Choosing an Agency8 November 20268 min read

22 questions to ask a UAE marketing agency before you sign

Twenty-two questions grouped by people, accounts, reporting, money, exit and UAE specifics, each with what a good answer and a weak answer sound like.

The short answer

Ask 22 questions in six groups: people, accounts, reporting, money, exit and UAE specifics. Insist on names and hours, accounts in your name, a report built on qualified leads, a clear fee and platform payments, a written handover, and Arabic, WhatsApp and permit handling you can check. A weak answer is vague, defers detail until after signing, or protects the agency rather than you.

A good answer is specific enough to be wrong. Say an agency tells you 'two named people, eight hours a week between them, and the person running it looks after six accounts.' You can check every part of that. 'A dedicated team of specialists' can't be checked, which makes it an easy thing to say.

The 22 questions are grouped by the six places an agency relationship can go wrong: people, accounts, reporting, money, exit and the UAE details. Send them in writing before the meeting, ask for written answers, and mark each one good, weak or missing. A missing answer counts as weak.

Which five questions matter most if you're short of time?

Ask numbers 1, 5, 9, 13 and 17: who works on the account, whose name is on it, how a qualified lead is defined, who pays the platforms, and what you receive on the last day. An agency that answers those five plainly has cleared the questions that cost most to get wrong. A weak answer on 5 or 17 is a reason to stop, and weak answers elsewhere are reasons to negotiate.

People: get names, weekly hours and a backup in writing

The four people questions test whether the team that pitches is the team that delivers. Names and hours on paper turn a promise into something you can hold the agency to.

Question	A good answer	A weak answer
1. Who exactly will work on my account, and for how many hours a week?	Names, roles and hours written into the proposal, plus time with whoever will run the account.	'A dedicated team of specialists', with no names or hours.
2. How many other accounts does the person running mine look after?	A number, a cap, and a reason the load is workable.	'We're very flexible', or a number you have to ask for twice.
3. Which of my work is done by people outside your payroll, and where are they?	A plain list of freelancers or partner firms, their location, and who reviews their work.	'Everything is in house', which you can't check, or irritation at being asked.
4. If the person I meet today leaves, what happens to my account?	A named backup, a written handover routine, and notice to you within days.	'That doesn't happen here.'

Accounts: who holds the keys, and who sees your leads first?

The accounts questions decide who controls your data, your history and your leads if the relationship ends. Ownership is the one area where a weak answer should end the conversation.

Question	A good answer	A weak answer
5. Whose name goes on the ad accounts, analytics, tag manager, domain and CRM?	Yours, with the agency added as a user you can remove at any time.	The agency's, 'for convenience', with a transfer promised at the end.
6. Which tools will my data pass through, and whose licence are they under?	A list of tools marked as yours or the agency's, with what happens to each on exit.	'Proprietary technology', with no list and no export.
7. Where does each new lead go first: your system or mine?	Straight into your CRM or inbox, with the agency copied.	Into the agency's spreadsheet or inbox, then forwarded to you.

Reporting: ask how you'll know the numbers are true

Reporting questions separate agencies that count activity from agencies that count results. The test in each row is whether you could audit the answer yourself, and the monthly agency report guide shows what a good page one contains.

Question	A good answer	A weak answer
8. What will page one of the monthly report show?	Spend and leads, then qualified leads and cost per qualified lead, then what changed and what's next.	Impressions, reach, followers and a traffic graph.
9. How do you define a qualified lead, and who decides?	A definition agreed with your sales team in writing, and judged by your team, not the agency's.	'Anyone who fills in the form.'
10. How will we know the report is right?	Leads reconciled against your CRM each month, and spend checked against the platform invoices.	'Our dashboard is accurate.'
11. When did you last tell a client to spend less or stop a channel?	A specific example, and what happened next.	'We always find a way to scale.'

Money: ask what's in the fee and who touches the budget

The money questions expose where a quoted fee quietly grows. Our digital marketing cost guide covers the price side, and these four cover the terms around it.

Question	A good answer	A weak answer
12. What is included in the fee, and what's extra?	A line-by-line list marking shoots, tools, creator fees, messaging charges and set-up as included or extra.	'Everything's included', which dissolves the first time you ask for something.
13. Do I pay the ad platforms directly, and is any of your fee a percentage of ad spend?	You pay the platforms direct, and the fee is flat.	A pooled budget, an unexplained mark-up, or a fee that rises with your spend.
14. What's the total for month one, including set-up and VAT?	One number, with one-off costs separated and VAT shown.	The monthly fee alone, and extras that turn up later.
15. What happens to the fee if you miss what you promised?	A defined remedy such as extra work, a credit or an exit right, written down.	'We never miss.'

Exit: ask what you walk away with on the last day

Exit questions feel awkward before you've started, and they cost nothing to ask now. After signing they are the hardest to get answered, and the contract clauses worth arguing over show how to get the answers into writing.

Question	A good answer	A weak answer
16. What are the minimum term and notice period, and do they apply equally to both sides?	A minimum matched to how long the work takes to show results, and equal notice.	A long term with automatic renewal, or notice that binds only you.
17. What do I receive on the last day, and by when?	A handover list: admin rights, editable files, audiences and tracking containers, within a stated number of days, at no extra charge.	'We'll agree that when the time comes', or a fee to release your own accounts.
18. Who owns the creative, copy and pages once I've paid?	You do, with any stock or font licences listed so you know what ends when the contract does.	The agency does, or you may use them only 'while you remain a client'.

UAE specifics: Arabic, WhatsApp, permits and consent

The four UAE questions cover what a generic playbook leaves out. The evidence behind each one follows the table.

Question	A good answer	A weak answer
19. Who writes the Arabic, and is it written for Arabic readers or translated from English?	Native Arabic writers who originate the copy, and an Arabic-reading approver on the agency side.	'We translate it', or a tool does.
20. How will you capture and follow up WhatsApp enquiries?	A tracked click-to-WhatsApp path, a response-time target and approved templates.	'They go to the contact form.'
21. Which permits and approvals does my sector need, and who applies?	They name the right ones for your sector, say who applies and who pays, and put the lead time in the calendar.	'That's the client's responsibility', with no detail, or 'no permits are needed'.
22. If you message or call my customers, what consent do you hold, and where did the numbers come from?	Documented opt-in, an unsubscribe in every message, sending inside permitted hours, and lists that came from you.	A 'database' the agency owns, or bought numbers.

On WhatsApp, DataReportal citing GWI's Q2 2026 survey reports that 84.1 per cent of UAE internet users aged 16 and over had used the app in the past month, ahead of YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. A plan that sends every enquiry to a web form ignores the app most UAE internet users had opened in the past month.

On permits, the penalties are real and they differ by sector. The Dubai Land Department said in October 2020 that advertising property without the required permits brings progressive fines starting from AED 50,000, so check current penalties with DLD, and the Trakheesi entry explains the permit. For clinics in Dubai, Dubai Health Authority's social media standard says a licensed facility's official account must carry its medical advertisement licence number, and it bars absolute claims such as 'best' or '100%'.

Creators raise a separate question. Anyone posting promotional content for you may also need an Advertiser Permit, so ask the National Media Authority what applies.

On consent, TDRA's FAQ says a business needs the recipient's explicit prior consent before sending marketing texts, every message should offer a free way to unsubscribe, and sending is allowed only from 7 am to 9 pm UAE time. Marketing calls have their own window: Clyde & Co reports 9 am to 6 pm under Cabinet Resolutions No. 56 and No. 57 of 2024. This isn't legal advice, and TDRA or your lawyer should confirm anything beyond these basics.

What should you do with the answers?

Put them in a grid with one column per agency and compare line by line, ignoring the pitch deck. Our free cost review starts with a short call and ends with a written answer within 72 hours, and we'd rather be asked all 22 than none.

Then take the three weakest answers back to the agency that gave them and ask again, politely. How an agency handles being challenged before it has your money is the best preview you'll get of how it handles a bad month.

Questions people ask

01What should I ask a marketing agency before hiring them?

Start with five: who exactly works on my account and for how many hours, whose name is on the ad accounts, how a qualified lead is defined and who decides, whether I pay the ad platforms directly, and what I receive on the last day. The other questions refine those answers.

02What is a red flag when interviewing a marketing agency?

Vagueness about names, hours and ownership, a guarantee of rankings or lead numbers, accounts held in the agency's name, and a minimum term with no exit. Any answer that defers detail until after signing is a warning, because before signing is when you can still negotiate.

03How many marketing agencies should I interview?

Three is enough if you send each the same written questions and the same brief. Beyond five, the comparison becomes a project of its own, and fewer than three leaves you with nothing to measure an answer against.

04Should I ask a marketing agency for client references?

Yes, and choose the references yourself from their client list rather than accepting the two they offer. Ask each one what happened the last time something went wrong and who fixed it. Also ask the agency whether any client has left in the past year, and why.