Ask any founder or CMO what their biggest regret is — somewhere near the top, you’ll hear: “We burned months (and budget) on the wrong agency.” “We burned months (and budget) on the wrong agency.” And yet, the way brands hire agencies today hasn’t changed in decades. It’s mostly generic marketing — glossy decks, empty promises, and a cliche marketing plan that somehow always ends with, “It will take atleast 4-6 months to see results.” “It will take atleast 4-6 months to see results.” Let’s talk about what’s actually broken here — and what needs to change if you’re serious about scaling. What’s wild is that we still haven’t changed how we find or hire agencies. find hire It’s mostly: “Top agency” blog posts (written by the agency itself)Referral chains based on old relationshipsVague discovery calls where no one actually digs into your funnel or audience “Top agency” blog posts (written by the agency itself) Referral chains based on old relationships Vague discovery calls where no one actually digs into your funnel or audience The entire system is designed around agency optics, not brand outcomes. agency optics Let’s break down what’s broken — and what the next evolution looks like. 1. The Agency Discovery Process is Rigged. The Agency Discovery Process is Rigged. Most directories are pay-to-play. That “top agency” list? They paid to be there. That “award”? Given by another agency-run organization. That glowing case study? Cool. Can I see unedited results in your ad account? unedited Brands don’t realize how skewed the discovery process is until they’re deep in a retainer with no ROI to show for it. And by then, switching feels like starting over. So brands spend weeks researching, emailing, and jumping on calls — without any system for making a confident, data-informed decision. It’s not that brands are lazy — it’s that there’s no clear framework to follow. clear framework 2. The Vetting Process Is All Talk, No Transparency. The Vetting Process Is All Talk, No Transparency. You get on a call. They sound smart. Maybe they name-drop a few brands. But how do you actually vet if they’re built to solve your specific growth challenge? built Most agency-client relationships die not from a lack of talent — but from misalignment. No one asked the right questions at the start. No one pulled real data to match need vs. capability. And definitely no one brought in actual performance benchmarks. actual Very few founders ask to see: Very few founders ask to see: The Internal team structure (who’s actually on your account)Time for allocation across creative, strategy, and media buyingTesting the roadmap or creative velocity planHow they prioritize learning vs. scaling The Internal team structure (who’s actually on your account) actually Time for allocation across creative, strategy, and media buying Testing the roadmap or creative velocity plan How they prioritize learning vs. scaling I’ve seen brands sign $15K/month retainers without ever seeing the person who’s managing their ad account. Or without knowing how many creatives they’ll actually receive. Or if SEO includes content or just backlinks. 3. The Wrong Fit Costs You More Than Just Money. The Wrong Fit Costs You More Than Just Money. Hiring the wrong agency is like hiring the wrong cofounder. They shape your positioning, your content, your acquisition channels — and if they miss, they don’t just waste your budget, they distort your brand’s potential. I’ve seen early-stage founders kill momentum entirely because they got locked into a “full-funnel growth retainer” with zero creative bandwidth. And I’ve seen 8-figure brands stall because they were paired with performance teams that never pushed creative iteration or testing velocity. stall They didn’t fail because the agency was incompetent. They failed because the agency wasn’t built for their kind of growth. their ❗️Most agency-client failures are due to poor fit, not poor performance. Most agency-client failures are due to poor fit, not poor performance. So What’s the Solution? That’s the part that frustrated me — as both an agency owner and a marketing strategist, I kept seeing the same gap: There’s no clean matchmaking layer between brands and the agencies built to serve them. We need context — budget, stage, channels, past results — not just filters by “industry” or “location.” We need performance data. Live dashboards. Real answers. Not decks and 3-week discovery processes. We need transparency. Standardized scopes. Escrow. Something closer to what Upwork could’ve been for marketing, if it weren’t a race to the bottom. could’ve My Take Agencies aren’t dying — bad fits are. The next generation of marketing growth will come from intelligent matchmaking — where tech meets expertise, and brand-need is clearly aligned with agency-skill. intelligent matchmaking I’m not building another directory. I’m not building a freelancer marketplace. I’m building the connective tissue between brands and outcomes — because when you stop hiring blindly, you start scaling intentionally. If you’re building something in this space — let’s talk. If you’ve been burned by a marketing partner — we’ve got you Let’s stop wasting time on broken processes. Let’s build something smarter.

Discovery

Upwork

Join Newsletter

Growth Marketing?

Read My Stories

Too Long; Didn't Read

CTA: Download the FREE AI Productivity Shift report

Why Most Brands Fail at Hiring the Right Marketing Partner — And How to Fix it

About Author

Comments

TOPICS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN

Related Stories

Untitled Story

104 Stories To Learn About Marketing Strategy

10 Unforgivable Sins of Growth Marketing

101 Stories To Learn About Influencer Marketing

10 Tips to Help You Become a Digital Marketing Professional Without a Degree

10 Tips to Drive Up Your Website’s Conversion Rate

104 Stories To Learn About Marketing Strategy

10 Unforgivable Sins of Growth Marketing

101 Stories To Learn About Influencer Marketing

10 Tips to Help You Become a Digital Marketing Professional Without a Degree

10 Tips to Drive Up Your Website’s Conversion Rate

Light-Mode

Classic

Newspaper

Dark-Mode

Neon Noir

Minty

HN StartUps