If you're evaluating marketing partners or retainers for your service business, here's what a complete, outcome-focused engagement should include — and the red flags to watch for in proposals that look comprehensive but aren't.
Must-have: Paid traffic management
Google Ads or Meta Ads with conversion tracking, regular optimization, and reporting in terms of cost per lead and cost per booked job — not impressions or CTR. If the proposal doesn't mention conversion tracking from the start, walk away.
Must-have: Website conversion optimization
Not a one-time build — ongoing monitoring and improvement of your landing page's conversion rate. A good partner looks at conversion data monthly and makes specific changes based on what's underperforming. Static websites decay in conversion performance over time without active optimization.
Should-have: Missed-call recovery
Any engagement that drives inbound calls and doesn't address missed call recovery is leaving significant revenue on the table. An auto-text system should be part of any complete setup.
Should-have: Customer reactivation
A quarterly campaign to past customers is the highest-ROI component of any local marketing system. If a partner doesn't include or suggest this, they're either not thinking about the full revenue picture or saving it to upsell later.
Red flags in proposals
"Comprehensive social media management" without paid traffic. Reporting focused on reach and engagement metrics. Long-term contracts required. No mention of how leads and bookings will be tracked. Any one of these is a signal the engagement is designed around activity, not outcomes.