To choose a marketing agency as a tradie, check four things before you sign: that there is no long lock-in contract, that you own your ad accounts and data, that reporting is on booked jobs (not vanity metrics), and that pricing is transparent with no quote ping-pong. The right agency answers all four plainly.
Most tradies have been burned by an agency at least once — locked into a contract, handed a confusing report, and never quite sure what they were paying for. Choosing well comes down to a handful of questions you ask before you sign, not after.
1. Is there a lock-in contract?
The single biggest red flag is a long lock-in. If an agency needs to tie you in for 6 or 12 months, ask why their results will not keep you. Month-to-month means the agency has to earn your business every month — which is exactly the incentive you want. Scalepoint is month-to-month with no lock-in.
2. Do you own your accounts and data?
Make sure the Google Ads, Meta and analytics accounts are set up in your name, with you as owner. Some agencies run everything through their own accounts so you cannot leave or take your data — your history, conversion tracking and learnings stay with them. If you ever part ways, you should keep all of it.
3. What exactly do they report on?
Beware reports full of impressions, reach and "engagement". For a trade business the number that matters is booked jobs and what each one costs. A good agency tracks calls and enquiries back to spend and tells you your cost per booked job in plain English — not a dashboard you need a translator for.
4. Is the pricing on the table?
If you cannot get a price without a "discovery call", that is a warning sign. Transparent agencies publish their fees and keep your ad spend separate (going directly to Google or Meta from your own card, never marked up). You should know what you are paying and what it is for before any call.
Quick test: ask "If I leave in three months, what do I keep?" The right answer is "everything — your accounts, your data, your rankings." Anything less means you are renting, not building.
Questions to ask on the first call
- Is the contract month-to-month, or is there a lock-in period?
- Will the ad accounts be in my name, and do I keep them if we part ways?
- How do you report — and will I see cost per booked job, not just clicks?
- What is your fee, and is my ad spend separate and unmarked-up?
- Who actually does the work, and how often will we talk?