Signs It’s Time to Switch Marketing Agencies

The process of evaluating potential agency partners can be daunting. The decision process can be scary, too; make a wrong choice and you question your own job security. Selecting the right agency will elicit a sigh of relief, as you can finally check that task off the to-do list. The evaluations aren’t over, though. At least, they shouldn’t be. 

To sustain growth and continued marketing performance improvements, you need to frequently reevaluate your agency relationship. This is the only way to ensure that your agency relationship is working as effectively as possible. 

During your ongoing reviews of your agency, you might notice worrying signs. If you see one or more indications that your agency isn’t delivering as intended, you’d benefit from switching agencies. 

Agency Relationships: Evolving Beyond Honeymoon Periods

With any new agency partner, you’ll probably have a honeymoon period. Once you onboard the team and get everything set up, it’s normal to see encouraging initial successes. Everyone’s eager to make the relationship work, and the results will likely reflect that.

However, you don’t hire an agency just to get strong results for a little while. You’re looking to see long-term improvements for your business and an agency relationship that strengthens rather than stagnates over time. 

Having open and clear communication with your agency partner during recurring executive meetings should support giving you peace of mind on what’s being worked on. If you feel there are still misses, auditing your current agency partner can be incredibly valuable. An audit will help you determine whether you’re still getting what you pay for and if there’s any misalignment.

Getting audited shouldn’t necessarily mean a death sentence for an existing engagement. Open communication between both parties is essential for success in any agency-brand relationship. 

Key Signs Your Agency Isn’t Delivering

Sometimes, it’s tricky to even diagnose whether your agency partnership is working out well for your business. Keep an eye out for these five key signs that your agency isn’t delivering as well as it should be. If you notice one or more of these red flags, it may be time to look for a new agency partner. 

Plateaued Performance Metrics

A capable strategic media agency should be able to consistently scale performance beyond initial successes. Plateaued performance metrics in your digital marketing reports don’t always mean that your agency isn’t evolving as necessary in media strategy and execution for your business. But it’s certainly important to help identify how the agency is continuing to fill the upper funnel. If the agency team chooses the easy path of just sticking to their initial strategy without innovating, your performance metrics will likely stop improving or even start dropping. 

Compare your performance metrics over time and against your competitors or industry-specific standards. Ideally, your agency should be outperforming these metrics and making continual progress through innovation. If not, that’s a major sign to consider switching marketing agencies. 

Poor Attribution and Lack of Transparency

As a business leader, you want to know what you’re getting in return for your marketing investment. That’s why attribution modeling is so important: It’s the key to understanding what’s working with your marketing campaigns and what needs improvement. 

A great performance marketing agency can tie media spending directly to clear business outcomes. If your agency struggles to accurately attribute conversions and sales to specific touchpoints, you’re likely missing out on opportunities to further optimize your marketing efforts. 

You want a report that you can come into every day and see how all of yesterday’s performance was, how it correlates to the greater monthly totals, and overall pacing towards those goals.

Another red flag is if your agency is not willing to share crucial information about your campaign performance. Media agency transparency is key, so don’t settle for anything less. 

Reactive vs. Proactive Strategies

One thing that’s always consistent about the marketing landscape is that it evolves. Constantly. Your agency must be prepared for market shifts, impactful new trends, and other changes that could affect your marketing efforts. 

The rise of AI search and its impact on paid social creative iteration is one recent example¹. Agencies that did not anticipate this shift are left scrambling to adapt, while more prepared agencies adjusted their strategies as necessary in advance.

That’s the difference between a proactive vs. a reactive media agency. If your agency is only reactive, responding to challenges rather than anticipating and preparing for market shifts, your results will likely lag far behind those of proactive agencies.

Insufficient Senior-Level Involvement

When you’re talking to different agencies and considering your options, they will all likely claim that you’ll have experienced, senior-level marketers on your account (if you select them as your agency partner). Unfortunately, that isn’t always the reality. 

You may find that junior staffers end up handling your account and making key strategic decisions with little senior oversight. That’s an issue when you’re relying on the experience and expertise of those senior marketers in the agency to guide your account.

With our Client Strategy Partner layer of management, each brand that works with our agency has complete confidence that a senior channel expert is overseeing the direction their account takes on that channel. 

Poor Communication and Alignment

In the best-case scenario, your team and your agency partner work in perfect harmony toward shared goals. It’s normal to hit minor communication snags or misunderstandings at the beginning. However, you should feel confident moving forward that your agency is working toward the goals that are most important to your business.

If that’s not the case, you will likely start to see breakdowns in your agency relationship and the results your agency delivers. Honestly, ask yourself these questions:

• Have I noticed the agency misunderstands my business strategy and competitive landscape?
• Are there misalignments between the agency’s goals and mine?
• Is communication from the agency slow, unclear, or even nonexistent?

A “yes” answer to even one of these questions is very concerning. If you notice these red flags when evaluating agency performance, it may be time to consider switching to an agency that’s better aligned with your goals and committed to open communication. 

The Risks of Staying with an Underperforming Agency

It’s often a big hassle to switch agencies, so, understandably, business leaders hesitate to do so. But, staying with an underperforming agency is ultimately much more damaging to your business.

You’ll miss out on growth opportunities and waste money through inefficient budget allocation. With growing economic pressure, brands can’t afford to waste a cent on less-than-optimal marketing efforts². 

A relationship with an underperforming agency will also hurt your internal team’s morale. Stakeholders may start to lose confidence, leading to a negative domino effect that reaches far beyond marketing. 

Why Socium Media Stands Out

Partnering with a marketing agency will not automatically ensure you reach your marketing goals and see continued growth. It’s crucial to regularly reevaluate your relationship to make sure it’s working for your business. And if not, you should be ready to switch to an agency that does deliver for you. 

As an award-winning performance marketing agency, Socium could be that partner. Our proven strategic planning, cross-channel integration, and senior oversight make the agency stand out from the rest.

We also pride ourselves on transparent reporting and clear performance attribution, so you know exactly how your marketing investment is driving results for your business.

If you’re looking for a performance marketing partner who does things differently, please reach out to us so we can start developing a plan tailored to your business goals. 

FAQ

What’s the biggest red flag indicating it’s time to switch agencies?

Consistently plateaued performance metrics coupled with a lack of innovative strategy indicates it’s time to consider alternatives.

How long should we tolerate poor performance before switching?

If strategic recommendations and improvements are not evident after two consecutive quarters of clear feedback, it’s likely time to switch.

How can we avoid disruption when changing agencies?

Ensure clear handoff procedures, thorough onboarding of the new agency, and transparent knowledge transfer from the incumbent.

Can switching agencies really improve performance quickly?

Yes, an agency better aligned with your business goals, employing agile strategies and clear attribution, can rapidly drive noticeable performance improvements.

Sources

1. Kraham, B. (May 2025). What AI-powered discovery in Google Search means for your marketing. Google. Retrieved June 23, 2025, from https://business.google.com/us/think/search-and-video/ai-powered-search-marketing/ 
2. Goldman, J. (March 18, 2025). US ad growth slows in 2025 as economic uncertainty looms. EMARKETER. Retrieved June 23, 2025, from https://www.emarketer.com/content/us-ad-growth-slows-2025-economic-uncertainty-looms