How to choose a marketing agency in NZ: 10 questions to ask first

Choosing a marketing agency is uncomfortable because you're buying something you can't inspect first. Most trade and home-service owners we speak to have been burned once already: a slick pitch, a twelve-month contract, and a dashboard full of numbers that never turned into a booked job.

You don't need to become a marketing expert to avoid that. You just need to ask better questions. These are the ten we'd want asked of us.

1. Who actually does the work?

At a lot of agencies the person who pitches you is not the person who touches your account. Ask who will build the campaigns, who writes the ads, and whether any of it is outsourced offshore. Then ask to speak to that person before you sign.

2. What's the minimum contract?

Long lock-ins protect the agency, not you. Month-to-month is a fair bet on both sides: they have to keep earning it, and you can leave the moment they stop. If the answer is twelve months, ask what happens in month three if nothing is working.

3. Who owns the ad accounts, pixel and data?

This one catches people out. If the agency runs your ads inside their own account, you walk away with nothing — no history, no audiences, no conversion data. Your Meta and Google accounts should be in your business's name with the agency added as a user.

4. How do you define a lead?

A 'lead' can mean a phone call, a form fill, someone who clicked a message button, or someone who watched a video. Get the definition in writing before you agree a target, or you'll be comparing two different things at the first review.

5. Are the leads exclusive to me?

Lead-selling platforms send the same enquiry to several businesses at once, so you're quoting against three competitors before you've said hello. Ads run under your own brand produce enquiries that belong only to you. It's worth knowing which model you're buying.

6. What happens to a lead after it comes in?

Generating enquiries is only half the job. Ask how quickly a new lead gets contacted, whether there's automatic follow-up by text or email, and what happens to the ones who don't answer the first call. Most wasted ad budget is lost here, not in the campaign.

7. Can I see work in my industry?

Not a generic portfolio — actual campaigns for trades or home services in New Zealand. Marketing a roofing business is not the same job as marketing a fashion label, and a seasonal NZ market behaves differently again.

8. What's the total cost, split out?

You should be able to see clearly what is the agency's management fee and what is ad spend paid to Meta or Google. If the two are bundled into one number, you can't tell whether your money is buying reach or overhead.

9. How and when do I get reported to?

Ask for the format and the frequency. A useful report answers three things: how much did we spend, how many enquiries came in, and what are we changing next. Anything longer than that is usually padding.

10. Will you prove it before I commit?

The fairest test is a short, low-risk run. We offer a one-week trial where you cover only the ad spend — typically under $300 for the week — and Lighthouse charges no fee or commission for those seven days. Whatever agency you choose, some version of 'show me first' should be on the table.

The short version

• No long lock-in, and you own your ad accounts.
• You know exactly who is doing the work.
• 'Lead' is defined in writing, and leads are exclusive to you.
• Fees and ad spend are shown separately.
• There's a way to test before you fully commit.

If you'd like a straight answer to any of these about your own situation, get in touch — we'll tell you honestly whether paid ads are the right move for your business right now.