Why Your Marketing Agency Is Failing You (And What to Do About It)
Broad Match Keywords Waste Ad Spend One of the biggest red flags is when agencies take shortcuts in campaign management. For example, using broad match keywords in Google Ads might seem like an easy way to get traffic, but it almost always leads to completely irrelevant clicks and wasted ad spend (as you pay per click). Broad match will trigger your ads for searches that have little to do with your business, resulting in low-quality leads and a high cost per conversion. Not a good strategy, despite what some “guru’s” may tell you. General, Non-Specific Landing Pages If your agency is driving traffic to generic landing pages that aren’t tailored to a specific campaign or audience, you’re likely losing conversions. For instance, sending paid traffic to your homepage instead of a dedicated landing page with a clear call-to-action (CTA) can confuse visitors and reduce your chances of capturing leads. We need to be HYPER specific – Tailored landing pages to each ad theme. Lack of a Clear Strategy Many agencies focus on executing tactics without a cohesive strategy. They might run social media ads, optimize your website for SEO, and send email campaigns—but without a clear plan tying these efforts together. According to a great report by CoSchedule, 77% of successful marketers attribute their success to having a documented strategy. Failure to plan, is planning to fail – We need to tie all of your marketing efforts together making each even more effective. Poor Targeting If your agency isn’t leveraging the abundance of data we have access to, to refine your audience targeting, you’re wasting ad spend. For example, running Facebook ads without using custom audiences or lookalike audiences can result in your ads being shown to people who really aren’t interested in your product or service. The benefits of advertising in our modern day often revolve around a stronger than ever capability to target exactly who you need to. Overreliance on Automation While automation tools can save time, relying on them too heavily can lead to lazy marketing. For example, using the automated bidding strategies in Google Ads without VERY regular monitoring will result in overspending or missed opportunities. Similarly, automating social media posts without engaging with your audience can make your brand seem impersonal. Automation is great and we often use it, but AI is not an effective or complete substitute for the human touch. Focusing on Vanity Metrics Some agencies prioritize metrics like likes, shares, or impressions, which may look impressive but don’t necessarily drive revenue. For example, having 10,000 Instagram followers means little if none of them are converting into customers. Our job as an agency is literally just to make you more money than you spend on our services, so if impressions, clicks, or likes aren’t doing that, they don’t matter. Ignoring Technical SEO Many agencies focus on surface-level SEO tactics like keyword stuffing or backlink building but ignore technical SEO. Issues like slow page speed, broken links, or poor mobile optimization can hurt your rankings and user experience. According to Google, 53% of mobile users abandon a site if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Attention spans are short in our modern day so we need to take all of the technical precautions to cater to this. Not Testing or Optimizing Campaigns If your agency is running the same campaigns without testing or optimizing, they’re leaving money on the table. Failing to A/B test ad creatives, landing pages, or email subject lines will result in missed opportunities for improvement. Final Thoughts If your digital marketing agency isn’t delivering results, it’s time to ask tough questions. Are they using lazy tactics like broad match keywords or non-specific landing pages? Are they transparent about their strategies and performance? By addressing these issues, you can either improve your current agency’s performance or find a new partner that truly understands your business. Remember, digital marketing is an investment, and you deserve to see a return on that investment.
