Start with the business problem
You can spend a lot of time comparing agencies before anyone has agreed what the job actually is. More enquiries? Better-fit enquiries? A website that explains a complicated service? Those are different briefs.
Write down the service you want to sell, who buys it, where they are and what happens after an enquiry arrives. Add the constraint that matters most: budget, capacity, seasonality or time. A marketer should be able to work from that without needing a polished brief.
For example, a Christchurch trade business with a full diary might want fewer price shoppers and more of a particular job. A plan built around maximum website traffic could miss the point. This is an illustrative scenario, but a useful question to bring into a meeting: what would a better enquiry look like for us?
Ask who will actually do the work
The person pitching may not manage your account. Ask who writes the copy, changes the website, checks the numbers and decides what happens next. Find out whether those jobs sit with employees, partners or you.
None of those arrangements is automatically a problem. Unclear responsibility is. If the website needs a change, you should know whether the marketer can make it, brief someone else or leave it with your team. Ask what happens when your main contact is unavailable.
Working locally can help with meetings and understanding the market. It does not replace evidence of good work. A remote specialist may fit a narrow brief; a local studio may suit an ongoing relationship. Judge the actual working arrangement.
Look for evidence you can question
A portfolio tells you something about the work. Ask what the agency was responsible for, what the starting situation was and how success was measured. A beautiful website and a successful lead-generation campaign answer different questions.
If a case study quotes results, ask about the period, spend and what counted as an enquiry. If your brief is organic growth, a paid campaign result does not establish an SEO result. Evidence can also be a well-reasoned audit or a clear explanation of what they would change first.
Explore our selected work to see the kinds of projects M8 works on. Bring questions about the parts that matter to your business.
Compare the same scope
Send your shortlist the same brief and ask for a first-stage plan. Compare the proposed work, responsibilities, exclusions, reporting and commitment. Keep advertising spend, software, photography and larger website projects visible if they are separate.
Ask five questions: What happens first? Why that priority? What do you need from us? How will we know whether it is helping? What would make you change the plan? Specific answers matter more than a long list of platforms.
Our guide to marketing agency costs explains how to read a retainer. If you are still deciding what kind of support to buy, compare an agency, freelancer and in-house marketer.
| Compare | Ask for |
|---|---|
| Responsibility | Name of the person doing and reviewing the work |
| First stage | Tasks, reasons and what your team must supply |
| Commercial terms | Fee, exclusions, commitment and handover |
| Evidence | Relevant work with a clearly explained role |
Check access before signing
Your business should retain appropriate ownership and access to its domain, website, analytics and advertising accounts. Agree how work, files and access will be handed over if the relationship ends. Read the notice period and any ongoing hosting or licence commitments.
Be cautious about guaranteed first-place rankings. A proposal can commit to work and reporting, explain uncertainty and show how decisions will be made. It cannot control every search result.
At M8, you work directly with Husain. Strategy, websites, creative and digital advertising come together around the agreed brief. If that sounds like the support you need, tell us what you are trying to change. The conversation should help you understand the job, not leave you with more jargon.
A marketer in your corner.
Advice from M8 Studio, bringing strategy, websites, creative and digital advertising together.Meet your M8
