11 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Marketing Agency in Derby
We've traded in Derbyshire for 18 years, and most businesses that come to us after a bad experience with another agency didn't get let down by a bad service. They got let down by a question they never asked at the start. Here are the 11 worth asking before you sign anything. Any agency worth hiring, us included, should answer all of them without getting defensive.
1. What's actually included in the price, and what's an add-on?
Retainer pricing in this industry is notoriously vague.
Why it matters: get a plain list of what's covered each month in writing, before you're three months in and being billed for things you assumed were included.
2. Can I see real, verifiable results from businesses like mine?
Not a generic testimonial, actual numbers. We're happy to point to a 500% increase in weekly enquiries for one client, or an 891% increase in monthly sessions for another, because they're real and we can back them up.
Why it matters: an agency cagey about specifics, or whose case studies all read the same, is telling you something.
3. Who will actually be doing the work?
The person who sells you the contract is often not the person who delivers it.
Why it matters: ask for the name of the person managing your account before you sign, not after.
4. What happens in month one, specifically?
"We'll get to know your business and start optimising" is not an answer.
Why it matters: a good agency can describe month one in concrete terms, what gets audited, what gets built, and by when.
5. How do you measure success, beyond vanity metrics?
Followers and impressions are easy to report and easy to inflate without meaning anything for your bottom line.
Why it matters: ask what counts as a genuine success metric for your business specifically, enquiries, bookings, revenue, and how often you'll see it.
6. Do you actually understand my sector, or is this generic?
Marketing that works for a dental practice doesn't automatically work for an engineering firm.
Why it matters: listen for whether their answer shows real understanding of your customers, or just a willingness to say yes to any brief.
7. What's the contract length, and how do I get out if it's not working?
Long lock-in contracts benefit the agency far more than the client.
Why it matters: a confident agency isn't afraid of a shorter initial term, because they expect to earn the renewal.
8. Who owns my website, accounts and data when we finish?
This is one of the most common sources of disputes we hear about from businesses switching agencies.
Why it matters: get clarity on ownership in writing before you start, not after you decide to leave.
9. How often will I actually hear from you, and in what format?
Some agencies default to one automated report a month and little else.
Why it matters: ask what regular contact looks like, and how quickly they respond when something urgent comes up.
10. What's your genuine local knowledge of Derby and Derbyshire?
A national agency running the same playbook everywhere isn't necessarily wrong for you.
Why it matters: a genuinely local agency knows which towns your customers come from and what local competition actually looks like.
11. Can I speak to a current client, not just a past one?
Past clients can tell you how a relationship ended. A current client can tell you what it's like right now.
Why it matters: an agency confident in its ongoing relationships can arrange this without much fuss.
What to do with this list
We built the BIG12 framework around the idea that marketing only really works when every pillar pulls in the same direction, not just the one or two an agency happens to specialise in. That's also why we're comfortable being asked all eleven of these.
