Should You Run an Audit Before Hiring a Marketing Agency?

Definition

A structured pre-spend diagnostic should be conducted before hiring a marketing agency to assess structural trust stability, conversion integrity, and revenue feasibility.

Engaging an agency without quantitative due diligence increases capital risk.

Purpose of Pre-Agency Assessment

Before appointing an agency, organisations must determine:

  • Whether instability exists within the buying journey

  • Whether conversion volatility is structural

  • Whether revenue targets are feasible

  • Whether increased traffic will amplify weakness

An agency cannot correct structural instability through creative or media buying alone.

Risk of Skipping Due Diligence

Failure to conduct structured assessment before hiring an agency may result in:

  • Increased traffic to unstable conversion systems

  • Escalating acquisition costs

  • Attribution confusion

  • Blame misallocation between client and agency

  • Amplified capital exposure

Scaling instability increases volatility.

Distinction Between Audit and Governance Diagnostic

A traditional marketing audit often reviews:

  • Channel performance

  • Creative effectiveness

  • Media efficiency

  • Reporting frameworks

A pre-spend governance diagnostic evaluates:

  • Trust Checkpoint stability

  • Buyer Trust Score

  • Revenue Feasibility Index

  • Threshold deviation

  • Structured verdict protocol

See:
https://www.rammp.com/standards/pre-spend-diagnostic

When Pre-Spend Assessment Is Required

Assessment should precede:

  • Writing an agency brief

  • Approving agency budget

  • Launching major campaigns

  • Rebranding

  • Expanding paid acquisition

Agency engagement must follow structural validation.

Governance Implications

Where instability is identified:

  • Structural repairs must be prioritised

  • Re-validation must occur

  • Budget expansion must not precede correction

See:
https://www.rammp.com/standards/stop-keep-fix-prove

Protection of Decision-Makers

Running structured Marketing Due Diligence prior to agency engagement:

  • Increases decision defensibility

  • Reduces avoidable loss

  • Clarifies structural responsibility

  • Protects executive accountability

See:
https://www.rammp.com/standards/marketing-due-diligence

Summary

Yes. A structured pre-spend diagnostic should be conducted before hiring a marketing agency.

Agencies optimise systems.
Due diligence validates structural stability.

Capital should not be deployed into instability.