One of our clients, a chain of tire stores, approached us after working with two other agencies that “managed their ads.” The first worked for six months without a single report. The second refused to give access to the ad account. When we finally gained access, we discovered: campaigns were either inactive, or the budget was being wasted on irrelevant queries.
We have been working with this client for over 2.5 years. During this time, the business grew from a single sole proprietorship (FOP) to three legal entities. Our multi-channel strategy—Search, PMax, Display, and Meta Ads—delivers a seasonal conversion rate (CR) of up to 21%.
The difference between the first two agencies and the third isn’t magic. It lies in specific criteria you can verify before signing a contract. Here is what to look for.
Contents
Why You Need This Checklist
The digital services market in Ukraine is unregulated. An “agency” can be a two-person team with no portfolio, a freelancer from Upwork, or a company with 50 specialists and a Google Partner status. Distinguishing between them is difficult; their websites all look professional.
Over years of running our agency, we have witnessed the consequences of poor choices dozens of times. Wasted budgets are the least of the problems. The worst outcome is lost time. A business that could have grown for six months stood still because someone set up analytics incorrectly or launched ads without a strategy.
This checklist is based on real practice. Every point represents a mistake we have seen in clients who arrived after working with other agencies.
15 Criteria for Choosing a Digital Marketing Agency
Transparency and Account Access
1. Access to ad accounts
Your Google Ads, Meta Ads, and Analytics accounts must belong to you. The agency should work from your account or create one on your email. If an agency runs ads from their own account and denies you access, you will lose all data, remarketing audiences, and campaign history when you terminate the contract. You will be forced to start from scratch.
2. Transparent reporting.
Look for specific metrics: CPA (cost per acquisition), ROAS (return on ad spend), number of conversions, and CTR (click-through rate). Avoid vague claims like “we increased traffic by 200%” without context. Traffic without conversions is an expense, not a result.
3. Separate advertising budget from agency fees
You must know exactly how much money goes toward ads and how much covers agency services. If they quote a single lump sum, there is no way to verify if the entire budget is actually spent on advertising.
Case Studies and Experience
4. Real case studies with numbers.
Avoid generic statements like “we helped a client increase sales.” Look for specifics: “For an auto parts online store, we reduced CPL from over $15 to a figure many times lower and increased conversions significantly within a year.” Anonymized cases are normal, but the numbers must be concrete.
5. Experience in your niche or a related one
An agency experienced in e-commerce will understand your online store faster. However, this is not a mandatory criterion. A good PPC specialist can learn your niche in a week. A bad specialist won’t help even with ten years of experience in your specific field.
6. Client reviews—but not on the agency's website
Check Google Maps, Clutch, or Facebook. These platforms make it harder to fake reviews. Pay attention to details. “We’ve been working for 4+ months, and the results exceeded expectations” is more useful than “Everything is great, highly recommended.”
Communication and Processes
7. A dedicated manager or team
Who specifically works on your account? If the answer is “our team” without names, your project will likely be passed between juniors every month.
8. Regular communication
Weekly or bi-weekly reports and manager availability during working hours are essential. An agency that doesn’t respond for two days is either overloaded or doesn’t prioritize you. Both scenarios are bad.
9. Strategy before tactics
The first question an agency should ask is about your business goals, not “what is your budget?” They should ask: “What is your target CPA?”, “What is your margin?”, “Which channels have you tried and with what results?” An agency that immediately proposes launching ads without analysis will experiment with your money.
Technical Competence
10. Google and Meta certifications.
Google Partner or Premier Partner status means the agency has passed certification and manages a sufficient volume of ad budgets. This is not a guarantee of quality, but a basic filter. Without certification, an agency lacks access to beta features and direct support from Google.
11. Analytics from day one
Before launching ads, conduct an analytics audit. Check GA4 (Google Analytics 4), GTM (Google Tag Manager), and conversion tracking. If an agency launches ads without verifying conversion tracking, you will pay for clicks without knowing if they generate sales. Analytics errors are one of the most common issues we find during Google Ads audits.
12. A comprehensive approach
PPC without SEO is like having one leg. Advertising without analytics is shooting in the dark. For one of our restaurant clients, SEO optimization after connecting GA4 generated 80% of their profit from Google Organic. A good agency sees the full picture.
“The first question an agency should ask is not ‘what is your budget,’ but ‘how do you currently calculate results?’ If conversion tracking is not set up, it is too early to launch ads. Build the foundation first.”
– Volodymyr Kashalaba, CEO Guild of Marketing
Cooperation Terms
13. Flexible contracts
A lock-in period of 6-12 months without an exit option is a red flag. Results should rely on work quality, not legal obligations. Standard practice is a contract with a 30-day termination notice.
14. Clear pricing
Whether it’s a fixed fee, a percentage of the budget, or a hybrid model doesn’t matter. What matters is that you understand what you are paying for. Ask directly: “If my total budget is $1,450/month, how much do I pay you and how much goes to ads?”
15. Results, not processes.
Does the agency report on the number of campaigns, ads, or keywords created? That is process. Results are the number of leads or sales you received and their cost. A good agency operates on business metrics, not technical indicators.
Red Flags: When to Run
There are things that no other advantages can compensate for.
Guaranteed results
“We guarantee 100 leads per month” or “We will get you to the top in 2 weeks.” No one can guarantee results in digital marketing. Google and Meta algorithms change. Competitors are not standing still. Seasonality affects demand. An agency promising specific numbers before analyzing your business is either lying or doesn’t understand how advertising works.
Closed accounts
I repeat, because this is critical. If an agency says, “We run ads from our own account; you don’t need access,” it means: upon contract termination, you lose your ad history, audiences, and conversion data. Everything you paid for over months is gone.
Opaque budget
“Service cost is $1,450/month, including the ad budget.” Including how much? 30,000? 10,000? Without clear separation, you cannot evaluate efficiency. If only 20,000 of the 60,000 goes to ads, your real CPL is three times higher than what the report shows.
Lack of strategy
An agency immediately proposing “let’s launch ads and see” without competitor analysis, a current state audit, or KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) is not a strategy; it is an experiment with your money.
Ignoring analytics
If an agency does not ask about GA4, conversions, or existing data during the first meeting, that is a problem. Advertising without analytics is like a business without accounting. Money is spent, but where it goes is unknown.
Agency, Freelancer, or In-House: A Comparison
Not every business needs an agency. Sometimes a freelancer or an in-house marketer is the better choice.
| Criterion | Agency | Freelancer | In-house |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost / month | From 20,000 UAH | From 8,000 UAH | From 35,000 UAH (salary + taxes) |
| Expertise | Team: PPC + SEO + analytics | One specialization | Depends on hiring |
| Scalability | Add channels without hiring | Limited time | Requires new hire |
| Control | Medium | Low | High |
| Dependency Risk | Low (you have access) | High (knowledge in one person) | Medium (turnover) |
| Time to Start | 1–2 weeks | 1–3 days | 1–3 months (hiring + onboarding) |
| Niche Expertise | Experience across multiple niches | Can be narrow | Deep, but in one niche |
Which Model Suits Which Business
An agency is the optimal choice for businesses with a total monthly budget of at least $1,100 (services + ad spend) and a need for multiple channels. This includes e-commerce with catalogs of hundreds of products, service businesses with multiple locations, and B2B with long sales cycles. Essentially, situations where a team is needed: a PPC specialist, SEO, and an analyst, making it economically unviable to hire everyone in-house.
A freelancer suits businesses with a single channel and a budget up to $750/month. Examples: a local café wanting Instagram ads, a single product on a marketplace, or a startup testing a hypothesis. The risk: if the freelancer disappears, you are left without support.
An in-house marketer is suitable for businesses with a budget from $3,700/month and a stable strategy. This applies to large e-commerce where marketing is a key function. However, even large companies often combine models: an in-house marketer coordinates, while specific tasks (PPC, SEO audits) are outsourced to an agency.
“Over 13+ years in digital, I have seen one thing: businesses grow not because they chose an agency over a freelancer. They grow because they chose a partner who understands their business. The format is secondary. One of our clients started with a single FOP and a minimal budget. Now, they have three legal entities and a multi-channel strategy.”
– Volodymyr Kashalaba, CEO Guild of Marketing
How to test an agency in practice? Order an audit of your current ad account. The quality of the audit reveals the agency’s level better than any portfolio. Will they find real problems? Will they give specific recommendations? Will they understand your business specifics?
FAQ
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How much do digital marketing agency services cost in Ukraine?
The commission for a mid-level agency is usually between 20,000 and $1,200/month, depending on the number of channels and workload. This excludes the ad budget. The ad budget is separate, starting from a minimum of $500-$1,000/month for contextual advertising. The total budget (services + ads) starts from $1,000/month. Some agencies work on a percentage of the ad budget (10–20%), while others charge a fixed rate.
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How to tell if an agency is performing poorly?
Three signs: lack of regular reports with specific metrics, reluctance to provide access to ad accounts, and no link between ad spend and business results. If you are spending money and cannot answer "how much does one client cost," something is wrong.
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Should I switch agencies if results are unsatisfactory?
First, have a conversation. State specific complaints and expectations. Give the agency 1–2 months to make corrections. If there are no changes or the agency cannot explain an action plan, switch. Before moving, order an audit from the new agency to understand the current state of the account.
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How to choose between a large and a small agency?
Size does not determine quality. A large agency may have processes and resources, but your project might be handled by a junior. A small agency might offer the owner's attention but may not handle a large-scale project. Look at case studies in your niche, reviews from similarly sized clients, and the specific team that will work with you.
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Do I need an agency if I already have an in-house marketer?
It depends on the tasks. An in-house marketer is good at coordinating the overall strategy but rarely has deep expertise in PPC, SEO, and analytics simultaneously. The optimal model for a medium-sized business is an in-house marketer for strategy and an agency for specific technical tasks (contextual advertising, SEO audits, analytics setup).
Not sure if your current ads are performing at full capacity?We will conduct a free audit of your ad account and show you where there is potential for growth. No obligations.
Guild of Marketing is a digital agency with 13+ years of experience. 300+ ad accounts, over $630,000 in annual client ad budgets. PPC, SEO, SMM, analytics, and turnkey comprehensive marketing.
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