Business in Poland
How to choose a marketing contractor and not regret it
This article is uncomfortable for us, because some of the advice below consists of questions worth asking HIL STUDIO too. But an owner who chose a contractor deliberately works with them longer and more calmly than one who was simply talked into it.
What to ask before signing
Who exactly will run the project. Negotiations are often attended by the most experienced specialist, while a different person will do the work. That is not deception — it is how agencies are built. But you should know who you will be talking to every day.
What is included in the sum and what is not. In particular: shoots, design, ad budget, revisions. The ad budget is money that goes straight to Meta or Google, not to the contractor; if the proposal shows one figure with no breakdown, ask for it to be split out.
How many revisions are covered. The wording “revisions are free” sounds pleasant, but in practice it means the limits have not been discussed and the conflict will happen later.
What the report will look like and how often. Ask to see a sample report from another project, anonymised. If there are no reports at all — that is the most alarming sign on the list.
Who owns the accounts. The ad account, the pages, the domain and the site must be registered to you. The contractor gets access, not ownership. This question is worth asking first, and it is exactly where an awkward pause most often appears.
Red flags in a proposal
A guarantee of a specific result. “We guarantee 50 leads” is a promise that cannot be kept honestly, because the result depends on the product, the price, the season and how you handle enquiries. What can be guaranteed is the volume of work, not the behaviour of the market.
Numbers without context. “Cut the cost per lead threefold” with no niche, period or starting values is not a case study, it is a line of text. Ask for details: an adequate contractor will explain, even without naming the client.
A ready strategy at the first meeting. If you are shown a detailed plan before anyone asked about your business — it is a template. It may be a decent one, but it is not about you.
Time pressure. “The price holds until Friday” is appropriate in retail, not in services, where both sides need to weigh up the responsibility.
A vague answer about timelines. Advertising gives the first signals within weeks, organic growth within months. A contractor who promises a fast result in everything at once either does not understand the process or is selling.
What the contract must contain
The minimum set that saves both sides: a list of work with measurable targets, deadlines, the procedure for handing over access, termination terms, and what stays with you after the cooperation ends — layouts, texts, settings.
A separate word about the last one. The most unpleasant stories we hear from new clients are not about bad advertising but about the fact that after the split the person was left with nothing: the ad account belongs to someone else, the site sits on someone else’s hosting, the passwords are unknown. This is fixed by one paragraph in the contract.
Warning signs once work has started
The first month will show more than all the negotiations. It is worrying if reports arrive late and only after reminders; if the answer to “why is it like this” is generic talk about algorithms; if any initiative of yours meets resistance without explanation; and if you learn about changes in campaigns after the fact.
A good sign looks the opposite way: the contractor brings you bad news before you have noticed it, and arrives with options for a solution.
How much time to allow
A sensible horizon for judging is around three months. Less than that and you are judging the setup phase, not the work. Longer with no progress at all and you are funding someone else’s learning.
At the same time the first month almost always looks worse than one would like: data is being collected, hypotheses are being tested, some of them will not work. That is not a reason to end the cooperation — it is a reason to ask what conclusions were drawn.
The most useful question
If you remember only one thing from this article, let it be this: “What do you need from us so that you can do your job?”
The answer will tell you more about a contractor than a portfolio does. Someone who works for results will name specifics: access to sales data, a person for approvals, participation in shoots, quick replies. Someone selling process will say that nothing is needed from you.
Marketing is never a “turnkey service without your involvement”. And an honest contractor will say so at the first meeting.