What to check before appointing professional services marketing support

What to take away

Most teams score proposals against price and presentation, then discover the scope never covered compliance sign-off, data permissions or reporting ownership.
A selection checklist should test evidence, not adjectiveswho does the work, what happens to your data, and who owns the channels afterwards.
Advertising claims need a paper trail before launch, because the CAP Code applies to your firm's marketing whether an agency wrote it or not.
Electronic marketing to named contacts sits under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, so consent records belong in the checklist.
Pricing must be modelled on your actual pipeline, not a rounded monthly figure that hides setup and reporting hours.

Define the job before the shortlist

Write the brief as a list of outputs, not a wish for growth. Each output needs an owner, a deadline and a definition of done.

Brief outputs, not growth wishes

List each output, not growth goals
Assign an owner per output
Set a deadline per output
Define done for each output
Paid searchexplain account structure
Paid searchexplain conversion tracking

If the work touches paid search, expect the provider to explain account structure and conversion tracking against the Google Ads best practices guidance rather than promising rankings.

For wider context on how firms compare suppliers, the reviews and comparisons guide sets out the evidence a proposal should carry.

Check who actually does the work

Ask which named people will attend calls, write the copy and manage the campaigns. Then ask what proportion of delivery sits with subcontractors.

A proposal that names a senior strategist but staffs delivery with unnamed juniors is a pricing risk. Get the split in writing.

For law firm marketing in particular, the person drafting a practice-area page must understand regulated claims about expertise.

Test the compliance trail

Every claim about results, rankings or specialism needs a source your firm can produce on request. Build that check into the scoring sheet.

Ask how the provider records consent for email and SMS campaigns, and where those records live if the contract ends. Data retention terms belong in the checklist, not the appendix.

If the provider cannot describe its own complaints process, treat that as a warning about how it will handle yours.

Price the whole engagement

Model three figures: setup, monthly management and the internal hours your team must supply. Marketing support rarely removes internal work.

For example, a firm paying £2,500 a month for campaign management may also commit 20 internal hours a month to approvals and data requests. At an illustrative internal cost of £60 an hour, that adds £1,200 a month.

The true comparison is £3,700 a month against the next proposal, not £2,500 against £3,000.

Agree the exit before the start

Ask who owns the ad accounts, the content library, the domain records and the analytics history. Ownership should sit with your firm from day one.

Set a notice period and a handover window in the contract. Thirty days is common, but ask what happens to live campaigns during it.

A provider that resists account ownership is renting you access, not supplying a service.

Score, then decide

Weight the criteria before you read the proposals, so the scoring is not reverse-engineered to fit a preferred bidder. Use no more than six weighted categories.

Typical weights: scope fit, named team, compliance evidence, reporting clarity, price and exit terms. Two reviewers should score independently, then reconcile gaps.

If you are still building the shortlist itself, the best providers comparison explains how to narrow a crowded field without relying on awards logos.

Common questions

How many providers should reach the shortlist?

Three is usually enough to test the market without exhausting your internal reviewers. More than five tends to dilute the quality of the scoring.

Should price decide the outcome?

No. Price should be one weighted category among several. A cheap proposal that leaves compliance and account ownership with the provider often costs more later.

What evidence proves a provider is credible?

Named delivery staff, written scope, documented consent handling and a clear handover plan. Case studies are useful but secondary to those four.

When should the checklist be completed?

Before proposals arrive, not after. Writing the criteria first is the only reliable way to stop a polished pitch from setting the standard.