How to Measure the Performance of a Digital Marketing Agency

Weekly or biweekly: Short updates on activity and any urgent issues, mainly for active ad campaigns.

Monthly: A report and a call covering results, learnings and next steps.

Quarterly: A deeper review of goals, strategy and budget. Ask: What worked? What didn't? What should we change?

Yearly: Look at the whole relationship. Is the return worth the investment?

Ask the Right Questions in Every Review

• What changed this month, and why?
• Which channel gave us the best return?
• What did we try that didn't work?
• What are we doing next, and what do we expect?
• What do you need from us to improve results?

Good agencies come prepared and answer directly, including on bad news. Watch for defensiveness or vague answers.

Include Your Sales Team's Feedback

Marketing numbers only tell part of the story. Your sales or customer service staff know which leads were good. Feed this back to the agency. If lead numbers are high but quality is low, the strategy needs adjusting, perhaps in targeting, messaging or forms.

Judge the Quality of Work and Communication

Not everything is a number. Also consider:

• Is the content accurate, helpful and on-brand?
• Are deadlines met?
• Do they respond quickly and clearly?
• Do they suggest new ideas proactively?
• Do you understand what they're doing and why?