Let's cut to the chase: rarely do we talk to clients who fully understand the ins and outs of digital marketing. This is why they consult a marketing agency—to help them fit together all the moving parts into a cohesive, successful plan of action. But that lack of knowledge is the very reason many clients are exploited by agencies. Simply put, these agencies are capitalizing on your naivety to keep you locked into a bad relationship.

And we're not about that.

With this post, our goal is to give those who are either looking for or are currently engaged with a marketing agency the tools to evaluate if said agency is worth keeping around.

Here are four signs that it’s time to break up with your current agency and move on to greener pastures.

I Never Get Any Reporting

Any marketing agency can claim they provide results, but how many prove their results on a regular basis? The answer is: the good ones. If your current agency can’t (or won’t) show you the numbers, then the results aren’t being measured and it's time to jump ship.

Any strong campaign is backed by analytics that showcase exactly how it's performing and where there are opportunities for improvement. Remember, data (done correctly) doesn't lie.

Over the years, we’ve built hundreds of custom reports detailing everything from website traffic, lead generation, and return on ad spend. We also work with clients to include any other points of interest they have with their campaigns or their website. In short, we crunch the numbers, so our clients can see the return on their investment.

I Never Hear From Them

Sales teams can be quite the Chatty Cathys when going after new business. But once you sign the dotted line, do they maintain that same level of commitment?

Your agency should keep you in the loop on a regular basis, even if there’s nothing earth-shattering to share. We send out monthly client reports, but we also make sure to have monthly or biweekly meetings to answer any questions, review analytics, and make suggestions. Our aim is to involve you every step of the way and keep transparency at the forefront of our relationship.

I'm Not Getting Any Business

All the marketing campaigns are turned on, but there aren’t any leads being generated. And when you try to reach out, the agency either ghosts you or tells you how many clicks you got. This isn't what we want.

A successful digital marketing campaign is so much more than just clicks and web traffic. It’s about generating quality leads that turn into customers or clients.

Impressions and clicks are great at the start, but if they’re not translating into business, you’re losing money.

I Can’t Access My Analytics

There are analytics platforms, advertising platforms, creative platforms, and many more tools that go into your digital marketing.

Do you have access to any of that? No.

Who owns those accounts? They do.

What happens when you move away from their services? The accounts disappear.

Analytics is the foundation of your marketing success. That’s why setting up a Google Analytics account should be handled by someone who knows what they’re doing, or the data could be compromised. You might not understand all the numbers, but you should know that the account needs to be owned by you and not the marketing agency. The bottom line: we always give our clients full access to all the platforms we use. We create them for you, and they’re yours to keep.

We Are DiscoverTec

Digital marketing is an integral part of the services we provide at DiscoverTec. We're a full-service web company that's been in business since 1994, so you can imagine we've heard every agency horror story under the sun at this point. Because we've heard from so many people who've been burned by other digital marketing agencies, we implemented several policies that ensure our clients always have control over the work we do for them.

We are committed to the following goals for every client:

Regularly-scheduled reporting meetings - We’ll meet with you and your team to talk in detail about campaign results and answer any questions you have.
Detailed marketing reports - We show you the numbers and break down why a campaign is or isn’t working, along with recommendations.
Access to every platform - One of the first things we do after set up is ask which emails need to have access to Google Analytics, Google Ads, etc.
Client ownership of analytics and advertising platforms - We create the accounts, you own them. Period.
Monthly contracts - We’ve kept the same marketing clients on for years now, which is why we’re confident in our ability to help grow your business. And if we don’t, you can fire us, too.

At the end of the day, your digital marketing agency should be working for you, not the other way around. If you're not happy with the results you're seeing, let us help you fire them.