How to Choose a Marketing Agency in Jordan: 10 Questions to Ask

The fastest way to choose a marketing agency in Jordan is to ask questions that reveal how it actually works, not how it presents itself. The three most important: which number will you judge your work by, who writes, films and runs the ads, and who will own the ad accounts. The answers to those three alone filter out most options.

A beautiful portfolio and a low price aren't enough. The agency will spend your budget and speak for your brand, so you need to know how it thinks, how it measures, and what it does when an ad fails. Below are ten questions in three groups, with what a convincing answer looks like and what should make you hesitate.

Before you ask: know what you want

Many owners walk into agency meetings without a clear goal and leave convinced by whatever was pitched. Before any meeting, answer these yourself:

• What result do I want in three months: online sales, WhatsApp messages, bookings or store visits?
• What monthly budget can I put into the ads themselves, separate from agency fees?
• Do I want everything from strategy to filming to ads, or one part?
• Who on my side will follow up and decide?

With these answers you can compare proposals fairly. If you are still unsure whether you need an agency at all, read in-house team or marketing agency.

Questions about results and numbers

1. Which number will you judge your work by?

Convincing answer: a number tied to sales, such as cost per conversation, cost per lead or ROAS, chosen for your type of business. Red flag: only followers, likes and reach. Those can grow without selling anything, as we explain in likes aren't sales.

2. Can you show real results from ad accounts?

Convincing answer: ads manager screenshots showing spend and results together, with context: the goal and the sector. For example, one result we publish at Wave is a lead generation campaign that brought 2,706 leads for $10,632 in spend. The number matters because it comes with the spend. Red flag: results without spend, percentages without a baseline, or 'we grew sales a lot' with no evidence.

3. What does the monthly report look like, and what happens when an ad fails?

Convincing answer: a report with the agreed numbers, what worked, what didn't and what changes next month, plus a clear process for pausing weak ads and moving budget to strong ones. Red flag: a report full of charts with no decisions, or an agency that claims all its ads succeed.

Questions about content and team

4. Who writes, who films and who runs the ads?

Some agencies only run ads and expect content from you, some only design posts, some do everything. None is wrong in itself, but know what you're buying. What matters is that whoever writes the content understands the ad numbers, because a losing ad usually has a content problem, not a targeting one.

5. Do you make several versions of each idea?

Convincing answer: yes, with different hooks or openings, tested before the budget goes behind the winner. Red flag: one video a month, advertised until the budget runs out.

6. Who handles my account day to day?

Get the person's name, role, how they communicate and how fast they reply. The people in the first meeting aren't always the ones who work on your account.

7. What do you need to know about my business before starting?

This reveals a lot. A serious agency asks about your numbers, customers, competitors and the questions in your inbox. One that hands you a plan and price without asking anything probably gives every client the same plan.

Questions about accounts, money and contract

8. Who owns the ad accounts and pages?

The only acceptable answer: you. The ad account, pixel and pages should be in your company's name, with the agency added as a partner. If the account belongs to the agency, you lose all ad history and data when the relationship ends.

9. Is the ad budget separate from your fees?

Know exactly how much goes to the platforms and how much is the agency's fee. Ideally the platforms charge your own card or account so you see the spend yourself.

10. How long is the contract, and how do we review after three months?

A clear contract states exactly what is delivered each month: videos, platforms, reports and meetings, with an agreed review point.

General red flags

• Guaranteed numbers before they have seen your account or product.
• Refusing to give you access to the ad account.
• One fixed price for every client regardless of size and goals.
• Being unable to explain why a specific ad won or lost.

Example: a restaurant comparing two proposals

Say a restaurant owner in Amman receives two proposals. The first is cheaper: 12 designs and 4 reels a month plus page management. The second costs a bit more: 6 videos in several versions, Meta ads management, and a monthly report on cost per conversation and bookings.

Asked question one, the first agency talks about follower growth; the second talks about the cost of a WhatsApp booking message. Asked about account ownership, the first wants to open the ad account in its own name. The decision becomes clearer: the cheaper monthly fee can turn out more expensive if it brings no bookings.

How we handle this at Wave

When people ask us these questions, we answer the way we work: we agree with the client on a number tied to sales and show results from ads manager with the spend. Accounts stay in the client's name with us added as partners, and the ad budget is separate and visible. Every month we deliver a report on the agreed numbers, covering what worked, what didn't and what changes next.