In this article
Most businesses in Pakistan hire their first marketing agency the same way: a friend recommends someone, the price sounds fair, and six months later nobody can say what the money did. The posts went out. The page looks busier. But leads, sales and footfall are where they were.
I run Digital Lineup, an agency in Multan, so I am not neutral. That is exactly why these questions are useful: they are the ones we would want a client to ask us, and the ones that expose an agency that cannot back up what it sells.
Quick answers
What should a digital marketing agency in Pakistan actually do?
At minimum: plan and design your content, run your ads, manage your pages and report results every month. A strong agency also produces its own video, builds the landing pages your ads send people to, and tells you plainly what is and is not working.
Should I own my Facebook page and ad account?
Yes, always. Your page, Business Manager, ad account and pixel should be in your name, with the agency added as a partner. If you part ways, you keep everything.
Is ad spend included in the agency fee?
Usually not, and it should not be hidden inside it. A clear setup is a monthly fee for the agency's work, with ad spend paid separately to Meta or Google, so you can see exactly where every rupee goes.
The 10 questions
1. Will I own my pages, ad accounts and pixel?
This is the first question for a reason. Some agencies run ads from their own accounts, so the data, audiences and history leave with them. Ask for your business to be the owner and the agency to be added with partner access.
2. Who actually makes the work?
Many agencies sell you a team and then outsource the design or video to freelancers. That is not always bad, but you should know. Ask who will design your posts, who will shoot your videos and who will run your ads, by name.
At Digital Lineup the answer is our own team of six in Multan: content production, media, design, project management and strategy under one roof.
3. Can you show results with numbers, not just nice posts?
A portfolio of good-looking designs proves an agency can design. It does not prove they can grow a business. Ask for numbers from real clients: followers gained, views, leads, cost per lead, sales.
Ours are on the portfolio and in Google reviews: an Apex Solar creator film with 11 million views, Solar Mandee's Facebook page grown past 150K followers in eight months, and a Perth installer who went from 9 to 135 leads a month.
4. What will you report, and how often?
You should get a monthly report you can read in two minutes: what went out, what it cost, what it produced and what changes next month. If the report is a 40-slide deck of screenshots, it is usually hiding the fact that nothing moved.
5. What happens in the first 30 days?
A good agency can describe the first month without hesitating. Ours looks like this:
The first month with an agency should look like this
Four steps. You see the work at every stage and the numbers at the end.
6. Do you shoot video yourselves?
On Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, video does most of the work. An agency that only designs static posts will struggle to grow you in 2026. Ask whether they have their own camera crew and editors, and ask to see recent reels they shot, not just edited.
7. Do you understand my market?
Pakistani audiences respond to local moments: Eid, Independence Day, Ramadan, wedding season, the first cold week of winter, load-shedding season for solar brands. An agency should plan around these months ahead, and write in the mix of Urdu and English your customers actually use.
8. Is ad spend separate from your fee?
Ask for the fee and the ad budget as two separate numbers. If an agency bundles them, you cannot tell how much went to Meta and how much went to the agency.
9. Is there a lock-in contract?
Long lock-ins protect the agency, not you. A confident agency is happy to work month to month, or with a short trial, and earn the next month.
10. Can I speak to a current client?
Reviews help, and real conversations help more. Ask for a client in a similar business and call them. Client retention is the number we track most closely, because it is the hardest one to fake.
Red flags to walk away from
- Guaranteed followers or likes. Real growth cannot be guaranteed, and bought followers damage your page.
- No ownership of your accounts. If they will not add you as owner, do not start.
- Twelve services, all average. Most agencies that sell everything are good at two things. Ask which two.
- No numbers in the portfolio. Pretty posts without results are a design portfolio, not a marketing one.
- Pressure to sign today. Good agencies have a waiting list, not a countdown.
A simple way to decide
Shortlist three agencies. Send each the same brief. Compare who asked the best questions back, who showed real numbers, and who explained the first month clearly. Price matters, but the cheapest agency that does not move your numbers is the most expensive one.
If you are in Multan, you are welcome to visit our studio for chai and see the work on our screens before you decide. If you are anywhere else, a call works just as well.
Want this for your brand?
Video, brand identity, Meta ads and social media, made in-house by our team in Multan. Tell us what you are building.
Founder of Digital Lineup, a content production and digital marketing agency in Multan, Pakistan. Four years of brand films, Meta ads, identities and social media for brands in Pakistan and Australia.
