Media agency client references are the last step in most agency searches, and the step most brands waste. By the time a CMO calls references, the decision is often already made, the agency has hand-picked its happiest clients, and the call becomes a polite fifteen minutes of "they're great to work with." For a luxury or high-consideration brand about to hand over a seven-figure media budget, that is a missed opportunity. A well-run reference call is the cheapest due diligence you will ever do, and the only place you hear how an agency behaves when results disappoint.
This guide covers who to ask for, the questions that separate a real partner from a strong pitch team, how to read the answers, and the mistakes that turn reference checks into a formality.
Why do media agency client references matter more than the pitch?
A pitch shows you what an agency can say. A reference shows you what it did. The people you meet in the final presentation are often not the people who will run your account, and the case studies are curated. References are the only source of evidence about the things that decide whether an engagement succeeds: who actually does the work, how problems are raised, whether the reporting is honest, and how the agency behaves when a test fails.
Trade bodies make the same point. The ANA and 4A's Guidelines for Agency Search and the 4A's agency search resources both treat reference checks as a formal stage of the process, not a courtesy. Treat them that way and you will learn more in three calls than in three rounds of presentations.
Which media agency client references should you ask for?
Do not accept the default list. Ask for references that match your situation, and ask for at least one the agency would not choose first.
| Reference type | What it tells you | How to ask for it |
|---|---|---|
| Current client in your category or a similar one | Category knowledge, relevant benchmarks | "A current client with a sales cycle over 30 days" |
| Client of similar budget | Whether you will get senior attention | "A client spending within 50% of our planned budget" |
| Client over two years | Durability, how the team changed over time | "Your longest-standing client on the media side" |
| Client that started in the last 12 months | Onboarding, first-90-day reality | "A client you onboarded this year" |
| Former client | How the agency handles exits and data handover | "A client who moved on in the last two years" |
| Platform or publisher partner | Reputation with sellers, payment behavior | "A publisher or streaming partner you buy from directly" |
The former client is the most valuable and the hardest to get. An agency that refuses outright is telling you something. One that says "we parted on good terms with X, here is their CMO's number" is telling you something else.
What questions should you ask media agency client references?
Run every call with the same structure so you can compare answers. These fifteen questions are grouped by what they test.
Questions about the team
- Who works on your account day to day, and were they in the pitch? The gap between the pitch team and the working team is the most common complaint in agency relationships.
- How often has your main contact changed, and how was the handover handled? Turnover is normal; an undocumented handover is not.
- How much senior time do you actually get each month? Ask for hours or meetings, not adjectives.
Questions about results and honesty
- What business result has the agency moved, and how do you know it was incremental? Listen for holdout tests, matchback or geo experiments, not platform-reported conversions.
- Tell me about a campaign or test that did not work. How did the agency raise it? This is the single most revealing question. Good agencies bring bad news early and with a plan.
- Has the agency ever recommended spending less? An agency paid on spend that has advised a cut has shown its incentives are aligned with yours.
- Does the reporting match what you see in your own CRM and finance data? Gaps between agency reports and internal numbers are a warning sign.
Questions about money and transparency
- Do you see platform invoices and a cost breakdown, or a blended rate? You want to hear "we see everything."
- Have there been any surprise fees or change orders? Ask how often and how large.
- Do you own your DSP seat, audiences and log-level data? See our guide to who owns the DSP seat and data when you hire an agency for why this matters at exit.
Questions about working style
- How fast do they respond when something breaks, such as a brand safety issue or a pacing error? Ask for a specific example.
- How do they handle disagreement with your team? Agencies that only agree are not adding judgment.
- What do they need from you to do their best work? This tells you how much internal effort the relationship takes.
Questions about the decision
- If you were running the search again, would you hire them? What would you change in the contract? The second half often produces the most useful answer of the call.
- What is one thing they are not good at? Every agency has a weak spot. A reference who cannot name one is either not close to the work or is being polite.
How do you read the answers from media agency client references?
Content matters, but so does delivery. Pay attention to these signals.
| Signal | Positive | Concerning |
|---|---|---|
| Specificity | Names, dates, numbers, examples | Generalities: "they're responsive," "great partner" |
| Failure story | A clear example with how it was fixed | "Nothing has ever gone wrong" |
| Team knowledge | Knows the working team by name | Only knows the founder or account director |
| Measurement | Describes holdouts, matchback, incrementality | Quotes ROAS from platform dashboards only |
| Money | Sees invoices, knows the fee model | Unsure what they pay or for what |
| Tenure | Multi-year with stable or improving scope | Recent hire, or scope shrinking |
A reference who is enthusiastic but vague is a weaker signal than one who is measured but specific. Weight the specific one. And if two references describe the same strength in the same words, that is often a sign the agency briefed them; probe with a follow-up that asks for a dated example the agency could not have scripted.
How should you run the reference call?
- Schedule 30 minutes, not 15. The useful answers come after the pleasantries.
- Have the person who will manage the agency make the call. They know what they need to hear.
- Ask for permission to follow up by email. Some references are more candid in writing.
- Do not let the agency join or brief the reference on your questions. Agencies will prepare references; you can tell by how polished the answers sound.
- Take notes on the same template for every call. Comparison is the point.
- Ask every reference the failure question. If you only ask one question, ask number 5.
What should you never ask a media agency reference?
Avoid asking a reference to share confidential performance data, budgets or contract terms. They should not, and asking puts them in an awkward position. Ask about ranges, behavior and process instead. Also avoid loaded questions. "They're good at CTV, right?" gets a yes. "Which channels do they handle best and worst?" gets an answer.
What are backchannel references, and should you use them?
Backchannel references are conversations with people the agency did not nominate: former clients you find yourself, former employees, publishers and platform reps. They are often more candid, but handle them with care.
- Former clients are the best backchannel source. A short message asking for ten minutes on their experience is usually welcome.
- Publishers and streaming partners can tell you whether an agency pays on time, buys through direct deals and treats inventory partners well. Agencies with strong private marketplace relationships tend to have good reputations on the sell side.
- Former employees give insight into culture and turnover, but discount individual grievances.
Keep backchannel conversations confidential and use them to form questions for the agency, not as verdicts. If a backchannel source raises a concern, put it to the agency directly and judge the response: a good partner will explain what happened, what changed and who can confirm it.
How do media agency client references fit into the wider review?
References confirm or challenge what you learned earlier. Use them to test specific claims from the pitch and the proposal: "they told us 70% of spend runs through private marketplace deals, is that your experience?" A structured media agency review for a luxury brand places references after the proposal and the chemistry meeting, and before contract negotiation, so anything you learn can shape terms.
References also help with questions agencies find hard to answer about themselves. If you are concerned about competing clients in your category, a reference can tell you how the agency handled that in practice. Our guide to media agency conflicts of interest lists what to ask the agency directly.
What are the most common mistakes in checking media agency references?
- Calling references after the decision. If the answer cannot change the outcome, the call is theater.
- Accepting only hand-picked current clients. Ask for a former client and a recent onboard every time.
- Asking yes-or-no questions. Open questions produce information; closed ones produce reassurance.
- Ignoring category fit. A great reference from a fast-turn ecommerce brand says little about how an agency handles a 90-day sales cycle in wealth management or private aviation.
- Skipping the money questions. References will often tell you about surprise fees that never appeared in the proposal.
- Not writing it down. Notes compared side by side reveal patterns that memory blurs.
How many media agency client references are enough?
Stillwater planning range: three to five structured calls per finalist, including at least one former client and one recent onboard, plus one or two backchannel conversations. More than that rarely adds new information. Fewer leaves you relying on the agency's choice of witnesses. For luxury and high-consideration brands, where a single quarter of poor media can set a launch or a selling season back, the four or five hours this takes is the best-returning time in the entire search.
What should references tell you about measurement?
For brands with customer lifetime values above $5,000 and long sales cycles, the most important thing a reference can confirm is that the agency measures what matters. Ask each reference how results were proven, who designed the test, and whether the agency's numbers held up when finance checked them. Agencies that rely on independent measurement partners and holdout tests will have references who can describe them in detail. See our guide to choosing a third-party measurement partner for a CTV agency for what good looks like.
Work with Stillwater Media
Stillwater Media is a selective performance media agency for luxury and high-consideration brands across private aviation, wealth management, luxury real estate, hospitality and premium consumer categories. Clients include JetLinx, W Hotels, PXG, FLY Exclusive and Financial Independence Group. We welcome reference calls, including with former clients, and we put our fee model, data ownership terms and measurement plan in writing before you sign. We take on a limited number of engagements each quarter. If you are running a search and want media agency client references you can actually learn from, apply to work with Stillwater Media.
About the author: Stillwater Media is a selective performance media agency for luxury and high-consideration brands, serving clients nationally and internationally. The team plans and buys premium CTV, programmatic, audio, DOOH and social media for brands whose customers have a lifetime value above $5,000. Signal. Strategy. Scale.
Frequently Asked Questions
What questions should you ask media agency client references?
Ask who works on the account day to day, how results were proven incremental, how the agency raised a campaign that did not work, whether it ever advised spending less, and whether there were surprise fees. Open questions about specific examples reveal more than yes-or-no questions.
How many agency references should you check?
Stillwater planning range: three to five structured calls per finalist, including at least one former client and one recent onboard. Add one or two backchannel conversations with people the agency did not nominate.
Should you ask a media agency for a former client reference?
Yes. A former client shows how the agency handles exits, data handover and disagreement, and an agency that refuses outright is giving you useful information.
What is a backchannel reference?
A backchannel reference is a conversation with someone the agency did not nominate, such as a former client, publisher partner or former employee. Use them to form questions for the agency rather than as verdicts.
When should reference checks happen in an agency search?
After the proposal and chemistry meeting and before contract negotiation. That timing lets what you learn shape contract terms instead of arriving after the decision is made.
