Questions to ask an email marketing agency.
Ask an email marketing agency how they would audit your account, who will do the work, how they measure results, who owns the assets and how the contract ends. The quality of the answers tells you more than any case study, because it shows how they actually think.
Questions about the work.
Ask what they would look at first in your account and why. A good agency starts with flows, deliverability and segmentation, and can explain what they would expect to find.
Ask how they design emails for mobile and dark mode, how they test before sending, and what their review process looks like. You want a checklist, not an assurance.
Questions about measurement.
Ask how they separate revenue that email caused from sales that would have happened anyway. Holdout groups and attribution windows are the vocabulary of someone who has thought about it.
Ask which numbers they report monthly and which they would worry about. Revenue per recipient, deliverability and list growth tell a more complete story than opens alone.
Questions about ownership and exit.
Ask who owns the Klaviyo account, the templates and the data. The answer should be you, always, with the agency working inside your account rather than theirs.
Ask what the notice period is, what they hand over if you leave and how long that handover takes. A confident agency does not mind the question.
Questions about fit.
Ask what kind of store they are not a good fit for. An agency that can name its own limits is usually honest about everything else.
Ask who you will talk to weekly and how decisions get made. Slow approvals on either side are the most common reason projects stall.
In practice.
On a discovery call, ask the agency to talk through a flow they built for a client like you. Listen for three things: the trigger and why it was chosen, the timing and what they changed after testing, and what they would do differently now. An agency that can answer all three has real experience, and one that cannot is reading from a script.
Checklist.
- How would you audit my account, and in what order?
- Who will build and review my emails?
- How do you measure what email caused?
- Who owns the account and the assets?
- What is the notice period and the handover?
- What kind of store is not a good fit for you?
Common mistakes.
- Asking only about price and turnaround
- Accepting a promise of results instead of a method for measuring them
- Not asking what happens at the end of the contract
Questions people ask.
Which question is the most revealing?
Ask what kind of store is not a good fit for them. It shows honesty and focus faster than any case study.
Should I ask for references?
Yes, when the agency can offer them. Speak to someone with a similar store, and ask about communication and what went wrong as well as what went well.
What if they cannot answer a question?
A clear admission that they would need to look at your account is fine. A confident answer that sounds invented is the one to worry about.
Inferno Emails is an agency, so we have an interest in you hiring one. This guide is written to help you choose well, including choosing someone else or doing the work yourself.
Want a straight answer on your own account? Our free audit lists what is missing and what to fix first, with no obligation. See the klaviyo email marketing service or book your free audit.
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