🤝 THE AGENCY SELECTION CHECKLIST
The right partners are force multipliers — the wrong ones waste your budget
FROM “CLICK HERE” BY ALEX SCHULTZ
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The Four Agency Types You Need
1
Technical Platform Agency
Manage tech stack integrations, ad bidding engines, tracking implementation
- Track record of success with multiple clients
- Great reference checks
- Proven experience with YOUR platform (e.g. Shopify)
- Your engineering team is excited to work with them
Dominated by one big client — couldn’t adapt to others
“Nothing can make a technical agency succeed more than an engineering team that is excited to work with them”
2
Marketing Agency
Traffic ads, use technical tools, scale your campaigns
- Knows more about the platforms than your team does
- Proud of RESULTS, not industry awards
- Excellent references
- Competitive pricing
Leads with awards rather than ROI case studies
“Can they teach you things about getting results that you don’t already know?”
3
Creative Agency
Produce direct response creative that drives action while respecting brand
- Focus on results over awards
- Case studies showing creative that drove sales
- Strong reference checks
- Brand marketing team is excited about them
Homepage features awards but no mention of ROI
“Walk me through examples where your creative made the difference on sales”
4
SEO Agency
OptionalAdvise on organic search optimization
- Case studies proving real impact
- Clean practices (no shady link buying)
- Implementation team (engineering) is bought in
History of link buying or black-hat tactics — “when an agency takes risks like this then moves on, you’re left holding the bag”
If possible, do SEO in-house — an internal person has a better chance. With the right internal talent, you should not need an SEO agency.
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Universal Selection Process
1
Competitively bid to get the best result
2
Get references — both agency-provided AND your own backchannel
3
Ask for case studies where their work got results
4
Have key internal teams (including finance and procurement) interview and vet the agency
5
Make your internal partners feel responsible for the success of integrating the agency
“When stakeholders feel ownership, outcomes improve dramatically”
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In-House vs. Agency Decision Matrix
| Factor | Stay with Agency | Bring In-House |
|---|---|---|
| Scale | Fees are manageable | Fees exceed cost of building a team |
| Cross-Client Learning | Channel moves fast, agency sees trends across clients | Channel is mature, little changes |
| Pace of Change | Industry evolving rapidly — agency stays nimble | Industry stable — in-house can keep up |
| Integration Depth | Lightweight integration needed (e.g. SEM tracking) | Deep product integration required (e.g. SEO) |
Key insight: Meta uses an agency for paid search despite being a tech company — because the cross-client learning, pace of change, and low integration value make it the right call.
“Take the decision of in-house versus outside agency seriously. When I’ve been involved in a project where we have taken this seriously, we have never regretted it — when we haven’t been as careful, we have. Unwinding such a relationship is hard and costly.”
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Quick Reference Checklist
- Determined requirements for each agency type
- Key internal stakeholders feel invested in success
- Run competitive bidding process
- Checked references through backchannel (not just agency-provided)
- Engineering / tech team has met and approved technical agency
- Brand team has met and approved creative agency
- Procurement is included early in the process
- Evaluated in-house vs. agency on all four dimensions