When Should You Fire Your Marketing Agency? (A Practical, Non-Emotional Checklist)

If I had a dollar for every bad agency I've dealt with...well I'm sure you know the end of that sentence. Firing an agency is rarely about one bad month. It’s usually about a pattern: you keep paying, they keep reporting, and your confidence in the numbers quietly drops to zero.

This post is a practical framework you can use to decide whether to:

• keep the agency and tighten management,

• restructure the relationship,

• or replace them.

No drama. No vague “they don’t get our brand.” Just clear signals.

The first question: is the agency failing… or is the system or product/service failing?

Before you fire anyone, separate two problems:

A) Execution problem

The agency is capable, but:

• goals were unclear,

• tracking is broken,

• offers and landing pages are weak,

• sales follow-up is inconsistent,

• the product/service has quality or customer service issues,

• or the budget is too low to produce signal.

  
  

B) Ownership problem

You don’t have senior marketing leadership. So the agency is basically making strategy decisions by default. Most “agency failures” are actually ownership failures. If nobody on your side is accountable for the strategy, the agency will fill the void—whether they should or not.

Fire them immediately if any of these are true

1) You don’t own your accounts

If you can’t log into Google Ads, Meta, GA4, Tag Manager, or the CRM—stop. That’s not normal. If they run any platform on their accounts - fire them immediately!

2) They can’t clearly explain what’s happening and what they’ll do next

If every call feels like:

• a list of tasks,

• a few charts,

• and a vague “we’ll keep optimizing,”

…you’re not getting leadership. You’re getting activity.

3) They use “the algorithm” as an excuse

Automation is real. That’s why management matters more than ever.

If they can’t explain:

• what signals they’re feeding the system,

• what they changed,

• what they learned,

• and what they’re testing next,

you’re paying for someone to babysit a dashboard.

4) Reporting is built around vanity metrics

If success is measured in:

• impressions,

• clicks,

• CTR,

• “engagement,”

• or “leads” with no definition of lead quality,

you’re being managed to the wrong outcomes.

5) You discover they’re misleading you

Examples:

• counting junk conversions as wins (button clicks, page views)

• hiding brand spend inside “non-brand”

• taking credit for organic or existing demand

• refusing to show search terms / placements / actual inputs

Trust is the only non-negotiable. If it’s gone, end it.

Strong signals you should replace them (even if they’re “nice”)

6) They can’t speak to unit economics

A growth partner should know:

• your margin,

• your CAC targets,

• your payback window,

• your capacity constraints,

• and what “good” looks like.

If they don’t ask these questions, they can’t optimize toward the business.

7) They are not proactive with creative and landing pages

If the landing page is the bottleneck, an agency should say so—even if it’s “not their job.”

If they never bring:

• new angles,

• new offers,

• new tests,

• CRO insights,

performance will plateau.

8) You keep hearing, “We need more budget” with no plan

Sometimes you do need more budget.

But a credible ask looks like:

• “Here’s what’s working,”

• “Here’s what’s capped,”

• “Here’s the test plan,”

• “Here’s the expected return range.”

If it’s just “spend more,” that’s not strategy.

9) They can’t show what is incremental

This is huge in the AI era.

If you’re running Performance Max, retargeting, or branded search, the agency must be able to explain:

• what is incremental vs cannibalized,

• where the spend is truly going,

• and what it’s adding beyond existing demand.

If they can’t, you’re likely paying for attribution games.

10) You’re constantly educating them on your business

It’s normal to onboard - and this can take up to 6 months for very complex businesses or very large organizations. This is why I turn down clients in extremely large organizations/Fortune 500's who want 6 weeks of maternity leave converge.

It’s not normal to still feel like they don’t understand:

• your best customers,

• what makes someone qualified,

• your sales process,

• what you will and won’t accept as a lead,

• and what makes you different.

If they don’t understand your business, they can’t build a performance system.

A simple scorecard: keep, fix, or fire

Rate each category 0–2 (0 = no, 1 = somewhat, 2 = yes)

1. Clear goals tied to revenue/profit

2. Accurate tracking and meaningful conversions

3. Transparent access to accounts and data

4. Reporting that drives decisions

5. Strong testing roadmap (ads, offers, landing pages)

6. Proactive communication and clear next steps

7. Ability to explain incrementality (esp. PMax/brand/retargeting)

8. Lead quality alignment with sales / intake

Score interpretation

• 13–16: Keep them. Tighten expectations and scale what works.

• 9–12: Fixable. Add stronger leadership/oversight or reset the scope.

• 0–8: Fire or replace. You’re paying for noise.

If you’re on the fence: run a 14-day “audit sprint” before you fire them

If you want to be fair (and avoid switching costs), do this:

Ask for these in writing:

• Full admin access to all platforms

• Current conversion definitions and what’s counted as a “primary conversion”

• Last 60 days of changes made (bidding, targeting, creative, landing pages)

• Search terms report (Google) / placements (PMax/Display/YouTube) where applicable

• Budget allocation by campaign type (brand vs non-brand vs retargeting)

• Their next 30-day test plan and what success will look like

If they refuse, delay, or can’t produce it clearly… you have your answer.

What to do instead of “firing” (sometimes the smarter move)

Sometimes the best fix is not replacing the agency. It’s adding senior oversight.

A fractional CMO can:

• set the strategy,

• define conversions and reporting,

• manage the agency,

• and hold the system accountable.

When that happens, many agencies magically “get better,” because someone is finally steering the ship.

If you want help deciding, start with a short diagnostic

If you send:

• your monthly spend range,

• your business type,

• and what “success” should mean (qualified leads, purchases, pipeline),

you can get a quick, objective read on whether the issue is:

• agency execution,

• tracking,

• offer/landing page conversion,

• or overall ownership.

Book a 15-minute fit call or request a Google Ads / growth audit.