Nobody hires a marketing agency thinking it won’t work out. You did your research. You had a good call. They said the right things. You signed the contract feeling hopeful.
Three months later, you’re not sure what’s actually happening. The reports look busy but you can’t connect them to real results. You’re spending money every month and your gut says something isn’t right — but you don’t know if it’s too early to judge or too late to fix.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. About half the brands that come to us have been through this exact experience.
Here are the five warning signs — and what to do about each one.
Sign 1: You can’t explain what they’re doing
Ask yourself this: if a friend asked “what is your agency actually doing for you right now?”, could you give a clear answer?
Not “they’re running my ads” — but specifically: what campaigns are live, what audiences they’re targeting, what creative is in market, what they tested last week, and what the plan is for next month.
If you can’t answer that, it’s not your fault. It’s a communication failure.
What good looks like
A good agency keeps you informed without you having to chase them. You should know:
- What’s running right now and why
- What was tested recently and what the results were
- What the plan is for the next 2-4 weeks
- Where performance stands against your goals
This shouldn’t come as a surprise once a month. It should be a running conversation — through Slack, WhatsApp, or whatever channel works for both of you.
What to do
Have a direct conversation: “I need to understand what’s happening with my account. Can we set up a weekly or fortnightly check-in where you walk me through what’s running, what’s working, and what’s next?”
If they resist transparency, that’s your answer.
Sign 2: The metrics don’t connect to money
Your agency sends a monthly report. It’s full of numbers: impressions, reach, engagement rate, click-through rate, cost per click. Charts going up. Everything looks green.
But your revenue hasn’t changed. Or your customer acquisition cost has actually gone up. Or you have no idea whether the ad spend is generating a positive return.
Vanity metrics are not results. Impressions don’t pay your bills. Likes don’t pay your suppliers.
What good looks like
Reports should centre on the numbers that actually matter to your business:
- Revenue attributed to marketing spend (by channel)
- ROAS — return on ad spend (blended and by campaign)
- CPA — cost per acquisition
- Email revenue — what percentage of total revenue comes from email
- Customer lifetime value trends
Everything else is context. The headline should always be: “Here’s how much money we made you, here’s what it cost, and here’s the plan to improve it.”
What to do
Ask: “Can you show me a clear line from what you’re spending to what revenue it’s generating? I want to see ROAS, CPA, and revenue — not just engagement metrics.”
If they can’t provide this, they either don’t track it (bad) or the numbers aren’t good (worse).
Sign 3: Creative hasn’t changed in months
Go look at your ad account right now. When was the last time new creative went live? If the same ads have been running for 6-8 weeks or more, that’s a problem.
Ad creative has a shelf life. People see the same ad multiple times and tune it out — it’s called creative fatigue. When frequency goes up and performance goes down, new creative is the fix.
What good looks like
Good agencies rotate creative every 2-3 weeks. They test new angles, new formats, new hooks. They analyse what’s working and build more of it. They kill what isn’t.
You should see a steady stream of new ad creative — not the same three ads running since you onboarded.
What to do
Ask: “How often are you refreshing creative? Can you show me the creative testing calendar for this month?”
If there isn’t one, suggest a process: new creative briefs every two weeks, with a clear testing framework. If they push back on producing creative, discuss whether you need to bring in a content creator or UGC producer to feed the pipeline.
Retargeting audiences are especially vulnerable to creative fatigue because they’re smaller — people see ads more frequently.
Sign 4: They never suggest changes to your strategy
You signed up. They built campaigns. Those campaigns have been running ever since. Nothing has fundamentally changed about the approach in months.
That’s not management — that’s maintenance. And you’re paying agency fees for someone to do what an automated system could do.
What good looks like
Marketing is not set-and-forget. A good agency is constantly:
- Testing new audiences based on what’s converting
- Adjusting budget allocation based on performance data
- Proposing new channels or tactics as your business evolves
- Flagging problems early instead of waiting for the monthly report
- Thinking about the whole funnel — not just their channel
They should be coming to you with ideas, not waiting for you to ask.
What to do
In your next call, ask: “Based on our results over the last 3 months, what would you change about our strategy? If you could do anything differently, what would it be?”
If the answer is “everything’s going great, we’ll keep doing what we’re doing” — and your results don’t reflect that — you have a problem.
Sign 5: You feel like one of hundreds
You email your account manager. They take two days to reply. When they do, they get a basic detail about your brand wrong. On calls, they seem to be reading from notes rather than actually knowing your business.
This usually means they’re managing too many accounts. They’re spread thin. Your brand gets the minimum attention needed to keep you paying — not the deep attention needed to get results.
What good looks like
Your agency team should know your brand intimately. Your products, your customers, your voice, your competitors, your goals. They should notice when something changes in your business and adjust accordingly.
You should feel like a priority, not a line item on someone’s task list.
What to do
Ask: “How many accounts does my account manager handle?” If it’s over 15-20, that’s your answer.
You can also test this with a simple question about your brand — your bestselling product, your target customer demographic, your average order value. If they can’t answer confidently, they don’t know your brand well enough.
Before you leave: the honest conversation
If you’re seeing these signs, don’t just fire your agency without talking to them first. Sometimes the relationship is fixable.
Have this conversation:
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“Here’s what’s not working for me.” Be specific. Not “I’m not happy” — but “I don’t understand what’s running, the metrics don’t connect to revenue, and creative hasn’t changed in 8 weeks.”
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“Here’s what I need.” Weekly communication. Revenue-focused reporting. Regular creative rotation. Proactive strategy suggestions.
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“Can we agree on a 30-day plan?” Set specific, measurable goals for the next month. If they hit them, great. If not, you have a clear basis for your decision.
A good agency will welcome this conversation. They’ll take responsibility, make a plan, and follow through. A bad agency will get defensive, make excuses, or blame the algorithm.
When it’s time to move on
If you’ve had the honest conversation and nothing changes within 30 days, it’s time to move on. Don’t let sunk cost keep you in a relationship that isn’t working.
Before you switch:
- Ensure you own your accounts. Your ad accounts, your Klaviyo account, your data. If you don’t have admin access, get it before you leave. Read our guide on choosing an agency for what to look for next time.
- Download your data. Campaign performance history, audience data, email list exports.
- Document what worked. Not everything was a waste. Take note of which audiences, creative, and messages performed well.
- Don’t pause everything at once. Keep your best-performing campaigns and email flows running while you transition. Going dark hurts more than a messy handover.
Key takeaways
- If you can’t explain what your agency is doing, communication has failed
- Reports should show revenue, ROAS, and CPA — not just impressions and clicks
- Creative should rotate every 2-3 weeks. Same ads for months = creative fatigue
- A good agency proactively suggests strategy changes, not just maintains campaigns
- You should feel like a priority — ask how many accounts your manager handles
- Have the honest conversation before leaving. Give 30 days for improvement.
- Own your accounts and data. Always.
Ready for an agency that actually shows up?
We work with 10-15 brands at a time. No juniors. No lock-in contracts. The people you meet are the people running your campaigns — every single day.
Tell us about your brand and we’ll book your free clarity call.