You pay your marketing agency every month. You're not entirely sure what you get for it. You've got a nagging feeling something's off — but they use enough jargon that you can't quite put your finger on it.
You're probably not being paranoid. Here are seven honest signs, and what to do about each.
1. You can't explain what they actually do
If someone asked you what your agency does for the money each month, could you answer in a sentence? If not, that's a problem. Good marketing work can be explained plainly. Vagueness is often a place for a fee to hide.
2. You're locked into a long contract
You signed up for 12 months. Now the work's mediocre and you can't leave. Lock-in contracts exist to protect the agency from losing you — not to help you. A confident agency keeps you with results, not a signature.
3. The reports are 40 pages and say nothing
A good report answers three questions: what did you do, what did it get me, what's next. If yours is dozens of pages of charts and "impressions" and you finish it none the wiser, it's built to look busy, not to inform.
4. They bill a percentage of your ad spend
If your agency takes a cut of your Google Ads budget, then "spend more" is always going to be their advice — whether it's right for you or not. It's a built-in conflict of interest. A flat management fee removes it.
5. You never speak to anyone who does the work
You've got an account manager. Lovely person. But they don't do SEO, write your content or run your ads — they relay messages. Layers of account management are a cost you carry, and they put distance between you and the actual work.
6. There were setup or onboarding fees
A few hundred — sometimes a few thousand — dollars just to get started, on top of the monthly fee. Ask what it actually paid for. Often the honest answer is "not much."
7. You asked for prices and got a "discovery call"
You wanted a number. You got a 45-minute call instead. Hidden pricing usually means the price flexes depending on how much they think you'll pay. Fair prices can sit on a website.
What to do about it
If you recognised three or more of these, it's worth a look around. The good news: you're not as stuck as you feel. If you're in a contract, check the actual end date and notice period — it's often sooner than you think. You own your website and your ad accounts (and if you don't, that's sign number eight). Switching is more straightforward than agencies like to let on.
We built NABA to fail all seven of these on purpose — no lock-in, no setup fees, flat ad fees, plain reports, prices on the website, and you deal with the person doing the work. Not because we're saints, but because we got sick of watching small businesses get the other version.
If that nagging feeling won't go away, it's probably worth trusting it.