can they support your needs? Is the team big enough to support multiple clients? Do you have a direct point of contact or are you sent to a generic email?

While team size may seem like a trivial point, it’s important to know who you’re working with. Vendors and outsourcers can take a part of your media spend and may cost you more money long term. The point is: you need to know what sort of in-house resources are available to you.

Of in-house staff, how many are in each of the following disciplines: strategy, creative, media buying/planning, execution, optimization?

Besides knowing staffing numbers, it’s key to know where those staffers’ expertise is. The answer to this question reveals potential bottlenecks and single points of failure. Things to avoid include:

• Heavy staffing in one discipline
• Light or missing departments – does the agency offer creative work but not have a creative team? This should raise a red flag – who is doing this work?
• One or two people wearing all hats

Find a team big enough to handle your business with redundant expertise in all disciplines. Again, watch out for outsourcers who often end up taking a part of your media spend.

How long have you been in business?

Agency longevity is important to consider, as this can indicate experience, stability, and a proven track record. These days, it’s easy to create a slick website and claim expertise in all types of marketing. While we all need to start somewhere, a well-established agency likely has a deeper understanding of market trends and best practices, and has navigated various economic cycles, giving it a wider range of experience to draw from compared to younger counterparts. Experienced agencies are also less likely to suddenly disappear, providing greater stability for your marketing efforts. MPP's history goes back to 1999.

What is your onboarding process like?

The agency you work with should have an onboarding process for all clients. A bad or nonexistent onboarding process is a red flag and signals the agency isn’t organized or invested in your goals. A great onboarding process builds trust and rapport and sets your brand up for marketing success. Onboarding processes typically include:

• Expectation setting
• Defining project scope and budget
• Campaign monitoring and reporting
• Project timelines
• Payment terms

At MPP, we use Discovery to determine if the services we offer match what you need. Finding a good match is important – you don’t want to waste time with a marketing agency that isn’t a good fit for your business.

What tools do you use for media research and planning?

Media planning is a sophisticated process that involves researching and strategically purchasing media channels to reach your target audience effectively and efficiently while maximizing your return on investment (ROI). Google, a spreadsheet, and a calculator aren’t going to cut it.

Look for agencies that have invested in sophisticated tools that connect to the right vendors and use up-to-date data. This means the agency is serious about media planning and buying—and your campaigns will thank you for it. Watch out for agencies relying on insufficient or outdated technology.

What existing media relationships do you have? How long have you had them? What’s your average yearly spend with each?

In the agency world, it’s not only what you know, but who you know. Established media agencies should have existing media relationships, and they should be spending lots of media dollars with those relationships.

What that means for you is that the agency can leverage its relationship and buying power to negotiate better pricing and value. That is, after all, the job of the agency. Look for long-term relationships and large yearly media spends. Watch out for a limited set of relationships, short-term relationships, or small media spends.

What vendors do you use to supplement your in-house team?

Most agencies can’t do everything in house—sometimes certain specialties or disciplines are outsourced. Outsourcing should be the exception, not the rule. An agency should do almost all the work for your business in-house.

This approach keeps costs low, maintains high quality, and enhances both visibility and accountability. Look for a shortlist of vendors in specialty areas like data sources or research. Watch out for long lists of vendors in core competency areas such as:

• Strategy
• Media planning
• Digital display ad placement
• Ad operations
• Optimization

If core areas are being outsourced, you may experience extra commissions on your media spend. Extra commissions mean fewer of your dollars are spent on media.

Are vendors and their fees disclosed?

When talking about vendors, this is the bottom line. If a vendor is being used, you should know their commissions and fees. Look for disclosure that is inclusive of any vendors and all costs passed on to you. Watch out for a low level of detail and “black boxes." Not only are you entitled to know how much you’re spending with the agency, but you should also know where your money is being spent. In the end, you must know what is actually being spent on media.

How much of my budget is spent on media?

The mother of all questions for media agencies. If you ask no other questions, ask this one. If you do ask other questions, ask this one last. You’re spending money on media, on advertising. You’re not spending money to line the pockets of an agency. You need their expertise and are willing to pay a fair price for it, but you should know exactly what you’re getting for your dollars.

Agencies will typically take a commission on media spend—that’s a normal cost of you doing business. That should be a disclosed percentage and show up on your invoices. What you must watch for with digital advertising is where a vendor is used to traffic your ads. Vendor commission can sometimes not be included in agency commission. That means that it may not show up on invoices or anywhere at all and your 15% media commission can really be 30% without you knowing.

That’s not the worst of it. Watch out when billing is impression-based. If an agency guarantees a certain amount of impressions and then reflects that on your invoice, you may not know the whole story. Agencies buy impressions at the lowest rate they can, then in turn bill you as high as they can. The gap between what the agency paid and what you pay can be significant. Things look rosy on the invoice, but in reality, your spending is a fraction of what it should be.

Look for:

• All-inclusive commission rates
• Complete vendor disclosure that includes respective commission rates

Watch out for:

• Impression-based billing without disclosure of what the agency actually paid.
• Super low commission rates. It takes money to run a business, and low commission rates oftentimes don’t tell the whole story