10 Agency Questions to Protect Your Marketing Spend

Most solopreneurs don’t fire their marketing agency because of one big mistake. They quit because of a slow drip of small frustrations: reports that don’t answer “so what?”, deliverables that don’t connect to revenue, and the uneasy feeling that you’re paying for motion—not progress.

Here’s the hard truth: if you’re a one-person business, you can’t afford marketing that’s confusing. You need clarity, ownership, and outcomes, because you don’t have a spare ops team to untangle accounts, chase answers, or rebuild your funnel if a vendor relationship goes sideways.

This post is part of the SMB Content Marketing United States series, and it’s designed as a free self-assessment tool: 10 questions to ask any agency, freelancer, or “done-for-you” marketing partner before you sign—or before you renew. They’re based on John Jantsch’s checklist from Duct Tape Marketing, plus practical guidance I’ve seen work for solo operators who need results without getting locked in.

Use this as a solopreneur “agency audit” (30 minutes)

A good marketing partner makes you more in control, not more dependent. The fastest way to tell which one you’re dealing with is to ask questions that force specifics.

Set up a 30-minute call (or send these by email). Tell them you want short, direct answers. If they dodge, overcomplicate, or get defensive, that’s useful information.

A reliable rule: If the answer can’t be written down clearly, the process probably isn’t clear.

1) Who owns my marketing assets and accounts?

Answer first: You do—every time. Your website, domain, Google Analytics, Google Business Profile, Meta ad account, Google Ads account, email list, CRM, landing pages, pixels, and creative files should be owned by you and shared with the agency via access.

If an agency “sets things up” under their ownership, you’re effectively renting your marketing infrastructure. For a solopreneur, that’s a dangerous dependency: if you part ways, you may lose data, audiences, learnings, and even the ability to run ads the next day.

What “good” looks like

• Your domain is registered in your registrar account.
• Your ad accounts are created under your Business Manager / Google account.
• Your analytics and tag manager are in your name.
• You grant access using roles/permissions (Admin/Editor/Analyst), not password sharing.

Red flags

• “We don’t give admin access.”
• “We’ll host it on our platform; it’s easier.”
• “We’ll keep the creative files for brand consistency.”

2) How do you define success—and how often will we review it?

Answer first: Success should be defined in business outcomes (qualified leads, booked calls, purchases, customer acquisition cost), reviewed on a predictable cadence (usually monthly), and tied to decisions.

Vanity metrics are seductive because they’re easy to produce: impressions, clicks, followers, traffic. They’re not useless—but they’re not the point. A solopreneur needs to know whether marketing is creating pipeline you can actually handle.

Ask them to commit to a simple scorecard

Here’s a solopreneur-friendly scorecard template:

• Primary conversion: (booked consults / demo requests / purchases)
• Cost per lead (CPL)
• Cost per acquisition (CAC) or cost per booked call
• Lead-to-customer conversion rate
• Revenue influenced (even if directional at first)

If they can’t tell you what they’ll report and why, you’re signing up for confusion.

3) How do you connect tactics to strategy?

Answer first: Strategy should come first, and tactics should be chosen because they fit the strategy—not because they’re what the agency sells.

Most companies get this wrong. They buy a bundle: “SEO + social + ads + email.” But bundles aren’t strategies.

A real strategy answers:

• Who are we targeting (ideal customer profile)?
• What do they believe right now?
• What promise are we making?
• Why should they choose us (differentiation)?
• What’s the path from stranger → lead → customer?

A quick test

Ask: “What would you recommend we not do in the first 90 days?”

A strategic partner will have an opinion. A task vendor will say “we can do everything.”

4) What happens if I want to end the contract?

Answer first: You should be able to leave without losing assets, momentum, or access to your data.

Solopreneurs often get stuck in long retainers because walking away feels like starting over. Contracts that create “stickiness” through ownership traps or vague deliverables are a tell.

What to look for in the agreement

• Clear notice period (often 30 days)
• Clear scope and deliverables
• A documented offboarding process
• No hostage clauses (like withholding accounts, logins, or files)

If they require 6–12 months up front, ask why. Sometimes long-term work is legitimate (SEO takes time). But confidence should show up as transparency, not handcuffs.

5) Who will I actually work with day to day?

Answer first: You should know the names, roles, and availability of the people doing the work.

Agencies often sell with the senior strategist and deliver with a rotating cast. That might be fine if the process is strong—but you should know what you’re buying.

Solopreneur-specific angle

You don’t need a huge team. You need a tight pod that can execute without you managing them.

Ask:

• Who is my point person?
• How many accounts do they manage?
• Who writes, designs, and runs ads?
• What happens if my contact leaves?

6) How do you report results—can I see a sample report?

Answer first: Reporting should be decision-oriented, not a data dump.

A good report does three things:

1. States what happened (numbers)
2. Explains why it happened (interpretation)
3. Recommends what to do next (actions)

What a sample report should include

• Wins and losses (not just wins)
• What changed since last month
• What they learned
• 3–5 prioritized next actions
• A forecast or expectation for the next 30 days

If the “report” is a screenshot of a dashboard, you’re paying for a login.

7) How are you using AI—and what stays human-led?

Answer first: AI should improve speed and consistency, but humans should own strategy, positioning, voice, and judgment.

As of 2026, AI-assisted content marketing is normal. The question isn’t whether your agency uses AI—it’s whether they use it responsibly.

Ask for specifics

• Which tools are you using for content drafts, ad variations, or research?
• How do you prevent generic copy that sounds like everyone else?
• What’s your review process for accuracy and brand voice?
• How do you handle sensitive data (customer lists, CRM exports)?

My stance: If they’re charging premium rates while mass-producing unedited AI output, you’re not paying for expertise—you’re paying for markup.

8) How will you collaborate with my team (and other partners)?

Answer first: A strong partner fits into your existing ecosystem and communicates like an adult.

Even as a solopreneur, you still have “a team” (bookkeeper, web dev, VA, podcast editor, photographer, affiliate partners). Marketing touches all of it.

Collaboration should be operationally simple

• Shared project board (Asana/Trello/ClickUp—pick one)
• Shared calendar for content and launches
• Clear handoffs and approvals
• A single source of truth for messaging and offers

If they insist on being a black box, you’ll feel it fast: missed opportunities, duplicated work, and a lot of “we didn’t know.”

9) What is your process for creating strategy before execution?

Answer first: There should be a defined discovery phase that results in clear decisions before any campaigns start.

For content marketing (the heart of this series), strategy isn’t optional. Without it, you publish random posts, run scattered ads, and wonder why leads aren’t converting.

A solid discovery process usually includes

• Ideal customer and priority segments
• Your “one sentence” value proposition
• Differentiators (proof, process, positioning)
• Customer journey map (awareness → consideration → decision)
• Content pillars (3–5 themes you can own)
• Offer ladder (free → entry → core)

A partner who skips this is telling you they’re a production shop. That’s fine if you already have strategy. Most solopreneurs don’t—and that’s where money gets wasted.

10) What will you teach me along the way?

Answer first: The best agency relationships make you smarter, calmer, and more capable—even if you never do the work yourself.

If you’re paying someone to run marketing, you still need enough understanding to:

• Spot nonsense
• Make tradeoffs
• Approve the right work
• Protect your brand

What “teaching” can look like (without adding meetings)

• A short Loom video explaining changes and results
• A monthly “what we learned” note
• A shared playbook (messaging, audiences, offers)
• Simple checklists you can reuse (launch checklist, content brief template)

If they keep everything mysterious, dependency is the product.

A practical 90-day plan after you ask the questions

Answer first: After you run this checklist, your next move should be a 90-day plan with clear deliverables, owners, and success metrics.

Whether you keep your agency, switch partners, or go solo for a while, insist on a 90-day plan that includes:

• One primary channel to win first (often email + SEO content, or paid search for urgent demand)
• One primary conversion event (booked call, trial, purchase)
• One reporting cadence (monthly review + weekly lightweight check)
• Asset cleanup (ownership, access, documentation)

Example: a solopreneur-friendly content marketing sprint

• Weeks 1–2: Messaging + offer clarity, analytics cleanup, lead magnet or booking flow
• Weeks 3–6: Publish 4 high-intent posts (based on sales calls and FAQs), refresh service pages
• Weeks 7–10: Repurpose into email sequence + 10 social posts, add one conversion-focused landing page
• Weeks 11–12: Review CPL, conversion rate, and pipeline quality; adjust topics and CTAs

This is how you keep marketing “small enough to manage” and “sharp enough to work.”

If your agency fails 3 of these, you’ve got a decision

You don’t need a perfect partner. You need a partner that’s transparent, strategic, and accountable, especially when you’re running a business solo.

If you ask these 10 questions and the answers feel slippery, you’ve learned something valuable: the relationship is costing you more than money—it’s costing you momentum.

The SMB Content Marketing United States theme is simple: build audience and pipeline on a budget, with systems you can understand. If your marketing partner can’t help you do that, why are they in the picture?

What would change in your business this quarter if you fully owned your assets, had one clean scorecard, and got reporting that told you exactly what to do next?