Choosing a marketing agency is easier when you compare how each team will solve the same business problem. A polished presentation is useful, but it does not tell you who will do the work, what your budget includes or how you will judge progress.

For a Lagos business comparing agencies, start with a one-page brief. State what you sell, who buys it, your service area, your current marketing channels and the problem you want to address. Send the same brief to every shortlisted agency so the proposals are comparable.

1. Define the business outcome before the channel

“Manage our social media” describes an activity. “Generate relevant enquiries for our commercial cleaning service” describes an outcome. An agency can then explain whether your biggest gap is audience targeting, your offer, website conversion or follow-up.

Choose one primary outcome and two supporting measures. For a service business, those might be qualified enquiries, booked consultations and the proportion of enquiries that become proposals. Agree what “qualified” means before a campaign starts.

2. Ask for a scope you can count

A proposal should name the deliverables, the owner of each task and the review process. If content is included, ask how many original pieces, which formats and which channels. If a website is included, ask about copywriting, mobile layouts, forms, analytics and post-launch support.

  • What is included in the management fee?
  • Which costs are separate: advertising spend, production, software or media placement?
  • How many revision rounds are included?
  • Who approves content, and what happens when feedback is late?
  • What work is excluded from the quoted scope?

3. Evaluate the evidence behind the results

Ask for examples relevant to your business model. A consumer product campaign and a professional-services campaign may have very different buying cycles. Useful evidence explains the starting position, the work completed, the timeframe and the measurement method.

If a proposal claims a percentage increase, ask for the baseline. Moving from two enquiries to six is a 200% increase, but its commercial meaning differs from moving from 200 to 600. Treat anonymised examples as examples; ask what can be verified without exposing another client’s private information.

4. Keep control of business assets

Establish who owns the domain, website, advertising accounts, creative files and analytics access. Your organisation should retain appropriate administrative control of its assets. Give suppliers the access needed for their work, and document the handover process.

Ask whether you will receive editable design files, campaign exports and reporting definitions. A useful handover should let another team understand what was built and how it was measured.

5. Test the working relationship

Find out who your day-to-day contact will be and who actually creates, reviews and publishes the work. Agree a meeting rhythm, expected response times during business hours and an escalation route for urgent issues.

A short discovery or clearly scoped initial project can reveal whether the agency asks useful questions, communicates clearly and delivers on agreed milestones. Define what you need to learn from it instead of treating it as a promise of immediate revenue.

A simple comparison scorecard

Score each proposal from 1 to 5 for problem understanding, scope clarity, relevant evidence, reporting quality, asset ownership and working process. Add a short note explaining every score. Compare the overall fit alongside cost; a low fee with important exclusions may require more spending later.

What should you prepare for the first call?

Bring your brief, links to your website and social profiles, a description of your best customers, previous campaign results if available, and a realistic budget range. Share access only through the appropriate platform permissions when it becomes necessary.

Next step: Explore Merigage’s marketing services or request a consultation to discuss your goals and the scope that fits them.