Most people hiring a digital marketing consultant for the first time don't know what questions to ask. They sit through a pitch, nod along with the jargon, and make a decision based on how confident the person seemed and how reasonable the price felt.
That approach gets businesses burned.
I've been on both sides of this. Before setting up on my own in North Wales, I pitched for clients at a digital agency. I know what a good pitch looks like regardless of what happens afterwards. The questions below are the ones I'd want a prospective client to ask me, because the answers separate consultants who can deliver from those who are good at selling.
There are specific questions that cut through the pitch and tell you quickly whether you're talking to someone who will actually deliver results. Here they are, along with what a good answer looks like and what should make you cautious.
1. Who will actually be doing the work?
This is the single most important question if you're talking to an agency. The person presenting to you is often not the person who will manage your account. In many agencies, the senior staff pitch, win the client, and then hand the work to a junior team member or even an overseas outsourcing partner.
A good answer: a specific name, a description of their experience, and ideally the chance to meet them before signing anything.
A red flag: "We have a dedicated team who'll look after you" without any specifics. Or a pivot to talking about the agency's collective experience rather than the individual who'll do your work.
2. How do you measure success?
This question reveals whether the consultant is focused on outcomes or on activity. The right answer for most small businesses has to include enquiries, leads, or revenue, not just traffic, rankings, or impressions.
A good answer: "We set specific goals with you at the start, usually conversions or leads, and we report against those monthly. We also set up the tracking to make sure we're measuring real outcomes, not proxy metrics."
A red flag: heavy focus on vanity metrics. "We'll get your traffic up significantly" without any mention of what that traffic should do for your business. Traffic is worthless if it doesn't convert.
3. What access will I have to my own accounts?
Your Google Ads account, Google Analytics, Search Console, your social media ad accounts, your email marketing platform. These belong to you. Any consultant or agency you hire should be managing them on your behalf, not locking you into their own systems.
A good answer: "Everything will be set up in your name, under your ownership. We manage it for you but you have full access at all times. If you ever leave, you take everything with you."
A red flag: "We use our own account for client campaigns" or any hesitation about giving you admin access. This is a common agency tactic that creates dependency and makes it very difficult to leave. It also means you have no visibility into what's being done with your money.
4. Can you guarantee results?
The right answer to this is no. Any consultant who guarantees specific Google rankings, a specific number of leads, or a specific return on ad spend is either lying or doesn't understand how digital marketing works. Google's algorithms change. Markets shift. Competitors adjust.
A good answer: "No, and anyone who does is either misleading you or will bury the caveats in the contract. What I can do is tell you what realistic outcomes look like based on your budget and market, and be transparent if things aren't working."
A red flag: guarantees. Especially guaranteed first-page Google rankings. These are either meaningless (anyone can rank first for a search term nobody uses) or dishonest.
5. How do you charge, and what does that include?
The details here matter. Monthly retainer, project fee, percentage of ad spend? What's included and what's extra? Are there setup fees, minimum contract periods, or automatic renewal clauses?
A good answer: clear, specific pricing with a written breakdown of what's included. No vague "bespoke packages." Honesty about what's extra. A contract you can exit with reasonable notice, typically 30 days.
A red flag: reluctance to give a straight answer on price, very long minimum contract terms (12 months or more), or a structure where the consultant earns more when you spend more without any performance incentive attached to that.
6. What does the first 90 days look like?
The early weeks of any engagement tell you a lot about whether the consultant has a process or is making it up as they go. There should be a clear onboarding phase, a review of what's currently working, baseline measurement, and a plan for the first quarter.
A good answer: a specific description of what happens. For SEO: audit, keyword research, technical fixes, content plan. For Google Ads: account setup or audit, campaign structure, conversion tracking, initial testing period. For website work: discovery, brief, design, build, launch.
A red flag: immediate promises of results before any audit or discovery has happened. If someone promises to have you ranking in 30 days without having looked at your website or your competitors, they're telling you what you want to hear.
7. What should I realistically expect?
This question separates honest consultants from those who win clients by overpromising. SEO typically takes three to six months to show meaningful movement. Google Ads can show results faster but requires a testing period to optimise. Website projects take time to plan properly.
A good answer: specific, honest timelines that acknowledge uncertainty. "For local SEO, most of my clients start seeing meaningful ranking movement between months three and five. In the first three months you'll see technical improvements and content published, but not necessarily ranking changes yet."
A red flag: unrealistically fast timelines. Or the reverse: vague "it depends" answers with no attempt to give you a realistic picture.
8. Can you show me examples of results you've got for similar businesses?
Not a portfolio of client logos. Actual results. Traffic growth, lead volume, revenue impact, ranking improvements. With context about what the situation was before and what changed.
A good answer: specific case studies, even anonymised ones if confidentiality requires it, with real numbers. "We took this local tradesperson from page 3 to page 1 for their core service terms, which increased enquiries from around 5 a month to 20 over six months."
A red flag: lots of brand names and logos but no actual outcomes. Or results that can't be explained (a sudden traffic spike with no cause given). Or testimonials that are all about how lovely the person is to work with, rather than about results.
9. What happens to my campaigns and accounts if I stop working with you?
You need to know you're not locked into dependency. If the relationship doesn't work out, you need to be able to take your campaigns, your data, and your accounts, and either manage them yourself or hand them to someone else without starting from scratch.
A good answer: "You own everything. Your accounts, your ad campaigns, your content, your analytics data. If you leave, it all stays with you and we'll give you a proper handover."
A red flag: "We'd have to rebuild campaigns from scratch because we use our own systems." Or any suggestion that the work product belongs to the agency rather than to you.
One more thing
Reading good answers on a page is one thing. Hearing them in a real conversation is another. Pay attention to how a consultant responds to difficult questions. Do they give a direct answer or deflect? Do they talk about your business or about themselves? Are they honest about what they don't know?
The best consultants are direct, specific, and honest about limitations. They want clients they can get results for, not every client who'll sign a contract.
One underrated tell: a good consultant will sometimes say "I'm not the right fit for this" and explain why. That honesty is actually a positive signal, not a red flag. Someone willing to turn away business they can't deliver on is far more trustworthy than someone who promises everything.
For more on the difference between working with a freelance consultant and an agency, freelance digital marketer vs marketing agency is worth reading. And for questions specifically around digital advertising, five questions to ask before hiring a digital advertising agency covers that territory in more depth.
If you'd like to have this conversation with me, read about Mike and how he works and get in touch for a free consultation. I'm happy to answer every question on this list. My work covers website design in North Wales, Google Ads, SEO, and email marketing across North Wales and beyond.
