5 signs that your business should consider a new media agency

Switching media agencies feels much like changing your accountant in the middle of a financial year: it’s unpleasant, it takes effort, and most people put it off for longer than they should. The problem is that every quarter you wait to take action is a quarter of missed opportunities and wasted marketing budget. Many Norwegian companies are stuck in partnerships that stopped delivering results a long time ago, but the uncertainty surrounding a switch is holding them back.

This article gives you five concrete signs that your company should consider a new media agency. Not vague gut feelings, but observable patterns you can check against your own partnership today. If you recognise three or more of these, it’s probably time to start an internal discussion about a change. And even if you only recognise one point, it’s worth asking your agency some critical questions at the next progress meeting.

1. Lack of transparency regarding data and results

The first – and perhaps most serious – warning sign concerns transparency. A media agency that does not share data willingly and clearly usually has something to hide. This could be poor results, inefficient use of the budget, or simply that they do not have a proper grasp of the figures themselves. Whatever the reason, a lack of transparency is a red flag that should be taken seriously.

Norwegian companies spend, on average, between 5 and 15 per cent of their turnover on marketing. With such large sums at stake, it is reasonable to expect full insight into what the money is actually being spent on, and what return it generates. A good agency makes this information readily available without you having to keep asking for it.

Unclear reporting that hides actual performance

Reports full of vanity metrics such as impressions, reach and clicks, presented without context, are a classic sign that the agency is trying to sugar-coat the reality. When you receive a report showing that a campaign achieved 500,000 views, but no one can tell you what the conversion rate was or what the cost per lead turned out to be, you have a problem.

Good reporting always links activity to business objectives. If your agency reports on Facebook ‘likes’ rather than actual sales or qualified leads, it’s a sign that they either don’t understand what matters to you, or that they’re deliberately diverting attention away from the figures that really count. Ask yourself: after reading this report, can I tell whether our marketing is actually profitable?

One practical tip is to ask for access to real-time dashboards, not just monthly PDF reports. The agency should be able to show you data in Google Analytics, Meta Ads Manager or similar tools at any time, not just in glossy presentations once a month.

Ownership of your own data and advertising accounts

Here’s a question that reveals a lot: does your company own its own advertising accounts, or are they under the agency’s account? If the agency owns the accounts, they hold all the historical data, all the pixels and all the audiences you’ve built up over time. This means that if you switch agencies, you’ll effectively be starting from scratch.

Unfortunately, this is more common than many realise in the Norwegian market. Some agencies do this deliberately to create a lock-in effect that makes it difficult for the client to leave them. Others do it out of old habit or laziness. Regardless, you should insist that all accounts, pixels and datasets are owned by your company. The agency should have access as an administrator, not as the owner.

Also check who owns the domain, the Google Tag Manager account and any CRM integrations. At Mediabooster, this is a principle we never deviate from: the client always owns their own data and accounts, because it is their business and their assets that are stored in these systems.

2. Stagnant growth and a lack of proactivity

The second most important warning sign is stagnation. Perhaps the results aren’t actually bad, but they’ve been flat for six, twelve or eighteen months. The agency is delivering the same as always, but the market has moved on. Your competitors have started using new channels, new formats and new technology, whilst your agency is running the same campaigns as last year.

A good media agency should be ahead of you, not behind you. They should come to you with ideas, opportunities and recommendations you hadn’t thought of yourself. If you’re always the one who has to ask for new ideas, the agency has stopped investing in the partnership.

The agency rarely suggests new strategies or channels

Think back to the last three progress meetings with your agency. Did they come up with a single new suggestion? Did they suggest testing a new channel, a new format or a new target audience? Or was the agenda the same as always: a review of the previous period’s figures, a confirmation that “we’re continuing as planned”, and a quick “take care”?

The media landscape in 2026 is changing faster than ever. TikTok has matured as an advertising platform for B2B. AI-driven search engines are changing how people find information. Programmatic audio is growing rapidly. If your agency isn’t actively testing and recommending new approaches, it means they’re either not keeping up to date, or they don’t care enough about your growth to do the job.

A proactive agency will send you an email with a new idea between status meetings. They’ll ring you when they spot an opportunity. They’ll challenge your budget allocation because they can see that your money could be put to better use elsewhere. This sort of commitment isn’t a bonus: it’s what you’re paying for.

Campaigns run on autopilot without optimisation

Digital campaigns require constant fine-tuning. Ad sets that performed well in January may be ineffective by March. Audiences change, algorithms are updated, and the competitive landscape in auction-based systems such as Google Ads and Meta Ads is constantly shifting.

If your agency sets up a campaign and lets it run without regularly adjusting bids, creative, target audiences and landing pages, you’re throwing money down the drain. Ask your agency how often they make changes to your campaigns. Ask for a change log. If they can’t show you specific adjustments they’ve made in the last two weeks, the campaigns are probably on autopilot.

A concrete example: a Norwegian e-commerce business we know discovered that their agency hadn’t adjusted their Google Ads campaigns for over four months. When they switched to an agency that actively worked on the campaigns on a weekly basis, the cost per conversion fell by 34 per cent during the first quarter. The difference between active management and ‘autopilot’ is often dramatic.

3. Communication breakdowns and slow response times

Communication is the glue that holds any agency partnership together. When communication breaks down, everything else breaks down too. You don’t need daily contact with your agency, but you do need to know that they’re available when needed, and that they understand what you’re trying to achieve.

Slow response times are a symptom of a deeper problem. It usually means that the agency has too many clients per consultant, that they are not prioritising you, or that the person who managed your account has left and no one has properly taken over.

Frequent changes of contact person

The agency sector traditionally has high staff turnover, but that shouldn’t be your headache. If you’ve had three different points of contact over the past year, that’s a problem. Every time a new person takes over, valuable context is lost. The new consultant has to spend time familiarising themselves with your industry, your objectives and your history, and in the meantime, results suffer.

Ask your agency about the turnover rate amongst consultants. Ask who the backup is if your contact person is off sick or leaves. A reputable agency has systems in place for knowledge transfer and ensures that at least two people are thoroughly familiar with your account. If the agency cannot answer this, it is a red flag.

It’s also about chemistry and trust. You should feel that your consultant understands your business and that they genuinely care about your results. If every conversation feels as though you’re talking to a stranger reading from a script, the partnership is in trouble.

A lack of understanding of your company’s business objectives

Perhaps the most frustrating thing is when the agency doesn’t understand what you’re actually trying to achieve. Marketing doesn’t exist in a vacuum: it’s meant to support specific business objectives such as revenue growth, market share, customer satisfaction or expansion into new markets.

If your agency is talking about CTR and CPM whilst you’re talking about market share and customer lifetime value, you’re talking at cross-purposes. A good agency always starts by understanding your business objectives and works backwards from there to define the marketing strategy. They’ll ask about your sales process, your margins and who the decision-makers are amongst your customers.

Test this easily: ask your agency consultant what your three most important business objectives are for 2026. If they can’t answer without hesitation, they haven’t done their homework. And in that case, they certainly won’t deliver the strategy you need.

4. Poor return on advertising spend (ROAS)

Let’s talk about what everyone’s thinking but doesn’t always dare to bring up: money. Marketing is an investment, and like any investment, it should yield a return. If you consistently fail to see a satisfactory ROAS, the problem lies either with the strategy, the execution or the agency. Often, it’s a combination of these.

It’s important to have realistic expectations. Not all channels deliver directly measurable returns in the short term. Brand building takes time. However, your agency should be able to explain the link between the activities they carry out and the results you see – or don’t see. If they can’t, they either lack control or expertise.

5. Lack of technical expertise and innovation

The media industry in 2026 is technology-driven. Programmatic advertising, data-driven attribution, marketing automation, AI-generated content and predictive analytics are no longer a thing of the future: they are essential tools. If your agency doesn’t master these, they’ll be lagging behind.

That doesn’t mean your agency needs to be a technology company. But they do need to understand the technology well enough to use it to your advantage. The difference between an agency that uses modern tools and one that doesn’t can amount to a 20–40 per cent efficiency gain on your media budget.

Failure to utilise AI and new technology

AI has gone from being a buzzword to a workhorse over the last couple of years. By 2026, the best agencies will be using AI for everything from creative production and A/B testing to bid optimisation and predictive audience segmentation. If your agency is still doing everything manually, you’re losing your competitive edge.

Ask your agency specifically: which AI tools do you use when working on our campaigns? How do you use machine learning to improve targeting? Have you automated reporting and anomaly detection? The answers will tell you a lot about where the agency stands on the maturity scale.

At Mediabooster, we’ve found that companies which combine human strategy with AI-driven execution typically achieve significantly better results than those relying solely on manual processes. AI-generated content may be 80 per cent complete straight out of the tool, but the final fine-tuning through human quality control is what separates the good from the mediocre. Your agency should master both aspects.

It’s also about broader technical expertise. Can your agency set up server-side tracking? Do they understand consent management and the GDPR requirements that will apply in 2026? Can they integrate marketing data with your CRM system? Technical expertise isn’t a bonus: it’s a prerequisite for running effective digital marketing.

How to go about choosing the right partner

If you’ve recognised several of the signs above, the next step is to actually do something about it. Switching media agencies doesn’t have to be chaotic, but it does require a structured approach.

Start by defining what you need. Write down your three most important business objectives for the coming year, and describe what you expect a media agency to contribute towards achieving them. This will form the basis for your discussions with potential new partners.

Draw up a shortlist based on recommendations, case studies and relevant industry experience. Check that the agency has a proven track record with companies of a similar size and in similar sectors. Ask for references and speak to existing clients. Ask specifically about the issues that have been problematic in your current partnership.

When meeting potential agencies, pay attention to the following:

• Do they ask good questions about your business, or do they simply pitch a standard solution?
• Can they explain how they measure success, and does this align with your objectives?
• Who will be your main point of contact, and how many other clients do they have?
• Do you own your own accounts, data and creative assets?
• What technologies and tools do they use, and how do they keep up to date?

Be realistic about the timeline, too. A new agency typically needs two to three months to get properly up and running. Plan the transition so that you don’t lose momentum during a critical period. And make sure you’ve received all data, accounts and materials from the old agency before you end the collaboration.

Finally: don’t choose an agency based on price alone. The cheapest option is rarely the most profitable. Choose the partner who understands your business, who has the expertise you need, and who shows genuine commitment to your results.

If you’re looking for a partner who works as part of your team rather than just as an external supplier, it might be worth having a no-obligation chat with Mediabooster. With over 450 solutions delivered across the Nordic region and expertise ranging from AI and automation to marketing and web development, we can help you work out what your next step should be. Book a meeting to discuss how we can drive growth together.