10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Digital Marketing Agency in Myanmar

Most businesses go into agency meetings unprepared  listening to the pitch, nodding along, and signing based on a good feeling rather than verified answers. By the time problems surface, you're three months into a contract with little leverage.

This is the exact list of questions we'd recommend asking on your first call with any Myanmar digital marketing agency print this, bring it to the meeting, and don't sign anything until you have direct answers to all 10.

1.Can you show me a case study with specific numbers from a client in my industry?

Why it matters:

"We grew our client's traffic" means nothing without a number, a timeframe, and a starting point. A good agency can say: "We took a Yangon restaurant from 2,000 to 18,000 monthly Facebook reach in 4 months, increasing weekly reservations by 35%."

Red flag answer:

"We've helped many businesses grow significantly" with no specifics, or case studies only from industries unrelated to yours.

2.Will I own my website, ad accounts, and analytics from day one?

Why it matters:

Your Facebook Ad account, Google Analytics property, and website domain should belong to your business — not the agency. If the agency sets these up under their own accounts, switching agencies later becomes extremely difficult, sometimes requiring you to start campaign history from zero.

Red flag answer:

Hesitation, or "we usually manage that under our agency account for efficiency."

3.What exactly does your monthly report measure?

Why it matters:

Reports showing only likes, followers, and impressions tell you almost nothing about business impact. Reports should connect activity to outcomes website traffic, leads, conversions, or revenue where trackable.

Red flag answer:

A sample report that's all vanity metrics with no mention of traffic, leads, or conversions.

4.Who specifically will be working on my account, and how senior are they?

Why it matters:

The person pitching you in the sales meeting is often not the person executing your campaigns. Ask directly: will a senior strategist oversee this, or will it be handed to a junior team member after signing?

Red flag answer:

Vague answers about "our team" without naming actual people or their experience level.

5.What's your pricing structure, and what exactly is included?

Why it matters:

As covered in our full Myanmar pricing guide, "digital marketing" pricing varies 5–10× depending on scope. Get a written breakdown: what's covered in the retainer, what counts as an add-on, and whether ad spend is separate from management fees.

Red flag answer:

Pricing given only verbally, with no written scope of deliverables.

6. What happens if we don't see results in the first 90 days?

Why it matters:

This question reveals how the agency thinks about accountability. A confident agency will explain their evaluation framework  what "on track" looks like at 30, 60, and 90 days for your specific goals.

Red flag answer:

"Results vary" with no concrete plan for what happens if early metrics underperform.

7.Can we start with a smaller project before a long-term retainer?

Why it matters:

A short paid pilot one campaign, one month of content, one SEO audit  lets both sides evaluate fit before a long-term commitment. Agencies confident in their work are usually open to this.

Red flag answer:

Pressure to sign a 6–12 month contract immediately with no smaller entry point offered.

8.Do you have experience in my specific industry?

Why it matters:

An agency skilled at e-commerce marketing may struggle with a B2B service business, and vice versa. Industry-specific experience means they already understand your sales cycle, customer language, and common objections — without you having to teach them from scratch.

Red flag answer:

"We can market anything" with no specific examples relevant to your business type.

9. What tools and platforms do you actually use day-to-day?"

Why it matters:

Professional agencies use recognized analytics and SEO tools (Google Analytics 4, Search Console, SEMrush, Ahrefs, Meta Business Suite). Their answer reveals whether they're running a structured operation or guessing.

Red flag answer:

Inability to name specific tools, or reliance solely on platform-native dashboards with no independent tracking.

10.Can I speak to a current or recent client directly?

Why it matters:

Testimonials on a website can be curated or outdated. A direct conversation with a current client — even a 10-minute call — tells you more about responsiveness, communication style, and actual results than any portfolio page.

Red flag answer:

Refusal to provide any client contact, or only offering written testimonials with no direct access.

The Print-and-Bring Checklist

☐ 1. Case study with specific numbers in my industry
☐ 2. Will I own my website, ad accounts, and analytics?
☐ 3. What does the monthly report actually measure?
☐ 4. Who specifically is working on my account?
☐ 5. What's the pricing structure, in writing?
☐ 6. What happens if results don't show in 90 days?
☐ 7. Can we start with a smaller pilot project?
☐ 8. Do you have direct experience in my industry?
☐ 9. What tools do you actually use?
☐ 10. Can I speak to a current client?

What If They Answer All 10 Well?

That's a strong signal but not the end of the process. Cross-reference what they tell you against our broader agency selection criteria, and check their answers against publicly available information: their own website's activity level, their social media engagement, and any independent reviews you can find.

If you haven't already, browse our researched list of established Myanmar agencies we asked many of these same questions in our own research process before featuring them.

Conclusion

These 10 questions take fifteen minutes to ask and can save you months of wasted budget and frustration. The agencies worth working with will welcome the scrutiny it signals you're a serious, organized client they can build a real partnership with. The ones that deflect, dodge, or pressure you to skip past these questions are telling you something important before you've spent a single kyat.

Want a second opinion on an agency proposal you've received? Contact me happy to help you evaluate it.