How do I choose a marketing agency?
Choosing a marketing agency comes down to three filters most buyers are not taught to apply: the budget floor below which the agency cannot deliver well, whether the work comes from the people in the pitch, and whether the agency will say so when the engagement is wrong. The conventional evaluation criteria (case studies, references, strategy proposals) measure things that are easy to verify and easy to fake.
The budget filter matters because every agency has an investment threshold below which the work cannot be delivered well. Agencies that accept any budget are running a different business than those that have chosen the work they take. The delivery filter matters because the people who win the pitch are often not the people who execute the work. Senior judgment in the pitch and account management in the delivery is the most common pattern. The disqualification filter matters because an agency willing to turn away a poor-fit prospect has the discipline to make decisions for the engagement that the buyer cannot make alone.
Where this matters
The three filters apply most strongly when the engagement is a sustained relationship (six months or longer, recurring monthly investment, integrated work across multiple disciplines). For one-off projects under $10,000, the filters relax. The budget question matters less because the project either fits the scope or it does not. The delivery question matters less because the project is finite. The disqualification question still matters at any scale. To apply the filters in practice: ask the agency directly what their minimum monthly investment is and why; ask who specifically will deliver the work and request to meet them before signing; ask for examples of prospects they have turned away and why.
For how Binary Glyph structures the work that the three filters describe, see In Practice.