The problem
You're a D2C founder, SaaS CEO, or clinic owner evaluating performance-marketing agencies. 20+ agencies have pitched you. Every one promises guaranteed ROAS. Every one shows 1-2 polished case studies. Pricing ranges from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 Lakh / month with no clear value differentiation. You know a wrong choice costs you 6-12 months. The problem is not lack of agencies - it's lack of a vetting framework.
Rs 1-5 LakhMonthly INR retainer range
65%Agencies that outsource creative to freelancers
18 moAverage client-agency relationship
40%Agencies that fail month-3 ROAS targets
The 12 criteria that separate real agencies from pre-fab shops
- 1. Vertical specialisation - 5+ public case studies in your category
- 2. Attribution infrastructure - Meta CAPI + GA4 + offline conversion imports day one
- 3. Creative in-house - 20-30 ad units / month internally, not outsourced to freelancers
- 4. Pricing transparency - INR pricing published on website
- 5. Senior lead on calls - strategist on your call, not SDR + account coordinator
- 6. Named case studies with specific numbers - AOV + ROAS + timeline
- 7. Direct client references - 3 past clients within 48 hours
- 8. Weekly reporting cadence - Loom + Slack + dashboard not quarterly slides
- 9. Honest blended vs platform ROAS - distinguishes the two
- 10. GDPR / MMC / NMC / RERA compliance posture ready day one
- 11. Zero markup on ad spend - pass-through only
- 12. Month-to-month or 6-month + 30-day termination, no 12-month lock-ins
INR pricing benchmarks for Indian D2C + B2B + services brands
- Rs 50,000-75,000 / month - freelancer or junior agency. Suitable for pre-Rs 20 Lakh / month revenue
- Rs 1-1.5 Lakh / month (Starter) - Entry agency tier. 1-2 channels + attribution + basic creative. Right for Rs 20-50 Lakh / month revenue
- Rs 1.5-3 Lakh / month (Growth) - Full multi-channel + 20-30 creative + CRO + CRM integration. Right for Rs 50 Lakh-2 Crore / month revenue
- Rs 3-5 Lakh / month (Premium) - Dedicated pod + full-funnel + marketplace + international. Right for Rs 2-5 Crore / month revenue
- Rs 5 Lakh+ / month (Enterprise) - Multi-brand or multi-city or scaled enterprise. Rs 5+ Crore / month
Ad spend separate, pass-through, zero markup. Any agency marking up ad spend 10-20% is signalling 2015-era fee structure that misaligns incentives.
Red flags that should kill a deal
- 'Guaranteed ROAS' - no reputable agency guarantees platform ROAS
- 12-month lock-in contract - healthy relationships survive on month-to-month delivery
- Mark-up on ad spend - compromises incentive to kill losing campaigns
- Case studies with no numbers - 'scaled a brand 5x' means nothing
- SDR + account coordinator sales process - should talk to senior strategist first call
- No distinction between blended + platform ROAS - signals they don't understand attribution
- Won't share references - signals weak client relationships
- Discount for faster signing - signals price-based sales, not value-based
The 15 questions to ask every agency on discovery call
- How many D2C/B2B brands in my AOV range have you scaled?
- What's your attribution rebuild day one?
- How many creative units do you ship / month at my tier?
- Name + LinkedIn of my dedicated account lead?
- Can you intro me to 3 past clients this week?
- Typical client-agency relationship length?
- How do you handle losing vs winning campaigns?
- Your markup on ad spend?
- Pricing published on your website?
- Reporting cadence + format?
- Delta between platform ROAS vs blended ROAS?
- Creative work in-house or outsourced?
- GDPR / MMC / NMC / RERA posture?
- A brand you'd fire as a client - why?
- First thing you'd do in week 1 of our engagement?
How ITD GrowthLabs stacks against the 12 criteria
We check all 12. Vertical specialisation across D2C (jewellery, skincare, fashion, beauty, wellness), SaaS, real estate, healthcare. Attribution rebuild day one. Creative in-house (20-30 units/month at Growth). INR + USD pricing published (Rs 1 Lakh / Rs 1.5-3L / Rs 3-5L / Rs 5L+). Senior lead on every call. Named references on discovery call. Weekly Loom + Slack + dashboard. Blended ROAS reporting. GDPR + MMC + NMC + RERA compliant creative library. Zero ad spend markup. Month-to-month after 6-month minimum.
Key insight
The #1 mistake Indian founders make when choosing a performance-marketing agency: hiring on polish of pitch deck instead of depth of attribution + creative + reporting infrastructure. The 12-criteria framework filters out 80% of pretenders in 30 minutes.
Ready to see what this looks like for your brand?
Book a 30-min lead-gen strategy call. We review your current ad spend + funnel + CRM live and leave you with a 90-day plan. Zero sales pitch.
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25 questions founders ask about choosing a performance marketing agency in India
How much should an Indian D2C brand doing Rs 1 Cr / month revenue spend on a performance marketing agency?
Growth tier Rs 1.5-2.5 Lakh / month retainer + Rs 25-50 Lakh / month ad spend. Below Rs 1 Lakh you get junior delivery. Above Rs 3 Lakh at this scale you're overpaying.
Is a 12-month contract reasonable?
No. Industry standard is month-to-month or 6-month + 30-day termination. 12-month lock-ins signal weak delivery confidence.
What's the difference between an agency and a freelancer at this scale?
Freelancer: 1 person, 10-20 hrs / month, Rs 25-75K. Agency: 3-6 person pod, 40-80 hrs / month, Rs 1-5 Lakh. For Rs 50 Lakh+ / month revenue brands, agency is faster + more sustainable.
Should we ask agencies to work on a performance-only / commission basis?
No. Compromises creative + attribution standards. Reputable agencies decline these engagements. Retainer + ad spend pass-through is the healthy model.
How do we evaluate case studies without specific numbers?
Ask for direct client intros. If agency can't or won't, treat case study as marketing material, not evidence. Reference calls are the only verification that matters.
Typical client retention / churn rate for good Indian agencies?
Good agencies retain 70-85% at 12 months, 55-70% at 24 months. Below 60% at 12 months signals delivery or expectation problems.
Do we need separate agencies for Meta + Google + SEO + email?
No - at Rs 50 Lakh-5 Crore / month revenue, integrated agency wins. Separate specialists make sense only at Rs 5 Crore+ / month.
How do we test agency fit before 6-month commitment?
30-day paid audit (Rs 50K-1 Lakh) that includes attribution rebuild + first-wave creative + diagnostic. Treat audit as the fit test.
What should the agency's dashboard include?
Weekly: ad spend, revenue, blended ROAS, platform ROAS, CPL, CAC, repeat. Monthly: LTV/CAC trend, cohort retention, creative performance, channel mix.
How soon should we see ROAS improvement from an agency switch?
Weeks 3-6 for CPL + platform ROAS. Month 3-6 for blended ROAS + LTV/CAC. Month 6-12 for compounding (retention, SEO, email revenue). Switching agencies every 3 months prevents compounding.
What's a realistic ROAS target for my brand?
Depends on AOV + sales cycle + category. D2C brands: 3-5x blended ROAS typical. SaaS: measure in CAC payback (6-12 months is healthy). Real estate: measure in cost per qualified site visit. Jewellery / high-AOV: 3-5x with 25-50% repeat. We optimise against real LTV / CAC not platform-reported ROAS.
What's included in your retainer vs ad spend?
Retainer covers: strategy, attribution rebuild, creative production (10-30 units/month depending on tier), landing-page design + build, CRM integration, WhatsApp automation, weekly reviews, monthly QBR. Ad spend is pass-through - billed by you directly on Meta + Google. Zero markup.
How do you measure attribution across channels?
GA4 + Meta Pixel + Meta CAPI + Google Enhanced Conversions + CRM-based offline conversion imports. For B2B long-cycle: HubSpot/Salesforce pipeline value as the conversion event. Multi-touch attribution via UTM + first-party cookie + CRM-based imports back to Meta + Google + LinkedIn.
Do you work with early-stage brands or only established ones?
Both. Our Starter tier is specifically built for pre-$50K/mo revenue brands and new launches. We've taken many brands from pre-launch to Rs 1-2 Cr monthly revenue. First-paid-spend playbook + attribution + CRM is designed to compound from day one.
What makes ITD GrowthLabs different from other agencies?
We're a tech + marketing studio. We rebuild attribution end-to-end, write production code, run performance ads, build the WhatsApp / email CRM, ship the mobile app - all under one engagement. Agencies hand you a deck; we hand you a working revenue system.
Do you handle creative + ad production in-house?
Yes. We produce 20-30 creative units/month at Growth tier (10-15 at Starter). UGC-style video, static + carousel, Reels + TikTok shorts, native-feeling creator content. Creative velocity is the single biggest CPL/CAC lever in month 1-6.
Can you work remotely with US / UK / GCC clients?
Yes. For international clients we align account management + QBRs to local timezone (EST/PST/GMT/GST). Slack-first communication, weekly ROAS reviews on Zoom, monthly on-camera QBRs. Active clients across New York, LA, London, Dublin, Dubai.
Which industries do you specialise in?
D2C brands (jewellery, skincare, fashion, food, wellness, beauty), SaaS + AI software, real estate (developers + brokers), healthcare (NMC-compliant), logistics, fintech, B2B services + manufacturing. We also run international engagements across US + UK + Ireland + GCC.
How much does performance marketing + lead generation cost in 2026?
Three USD tiers for international + three INR tiers for India. International: Starter $1,500/mo, Growth $3,500/mo, Scale $7,500+/mo. India: Starter Rs 1 Lakh/mo, Growth Rs 1.5-3 Lakh/mo, Enterprise Rs 3 Lakh+/mo. Ad spend is pass-through, zero markup.
Can you share named references?
Yes, under NDA on a 30-min discovery call. Most of our clients prefer confidentiality publicly but are happy to take direct reference calls with serious prospects. We share 3-5 named clients in your category + revenue bracket on the call.
How do you handle compliance (GDPR, CCPA, FTC, ASCI, MMC, NMC)?
For every market we operate in, we follow local advertising rules. GDPR + ICO for UK/EU, CCPA for California, FTC Endorsement Guides for US, ASCI for India, MMC + NMC + DCI for medical practices. Compliance-safe creative library + pre-approval workflow + audit trail.
Do you handle landing pages + CRO as part of the engagement?
Yes. We design + ship conversion-tuned landing pages per campaign angle, A/B test headlines + hero + offer, and iterate against actual conversion data (not vanity CTR). Design + copy + build in-house, no vendor hand-off.
What's your typical engagement duration?
Minimum 6 months. Most engagements run 12-24 months because compounding (LTV, subscription attach, SEO organic revenue) shows at month 6-12. Shorter engagements don't let the system compound meaningfully.
How soon will I see leads from performance marketing?
Meaningful lead flow typically starts in weeks 2-4 of a Google Search + Meta Lead Ads live campaign. Qualified leads (not just raw volume) show in weeks 3-6. Compounding (LTV, retention, SEO lift) shows at month 3-6. We publish a 90-day plan on day one so expectations are concrete.
How do we book a discovery call?
Direct via Calendly (link below) or WhatsApp us at +91-84509-78544. Zero SDR layer - you talk to a senior lead on the first call. Same business day response typical.
Still have questions? Book a free 30-min strategy call.
Senior lead on the call. We'll audit your current pipeline and share what we'd do first for your category. USD + INR pricing published openly.
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