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If you only ask a marketing agency five questions, ask these: who will actually work on my account, what's the minimum term and how do I leave, can I talk to a client at my stage, what will you report on each month, and what do you need from us. The answers tell you more than any pitch deck. The other 20 questions below cover experience, process, pricing and AI search.
I lead search at Fourward, a B2B SaaS marketing team, so I get asked these questions as often as I ask them. The ones below are the ones that change decisions. When you have your shortlist, our guide to the best B2B SaaS marketing agencies shows how 14 of them answer some of these on their own sites.
The five questions that matter most
| Question | A good answer sounds like | A bad answer sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| Who will work on my account? | Names, roles, and how many other accounts each runs | "Our team" or "it depends" |
| What's the minimum term and how do I leave? | A specific term, a notice period, and what happens to assets | "We'll figure that out" or a term with no exit |
| Can I talk to a client at my stage? | A name and an intro within a few days | A logo wall instead of a call |
| What will you report on? | Pipeline, demos or trials, cost per qualified lead | Clicks, impressions and rankings |
| What do you need from us? | A clear list: access, approvals, a weekly slot, subject experts | "Nothing, we handle everything" |
I work at Fourward, which is one of the agencies you might ask these questions. Where I describe how we'd answer, I say so. The rest applies to any agency.
About the team
- Who will actually work on my account, by name? You're buying people's time. Find out whose. Then ask how many other accounts each of them runs.
- Will the people on this call be on the account? Pitch teams and delivery teams are often different. Ask directly.
- How senior is the person who sets strategy, and how often will I talk to them? Weekly, monthly, or only at the quarterly review.
- How much is done by your people, how much by contractors, and how much by AI? None of these is wrong. Not knowing is.
- What happens if my account lead leaves? Agencies have turnover. Ask how handovers work and how often they've happened in the last year.
About experience
- Which SaaS clients at my stage have you worked with? A client at your ARR and in your sales motion matters more than a famous logo.
- Can I talk to one of them? Ask for a current client, not a former one.
- Show me one result with the client named, the number and the timeframe. "16x increase in opportunities for TrueFort" is a claim you can check. "300% traffic growth" with no name isn't.
- Who is not a fit for you? Good agencies turn work away. Powered by Search is one of the few that says on its site who it isn't for. Everyone should be able to answer in a call.
- What's a client you lost, and why? The answer tells you how they handle things going wrong.
About process and reporting
- What will the first 30 days look like? You want a specific plan: audit, access, quick wins, the first real campaign. Not "onboarding".
- What will you report on each month, and where does the data come from? For B2B SaaS: qualified pipeline, demos or trials, cost per qualified lead, and over time revenue. Agree on the sources too: your CRM, not their dashboard.
- How soon should I expect results, by channel? Paid can show in weeks. SEO and content take months. An honest answer has different timelines for different channels.
- How do you work with our sales team? Lead handoff, feedback on lead quality, shared definitions of "qualified". If they've never asked to meet sales, that's a sign.
- What do you need from us to succeed? Access, approvals within a set time, a weekly slot, subject experts for content. Agencies that say "nothing" either don't know yet or won't be doing much.
Question 12 is the one to get in writing. The numbers you agree to report on are the numbers the relationship will be judged on.
About pricing and the contract
- What exactly is included in the fee, and what's extra? Ad spend is always separate. Ask about tools, creative, setup fees and reporting. I listed what agencies publish in SaaS marketing agency pricing.
- What's the minimum term, and what's the notice period? Three to twelve months is normal. What you want to know is the exit, in writing, before you start.
- When do I get a specific price? If the agency doesn't publish prices, how many calls until you see a number. At Fourward it's a written plan with the price within three working days of the free audit. Any agency should be able to give you a date.
- Who owns the work? Content, ad accounts, landing pages, data and creative should be yours when you leave. Ask what you keep and in what format.
- Does the price change if we grow, or if we add a channel? Know the next tier before you need it.
About AI search and tools
- What does your AI search or GEO work actually include? Crawler access, pages for buyer questions, structured data, mentions on the sites AI cites, measurement. "We add it to SEO" isn't an answer. Our GEO guide for B2B SaaS lists what to expect.
- How will you know if AI engines are naming us? Ask which tool or method, and how often. Search Console shows AI Overview impressions; ChatGPT and Perplexity need their own tracking.
- Which tools do you use, and which do we pay for? CRM, analytics, SEO and AI visibility tools are usually your subscriptions.
- How do you use AI in the work, and how do you check it? You want a clear line between what AI drafts and what a person signs off on, especially for anything about pricing, security or compliance.
- What have you changed in the last year? Search changed a lot in 2025 and 2026. An agency that answers with specifics is paying attention.
Free check. 30 checks, one score out of 100, under a minute.
How to run the call
- Send the five must-ask questions ahead. It saves time and shows you're serious.
- Ask the same questions of every agency. You can't compare answers to different questions.
- Write down the answers during the call. You'll forget which agency said what by the third one.
- End with two asks. A reference at your stage and a written proposal with a price, with a date for each.
Where this call sits in the wider process is in how to choose a B2B SaaS marketing agency, and if you're still deciding between an agency and your own hires, in-house marketing team vs agency compares the costs.
A full SEO, AEO and GEO audit, plus 30 minutes with our team to walk you through it.
FAQs
What are the most important questions to ask a marketing agency?
Who will work on my account, what's the minimum term and how do I leave, can I talk to a client at my stage, what will you report on each month, and what do you need from us. Those five decide most agency relationships.
What should I ask a marketing agency about pricing?
What's included and what's extra, the minimum term and notice period, when you'll get a specific price, who owns the work when you leave, and how the price changes if you grow or add a channel.
What should a marketing agency report on for B2B SaaS?
Qualified pipeline, demos or trials, cost per qualified lead and, over time, revenue, with the data coming from your CRM. Clicks, impressions and rankings are inputs, not results.
What questions should I ask about AI search?
What the GEO or AEO work includes, how they'll know whether AI engines name you, which tools you'll pay for, and how they check AI-drafted work before it goes out.
Should I ask for references?
Yes, and specifically a current client at your stage and in a similar sales motion. Ask the reference who did the work day to day, how long until results showed, and what they'd change.
Sources
- Powered by Search about, poweredbysearch.com.
- Bay Leaf Digital TrueFort case study, bayleafdigital.com.
- Kalungi FAQ, kalungi.com.
- Generative AI performance report, Search Console Help.