Shortlisting an e-commerce ads agency: the checklist for your pitch call

You do not pick an ads agency on a pretty deck, but on case depth and creative capability. Ask about accounts that look like your scale, about how they produce creative and about who you actually talk to later. This is how you build a shortlist that survives the pitch call.

You best shortlist an e-commerce ads agency on two things: case depth and creative capability. A pretty deck proves they can present, not that they can grow your account. The question that really matters is whether they have run accounts that resemble your scale, margin and market, and whether they can produce the creative that scaling demands. This article gives you the checklist to bring to the pitch call, so you pick the party that performs instead of the party that talks best.

Why is a pretty deck not proof?

Every agency has a tight story and a deck full of logos. That tells you how well they sell, not how well they buy media. The question you ask is not "show me results" but "show me an account that resembles mine". A case from a brand with a three hundred euro average order value says little about your store with a fifty euro order value, because the economics are completely different. Keep asking until you see an account that resembles you in revenue, margin and stage. If there is none, you know enough for this phase.

How do you test case depth in one conversation?

Case depth means an agency knows not only the end result but also the path to it. Ask about an account that started around fifteen to twenty thousand euros per month and grew toward one hundred fifty to two hundred thousand. Then ask what broke along the way and how they solved it. A shallow party names only the ROAS figure. A deep party tells you which angle was the breakthrough, which audience saturated and which month disappointed. That honesty about the path is the best signal that they truly did it, rather than just showing a favourable graph.

What questions do you ask about creative production?

Scaling is a creative game. The agency that makes only a few ads per month stalls the moment your budget goes up, because then you buy frequency instead of growth. So ask how many angles they test per month, how those angles come to be and where the raw material comes from. You want to hear that they mine angles from reviews, support and customer language, and that they test in volume before they scale. For us the through line from 15,000+ creatives for 65+ brands is always the same: you find winners by testing early and often, not by polishing one perfect video.

• Ask how many new angles the agency tests per month and how they define a winner.
• Ask where the angles come from: from customer research and reviews, or from copying competitors.
• Ask how a winning static or video translates into the next round of variations and iterations.
• Ask whether they can produce in multiple languages if international growth is on your roadmap.

Who actually works on your account later?

The pitch often features the most experienced person at the agency. The question is who sits on your account day to day afterwards. Ask for the name, the experience and the number of accounts that person manages. Also ask how often you speak to them and through which channel. An agency that pairs you with a junior handling thirty accounts delivers something different from an agency where an experienced buyer runs a handful of brands. This is not a detail, because the quality of your account hangs on the person who looks at it every week, not on the person who closes the deal.

Pick the party that is honest about what does not yet work, not the one that paints everything rosy.

Which answer is a green flag?

The strongest signal in a pitch call is honesty about your account. Ask an agency, based on what they saw in a short bit of prep, to name what is not right at the moment. A weak party says everything looks fine and that they will just take it over. A strong party names a concrete problem: your creative volume is too low, your account structure is fragmented, or your tracking is missing signal. That directness predicts how they work with you when things go sideways. You want a partner who tells you the truth, even when it is uncomfortable, because that is exactly what you need to grow.

Conclusion

You build a good shortlist on case depth and creative capability, not on the prettiest deck. Ask about accounts that resemble you, about how they produce creative, about who really works on your account and about what they think is not yet right. The party that answers that clearly and honestly is the party that takes you further. Want to tackle choosing the right ads agency and make sure your creative engine can handle the growth? Book a call and we will gladly look at your situation with you.