How to Choose a Digital Agency in Croatia: 12 Questions to Ask Before Working Together

Choose a digital agency based on how well it understands your business goals, how clearly it explains its recommendations and whether it can deliver within your budget. Compare equivalent scopes of work, total costs, the people assigned to your project, reporting arrangements and exit terms. Before deciding, ask for written answers to the essential questions: what you will receive, who is responsible for what, how progress will be assessed and what your company will retain. The following 12 questions will help you distinguish a persuasive presentation from a proposal you can properly evaluate.

1. How will you turn our business goals into a plan?

Without a clear goal, it is difficult to judge whether a proposed activity makes sense. “More posts” describes a volume of work, but it does not explain what you want to achieve.

What to look for in the answer: questions about your customers, offering, sales process, previous results and business capacity. The agency should explain which goals it recommends, how to track them and what needs to be checked first.

For example, if you need more qualified enquiries, agree on what makes an enquiry qualified: the service requested, the target market or a genuine intention to buy.

2. Do we need a full-service agency or a specialist?

The choice depends on the scope of the task and your internal team. An agency that brings together strategy, content, design and web development may be suitable when these activities need coordinated management.

What to look for in the answer: a clear explanation of the proposed scope and a willingness to leave out unnecessary services. If you already have a marketing manager and need help with a clearly defined task, a specialist agency or independent professional may be a better fit.

The overview of Social Wizard’s services can help you identify the areas where you need support.

3. What experience do you have with a problem similar to ours?

A familiar logo in a portfolio does not reveal what the agency actually did. The specific task, approach and team’s role are more useful for your assessment.

What to look for in the answer: an example of a comparable challenge, the starting situation, the work carried out and how results were measured. Check whether the results presented reflect the work of the team proposed for your project.

Experience in your industry can help, but also consider similarities in the sales process, audience and available resources.

4. Who will actually work on our project?

The person presenting the proposal may not be the person managing your account. You should therefore understand the team’s structure and availability in advance.

What to look for in the answer: a designated point of contact, specialist roles, the involvement of external contractors and arrangements for replacing team members. Ask who makes strategic decisions and who handles day-to-day tasks.

For work targeting the Croatian market, also check who edits Croatian-language content and whether the team will need to visit your premises for meetings or production.

5. What exactly does the proposal include, and what costs extra?

The same service name can cover different types and volumes of work. “Social media management” without further detail is not enough for a meaningful comparison.

What to look for in the answer: channels, formats, content volume, revision rounds, languages, production, ad management and customer interactions. Exclusions should also be listed.

Agree on how additional work will be approved and priced. This will help prevent misunderstandings about requests that fall outside the original scope.

6. What is the total cost of the proposed plan?

The agency fee is only one part of the potential investment. The plan may require a separate budget for advertising, production, tools or website improvements.

What to look for in the answer: separate one-off and recurring costs, the media budget, how it will be paid and a clear indication of whether VAT is included. Compare costs over the same period and for the same scope.

If the budget is insufficient, ask for a narrower plan with clear priorities. Too many activities with too few resources make it harder to deliver quality work and assess its impact.

7. What will you do first, and when will we assess progress?

The start of the engagement should follow a clear sequence. Analysis, account access, measurement setup and content preparation may need to happen before campaigns launch.

What to look for in the answer: initial steps, deadlines, deliverables and dependencies on your team. Distinguish task completion dates from expectations about business results.

The agency should explain what its expectations are based on and when you will review them. Guarantees of a specific Google ranking or a predetermined number of customers warrant closer scrutiny.

8. How will you report results and recommend improvements?

A report should help you decide what to do next. A list of clicks, impressions and reactions often does not explain how the work contributes to a business goal.

What to look for in the answer: an anonymised sample report, reporting frequency, data sources and scheduled discussions about results. Agree on key performance indicators, or KPIs.

The report should connect spending, results, interpretation and recommendations. Also ask how the agency will explain measurement limitations and differences between advertising platform data and your sales records.

9. Who controls the accounts, and what rights do we receive to the materials?

Access to an advertising account and the right to use a photograph are two different matters. Both should be clarified before work begins.

What to look for in the answer: a list of accounts, administrator permissions and materials to be handed over. It is advisable for your company to retain control of its business accounts and grant the agency the access it needs.

Set out in writing the usage rights for copy, designs, photographs, videos and code, the delivery of source files and any third-party licence restrictions. Do not assume that every deliverable automatically includes all working files.

10. What do you expect from us, and how will we communicate?

Working together requires your time too. The agency may need product information, approvals and feedback from your sales team.

What to look for in the answer: a division of responsibilities, approval deadlines, a communication channel and a process for urgent situations. Decide who in your company will provide consolidated feedback.

If the engagement includes a website, the guide “Website Development: How to Prepare for Your First Meeting with an Agency” can help you prepare.

11. What happens if results fall short or priorities change?

The initial plan also relies on assumptions that need to be tested. You should understand how the team will identify problems and adjust its work.

What to look for in the answer: an analysis process, criteria for changing activities and a method for approving budget reallocations. Agree on when to assess execution and when to reconsider your offering, website or sales process.

A good answer includes evidence-based explanations and a proposed next step. Repeatedly increasing the budget without an explanation is not an adequate plan.

12. How can we end the engagement, and what will be handed over?

Exit terms are part of a properly structured agreement. A clear handover makes it easier for your internal team or another agency to continue the work.

What to look for in the answer: contract duration, notice period, renewal terms, final billing and any exit fees. Agree on the timing and scope of the handover of accounts, data, documentation and agreed materials.

Also clarify what happens to active campaigns, scheduled posts, licences and access permissions after the engagement ends.

A Checklist for Comparing Proposals

Send every agency the same brief: your goal, audience, existing activities, budget range, deadlines and internal capacity. Then check the following for each proposal:

• Goals and the method for assessing success are clearly described.
• Scope, deliverables and exclusions are set out in writing.
• Total costs can be compared over the same period.
• The team, responsibilities and approval deadlines are clear.
• Reporting and data access have been agreed.
• Account control and rights to materials are clear.
• Additional work and scope changes are defined.
• Exit and handover terms are understood.

Mark any unclear item as “clarification needed”. A lower price is not an advantage if you do not yet know what it covers.

Hypothetical example: one proposal includes only ad management, while another also includes content creation and landing page improvements. Before comparing prices, check whether you need those additional services and who would otherwise provide them.

Additional Questions Before You Decide

Does the agency need to be in our city?

That can be useful if frequent site visits or shoots are required. For remote work, check the team’s availability, coordination arrangements and travel costs.

Do we need to commit to a long-term engagement straight away?

Not necessarily. If you are still unsure about your needs, an initial assessment or a standalone project can help. However, that assignment will not demonstrate the long-term impact of all marketing activities.

Should we disclose our budget before receiving a proposal?

Share a realistic range and explain what it needs to cover. This allows the agency to propose a feasible scope and helps you assess how it sets priorities.

Should we ask for a free strategy?

To compare agencies, ask about their approach to the problem, their reasoning and the proposed framework for the work. Detailed research and an implementation strategy may be a separate paid assignment that should be clearly agreed.

If you need to align your goals, channels and budget, explore Social Wizard’s approach to digital marketing strategy. For an initial conversation, prepare an outline of your business challenge, investment range and expectations of a partner so we can assess whether the proposed way of working is right for you.