How to Audit Your Current Agency Partner

Is your agency truly driving performance — or just reporting on it?

For marketing leaders in growth-focused organizations, a digital agency isn’t just a vendor. It's a strategic partner — or at least, it should be. But if you're not seeing ROI, struggling with inconsistent reporting, or wondering whether your agency’s strategy is aligned with your business goals, it’s time for a performance audit.

Here’s how to conduct a thorough agency audit to evaluate effectiveness, spot red flags, and position your brand for stronger returns.

Why Audit Your Marketing Agency?

A performance audit helps answer a crucial question: Are we getting what we pay for — and is it growing our revenue?

Even the most trusted partnerships need to be reevaluated. Market conditions shift. Business goals evolve. If your agency’s strategy hasn’t evolved with them, your performance will stall.

Audits help:

• Measure ROI and marketing effectiveness
• Uncover gaps in reporting and attribution
• Evaluate ABM, GTM, and sales alignment
• Identify underleveraged channels and audience segments
• Support decisions about renewal, restructuring — or replacing the agency

Core Components of an Agency Audit

1. Evaluate ROI Using the Right KPIs

Start with revenue-focused performance. Move beyond vanity or activity-based metrics and prioritize KPIs that map directly to pipeline and profitability:

• Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
• Lead-to-close conversion rate
• Sales-qualified leads (SQLs) generated
• Marketing-attributed revenue
• Cost per click (CPC) / cost per lead (CPL) trends
• Channel-specific ROI (e.g., paid search, paid social, email)
• Customer lifetime value (CLV)

To evaluate a digital marketing agency’s ROI, measure lead quality, conversion rates, cost efficiency, and revenue attribution across all active channels. For ABM programs, evaluate by account tier. Are target accounts progressing through the funnel?

2. Assess Reporting, Attribution, and Transparency

Your agency should provide clear, regular, and actionable reporting. If you’re getting slides full of metrics but no insights or impact on GTM decisions, that’s a red flag.

Audit checklist:

• Do reports tie KPIs to revenue impact?
• Are attribution models clearly defined (first-touch, multi-touch, etc.)?
• Do dashboards give real-time visibility — or are you working off outdated data?
• Can your agency explain how they use insights to improve targeting, segmentation, and engagement?
• Can they speak to trends — and explain what they’re doing about them?

3. Benchmark Against Competitors & Industry Standards

You don’t operate in a vacuum. Neither should your agency.

Ask them to benchmark your performance:

• Against competitors using third-party data (e.g., SEMrush, Similarweb)
• Against historical performance trends segmented by campaign type
• Against industry-specific standards (conversion rates, CPC, etc.)

4. Review Strategy Alignment

Are agency initiatives moving your business forward — or just checking tactical boxes?

Make sure your agency:

• Understands your GTM priorities, segments, and account strategy
• Tailors strategies to growth objectives, sales cycles, and buyer journey complexity
• Revisits goals regularly— and ties each tactic to a business outcome
• Can clearly articulate how each initiative supports growth

5. Inspect Operational Fit and Relationship Health

Audit the qualitative side of the partnership, too.

Ask:

• Is their team structure consistent and communicative?
• Are deadlines consistently met?
• Do they proactively bring new ideas?
• Are they accountable for misses — or quick to deflect?

Red Flag: If you’re always driving the strategy or chasing answers, your agency isn’t acting like a partner. It’s acting like a contractor.

Post-Audit: What Comes Next?

If Your Agency Passes (Albeit, With Gaps):

• Set revised goals and expectations
• Request updated roadmaps or test plans tied to revenue impact
• Agree on new KPIs or reporting cadences

If You See Major Misalignment:

• Explore other agency partners with stronger revenue alignment
• Consider a phased transition to minimize disruption to GTM momentum
• Align new partners with your existing martech stack and strategy

An Audit Is an Opportunity — Not a Punishment

The strongest agency relationships are built on transparency, alignment, and performance. Whether the result of your audit is a renewed partnership or a search for a better fit, you’re making space for smarter marketing — and stronger business outcomes.

If you're not sure where to start, we can help you take that first step with a strategy audit.