7 Digital Marketing Red Flags to Avoid When Choosing an Agency

You ever hang out with someone, and it seems  like everything’s going great, and then out  
of nowhere they say something crazy like “the  fourth Indiana Jones movie is the best one,”  
and you have to shut things down immediately?  Yeah, it happens to all of us. Or, so I’m told. 
Friendship isn’t the only type of relationship  where huge red flags can pop up like that,  
though. It can also happen with digital  marketing agencies. There are certain  
things that if you ever see an agency  say or do, you should definitely avoid  
partnering with them. But what are those things? In this video, we’re gonna cover seven digital  
marketing red flags to keep an eye out for. Before  we go on, just a quick reminder to subscribe to  
our YouTube channel. That said, let’s get into it. 1. They take a cookie-cutter approach 
When you start talking to an agency, the first  thing that should happen is they take a look  
at your business’s needs to see if they’re the  proper fit to work with you . Then they should put  
together a personalized strategy for your company. If an agency doesn’t bother to look at your  
business’s specific situation and goals, and  instead just pulls out the exact same approach  
they’re using for every other client,  that is your cue to run on out of there. 
2. They’re suspiciously cheap Another telltale sign that you’re looking in the  
wrong place is if an agency is really affordable.  No, no, I mean, like… really, really affordable.  
Suspiciously affordable. As in, all the other  agencies you look at cost $3000 or more per month,  
but this one costs $50 a month for some reason. When you see an agency priced that low in  
comparison to the competition, there’s probably  a good reason for it. The saying “you get what  
you pay for” definitely holds true in that  situation. If you go for a super cheap agency  
just for the low price, you’re probably not  gonna be very impressed with their services. 
I understand wanting to save money, but I’m  telling you, it’s worth spending a little more  
to make sure you get high-quality services. 3. They make unrealistic promises 
If you’re looking at two different agencies,  and one of them says they can “guarantee” page  
one rankings for your web content, while the  other avoids making any promises, you might  
be inclined to think the first one is better.  I mean, come on! They’re guaranteeing results! 
Really, though, it’s the opposite. Why? Because no  one can absolutely “guarantee” page one results.  
You don’t have full control over  how high you rank in search engines,  
although you can do your best to optimize for it. So, any agency that says they can guarantee  
too-good-to-be-true results is lying to you.  It’s better to go for an agency that’s confident,  
but still very honest and realistic  about what they can do for you. 
4. They aren’t open or transparent Another red flag to watch out for is if an  
agency doesn’t communicate well or if they seem  closed off. If you feel like you’re struggling  
to get answers to your questions or updates on  how your campaigns are going, that’s bad news.  
Communication is the key to any relationship,  especially so with a marketing agency. 
You want an agency that will give quick responses  to any questions you have, and that will give you  
regular updates on what’s going on with your  marketing, what they’ve been working on, and  
all those important things that you care about. Plus, you want them to be transparent about  
what they’re actually doing. If an agency  insists that they’re driving results but  
refuses to tell you how they’re actually doing  it…or show you the data…That’s a big yikes. 
5. Their brand isn’t built on digital marketing Imagine you get sick and you have to get a minor  
operation from your doctor. Halfway through  the operation, you hear him casually mention,  
“yeah, I actually only trained to become a  vet, but I heard you could make a little bit  
more money as a human doctor, and I just  thought… how different can it really be?” 
Honestly, I might just get up  mid-operation and walk out. 
It’s kind of the same way when you’re talking with  an agency that offers digital marketing services,  
but then you find out digital marketing isn’t  really their main niche. There are companies  
out there that specialize in something else  — like TV ads — and then later decided to  
add digital marketing as an “extra” service. If a company’s approach to digital marketing is  
“Yeah, we can probably do that. How hard is it?”—  and it’s not what they’re actually the experts  
in — it’s best to steer clear entirely from them. 6. They don’t give you ownership  
over your marketing accounts You know how when you were growing up in your  
parents’ house, you had “your room,” but it wasn’t  really yours? Like, if you wanted to decorate it a  
certain way, your parents could just say “no,” and  there was nothing you could do about it because  
it was their house and their name on the mortgage? That’s not what your relationship with a marketing  
agency should look like, but unfortunately, it’s  the approach that some agencies use. When you  
partner with those agencies, they’ll help you open  up accounts on different platforms, with different  
web hosts or with different marketing tools. But  the accounts will actually be in their control. 
So, if you were ever to part ways with  that agency, you risk losing access to  
those accounts. You’d have to start from scratch,  because they could hold your accounts hostage,  
make it impossible for you to update  your website… which is just not cool. 
Imagine leaving an agency and not being able  to update your site anymore, or not being able  
to launch ad campaigns in Google. Obviously,  you don’t choose an agency with the intention  
of cancelling, but over time your goals may  change, you may not like working with an agency,  
or you may even outgrow them — which would be a  good problem to have. You don’t want your business  
to suffer because you didn’t have ownership  of key accounts and things like your website. 
7. They don’t use a data-driven approach The best marketing agencies will keep track of  
valuable metrics in your campaigns, and they’ll  analyze those metrics to help them learn how to  
keep improving your marketing over time. Some agencies will even provide you with  
reports so you can see the results and all  of the underlying data for yourself — or they  
may have their own marketing platform  to pull everything together for you. 
A “red flag” agency won’t bother  to adjust their strategy over time.  
They won’t learn from the data and will just  keep going with their cookie-cutter tactics. 
And you may never see a trace of the data on  your marketing — or they won’t share the data  
that’s specific to your goals. Yes, social media  clicks and things like impressions are good,  
but if you really want to increase sales through  your marketing efforts, those aren’t metrics that  
are nearly as valuable as conversions…or  other KPIs that align with your business. 
Agencies that don’t learn from the data and  don’t tell you how they’re helping you hit  
your goals are agencies you’ll want to avoid. Hopefully this list of tips helps you find an  
agency that raises green flags. No red flags  allowed here. If you’re interested in learning  
more about digital marketing, make sure you  subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can  
also head over to our website to sign up  for our email newsletter, Revenue Weekly. 
That’s all for now. Thanks so much  for watching — see ya in the next one!