Imagine a company preparing to launch a new service. It has a website and some brand assets, but it has not established where qualified enquiries should come from. Before procurement, create a one-page brief defining the desired action—form submission, phone call or message—along with audience segments, platforms to test, ownership of copy, images, video, landing pages and sales follow-up. List expected deliverables such as a research summary, media plan, creative register, tracking matrix and launch checklist. Ask every agency to use the same scenario to explain its start-up process and first optimisation cycle, rather than substituting a platform list or polished presentation for an executable plan.

Whenever a proposal mentions conversions, ask for the conversion definition, event names, testing method, data-storage location and approver. Whenever it mentions creative, request the script, formats, number of versions, revision rounds, approval timing and delivery format. Useful interview questions include: Which pages and forms are checked before launch? Who creates, owns and verifies the account, pixel or tag? What evidence drives weekly changes? If sales says the enquiries are poor, who reconciles campaign data with business records? These answers should be written into the scope, with files, test records or meeting decisions serving as acceptance evidence.

Agencies may emphasise multi-platform media, integrated marketing, search strategy, website connection, data automation or social content. Therefore, do not ask only whether a candidate can run ads. Break the comparison into strategy, accounts, creative, pages, tracking, reporting and communication. For each item, record the responsible person, delivery date, client inputs, approval point and treatment of work outside scope. If website development, photography, translation or data integration is needed, confirm whether the agency delivers it, the client handles it or another supplier is appointed. This prevents a critical step from being left ownerless after launch.

Handover should be part of acceptance, not an afterthought. Confirm whether the business retains administrative control of advertising accounts, how source files and editable assets are stored, whether tags and events have a naming document, and whether reports define period, platform, spend, clicks and qualified enquiries. Ask each candidate for a sample report, permissions register and handover checklist. Have a non-specialist internal stakeholder review them: can they understand the report, identify the owner and independently check the next cycle? The contract should also cover data return, removal of access and treatment of incomplete deliverables, so continuity does not depend on one contact person.

Use one concrete procurement scenario for every interview: a new service is about to launch, the existing website has incomplete event tagging, the internal team can supply only one batch of creative each week, and sales needs to know which enquiries deserve follow-up. Ask candidates to walk through the pre-launch audit, platform and audience hypotheses, creative approval, landing-page changes, tracking tests, reporting meeting and budget-adjustment authority. Require them to identify the file produced, responsible role and completion test at each step. Do not ask for guaranteed outcomes. Instead, assess whether the agency can explain assumptions, evidence, risks, actions and decision points, and connect marketing data with sales feedback.

Before signing, agree on a review rhythm and exit mechanics. Define what each meeting delivers, who responds within the agreed working window, how major revisions are recorded, how incidents are escalated and how scheduling changes when client inputs are late. Acceptance should not be based only on impressions or clicks. Check tracking accuracy, report readability, delivery against creative specifications and account permissions, then interpret qualified enquiries together with business records. At the first review, ask the agency to demonstrate how one record is traced from an advertisement through to a business outcome. The client can then confirm whether the evidence supports future decisions and whether the working arrangement remains practical.