Digital marketing6 October 20268 min

How to measure your marketing agency's work

Short answerTo measure an agency you need three things: your own access to Google Search Console, GA4 and the ad accounts; channel-specific KPIs (not just "traffic" or "likes"); and a monthly report explaining what was done, what changed, and what comes next. Without your own access and clear KPIs, it's impossible to know whether the work is paying off.

Hiring a marketing agency is easy; knowing whether it's doing a good job is the hard part. Many small businesses in Mallorca pay a monthly invoice for months or years without being sure what to look at to check if it's worth it.

This guide gives you the concrete indicators and questions to ask, channel by channel, to evaluate your agency with real criteria.

First: your own access, not just word-of-mouth reports

Before looking at any numbers, make sure you have direct access — as owner or administrator — to the tools where your data lives: Google Search Console, Google Analytics 4 (GA4), the ad platforms (Google Ads, Meta Ads...) and your Google Business Profile.

If you only receive screenshots or a monthly PDF without being able to log in and check the data yourself, you have no real way to verify what you're being told.

KPIs depending on the channel being worked on

There is no single valid indicator for everything: each channel is measured with different metrics.

SEO

Impressions and clicks in Search Console, by page and by query
Average position for the keywords that genuinely matter to your business
Organic traffic in GA4 over several months, not week to week
New pages published and technical issues fixed

Paid advertising (Google Ads, Meta Ads)

Cost per click and cost per conversion (not just reach or impressions)
Real conversions: calls, forms, bookings, sales
Which campaigns and ads are paused or improved, and why

Social media

Reach and engagement, but tied to your business goal, not just "likes"
Traffic that social channels send to your website or Google profile
Enquiries or direct messages generated

Conversions: the metric that really matters

Traffic, reach or impressions are intermediate indicators. What really measures whether marketing is working is conversion: a call, a completed form, a booking or a sale.

To see this, you need conversion tracking set up in GA4 and in whichever ad platforms you use. If your agency can't show you how many conversions each channel generated, it has no reliable way to prove the work is paying off.

What a useful monthly report should include

A good report isn't just a list of numbers: it explains what was done, what changed compared to the previous month, and what's planned next.

The specific actions taken that month (not generic ones like "ongoing optimisation")
How the main KPIs evolved compared to the previous month and to the goal
What didn't work and what will be tried or changed
Planned next steps for the following month

Questions for the monthly review

Bringing these questions prepared helps keep the conversation focused on results:

What conversions (calls, forms, sales) did we get this month, and from which channel?
What changed compared to last month, and why?
What didn't work, and what will you do differently?
Do I still have full access to my accounts and data?
What will you do next month, and what result do you expect from it?

What timelines are reasonable

SEO usually needs several months to show clear changes, while paid advertising can produce useful data within a few weeks. Evaluate each channel on its own timeline: judging SEO by the same yardstick as ads leads to the wrong conclusions.

Signs a report is hiding information

Not every report that looks thorough actually is. Some signs suggest you should ask for more detail before accepting a report at face value.

Improvement percentages with no absolute number behind them (a 300% increase can mean going from 1 to 4)
Vanity metrics (reach, impressions, "likes") with no link to calls or sales
Comparisons only against the previous month, never against the agreed goal
Screenshots with no way to verify the data on the original platform
Vague language about "ongoing optimisation" with no detail on what was actually changed

Hypothetical example

Imagine a clinic in Inca receives a monthly report showing "+30% engagement on social media" with no figure for calls or bookings generated. That isolated figure doesn't tell you whether marketing is paying off: engagement could have risen while real conversions fell.

Key takeaways

Insist on your own administrator access to Search Console, GA4 and ad accounts
Use channel-specific KPIs, not generic metrics like "reach" or "likes"
Prioritise real conversions (calls, forms, sales) over traffic or impressions
A good report explains what was done, what changed and what's next, not just raw numbers
Measure SEO in months and paid ads in weeks: reasonable timelines aren't the same

Frequently asked questions

What if my agency won't give me access to Google Analytics or Search Console?

That's a warning sign. Without your own access you can't verify the data or take your history with you if you switch providers later. Ask for administrator access from the start.

How often should I receive reports from my agency?

A monthly review is standard, although for active ad campaigns it also helps to be able to check the data whenever you want, rather than relying only on the fixed report.

How do I know if a Google ranking or follower count is a good result?

It only matters if it translates into more real visits, enquiries or sales. An isolated metric, unrelated to your conversions, doesn't tell you whether the work is paying off.

Want a second opinion on your current results?

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