Choosing a media buyer agency is less about finding the biggest name and more about finding the right fit for your budget, industry, and goals. Here's a practical framework for vetting candidates, built around the questions that actually reveal how an agency operates — not just how they present themselves in a pitch.
Start With Access, Not Just Results
Case studies are easy to cherry-pick. A more revealing question is: will you have direct access to the person actually managing your account, or just an account manager relaying updates from someone you'll never talk to? Ask this directly in your first conversation. Agencies that route every conversation through a layer of account management, with the actual strategist or buyer kept at arm's length, tend to be slower to react when something needs adjusting.
Ask About Reporting Before You Sign
Every agency will tell you they report on performance. The real question is what they report on. If their reporting leans heavily on impressions, reach, and engagement without tying back to cost per acquisition or revenue, that's worth pushing on. A reporting structure built around vanity metrics is often a sign the underlying strategy is also built around vanity metrics.
- Request a sample report before signing — not just a sales deck
- Ask how often you'll get updates, and through what channel
- Confirm which metrics they consider primary vs. supporting
- Ask what tools they use for attribution and tracking
Understand the Pricing Model
Media buying agencies generally charge either a percentage of ad spend (commonly in the single digits to low double digits) or a flat monthly retainer. Smaller budgets often pay a higher percentage; larger budgets typically negotiate lower rates. Get this in writing, including what happens if your spend changes mid-contract — some agencies adjust fees automatically with spend changes, others don't, and the difference can matter a lot over a year.
Red Flags Worth Walking Away From
- Vague answers about who specifically will work on your account
- Reluctance to show a sample report
- Locked-in long-term contracts with no early exit clause
- Guarantees of specific ROAS or conversion numbers before they've seen your account
That last one deserves extra attention. No reputable agency can responsibly guarantee a specific return before they've actually looked at your historical data, your industry's typical performance, and your margins. An agency willing to make that promise sight-unseen is either inexperienced or simply telling you what they think you want to hear.
The Bottom Line
The right agency for you is one that's transparent about access, reporting, and pricing before you ever sign anything. If an agency is dodgy about any of those three things during the sales process, it's a reasonable preview of what working with them will be like once the contract is signed and the leverage has shifted.
If it's useful, we're happy to be one of the agencies you put through this exact checklist. Reach out to Project Five Digital for a free strategy session, and ask us anything on this list — we'd rather earn the work than just be picked by default.