Choosing an agency is an uncomfortable decision: every website promises the same things, portfolios look alike and prices swing wildly without any clear reason. After years in the industry (and after inheriting quite a few badly planned projects), these are the 7 keys that genuinely separate a good agency from a disappointment waiting to happen.
1. Ask for results, not just pretty designs
A portfolio shows aesthetics; a well-told case study shows judgement. Ask about concrete results: what happened to bookings, leads, traffic? An agency that works towards objectives has them at hand and enjoys sharing them. One that only talks about "a refreshed image" and "digital presence" does not.
2. Distrust "we do everything" without proof
Branding, web, SEO, ads, social, video, events... Nobody is excellent at ten things with a team of three. Look for agencies that show you real projects for every service they offer — and if your need is specific (hotel marketing, for example), make them prove experience in your sector.
3. They should ask about your business, not just your logo
The first meeting says it all. If they're showing you templates within ten minutes, that's a bad sign. A good agency asks about your margins, your customers, your competitors, your capacity to respond if the campaign works. Marketing that doesn't understand the business is decoration.
4. Demand to know who will work on your account
It's common to be sold a senior profile and then be handled by someone else. Ask directly: who will design, who will manage the campaigns, who do I talk to? In a local, close-knit agency that answer is concrete, with names.
5. Everything produced must be yours
Domain, website, ad accounts, analytics, social profiles: in your name, with your credentials. Run from anyone who "hosts it all on their platform" — that's the polite way of holding your marketing hostage. If you ever want to leave, you should be able to take everything with you.
6. Deadlines and pricing in writing, no fog
What's included, what isn't, how many revision rounds, what happens after delivery, what maintenance costs. Budget surprises are almost never surprises: they were sitting in the initial ambiguity nobody wanted to clear up.
7. Proximity matters more than it seems
You can work remotely with anyone, but an agency that knows your market — the seasonality of the Balearics, the international customer, how the hotel industry and local commerce work — starts the project halfway there. And being able to sit down with your team from time to time still has a value no video call matches.
The final question that sums it all up
After the meetings, ask yourself one thing: do these people understand my business, and have they told me at least one uncomfortable truth? The agency that only agrees with you is selling to you. The one that pushes back with judgement is helping you.
We are staycreative, a creative and digital agency in Mallorca: branding, web development, SEO and paid media and hotel marketing. If you're comparing agencies, come and meet us — uncomfortable truths included.
