Reviews
Part of How to review paid social agencies in England using evidence gates
Reference calls for a paid social agency: questions to ask
Run reference calls for a paid social agency with one fixed question set, then compare each answer with the proposal before you shortlist anyone in England.
A reference call can test what a public review cannot: how a paid-social agency behaved on a real account. Run it as a structured interview, with the same questions for every reference, then compare the answers with the proposal. Praise alone says little about how the agency would handle your brief.
What to take away
- Get the reference's permission first, and note who supplied the contact.
- Put the same questions to every reference, grouped by scope, control, delivery and exit.
- Compare answers with the proposal rather than converting praise into points.
- Never ask a reference to disclose what they have no authority to share.
- A positive account of communication does not prove causality, security, accessible output or regulatory clearance.
Before the call: permission, source and scope
Get the reference's informed permission before asking anything, and record who supplied the contact. The CMA's fake-reviews guidance addresses concealed incentivised reviews, so note any relationship or incentive the reference discloses. A contact the agency chose is a supplier-selected account, and the notes should say so.
Then fix the job. Write down the service and the period you need evidence for. A reference about a different service or period answers a different question, so mark it as context rather than proof. This keeps the call tied to your brief and to the contracted scope you expect to sign.
Questions that test the account, topic by topic
Ask every reference the same questions, in the same order, so the answers can be compared. Prefer a reference whose account ran on the same platforms as yours. These topics cover what a public review rarely records: who held control, who paid, what went wrong and how the work ended.
| Topic | Question to ask | Evidence to request, if the client can lawfully share it |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Which platforms and ad formats did the agency run for you, such as Meta, TikTok or LinkedIn, and what was left out? | The scope section of the agreement |
| Account ownership | Who owned the ad account or Business Manager, and who paid the platform for the media? | A description of the set-up, never login details |
| Tracking and data | Who controlled the Meta pixel or Conversions API set-up, the tags and the audience lists, and did you keep them at the end? | A list of tags and audiences held, not the audience data itself |
| Fees | How was the agency paid, as a share of media spend or a fixed fee, and did that change when the budget changed? | The fee clause of the agreement |
| Measurement | Which results were reported, such as ROAS, cost per acquisition, CPM or frequency, and which came from the platform rather than your own data? | A sample report with its definitions |
| Approvals | Where did approvals slow the work down, and who signed off the ad copy? | A sample approval thread |
| Defects and incidents | What went wrong, such as a disapproved ad or a paused account, and how did the agency respond? | An escalation record |
| Exit | What notice applied, and what was handed back: account admin rights, pixel, audiences and creative files? | The handover list |
Request evidence only where the client can lawfully share it. Do not solicit personal data or confidential campaign material that the reference lacks authority to disclose. A refusal is a note for the file, not a mark against the agency. For TikTok and LinkedIn ad accounts, the access checks cover what to hand an agency before work starts.
Compare the answers with the proposal
Hold each answer against what the agency proposed, line by line, rather than converting praise into points. Where the reference's experience matches the proposal, note it. Where the two differ, put the difference to the agency in writing and record its reply.
A positive account of communication does not prove campaign causality, security, accessible output or regulatory clearance. CAP's misleading-advertising rules require substantiation for objective claims, including comparisons, so an agency's own performance claims need evidence beyond a friendly reference.
What a reference call cannot settle
A reference call is one client's account, so it can prequalify agencies but not rank them, and it cannot confirm who would deliver your work. Companies House does not verify filed information for accuracy; its records tie a name to a register entry but do not prove service quality.
The next step is a common synthetic task: the same test brief and sample data issued to each agency under identical conditions. A capped pilot follows only after privacy and PECR, advertising, platform access, security, accessibility, regulated-product, procurement, contract and finance gates pass. Until then, every candidate remains unverified for your specific job.
Before you act
- Get the reference's informed permission and note who supplied the contact.
- Write down the service and period the reference must speak to.
- Put the same topic questions to every reference.
- Compare each answer with the proposal and record the differences.
- Define the common synthetic task before any paid pilot.
Common questions
Who should supply the references?
Ask for more than one contact and record who supplied each. Record any relationship or incentive the reference discloses beside the answers.
Can a reference prove an agency will perform on my brief?
No. It is one client's account of one service and period. It can show which questions to put to the agency and which evidence to request, but delivery on your brief stays untested until the synthetic task and a capped pilot, and the evidence gates still apply.
What if a reference declines to share evidence?
Record the refusal and move on. Do not press for anything the reference lacks authority to disclose, and compare the answers it did give with the proposal.
