When To Be Cautious When Dealing With Paid Advertising Agencies
- scopemarketinglabs
- Jan 10
- 4 min read
Over the past 20+ years, I’ve worked with multiple paid advertising agencies across Australia and India. Different countries, different company names, different salespeople — but surprisingly, the tactics have barely changed.
This article isn’t about attacking the marketing industry as a whole. There are good operators out there and the big corporate entities didn't get big without delivering some results to clients. But if you’re a small business owner considering signing up with a large agency, it’s worth understanding how these businesses are structured, how they sell, and what that often means for you once the contract is signed.
The Familiar Sales Pattern
Most paid advertising agencies follow a very similar playbook. First, they’ll run some early analysis or a short campaign to identify “quick wins.” You’ll be invited to a meeting where they show you some promising data — improved clicks, impressions, or short-term gains. Everything looks positive. You feel like progress is being made.
Then comes the pressure.
Toward the end of the call, the tone shifts. You’ll hear something along the lines of, “Let me just check with my manager,” followed by a special discounted rate that’s only available if you sign today. It’s the same tactic used by used car salespeople for decades — urgency, scarcity, and fear of missing out.
At this point, the focus quietly moves away from strategy and onto locking you into a contract, even if that contract is "cancel anytime". Even with years in sales & marketing it is still a hard offer to refuse in the moment...
How Large Paid Advertising Agencies Actually Operate
Once you’re inside a large marketing agency’s system, the business model becomes clearer.
Most big agencies are volume-driven. They have large offices filled with account managers handling dozens — sometimes hundreds — of clients at once. Their goal isn’t to deeply understand your business; it’s to do just enough work to keep results ticking over and prevent churn.
When you’re locked into a monthly retainer, the incentive changes. As long as performance doesn’t drop dramatically, there’s little reason for them to go above and beyond. Over time, many clients find communication slows, reports become generic, and meaningful optimisation becomes less frequent.
It’s not always because the staff don’t care — it’s because the system isn’t designed for hands-on attention. Staff working at these corporate centres are often on lower salary retainers and it is apart of their KPI's and bonus wage to sign up "x" number of new clients.
My Experience With Outsourced SEO Services
I also engaged an offshore company in India for SEO not that long ago. To be fair, the pricing matched what was delivered — initially. The backlinks they built were acceptable for the cost, and early progress was visible.
But after a few months, the work simply stopped. SEO doesn't work overnight, it generally takes months for the backlinks to propagate and actually start working for you.
SEO is often reduced to backlinks, but backlinks only work when they’re done properly. A backlink is essentially internet kudos. When a reputable, relevant, and trusted website links to you, it sends positive signals to Google. When spammy or irrelevant websites link to you, the opposite happens — your site can actually be penalised.
Some low-cost SEO providers focus on volume rather than quality. Once the initial effort is complete, there’s little incentive for them to continue unless you’re actively monitoring the work. From the outside, everything appears fine — until progress quietly stalls.
Why This Matters for Small Businesses
For small and medium businesses, marketing budgets matter. Every dollar needs to work. The biggest risk with large paid advertising agencies or outsourced SEO services isn’t always poor results — it’s false confidence.
You might see some results, just enough to justify the spend, while real opportunities are missed in the background. Over time, that can cost far more than switching providers or asking harder questions early.
This doesn’t mean you should avoid agencies altogether. It means you should understand how they operate, what’s actually being delivered each month, and whether your business is being treated as a priority or just another line in a report.
Awareness Beats Regret
Marketing should be transparent, explainable, and adaptable. If you don’t understand what’s being done for your business, that’s a problem. If decisions are rushed with pressure tactics, that’s another red flag.
Being aware of how paid advertising agencies operate puts you back in control. It allows you to ask better questions, avoid being rushed into long-term commitments, and choose solutions that actually align with your business goals — not just someone else’s sales targets.
Smaller businesses can often add other value when they see that you need it.
My Advice 💡
If it is hard for you to say no or you don't like pressure make it very clear when you are talking with large paid advertising organisations that you are not the sole decision maker - after you get past the initial stage of course. This is a good deflection as often they will only talk (arrange meetings) with the key decision maker as part of the tactic. Say any decisions made about finances are discussed with your partner (business or marriage). It is OK in my books to say you are, then change to say it is a jointly made decision 😊 unless you are just a beast at refusing or resisting things!
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