How to avoid being ripped off by marketing agencies
- Christopher White
- 6 days ago
- 28 min read
How to avoid being ripped off by marketing agencies: full transcript
We have a question from Priya. Hello Priya. Thank you for tuning in. Priya runs a kitchens and bathrooms business. She asks: “I've been burned twice now by marketing agencies. Big promises, tiny results, and a huge bill at the end. I know I need help because I can't do everything myself, but I feel nervous to trust another agency. Should I try again? Should I go in-house or do something else? How do I avoid getting ripped off for a third time?”
Well, Priya, that is a very good question. Can I just say, Priya, honestly, I feel your pain. Anyone out there who runs a marketing agency or who has ever run a marketing agency, they're just the dregs of the air. They're the worst people out there. They're all scammers. They're all out to get you. Goodness gracious. Elliott, why don't we talk about your background briefly?!
Some context for this. Ah, brilliant. Thank you. Um, so Priya, I do feel suitably uh like I have suitable accolades to help you answer. You're qualified indeed. Having started my career at the largest independent advertising agency in the world to then leave there and build my own advertising agency. I could be the number one advertising agency in the world uh for about lots of arguments there. Lots of arguments. This this is actually quite important though because actually we should be explicit here. So, so, so you're um you cut your teeth in this field working at…
Yes. Quick context for the viewers. So, I left uni, got a job at M&C Saatchi, as I said, very big advertising agency based down in London. I was on the search and social team, which meant I was responsible for running Facebook and Google ads for some of the biggest businesses on the planet, the likes of Amazon, Audible, Bethesda, my Fallout fans, uh Pokemon, and so on and so forth. And so relatively quickly I was spending around £100,000 per day in this agency. It was awesome. Had a great time. Learned a lot. After about two and a half, three years there, I then left and I started my own agency called Botters, which was a digital growth agency.
Did you have a client called Priya?!
No. Thank goodness for that. Fortunately not!
No, we were, as I said, the number one agency in the world. um arguably and we did needed and we ran paid ads because I recognised what I learned in that big agency was that when you can build these machines, growth engines as I like to call them, where you put money in and it spits money out, it is just the most marvellous thing on the planet. It feels illegal. It feels like a superpower. It's amazing and it's what most businesses lack because the number one problem for most businesses is actually getting customers because if you've got enough customers coming in and a reliable way to get them then every other problem you've got time to figure that out.
But if you don't have the customers coming in that's when life gets really really stressful.
So I wanted to take what I had learned and actually you know do it for other businesses. And that was how my agency was born. Now, pretty much, and I can say this uh with great accuracy, that every single client that I worked with in my agency came to us off the back of a bad experience. Very similar, it sounds to what Priya had where these other agencies promised them the world and then underdelivered.
So, firstly, Priya, you're not alone. This is a widespread issue and the entire agency market is just fed by people going round and round trying different agencies. we should because I remember obviously when you um you know packed in your job to set up on your own and we had um a number of conversations you around what you what you were going to do and how you were going to do it and your thinking was really smart here and I think this is helpful to talk because be helpful for Priya to understand this because the tip talk about the typical agency model and and why people like Priya get burned.
The reason they get burned is a direct result of the typical agency model. So the typical agency model is that you charge a lot of clients not that much money and as a result in the agency you have staff members with modest to relatively little amounts of skill having to manage humongous numbers of customers. And as a result, the average attention per customer is generally quite low. And what you end up with are cookie cutter campaigns that are copy and pasted that really don't go into any particular depth and really just don't get the time, effort, and attention needed to actually deliver the level of results because the business model in the agency is frankly… well that that's the fun of the problem.
So they charge a lot of clients that they compete on price. They'll ask for, you know, when you're dealing with small businesses typically, you know, £500 a month, £800 a month, maybe £1,000 a month, you know, and they take on like 50 clients. So, they got £50,000 a month to deal with, you know, they've got half a dozen staff or something to work this through. But what happens is there isn't the time to do the work.
And I do remember, you know, when you came and spoke to me because the one thing you had at M&C Saatchi, you had loads of flipping time for your clients.
We did because you were spending huge amounts of money. Yeah. The model there was great. We had 120 staff and we had seven clients run up. So wow. So you have like on average, you know, 12 to 15 people that would work individually on that one client and as a result you just your whole life was that and you went really deep and ultimately you generated really amazing results.
And so that was what I wanted to carry over into my agency was I want to have as few clients as possible really and charge them more on the basis that I'll be able to do my absolute best work and get my team completely focused on these businesses because we know with that extra level of attention and focus, we will actually be able to do really serious results and not fall into the agency trap of having way too many clients and spreading ourselves way too thin.
Yeah. because I would I would wager a hefty sum in Priya's case. She's been burned by two marketing agencies. You know, big promises, tiny results, huge bill at the end. And Priya, I'm not disputing that. Sadly, you know, you're part of a very large number of business owners that that that are in that category that that have had that experience.
But there's a couple of principles here, Priya, and you have to take some ownership for this when you start to think about what you're going to do next. And we will help you and guide you in this regard in this conversation. But the first principle you have to recognise, Priya, is that no one ever will care as much about your business or your results from your marketing as you do. Doesn't matter, you know, if you've got someone on payroll working alongside you, the likelihood is that they will care more. They will wake up thinking about your numbers and your ROI and your ad spend returns and everything else.
When you're a client in an agency and you're paying average agency prices to the average, you know, you are one of a large number of clients and they ain't waking up thinking about your returns, Priya. You know, they'll react and respond as best they can when you raise it with them. But um no one will care as much as you do. And in that regard again then in terms of you you're expecting and I don't mean Priya specifically but business owners you go to an agency expecting the agency to transform your business, to wave their wand and do their magic and make it all happen you know all for just £600 a month and it won't happen. Just for you to get that kind of dedication and focus you're not paying enough money.
It's no different to accountants. The reason why most businesses get a fairly rubbish service on their accountant is because they're not actually paying their accountant enough money for the accountant to give them a good service. And the same is true with marketing agencies.
Yeah. It's interesting, isn't it? The dream I would say of every business owner is to have someone else just deliver clients and customers for them on a regular basis. There you go. Don't even worry about getting customers, here are all the customers you need. And you know, a lot of agencies, that's like their whole proposition: we'll do the marketing for you. We'll get the customers for you. And yet, as a business owner, knowing that that's the most valuable thing in the world to you, it's like, ‘okay, but I don't want to pay a lot for it, you know?’ I don't want to pay too much for that, that magical silver bullet that's going to solve all my problems and get me all the customers I need so I can grow my business to where I want it to be and just focus on the stuff that I like doing.
And that's an interesting little disconnect, isn't it? Because with accountants, numbers are less exciting, but the proposition, no offense to accounts, but you know, what you're offering as an agency is like this golden egg, this magical ‘get your customers here.’
And so it's almost like, why would you as a business owner not pay as much as you could possibly to lock in and make sure that you're going to get the results that you want? Well, and the reason for that is um because the worst thing you can do as a small business owner is to think like a small business owner and what that means in this context is you know people are thinking not very deeply and there's a little thread here is the whole thing today.
So someone like Priya saying, ‘you know oh I need help to get clients,’ understand that fully tick um let me get that help you know relatively um cheaply um because what I've got to do I've got to protect my costs and a way to flip this Priya and in terms of your decision going forward you know a way to flip your whole thinking about this whole scenario and what you're going to do going forward is I would start by understanding Priya how important is it that your business continues to flourish and thrive and survive. And if I assume for a moment that that's actually quite an important thing in your life, I think then what we can then say, well, in order for Priya's business to flourish and thrive and survive, she's got to find a way to crack the rhythmic acquisition of customers because it's no, you know, everyone likes a few customers here and now and here and there, but actually the absolute holy grail of business is when you have a rhythmic flow of customers.
And so then Priya needs to say, "Okay, first of all, what rhythm do I actually want?" You know, she's in bathrooms and kitchens, two there's pluses and minuses to that industry. Um the um on the plus side of things, she gets to, you know, do great work, design really fabulous kind of living spaces. Um I suspect again most people in that industry are very passionate about you know the design and the work that they do to create these amazing spaces that typically their natural space isn't the marketing to get the customers as you said they want turn up but but for Priya you know how many customers does she want on a monthly basis because there'll be a number I don't know how big her team is, what capacity is, but there'll be a number she's looking for oh if I could just have you know six customers a month. That would be amazing because that would that that's a seven figure business in most arenas if she's in the right part of the market or what but whatever it is she's got to understand what is her rhythm.
So okay what's the value then Priya now for you if there was somebody who was delivering you six of your ideal customers every single month you know they were coming in with the right level of predictability and consistency? The value to you of that Priya is absolutely flipping huge so then you say okay so the stakes are quite high here so like who or what is the best solution for me to make this happen and I haven't introduced pounds and pence and cost into the equation right now.
It's like, what's the best solution to this? And this is where you start then to get answers because you know if there is a scenario where if this is a high-end business and you know she's looking at half a dozen customers who are paying 25 or 30 grand a pop potentially. So six of those in a month we're up to 150 or 200 grand a month of turnover. You know it's a two and a half million pound business. That's a business that is going to, you know, somebody living and breathing this, working alongside Priya, understanding the customers, being able to reflect and there's all sorts that probably worthy a business of that size of someone in the team on a full-time basis driving customer acquisition.
And the good news about that, Priya, is that your agency consumer days are over. No longer are you risking getting burned by agencies. Instead, Priya, what you're opening yourself up for is getting shafted by your staff. It's a whole different set of problems!
We should probably go through the different options Priya's got, you know, because there's all sorts out there. And I think, you know, it's wrong of us to clump all agencies into one bucket because there are obviously different types of agencies, some very good ones. Some are very good, some are not so good, some are very specific and niche, some are very broad, some, you know, take on, you know, their propositions: they'll be your whole marketing team and do everything for you and deliver you customers. Some just do email marketing or just do you’re your SEO for example.
So another point to talk from your journey and this this might be relevant for Priya because your whole model was about charging enough money. I know when you started out, you know, your clients were paying you, even in the very beginning, your minimum client spend was like three grand a month to give you the time to do the best work. But what did you find that you were doing really good marketing for people, but there was a level of dissatisfaction coming through in those early days because of the follow-up.
We were doing a great job of running some great ads and generating lots of enquiries, but then the follow-up was not happening. And as a result, the customers, the end result was not happening at the rate the client would like. And so I recognised this as an issue early on. And instead of trying to berate or encourage the client to just get better at their follow-up, I seized control and we actually changed our offering. So, not only did we do the paid ads, but we would also do the follow-up and we would help build out all of their automated systems.
Now, for Priya at this point, she needs to do some honest assessment of what's gone on here because did Priya get burned because the agency didn't deliver the leads or the enquiries or Priya, did they actually deliver quite a lot of leads and enquiries? Hand on heart now looking at this closely our follow up and our nurture of the leads because especially in our industry no one buys a kitchen on the back of a Facebook ad…there's a lot going to happen before the money changes hands so I think this is there's lots of things at play here. So again in the defence of agencies, the age-old battle between the marketing and the sales generating the leads, “oh these leads are rubbish” – well you called them eight days after they filled in this form. It's no wonder they can't remember what they filled in!
So I guess from your agency background then form if you're Priya, where are you leaning? Are you leaning to another agency or are you leaning more the in-house route?
So I get asked this question a lot. Do I hire a big marketing person or do I do an agency? And fundamentally as a business your marketing and indeed sales is a critical function. So the goal should always be to eventually have that running in-house. And I challenge every business owner to check their thinking because you understanding and indeed taking responsibility for the marketing and even the sales is one of the best decisions you will ever make because this is the thing that will absolutely determine your whole life, your sanity and your income out the business.
Why would you want to just completely delegate that to other people which I know a lot of people do because marketing is new they don't know about it and it feels kind of difficult or complicated and that's enough to make them go ah random agency you just do it!
You know it comes back to I just want to re-emphasise this point what I said earlier: whatever business you're in, no one will care about your business and your results ever as much as you do. And Elliot is absolutely right in this regard that the ability to rhythmically acquire customers is core to the success of any business.
And why as the owner of any business would you outsource or offload something that is core and critical to your success other than as an interim step to get you where you want to get to?
The answer would be ‘because I don't know what I'm doing,’ isn't it? Because it's definitely better to outsource it to an agency that knows what they're doing than just blindly throwing money at Facebook without a clue what's going on. Which is why I am a big fan of using agencies because the purpose of a good agency is to help you get the results quicker and to help you learn and develop expertise that you can then bring into your business.
So, what I normally recommend is kind of two-fold. One, if you're the business owner and you are seizing the challenge of running your marketing, which again is one of the highest value things you can ever do.
And so actually it makes perfect sense to be the business owner who is very hands-on with the marketing and sales. That is okay and that is a high leverage thing to do. And so if you want to do that, fantastic. Maybe find an agency to start with and we'll go into separately and what to look for in an agency and that kind of process.
But then the view with the agency, you should be very upfront with them – this all begins at the start – you should tell them, I want to use you because I want this result. And we're very clear on the result. But over the next 6, 8, 12 months, my goal is that myself and even my team are going to be able to do this in-house because we recognise marketing is a critical function and we don't want to have that dependency on you.
So, as part of this relationship, we're going to go in, you're going to drive these amazing results, but I want you to also help educate us so we can end our relationship on amazing terms as very happy customers who are now set up to actually continue to deliver this with our own in-house function. That is the dream agency relationship right there. And you can only achieve that by being very upfront and honest at the start and laying out you’re your expectations. So that would be the very first route.
If you are super reluctant and just hate marketing and sales, then I would actually normally opt for hiring someone because you need someone in the business who owns that function, living and breathing it, because then the dream is you get them in, they start delivering some results and then they go, "Hey, to keep growing, we're going to need some need some help. Let's look at an agency."
And then they find an agency and you do the same process 6, 8, 12 months with the agency, get the result, upskill the team, bring that critical infrastructure and knowledge in-house in the business and you now become resilient and you can grow it from there. That is the best way to run.
I like the hybrid approach of having someone in the business who owns the marketing but who then can work with agencies to do a lot so you don't need to hire some magical person who can do every single piece of marketing ever, who's an expert in every field, in every different type of ad, and can write a sales letter and do direct mail, but also run Google ads and also knows, you know, SEO and all sorts of whatever.
But actually, you get someone who can properly own the strategy and the delivery and the end result and then enable them with the agencies to go in there.
But I think that what's interesting for Priya to go through here because she's in kitchens and bathrooms. I'm going to assume Priya that you've been in that industry for a little while. You know your way around. You know all the players. And you will know Priya that not every kitchen and bathroom company is the same. They don't all sell the same range of products. They don't all have the same quality of service. They don't all have the same attention to detail. Some of them pre outsource all their fitting. Others have the fitting teams in house. And all this stuff you know in your industry makes a difference to the result that your customers or any customers actually get.
And so it is Priya when it comes to marketing agencies because they also go tall sorts of different models. You got the ‘pile them high sell them cheap.’ They're kind of high piece and in this regard you know agencies, whilst it's easy to talk about lumping them all together, but in truth every single one of them is there.
I joked earlier about all agencies being terrible. That was just because obviously you had an agency that was just funny. Um some agencies are actually very successful and very good at delivering results for their clients.
I maybe we should just go through a few different options agency-wise because, you know, my place, if I'm Priya, I want to find an agency that either specialises in or has an incredible track record of kitchens and bathroom businesses, right?
Whenever you're looking for an agency, point number one is your due diligence. Some of the best agencies come from recommendations and referrals. Yeah, that was how the vast majority of our business grew. And if you have people, peers in the industry or in your network that can recommend people that have experienced the kind of results you're after, happy days. That's a great place to start. But fundamentally, you want the people that have achieved the result you're after before. Ideally, many, many, many times. That is how you de-risk it. And you can only do that by understanding what that key result is.
One of the big ways people go wrong with this is they just don't know anything about marketing and sales. And we have the little phrase, ‘you got to know enough to be dangerous.’ And that is so true. You have to know enough about marketing. You need to know, you need to be able to describe with the utmost level of clarity exactly the results you want. How many new customers? What price you're willing to pay for those customers? Otherwise, how are these how you going to get the result that you want? You need that clarity and then you do your due diligence.
So Priya for instance, you might put a little sheet together for the agencies: a little brief that says this is who we are, here's our website, here's our track record, here’s our experience. Here’s what we're looking to do over the next 12 to 24 months. To acquire six customers a month who will be spending this much on average per kitchen or per bathroom. Our marketing cost to acquire a customer will be X. And therefore, this is our budget and we're looking for an agency to work with us to use this budget to deliver this result.
And that will transform the proposals that you get the agencies that you even you they'll stand out they'll start to they'll self-identify really quickly when you go with a brief of that clarity.
And so once you do that you find the potential agencies, the potential partners. It's always worth chatting to a few. If you only have ever spoken to one agency your reference point of what is good or bad doesn't really exist. So you want to chat to a few.
Then this is my pro tip. When you're engaging them, you want to put a lot of the onus on the agency because yes, you know your numbers. You know roughly the result you want. You want to ask them, right guys, this is my business. This is my kitchen and bathrooms business. We're here. We obviously would like to do more and we're exploring using your services to get there. Please tell me how is this going to work? What are you going to do? And what results do you think you can generate?
How they respond to that will be extremely telling. The first thing you need to look for, do they ask you loads of questions? Because if they just give you an answer, then alert. And it is what happens. They puke all over you and they'll tell you all the things they’re going to do. And so, and in this situation, the sorts of things they should be asking you are, they want to know about the average spend, where your customers come from. You know, how there's so many things you'd want to know to market Priya. We’ve got no idea at this point. Is Priya shipping 10 grand kitchens or 50 grand kitchens? You know, what's the spread between kitchens and bathrooms? You know, there's so many elements that you'd need to know in order to market her business properly. The agencies at the lower end of the ladder will not ask these questions. They'll just promise you the world. They'll tell you they can do everything and they won't show any or enough interest in what you do.
So, they should ask you a bunch of questions. If they don't, massive red flag. Because you then want to get them to explain and almost forecast exactly what results they can expect to get with really specific timelines. Now, this is really important because this is all about understanding what they believe is realistic and what level of result they can actually get, but it's putting you in the power seat because we're not influencing this. They are driving this and as a result if we are liking what we're seeing we're now putting ourselves in control because they have given us these proposed results, they're committing to these and that means we now have the ability to hold them accountable. We haven't forced these results or unrealistic expectations on them and so that is a key process: it's how you stop getting burned Priya because you can say, ‘you said you could do this, you came up with these numbers.’
And the next part is you want to ask them, explain to me exactly how. Now, most good agencies should follow what is called a consultative sales process. So, back in my agency days, what we would do is the first call I would ever have with a client or prospective client would be discovery. And I would be asking them all of those questions because I'd need to understand, okay, what is this business? Where are their customers coming from, cost bleed, all that kind of stuff. So that I know, okay, can we even get these guys results? If I believe we could, I would then say, great, book in a follow-up call, give myself three or four days because on the follow-up call, I would present the entire strategy and I would say, "Right, guys, if we're going to work together over the next three months, we're going to hit this result. Here is exactly how..."
"Step one, we're going to do this, this, and this. Step two, we're going to do this, this, and this. Step three, we're gonna do this, this, and this. And I show the work that we're going to do because the purpose of this is, okay, yeah, here's the result. Here's how we're going to do it. Do you now believe that if we do those actions, we have a high probability of achieving the result. If yes, fantastic. Let's sign on the dotted line and get going."
If you have an agency who's not prepared to show you how they're going to get the results or walk you through that strategy then alert.
How long should Priya or someone like Priya expect to be tied in to an agency in the beginning?
Very good question. How I approached this was no time at all. I prided myself on zero commitment. So you could cancel and leave at any point because with an agency it should be working or there should be suitable evidence that you believe we are on the right trajectory and therefore close to getting the result that you want to stay. If not we should be free to leave. So whenever have any commitments. I did always caveat that because you have to again if you going into what you're going to do, this then also becomes very easy because I would say look in the first month you're not really going to get any results because we're building all of this stuff. But at the end of the first month that's when things are going to go live.
So month two we will have some results. They're not going to be at the targets yet but we're going to have some results. And then really by month three, we should be rocking and rolling because we should have found some stuff out, got some results, made some tweaks, and onwards and upwards.
I'd always caveat that by saying, look, some businesses, bang, we hit it out the park literally in month one, but in some businesses it can take like 12 months sometimes. This is interesting because it goes back to what we said at the beginning: your clients were paying you on average at least five grand a month, weren't they once you got established? So by having this conversation look, you're not contracted in here, but really sensibly you know this is going to take three months you must understand that; when they understand what's going to happen they've seen what you're going to do you've been very transparent about it now in 3 months you're going to receive 15 grand of income from this client you're three times five um meaningful chunk of money um from the client oh 15 grand off yes but what you've bought for your 15 grand with an agency like you had was a significant amount of work.
And if we contrast that with the agency who's charging £500 a month over three months, oh, you've only spent £1,500. Well, yes, you have. How much work do you think they're going to have done for £1,500 over three months? It's not that exciting. It's not that big a sum. They are not going to be having you know creative brainstorms and meetings and let's consider this and playing around with different options and testing. The strategy is going to be so much more lightweight.
Now I'm not saying you have to pay five grand a month to an agency but you have to be cognisant as a business person. I mean the agencies have got to make money for Christ sake otherwise they can't exist! And you’ve got to recognise if you're paying hundreds of pounds a month, you ain't going to get a lot of time or attention or input because the business model doesn't allow it. So you have to be mindful of that.
So this brings me to the final step of the process which is all about clarity and making sure before you sign that agreement you clarify the exact expectations around the results, the work that's going to happen, you get clear and you ask them to provide the timelines.
Timelines for when we're going to go live. Timelines for when we can expect to get our first results. Timelines for when we can expect to hit the core main result that we're setting out to achieve here. And then very important thing to not miss, set your kill points. You should be upfront with an agency that the whole purpose of this relationship is to generate a return on the investment and that needs to be quantified and we have to set a timeframe for it. And this is all about planting the seeds. So when things do go wrong, you can have a swift and unawkward exit. Because look, we're 3 months down the line, we said this was going to happen. It hasn't happened. Doesn't look like it's going to happen. So, thank you very much. Off we go.
Put in that time to get clear around that stuff. It sets the relationship up in the right way and reduces a lot of the awkwardness, a lot of the unexpected mishaps along the road as well.
I think anyone who's working with an agency is going to take a good hard look at what they're paying for. I think anyone who's looking for an agency has a tremendous way forward. I think anyone who runs an agency is shaking in their boots at all this stuff that better get sorted out. They want a successful business.
My final point when it comes to any kind of marketing support, whether it's an agency, whether it's a person, is you have to be willing to pay more than you expect. And the reason is that any marketer who can actually market a business and get customers and any agency that can actually do a good job and generate results costs a lot of money generally because they are in the business of making money.
And so of course they have the ability to charge more. And so your expectations of anyone charging really little amounts should always be there's a reason because all the good ones will just charge more. And so that is my final note.
It's very valid, an appropriate final note. I hope that's helpful to Priya.
'How to avoid being ripped off by marketing agencies?' is a question that I imagine many business owners ask themselves a lot. In my in-house marketing roles over the years, I've asked that question many times as well.
It applies not just to marketing agencies in general but to agencies that specialise in lead generation, paid search and social marketing, and any other marketing-related activity.
What I quite often see with agencies - and I mean no disrespect if you're an agency owner or employee - is an initial burst of enthusiasm as the client is secured, perhaps starting well with lead generation for example, which then levels off, leads drop, enthusiasm wanes, the client starts feeling dissatisfied, and eventually ends with a search for a replacement agency - all whilst the client is paying large bills.
This discussion from the owners of Business Growth Central directly addresses the problem, using a real-world example:
"Priya runs a kitchens and bathrooms business. She asks: “I've been burned twice now by marketing agencies. Big promises, tiny results, and a huge bill at the end. I know I need help because I can't do everything myself, but I feel nervous to trust another agency. Should I try again? Should I go in-house or do something else? How do I avoid getting ripped off for a third time?”
I thought the discussion between the Botterills - who have so much business experience behind them - really chimed with me, and I wanted to share it here.
Here are the expert takeaways about how you can avoid being ripped off by marketing agencies - and pick one which understands your business, and produces the results you need:
1. You're not alone: many small businesses get burned by agencies
Agencies often take on too many clients for too little money. This leads to shallow, cookie‑cutter work and very limited attention per client.
2. Low-cost agency models create the problem
When agencies charge £500–£1,000 a month, they must take on dozens of clients to survive.
Staff with limited experience and limited time end up juggling too many accounts, resulting in poor performance and poor client satisfaction.
3. High‑end agencies work differently
In contrast, large or premium agencies assign multiple specialists to each client and go deep on strategy.
Their high fees reflect the intensive time and expertise put into campaign management - and usually, the results you get are very much because of that.
4. No one will care about your business as much as you do
Outsourcing marketing doesn’t remove the ultimate responsibility for the bottom line: the buck stops with you. Business owners can sometimes expect transformation for too little cost, leading to mismatched expectations.
5. Clarify your desired “customer rhythm”
Before choosing a marketing agency, you must know:
– How many new customers you want each month
– How many leads you typically convert to paying customers
– Your average sale value
– What predictable acquisition would mean for your business
Understanding this helps you choose the right level of support (in‑house vs agency); and it's really important for the agency to understand too.
6. In-house marketing becomes essential for long-term success
Marketing and customer acquisition are critical functions - but they're often neglected, or underestimated, by business owners. Every business should aim to eventually bring this expertise inside rather than rely fully on agencies, because in-house staff are a) more invested in your success, and b) more cost-effective in the long-run.
7. Best approach: a hybrid model
Hire someone internally to “own” your marketing strategy, and then support them with agencies that specialise in specific channels (e.g., SEO, paid ads, email).
This avoids hiring a marketing unicorn who can “do everything.” (Caveat: there are some marketing professionals, like me, who call themselves 'full-stack' marketers - this means that they're marketing generalists, and can pretty much do everything in the marketing mix. For small businesses, they offer incredible value for money, and as your business grows, they understand the trigger points for bringing in agency expertise.)
8. Due diligence is essential when selecting an agency
The best agencies come through referrals (like most services do). It's often helpful to look for agencies with a proven track record in your specific industry, as they will understand the nuances of what you do, and your customers' needs.
9. Be “dangerous enough” with marketing knowledge
You need enough understanding to:
– Define clear goals
– Assess agency performance
– Avoid being impressed by jargon
Clarity on targets and costs helps you filter good agencies from bad ones.
10. Provide a clear brief when approaching agencies
Include: your business, goals, customer numbers, average order value, acceptable cost per acquisition, and timelines. This helps agencies self‑select, assess whether they can do what you're asking, and provide accurate proposals.
11. Good agencies ask lots of questions
If an agency immediately promises results without exploring your business deeply—that's a red flag. High‑quality agencies conduct detailed discovery and build a bespoke strategy.
12. Agencies should forecast results and explain how they’ll achieve them
You want them to outline:
– Expected outcomes
– Timelines
– Step-by-step strategy
This accountability prevents unrealistic promises.
13. Avoid long tie-ins; early results take time
Good agencies don’t force long contracts, offering rolling contracts which can be terminated with a week or two's notice. As a business owner, it's important to understand that results don't come straight away, but instead look like this:
– Month 1 = setup
– Month 2 = early results
– Month 3 = meaningful performance
Some industries may take longer, but expectations must be clear.
14. Set “kill points”
Agree upfront on:
– What success looks like
– By when
– What happens if targets aren’t met
This keeps relationships clean and prevents awkward exits - you'll have a written basis on which to end your relationship, taking any emotion out of your reasoning.
15. Good marketing is expensive — for a reason
Agencies that genuinely deliver results charge more because they can, and because they are worth it. Low-cost offers usually mean low skill, low attention, and low outcomes. In essence, small thinking ends in small results - so by thinking like a big business, you'll be much more likely to become one.
In summary: how to avoid getting ripped off by marketing agencies
Many small businesses get let down by cheap agencies because simply put, they’re stretched too thinly to do meaningful work. The £500 you're paying them barely covers the cost of a few hours of a junior exec's time, the agency's running costs, and profit margins.
The pitch call with the agency is always very telling: if there are six people there - with titles like 'Director of Strategy,' 'Director of Sales' etc - and they're calling from their swanky offices in central London - but you know that your budget is £15,000 for the year, then immediately you get the picture: that most of your money will simply get swallowed up by running costs.
The key to avoiding getting ripped off by marketing agencies is knowing exactly what customer flow you need each month to hit your business goals - and recognising that marketing is too important to hand off blindly to someone who will never care about your business as much as you do!
Long term, the strongest approach for your marketing is usually to build some in‑house capability, supported by specialist agencies when needed.
If you are looking for a marketing agency, the right one will ask lots of questions, set clear expectations, and outline realistic timelines.
Good marketing isn’t cheap, and the people who can deliver real results charge accordingly. You may be a small business, but if you think like a small business then you will find progress and growth takes a very long time.
Not ready to take on a big marketing or advertising agency? I can help get your business set up with the right, low-cost marketing systems. Send me a message to find out how I can help.
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