Summary:
Who this article is for:
Business owners and founders who have a strategy call booked with a marketing agency and want to show up prepared, ask the right questions, and find a partnership that actually moves the needle.
Key takeaways:
- A strategy call is a two-way conversation you’re figuring out fit as much as they are.
- Asking thoughtful questions helps you get better answers, better proposals, and better results.
- The right agency will welcome every question on this list.
- Preparation isn’t about skepticism it’s about starting the relationship on solid ground.
- Knowing what to listen for helps you recognize the right partner when you find them.
What’s inside:
- How to walk into your strategy call with confidence
- 10 questions that lead to clearer, more useful conversations
- What strong answers actually look and sound like
- A short list of signals that a partnership might not be the right fit
You Have the Call Booked This Is a Big Deal
You’ve done the research. You found an agency that looks promising. You filled out the form, cleared a spot on your calendar, and now you’ve got a strategy call coming up.
This is exciting. Getting outside support for your marketing is a real investment in your business and the right partnership can change everything. More clarity, more momentum, more growth.
But walking into that call without any preparation means you’re leaving a lot on the table. Most business owners show up and let the agency lead the whole conversation. They come out with a proposal that may or may not match what they actually need and they’re not always sure how to tell the difference.
The fix is simple: go in with the right questions to ask a marketing agency. Not to interrogate anyone, but to have a real conversation. To understand how they work, what they’d do for your specific business, and whether the partnership is genuinely a good match.
When you ask great questions, you get better information, better proposals, and a much clearer sense of who you’re dealing with. This list will help you do exactly that.
10 Questions to Ask a Marketing Agency on Your Strategy Calls
1. What do you do in the first 30 days?
This is one of the best questions to ask a marketing agency and it’s a great one to lead with. The first month sets the tone for everything: how they onboard clients, how organized their process is, and how quickly they move from conversation to actual work.
What a great answer looks like: Specifics. A strong agency will walk you through their onboarding steps discovery sessions, brand audits, kickoff documentation, strategic alignment. They should be able to tell you what deliverables you’ll see, when you’ll see them, and what they need from you to get started. A clear first-30-days plan means they’ve done this before and they take the relationship seriously from day one.
2. What does success look like in 6 months in terms of conversion rates?
This question is really about alignment making sure you and the agency are tracking toward the same goals. You want to know that the metrics they’re optimizing for actually connect to outcomes that matter to your business.
What a great answer looks like: They’ll want to understand your goals before they answer this and that’s a good sign. Then they’ll connect their proposed metrics directly to what you’ve described over the next 6 months, using SMART goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound so your high-level vision becomes actionable and you can achieve the right outcomes for your business: pipeline growth, qualified lead volume, organic traffic, conversion rate, whatever fits your situation. The best agencies are clear that success is defined together, not handed down from a deck.
3. How do you handle it when something isn’t working?
This one might feel like a hard question, but it’s actually an invitation for any good agency to show their maturity. Every campaign hits a moment where something needs to be adjusted. What you want to know is: do they have a process for that?
What a great answer looks like: A clear framework for performance review, regular check-ins that track progress against clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), data-informed pivots, and proactive communication when something shifts. Great agencies don’t wait for you to notice a problem; they bring it to you with context, a plan, and a path for improvement. This question tends to separate agencies that are confident in their work from ones that go quiet when results are uncertain.
4. Do you help with brand positioning, or only execution?
There’s an important difference between agencies that help you think and agencies that help you do and understanding which you’re talking to help you know what kind of partnership you’re walking into.
What a great answer looks like: They can clearly explain the line between strategy services (positioning, messaging, audience definition, brand foundation) and execution services (ads, content, SEO, social). Strategy work should set clear guiding policies before tactics are carried out or new ideas are implementing. If they offer both, a good agency will want to understand where you are first before jumping to tactics. Building campaigns on top of an unclear brand is like building a house on sand. The best agencies know this and will tell you.
5. How do you measure and report key performance indicators (KPIs) and results?
Reporting is where the relationship really lives between big meetings. It’s how you stay informed, stay aligned, and catch anything early that needs to change.
What a great answer looks like: A defined reporting rhythm, a dashboard or tool you’ll have access to, and metrics tied directly to your goals, with real-time data visualization that helps decision-making during calls and analytics that surface trends. Ask if they can show you a sample report most great agencies are happy to share a real (anonymized) example, and whether any AI support is used to make those insights faster and clearer. Also worth asking: how do they communicate in between formal reports? The best partnerships feel connected, not quarterly.
6. What does onboarding look like?
Onboarding is where an agency either earns your confidence immediately or creates friction you’ll feel for months. It’s worth knowing what to expect before you sign.
What a great answer looks like: A clear, structured process. They should walk you through what they’ll need from you: access, assets, key contacts and what they’ll deliver back: a strategic brief, a project roadmap, a kickoff overview with timelines and responsibilities. They should also assign a clear owner for each next step during onboarding. Knowing this upfront makes the transition into working together much smoother and signals that they’ve built a system that works.
7. Who will actually be working on my account?
This is a practical but important one. Understanding the team structure helps you know who to reach out to, what their experience level is, and how they’ll be organized around your work. The best strategy calls also assemble the right stakeholders, not just the day-to-day contact, so companies can make decisions with the people who actually shape execution.
What a great answer looks like: Real names, real roles, and a clear primary point of contact. A strong agency will introduce you or at least describe the team members who’ll be hands-on with your account, including relevant leads when cross-functional input matters. Knowing there’s a dedicated strategist versus a rotating team is a useful context as you evaluate fit and communication style. Cross-functional representation and clear roles improve alignment by giving stakeholders a shared vision and understanding of responsibilities, and teams structured that way see 25% higher project success.
8. Can you walk me through a result you’ve driven for a client similar to mine?
Case studies on a website are curated highlights. A live, conversational version of a client success story tells you a lot more including how well the team understands the work they’re describing.
What a great answer looks like: A clear story: what the client’s challenge was, what strategy they used, what happened, and what they learn from it. Strong agencies may also reference market trends, competitors, and even SWOT-style thinking to explain the client’s situation, since SWOT analysis helps identify internal and external factors and can provide valuable insights for strategic planning. Great agencies can tell these stories easily because they were genuinely invested in the outcome and can determine the parallels to your own situation without being prompted.
9. What are your contract terms, and what does the engagement look like month-to-month?
Getting clarity on structure upfront isn’t pessimistic, it’s professional. Understanding how the engagement is set up helps you plan, budget, and know what flexibility looks like if your needs shift.
What a great answer looks like: Transparent terms, a clear sense of what’s included each month, and a reasonable process if either side needs to adjust. A confident agency with good results doesn’t need complicated lock-ins to keep clients; they keep clients by doing great work. Good terms reflect that confidence.
10. What do you need from me to make this successful?
This is one of the best questions to close with. It signals that you understand a great partnership is collaborative and it tells you a lot about how the agency thinks about client relationships.
What a great answer looks like: Honesty. A good agency will tell you they need your time, your feedback, access to your team, a shared agenda, clear objectives for the relationship, and a realistic ramp period to see results. They might mention specific things: approvals, asset access, a point of contact for quick decisions. The best agencies want to set you up for success which means they’ll be upfront about what’s required on your end to get there.
A Quick Note on Green Flags (and a Few Things to Watch For)
You’ll know you’ve found a strong agency partner when the conversation feels collaborative. Stronger calls usually begin with a clear agenda and focused discussion, which is often noticeable in how collaborative the conversation feels. They ask as many questions as you do. They’re specific about their process. They connect their recommendations to your actual goals. They talk about past clients with genuine detail and care.
A few things worth noting as you evaluate:
- Guaranteed rankings or specific revenue numbers aren’t something any reputable agency can promise. Great agencies set honest expectations, not inflated ones.
- Jumping straight to a package price without asking about your goals first usually means you’re being fit into a predetermined box. A good discovery call should create room for your questions and ideas, not push a prebuilt package.
- Not asking about your audience or business goals is a signal that the call is more pitch than conversation. The right agency wants to understand you before they recommend anything.
These aren’t reasons to walk away from marketing agencies broadly, they’re just signals to help you recognize the partnership that’s actually built for your business.
Walk In Ready, Walk Out Clear
Preparing a strong list of questions to ask a marketing agency isn’t about being guarded. It’s about being a good partner from the start.
The agencies worth working with will love that you came prepared. They’ll have real answers. They’ll ask great follow-up questions of their own. And you’ll leave the call with actual clarity not just a polished proposal and a follow-up email.
At Big Red Jelly, our strategy calls are built around genuine discovery. We follow a Brand → Build → Grow framework because we’ve seen what happens when great execution gets paired with real strategic clarity and we want that for every client we work with. As an emerging support layer, some modern teams now use AI and Agentic AI to handle automation around agenda creation and prioritize discussion topics before a call. It’s a small sign of where the future is heading, especially as 48% of SaaS companies plan to use Agentic AI by 2025.
If you have a call coming up, we’d love to be on your list.
Ready for your call? Take BRJ’s free brand diagnostic first so you walk in knowing exactly where your brand stands. It makes the conversation 10x more useful.
Frequently Asked Questions About Questions to Ask a Marketing Agency
What are the most important questions to ask a marketing agency before hiring?
Focus on process, clarity, and fit: What do they do in the first 30 days? How do they define and measure success? Who works on your account? What do they need from you to deliver results? These questions surface how an agency actually works, not just how they pitch.
What should I expect from a marketing agency strategy call?
A good strategy call should feel like a two-way conversation. The agency will want to understand your goals, your audience, your current challenges, and your timeline. A structured agenda should also help clarify your objectives and challenges. You should leave with a clear sense of their process, their team, and whether they’re a genuine fit for your business.
How do I know if a marketing agency is the right fit for my business?
Look for specificity, transparency, and genuine curiosity about your business. The right agency asks good questions, gives clear answers, and proposes an approach that actually connects to your goals, not a generic package.
How long should a marketing agency strategy call take?
A thorough discovery call typically runs 45 to 60 minutes. A good agency won’t rush to pricing, they’ll take time to understand your business first so that any proposal they send actually makes sense for you. Depending on availability, you may need to schedule a call a few weeks out.
Is it okay to talk to multiple marketing agencies before deciding?
Absolutely. Comparing how different agencies answer the same questions is one of the most useful things you can do. It gives you real context for what good looks like and makes the right fit much easier to recognize.
What should I prepare before a strategy call with a marketing agency?
Know your top business goals, your target customer, your current marketing challenges, and your rough budget range. You may also need to fill out a form beforehand and prepare the basics the agency needs to review. The more specific you can be going in, the more useful the conversation will be for both of you.
How do I evaluate a marketing agency's reporting process?
Ask to see a sample report, ask about reporting frequency, and ask how they communicate between reports. Great reporting connects directly to your goals and keeps you informed in real time not just at the end of the month.
What should a strong marketing agency proposal include?
A strong proposal should reflect what you actually discussed on the call: your specific goals, a proposed approach tailored to your business, clear deliverables, a realistic timeline, and transparent pricing. It should also make responsibilities and cost expectations clear before you’re investing further. Generic proposals are a sign they weren’t fully listening.
What does a healthy marketing agency partnership look like?
Clear communication, regular reporting, shared goals, and honest conversations when things need to adjust. The best agency relationships feel like an extension of your team not an outside vendor you have to chase for updates.
What's the difference between a strategy call and a sales call?
A strategy call is a genuine assessment of fit and direction. It’s also an opportunity to learn whether the agency is right for you, what solutions they recommend, and how they apply their knowledge to your situation. The best discovery calls feel collaborative, not transactional and they leave you feeling clearer, not just pitched.
