Every agency we recommend has earned the mark.
We assess agencies against fixed criteria, the same for everyone. They’re certified one service at a time, and only on what they can document. Here’s what that means for you.
How we assess
Two steps to the mark.
Step 1 · Pass or fail
Minimum requirements
Every agency must meet all of these before we score anything. They are requirements, not points.
Clients own their data, accounts and creative work.
A contract with clear notice terms.
A clear scope and deliverables in every agreement.
A binding period of three months at most, unless there’s a good reason for longer.
At least 12 months of activity, or two current references.
No hidden subcontracting.
Step 2 · Scored from 0 to 100
The assessment
Team
Who does the work for each service, and how senior they are.
Documented results
Cases with the problem, the solution and the result.
Client lifetime
How long clients stay, and how stable the client base is.
References
Current and former clients. We call them.
Finances
Whether they can deliver over time, and whether it’s safe to pay them in advance.
75 or more, with every minimum requirement met: certified for 12 months.
The burden of proof is on the agency.
Our team makes the decision, and AI helps us process the data. An agency is judged on what it has already done, not on what it says it can do.
What certification does not cover.
We stand behind agencies with an active certification, for the services they are certified for, from the date they were certified. If you’re unsure whether an agency is certified, ask us.
Work done before the agency was certified.
Services the agency is not certified for.
The skills of subcontractors. The agency stays responsible for them.
What you get
Working with a certified agency.
Work with an agency that has earned the mark.
Tell us what you need, and we’ll find certified agencies that have done it before. Free for you.