12/17/2025
Before you sign a marketing contract, ask these 4 questions:
1. Print- Is this “circulation” or “readership”?
Circulation = how many copies were distributed.
Readership = an estimate of how many people might read it. (Big difference.)
2. Social Media/ Pay Per Click- What is my REAL cost?
Is that $2,500 the ad spend… or ad spend plus management fees… or ad spend plus fees plus creative?
3. Social Media/ Pay Per Click- Are management fees clearly separated from the media spend?
Some vendors bake in “management,” “platform,” “tech,” or “optimization” fees and don’t clearly separate them from the actual ad budget.
4. Pay Per Click- Are your “Google” PPC ads actually running on Google… or “Google Partners”?
Ask if your ads are showing on Google Search only, or also on the Search Partner Network (which can change quality, placements, and performance).
Marketing works best when it’s transparent. If a company can’t explain the numbers in plain English, that’s a red flag.
