Choosing a marketing agency starts with a simple question: what do you want more of? Quote requests, bookings, registrations or sales? A good agency connects its work to that action and explains how it will be measured.
A service list is not enough. Here is how to compare proposals and prepare for a useful working relationship in Quebec or elsewhere in Canada.
Which services do you actually need?
Search helps people find the answers they need. Advertising puts an offer in front of a specific audience. Newsletters maintain relationships with existing contacts. Social posts make your work visible and help you stay in touch with your community.
Each channel has a different purpose. Ask why the agency recommends it now and what needs to be ready first. A campaign cannot make up for a website that explains the offer poorly or makes contact difficult.
With a limited budget, start with one or two goals. You can expand once the basics work.
How to assess an agency's experience
Look for examples with a similar audience, buying process, budget and desired action. Experience in your industry helps, but the ability to explain the method matters too.
For each case study, ask what the agency actually delivered, when it worked on the project and where the results came from. More visits do not necessarily mean more customers.
Speak with the person who would lead your account. How do they choose priorities? What happens when a campaign falls short? How do they incorporate what you know about your customers?
Warning signs
- Guaranteed results without understanding your situation.
- Every channel included without an explanation of its role.
- Reports full of numbers with no connection to enquiries or sales.
- Ad accounts and access controlled only by the agency.
- Management, creative and media charges that are hard to distinguish.
- No clear process for approving content published in your name.
A reliable agency can explain its limits and say when another solution would fit better.
Understanding the price
A project suits a defined need: preparing a campaign, improving a page or producing a case study. A retainer suits ongoing planning, production, management and adjustments.
Ask what the fee includes and what costs extra. Money paid to advertising platforms should be listed separately. Clarify writing, translation, photography and video costs.
Clevr's marketing retainers start at $1,500 CAD a month, with scope set out in the proposal. Plans start with a three-month minimum. After that, they run month to month. You can stop with 14 days' notice.
Our marketing plans cover SEO, Google Ads, Google Ad Grants for charities and email newsletters. We start with your website, so the people you pay to reach can act. See our marketing plans.
Questions to ask
- Which action will you work to increase?
- Which channels do you recommend, and why?
- Who creates the content and who approves it?
- How do you handle French and English?
- Who owns the accounts, data and creative?
- What does the monthly report show?
- Which costs are excluded?
- How does the engagement end if we want to leave?
Get written answers to the points that affect your budget or control over the work.
Local agency or remote team?
A local agency may make it easier to understand the Quebec market, meet in person and arrange photography. A remote team can also work well when communication and responsibilities are clear.
Focus on the quality of the French, understanding of your customers and availability of the person responsible. Location alone does not answer those questions.
Decide and start well
Compare proposals on the same basis: goal, deliverables, responsibilities, schedule, total cost and measurement. Choose the approach that is clearest and most realistic for your business.
At the start, provide access, brand documents, existing campaigns and your team's knowledge. Name one person to handle approvals and agree on response times.
Let's discuss your priorities
Bring your website, current campaigns and the action you want more people to take. We will tell you whether marketing is the right next step.
Compare scopes and costs in our Montreal marketing cost guide.
We build for nonprofits, industrial and construction firms and professional firms.