What You Need to Know
- The average small business spends between 7% and 8% of gross revenue on marketing, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
- A 2023 Clutch survey found that 37% of small businesses reported feeling their marketing agency did not deliver measurable results.
- Most marketing agencies generate additional revenue by taking 10% to 20% of a client’s Google Ads spend as a management fee, creating a direct financial incentive to increase ad budgets regardless of performance.
- The most common complaint small business owners report about agencies is receiving a strategy document with no support for execution.
- Businesses that work with a dedicated marketing partner who handles both strategy and execution consistently outperform those who receive strategy-only services.
Hiring a marketing agency should feel like a relief. You hand off the work, someone capable takes it from there, and you get back to running your business. That is the promise, anyway.
The reality for a lot of small business owners looks different. You sign a contract, you have a few exciting kickoff calls, and then you end up with a thick strategy document, a login to a reporting dashboard you do not fully understand, and a growing sense that you are somehow still responsible for making all of this happen. That is not a partnership. That is just expensive homework.
We have heard this story more times than we can count from business owners here in Northwest Arkansas. And it is worth being direct about what is actually going on, because once you know what to look for, you can make a much better decision about where your marketing dollars go.
The Strategy-Only Trap
The most common agency model works like this: an agency is hired to develop a marketing strategy. They do discovery, they run audits, they build a roadmap. Then they hand it over.
The assumption built into this model is that the business owner, or someone on their team, will take that strategy and execute it. Write the blog posts. Update the website copy. Optimize the Google Business Profile. Publish the newsletters. Track the results and adjust.
Here is the problem. If you had the time, the skills, and the bandwidth to do all of that, you probably would have done it already. The reason you hired an agency was to get it off your plate. A strategy document does not get it off your plate. It just adds a more expensive layer of guilt when nothing moves.
We have seen this play out with business owners who came to us after working with other agencies. The moment any part of the work fell back on them, everything stalled. Not because they did not care, but because they are already running a business. The execution has to be included, or the strategy is just a document.
The Google Ads Conflict of Interest
This one is worth understanding clearly, because it is a widespread practice and most business owners do not realize it is happening.
Many agencies that manage Google Ads campaigns charge a percentage of your ad spend as their management fee. The typical range is 10% to 20%. So if you are spending $2,000 a month on ads, the agency is collecting $200 to $400 on top of their retainer just for managing that spend.
Here is where it gets complicated. That fee structure means the agency makes more money when you spend more on ads. There is a built-in financial incentive to recommend higher budgets, whether or not a higher budget is actually the right move for your business at this stage. It is not necessarily malicious. But it is a conflict of interest, and you deserve to know it exists.
A real marketing partner’s recommendations should be based entirely on what is good for your business. Not on what increases their revenue.
At Brimwell, we do not manage paid advertising, and we do not take a percentage of anyone’s ad spend. If paid ads ever come up in a conversation with a client, any guidance we offer comes with zero financial stake in the outcome.
What a Real Partnership Actually Looks Like
The word “partner” gets used loosely in this industry. It is worth being specific about what it should actually mean.
A real marketing partner knows your business well enough to make decisions on your behalf. They bring recommendations to you rather than waiting to be told what to do next. They execute the work, not just plan it. And they are accountable to your results in a real way, not just to a set of activity metrics that look good in a report but do not connect to revenue.
For small business owners in NWA, this usually means someone who handles the digital foundation: your website, your search visibility, your Google Business Profile, your content, and your reputation online. Not someone who manages twenty clients with identical service packages and gets you a monthly PDF.
The size of the agency is less important than the model. A boutique partner who builds your strategy and does the work is almost always more valuable than a larger agency where your account is managed by someone junior who is following a template.
If you are evaluating a marketing agency or partner right now, these questions will tell you a lot:
What to Ask Before You Sign Anything
Who actually does the work on my account? If the answer is an account manager who coordinates with a production team in another time zone, that is worth knowing upfront.
How do you charge for ad management? If the answer involves a percentage of spend, you now know what that means for their incentives.
What happens if I need something changed on my website? If the answer involves a separate ticket system, a 48-hour turnaround, and a scope review, that is a sign of a vendor relationship, not a partnership.
What does success look like at 90 days, and how will we measure it? A vague answer here is a red flag. A good partner knows exactly what they are trying to move and how they will know if it is working.
The Bottom Line
Marketing is one of the highest-leverage investments a small business can make. Done well, it compounds over time. Done poorly, or handed off to someone whose model doesn’t actually serve your interests, it drains money and creates more work.
You should know what you’re buying before you buy it. And what you should be buying is someone who takes the whole thing off your plate, brings you the thinking, does the work, and measures what matters. That’s what a marketing partnership is supposed to be.
If that sounds different from what you have experienced before, you are not alone. And it is exactly what we built Brimwell to do differently.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a marketing agency actually do for a small business?
A marketing agency should handle the strategy and execution of your digital marketing, including your website, search visibility, content, and online reputation. The key word is “and.” Strategy without execution puts the burden back on you. Look for a partner who does both.
Why do some agencies charge a percentage of Google Ads spend?
Agencies that manage paid advertising often charge 10% to 20% of your monthly ad budget as a management fee. This is a common practice, but it creates a financial incentive for the agency to recommend higher ad budgets regardless of whether that is the best move for your business. It is worth asking any agency you work with how they handle ad spend before you sign.
What is the difference between a marketing agency and a marketing partner?
An agency typically delivers a service or a set of deliverables. A partner is accountable to your outcomes, brings proactive recommendations, and executes the work on your behalf without requiring you to manage the process. The distinction matters most when things need to change quickly or when opportunities come up between scheduled check-ins.
How do I know if my current marketing agency is actually delivering results?
Ask for a clear connection between their activity and your business outcomes. Impressions and clicks are metrics. Leads, calls, and new customers are results. If your reporting shows activity but you cannot trace it to real business growth, that is a conversation worth having.
What should a small business in NWA look for in a local marketing partner?
Local knowledge matters more than most business owners realize. A partner who understands the NWA market, its search behavior, its community culture, and its referral networks will make better recommendations than one applying a national template to a local market. Beyond that, look for someone who executes the work themselves, communicates clearly, and can show you real results from real clients.