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Use this plain-English checklist to compare media buying agencies, spot hidden fees, and choose a partner built for small business growth.
Quick take
- The best agency isn’t the one with the fanciest deck. It’s the one that’s commercially clear, explains the plan in plain English, and can show you how they’ll measure success.
- You’re hiring an agency to make decisions easier: what to run, where to run it, how much weight you need, and what to do next.
- Always separate media spend from agency services, and confirm whether planning/buying/reporting is management fee free / no additional management fee where applicable.
- If they can’t explain it simply, they probably can’t run it simply.
Before you start: get clear on what you actually need
- What’s the goal? (leads, sales, foot traffic, awareness, market expansion)
- What’s your trading area? (where you can actually sell/service)
- What channels are you considering? (TV, radio, outdoor, publishing, digital)
- Who owns creative? (you, them, or a partner)
- What does “success” look like in 90 days?
- This makes agency proposals comparable.
The small business media buying agency checklist (copy/paste)
A) Strategy and planning (do they know whatthey’redoing?)
- How will you recommend the right channels for our goal (and what won’t you recommend)?
- How do you decide the right markets (metro vs regional) for a small business?
- How do you define minimum viable weight so we’re not “too light” to work?
- Can you explain the plan in one paragraph, in plain English?
- What assumptions are you making about our customer and buying cycle?
What good looks like:
- clear rationale, not buzzwords
- a simple plan you can repeat back
- trade-offs explained (reach vs response, control vs efficiency)
B) Commercial clarity (what are we really paying for?)
- What is media spend vs agency services (line by line)?
- Are you management fee free / no additional management fee for planning, buying and reporting (where applicable)? What’s included?
- Are there any volume rebates, incentives or commissions we should know about?
- What fees might appear later (changes, reporting, trafficking, tags, production)?
- How do you handle cancellation, pauses, or changes in spend?
Red flag answers:
- “Don’t worry about that”
- vague “admin” or “service” lines with no scope
C) Buyingapproach(how will you build the schedule?)
- How do you choose stations/sites/programmes/placements — and why?
- Do you buy for reach, response, or both? How does that change the schedule?
- How do you handle availability constraints (especially outdoor)?
- How do you optimise once the campaign is live?
What good looks like:
- a repeatable process
- clear explanation of what can be optimised (and what can’t)
- What will you report on monthly (the 5–8 KPIs that matter)?
- How will you measure offline channels without pretending it’s last-click?
- What will you do if results are flat — what changes first?
- Can we see an example report (jargon-free) and the “what we’re doing next” section?
What good looks like:
- consistent monthly reporting
- insights + actions, not just charts
E) Creative and messaging (will the adsactually work?)
- Who writes the brief and what does a good brief look like?
- How do you make sure creative works across channels (TV/radio/outdoor + digital)?
- How do you test and learn without burning budget?
- Who will I deal with day to day — and how senior are they?
- What’s your communication cadence (weekly/fortnightly, monthly, quarterly)?
- How do you keep things simple (one team, one plan, one invoice)?
- What do you need from us to make this successful?
The “compare agencies” scorecard (quick and practical)
- Commercial clarity: /10
- Plain-English planning: /10
- Minimum viable weight explained: /10
- Measurement approach: /10
- Service + responsiveness: /10
- Creative process: /10
If you can’t score them, you don’t have enough clarity yet.
Common traps small businesses fall into
- Choosing based on a low headline fee (then paying elsewhere)
- Buying too many channels at once
- Under-weighting mass media so nothing moves
- Expecting perfect attribution for offline
- Accepting reports that don’t lead to decisions
FAQS: hiring a media buying agency
Should I hire a specialist media buying agency or a full-service agency?
It depends on what you need. If mass media planning and buying is the core requirement, a specialist can be a better fit. If you need heavy creative and digital execution, you may need a broader team — or a partner ecosystem.
What’s a reasonable reporting cadence?
Monthly reporting with a short weekly/fortnightly check-in during active campaigns is common for small businesses.
How do I spot hidden fees?
Ask for a line-by-line split of media spend vs agency services, and ask what’s included, excluded, and charged as “extra”.
If you want a media buying partner built for small business growth — with clear commercials and jargon-free reporting — we can help.
