The Agency Vetting Scorecard: 7 Questions to Separate Strategic Partners from Media Operators

A good performance marketing agency can help you increase business-boosting metrics, from order volume to revenue. A bad one can result in lost time, wasted effort, and money down the drain.

If you are seeking a new growth partner or reevaluating existing agency partnerships, knowing what to look for is essential. How do you thoroughly vet an agency? This guide provides marketing leaders with a tactical scorecard to identify strategic partners who will make a meaningful difference.

Why Most Agencies Sound the Same and Why That’s a Problem

Finding a strong agency partner has become increasingly difficult. The market has become oversaturated, with the number of digital advertising agencies increasing nearly 11% from 2023 to 2024 alone¹. Unfortunately, many agencies focus more on execution than strategy. While a genuine performance marketing agency uses measurable data to deliver results-driven campaigns, an execution agency implements campaigns while relying on the client for strategic direction.

Execution agencies may use commoditized language that sounds impressive and comprehensive but reveals nothing about their true capabilities. This could include claims of being “data-driven” or “results-focused” without any additional specificity.

A strategic agency partner will be able to provide more granular details and proof of their claims. Identifying these strategic partnerships requires deeper diligence. While choosing the right paid media agency takes some extra legwork, the added effort will save you from wasting time and money.

The 7-Point Scorecard for Vetting a Performance Marketing Agency

Below, we outline seven questions to help differentiate a strategic vs execution agency. You can use these questions to build a digital agency scorecard to identify an effective partner. These questions have been designed to expose gaps in planning, attribution, team structure, creative capability, and scaling expertise. Use this list to identify weaknesses when you receive replies to requests for proposals (RFPs) or are on sales calls.

1. Can They Build and Defend a Channel Mix Strategy?

These days, most businesses rely on multiple channels to reach consumers, with reports suggesting that 51% of companies use eight channels to interact with customers². Prioritize strategic partners who can provide a multi-channel plan in line with your target audience’s preferred media.

Beyond platform recommendations, a strong strategic partner will be able to map customer lifetime value (LTV) across touchpoints and provide real growth modeling to demonstrate how channels work together to drive scalable growth.

2. Do They Prioritize Attribution Over Vanity Metrics?

Platform-related metrics, like engagement, don’t speak to business impact. Strategic partners provide clean data views that connect media spend to business outcomes, like order numbers and revenue. They should be able to provide media mix modeling to demonstrate how different marketing channels impact business outcomes. Further, they should show how they align platform analytics with first-party data to ensure accurate attribution, a method of assigning a conversion (like a sale) to a specific touchpoint (like an ad) in the customer journey.

3. How Do They Approach Creative Testing and Iteration?

One of the great things about digital marketing is how easy it is to test impact and adapt creatively according to what is (and isn’t) working. Strategic partners make the most of this possibility with creative testing frameworks informed by clear feedback loops, such as automated reporting dashboards or weekly performance reviews. This subsequently allows for rapid iteration cycles. For example, you might refresh creative assets based on engagement metrics or reallocate budget toward high-performing segments.

4. Who Will Actually Be on Your Account?

From developing a paid search strategy to crafting performance creative assets, the people who are working on your campaign are crucial for its success. Make sure to ask who will be involved and in what capacity. Don’t assume that it’ll be the person on a sales call or replying to your RFP.

Clarify the level of senior involvement post-sale, ask about the experience of the core team handling your account, and request a clear path of escalation you can turn to if issues arise.

5. Can They Show Efficiency at Scale?

When it comes to digital marketing budgets, you want to maintain profitability even as spending increases. Toward this end, efficiency metrics like Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) should be sustainable³.

Look for strategic partners who can demonstrate positive metrics, especially at spend levels upwards of $100,000 per month. Client case studies are one proof of concept worth requesting. You can also ask about audience expansion strategies, platform optimization techniques, and bid management approaches.

6. Are Their Reports Transparent, Useful, and Strategic?

Digital marketing trends can shift quickly, so you want regular feedback on how your campaigns are doing. A monthly PDF won’t cut it. Ideally, a strategic partner will provide a client-facing dashboard with real-time access to performance data.

Look for partners with channel-specific breakdowns that go beyond raw metrics and include context around fluctuations in performance. Finally, you want an agency that doesn’t just present data but leverages it, providing actionable recommendations based on trends.

7. How Are Incentives and Pricing Structured?

Last but not least, there is the cost consideration. Beware of opaque markups, misaligned comp models, and cross-channel conflicts. A solid strategic partner should provide a compensation model in which it’s win/win for all parties.  

Red Flags to Watch for in Discovery Calls

The questions above can be used to inform a performance marketing partner checklist that will help you determine a strategic vs execution agency. Additionally, there are a few other red flags to watch for when you’re on discovery calls with potential agency partners. Run if…

They boast about their capabilities rather than asking about your needs first

An execution agency may trumpet their expertise without taking the time to get to know your business first. This is an indicator that they take a one-size-fits-all approach or wait for tasks to be delegated to them rather than developing a strategy tailored to each client’s needs.

What to look for instead: A strategic partner will lead with curiosity, not credentials. They will ask questions about your business model, challenges, and objectives to understand how to adapt their offering to your objectives.

They provide stock answers to your strategy-related questions

An execution agency may use canned responses that lack specificity when discussing strategy-related questions, such as “We take a full-funnel approach” or “Our methodology drives sustainable growth.”

What to look for instead: A strategic partner will provide more granular details, for example by referencing client case studies that address pain points similar to yours. They should also ask follow-up questions to ensure their presentation meets your needs and covers anything that might have come up in your mind.

Your point of contact has never run media themselves

If your main contact is purely a business development hire who has never optimized a campaign or managed a budget, they can’t fully appreciate your challenges or set realistic expectations.

What to look for instead: The person selling you should understand the operational realities, including the potential limitations and necessary trade-offs, of what they’re promising.

Why Socium Media Built a Performance-First Agency Model

Socium Media is a high-accountability, full-funnel growth partner built on real-world, measurable results. We have helped clients across a diversity of industries achieve results in both paid search and paid social, and the outcomes are evident in the numbers:

• 590% increase in orders, 340% increase in ROAS, and 60% decrease in CPC for fashion brand Amanda Uprichard
• 41% increase in orders, 16% decrease in CPA, and 40% increase in revenue across paid social (Meta) for jewelry brand Catbird

When you partner with Socium Media, you’ll speak with an experienced pro who will provide senior oversight of your campaigns. After our fast onboarding and integrated planning, we implement personalized strategies with clear benchmarks, regular performance reviews, and full transparency around how we’re moving your key metrics.

Learn more about our multi-channel expertise.

FAQ 

What’s the biggest red flag in agency vetting?

When an agency can’t clearly explain how they’d build your channel mix or growth model. Strategic partners lead with planning, not platform hacks.

How do I know if I’m working with an execution shop?

If you’re only hearing about CTRs, impressions, or ROAS and not about customer acquisition cost, LTV modeling, or content testing strategy, you’re likely dealing with a media operator, not a growth partner.

Should creative capabilities be part of my agency evaluation?

Absolutely. Without strong creative that’s built to test and scale, your media strategy will stall, especially on platforms like Meta and TikTok.

How often should I reevaluate my current media agency?

If performance has plateaued, strategic planning feels shallow, or reporting lacks clarity, it’s time for a deeper review.

Sources

1. (April 2025). Digital Advertising Agencies in the US – Number of Businesses (2005–2030). IBIS World. Retrieved June 16, 2025, from https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/number-of-businesses/digital-advertising-agencies/5889/
2. Minkara, O. (October 2017). Omni-Channel Customer Care: How to Deliver Context-Driven Experiences. Aberdeen Group. Retrieved June 16, 2025, from https://lmistatic.blob.core.windows.net/document-library/boldchat/pdf/en/omni-channel-customer-care.pdf
3. Ashwini, A. (13 June 2024). What You Need to Know About Performance Marketing Agencies. Data Dab. Retrieved June 16, 2025, from https://www.datadab.com/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-performance-marketing-agencies/