You have three agency proposals on your desk. All three say "manufacturing experience." All three promise leads. Two want a 12-month contract. One can't tell you who will actually do the work.
This guide is for owners, VPs of sales and marketing managers at manufacturers. It gives ten questions to ask any manufacturing marketing agency: why each matters, what a good answer sounds like, and the red flags. A scorecard at the end lets you compare agencies.
One disclosure up front. We're an agency. Red Brick Web is one option, and we show up near the end. Most "best agency" lists put their author at number one. This isn't a list. We wrote it to help even if you never call us.
Table of Contents
- Why This Choice Is Harder for Manufacturers
- The 10 Questions to Ask
- A Simple Scorecard
- Where Red Brick Web Fits
- FAQ
Why This Choice Is Harder for Manufacturers
An engineer checks specs and certifications. A buyer wants a price and a lead time. The sale can take months and often ends in an RFQ, not a checkout.
And buyers do much of the sorting before they talk to you. In Kula Partners' Q1 2026 survey of 303 North American industrial buyers, 76% put at least one supplier on a shortlist before any live conversation with that supplier. (Kula is a marketing agency, and the sample is small, so treat it as a signal, not gospel.)
So your website, search presence and reviews do the first round of selling. An agency that misses that wastes your budget.
The 10 Questions to Ask
1. Have you worked with manufacturers, and can I see real case studies?
Why it matters. Industrial buyers are technical. An agency that has never written about tolerances or lead times will write fluff, and engineers spot fluff fast.
A good answer. They name clients, or describe them if an NDA applies. They explain the problem, what changed and the result that counts: qualified RFQs, calls or pipeline over a stated time. They can put you on the phone with a client. They admit where they're thin.
Red flags. Only traffic or ranking screenshots. Case studies from unrelated industries sold as proof. "We work with every industry."
Fair note: B2B or contractor experience isn't worthless, since search and call tracking work the same way. But the agency should say so and show how it will learn your product. Read their case studies like supplier references.
2. Do you understand long sales cycles, RFQs and engineers as buyers?
Why it matters. A buyer may research for weeks, send an RFQ, and award the job months later. Ecommerce logic and last-click reporting misread that.
A good answer. They ask about your quote process, win rate and who is in the buying group. The engineer specifies, purchasing negotiates, quality approves. They plan content for each: spec sheets for engineers, cost and lead-time pages for buyers. They ask to talk to your estimator. They set honest timing: paid search can move in weeks, SEO takes months. That's how good manufacturing SEO starts.
Red flags. Talk of going viral or "brand awareness." Promises of leads in 30 days from SEO alone. No questions about your sales process.
3. What will you measure, and how often will you report?
Why it matters. Traffic pays no bills. One qualified RFQ can be worth more than a thousand visits, and a form fill from a student isn't a lead.
A good answer. They report on qualified RFQs, calls and drawing uploads. That means CallRail-style call tracking with numbers by source and recordings you can hear, plus form and upload tracking in GA4. Ideally it means CRM attribution, so each lead can be followed to a quote and a closed job. They define "qualified" with you. Reports come monthly, in plain language, with a call to walk through them. Rankings and traffic are context, not the headline.
Red flags. Reports that are only rankings and impressions. No call tracking. "We can't connect to your CRM," with no fallback. (A monthly list of RFQ outcomes from your sales team works.) Dashboards you can't access.
4. Do you do SEO, PPC and web together?
Why it matters. PPC data shows which search terms bring RFQs, and SEO can build pages for them. A site that doesn't convert wastes both. With three vendors, each blames the others.
A good answer. One plan, one set of numbers. They explain when to start with paid search (you need RFQs sooner), with SEO services (it compounds) or with a rebuild (the site is slow or outdated). They say what they don't do. And they can show how PPC management feeds the rest.
Red flags. An SEO-only shop running your ads on the side. A web designer who "does SEO" by installing a plugin. One bundle with no way to see what each part does. PPC budget spent mostly on your own brand name, which you'd get anyway.
5. What would you change on my website to get more RFQs?
Why it matters. Traffic only helps if the site converts. A good agency looks at yours before the pitch.
A good answer. Specific fixes. Certifications you actually hold (ISO 9001, AS9100, ITAR registration, AWS) near the top, because buyers look for proof first. In Kula's survey, 29% named independent third-party validation or certification as the proof they trust most early on. A test of "Upload Your Drawing" against "Request a Quote," accepting STEP, DXF and PDF. Capability tiles instead of a 40-item equipment list. Spec sheets and CAD files without a hard form gate. They test instead of guessing.
Red flags. A redesign pitch built on looks with no mention of RFQs. Stock photos of "factories." Everything gated. No conversion tracking. Good web design starts with one test: does it get quotes?
6. How do you think about Thomasnet and directories versus owning my visibility?
Why it matters. Thomasnet and similar directories can bring real RFQs. But you rent that visibility. Prices can change, your listing sits next to competitors, and you don't control the audience. Your website, Google profile and reviews are yours.
A good answer. Balanced. "Let's look at your directory RFQs. How many were real, how many closed, what did each closed job cost? Keep it if the math works. We'll also build visibility you own."
Red flags. "Cancel Thomasnet today," without seeing numbers. Or "directories are all you need." Any agency paid by a directory when you buy a listing, and not telling you. Our complete guide to SEO for manufacturers goes deeper on this trade-off.
7. How will you get us found in AI search and ChatGPT?
Why it matters. Buyers use AI to build shortlists. In Kula's survey, 88% of buyers had used AI tools to research suppliers in the past 90 days. Among those users, 56% said AI summaries often influence which suppliers make the shortlist.
A good answer. They admit nobody controls ChatGPT and nobody can guarantee a mention. Then they describe the work. Run your buyers' real questions through ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity monthly and record who gets named. Fix pages that answer poorly. Put specs, certifications and locations in plain text, not only in PDFs. Build reviews and third-party mentions. Check that AI crawlers aren't blocked. Track AI referral traffic. Much of it overlaps with good SEO.
Red flags. "Guaranteed #1 in ChatGPT." A pricey "AI package" with fuzzy deliverables. "SEO is dead." Or the opposite: "AI search is hype."
8. What will you publish, and who will write it?
Why it matters. Engineers and buyers trust pages that answer their questions: cost, comparisons, what can go wrong. Marcus Sheridan calls this "They Ask, You Answer." Most competitors won't publish a price, so those who do stand out.
A good answer. They interview your engineers and estimators and build a list of 50+ real buyer questions. They plan cost pages (material, tolerances, volume, finish), comparisons (process A versus B, in-house versus outsourcing) and "what can go wrong" pages. A subject-matter expert reviews each piece before it goes live. If they draft with AI, ask who checks the specs.
Red flags. Generic posts like "Top 10 Trends in Manufacturing." No expert interviews. Copy-paste city pages. A refusal to publish even price ranges.
9. What are the contract terms, and who owns the website and ad accounts?
Why it matters. This question costs the most when it goes wrong. If you leave and the agency owns your site and Google Ads account, you start over. We wrote more on this in Who Actually Owns Your Marketing?
A good answer on terms. Month to month, or a short initial term (three to six months) and then month to month. SEO takes time, so a short initial term can be fair. A long lock-in with exit fees shouldn't be needed if the work is good.
A good answer on ownership. The domain is registered in your name. You have admin access to hosting and the CMS. Google Ads, GA4, Search Console, Google Business Profile and call tracking sit in accounts you own, with the agency added as a user. You keep your tracking numbers and your content. Google bills ad spend to your card directly.
Red flags. Auto-renewing 12-month terms with exit fees. A proprietary CMS you can't take with you. An agency-owned ad account. Ad spend rolled into one invoice you can't audit.
10. Who will actually do the work, and what will it cost?
Why it matters. The person who sells you may not work on your account. And pricing is where manufacturers get burned: too cheap to do anything, or too vague to compare.
A good answer on people. Names and roles. How many accounts each person handles. What's in-house and what's outsourced. A clear first 90 days. (Ours is on our process page.)
A good answer on price. A scoped quote, with management fee, one-time build and ad spend on separate lines. Some context on ranges:
- Ahrefs surveyed 439 SEO providers. SEO usually costs $250 to $10,000 per month. Most businesses (63%) spend $500 to $5,000. Agencies averaged $3,209 per month. That's all industries, not manufacturing-specific. Expect the higher end when content needs engineer interviews.
- One agency roundup says programs covering strategy, content, media and sales enablement often reach six figures a year, and ad spend can double or triple that. That's one agency's view.
Red flags. A price with no scope. A rock-bottom price. Refusal to give even a range. Setup fees for things you won't own. A hand-off to juniors after the sale.
A Simple Scorecard
Ask every agency the same ten questions. Score each answer: 2 for specific evidence, 1 for vague, 0 for a dodge. Total out of 20.
| # | Question | A 2 sounds like | Agency A | Agency B | Agency C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manufacturing proof | Named case studies with RFQ, call or pipeline results | |||
| 2 | Buyer understanding | Asked about your quote process and buying group | |||
| 3 | Measurement | Qualified RFQs, call tracking, monthly report | |||
| 4 | SEO, PPC, web together | One plan, one set of numbers | |||
| 5 | Website conversion | Specific fixes for your site | |||
| 6 | Directories | Used your data, plans to build what you own | |||
| 7 | AI search | Real process, no guarantees | |||
| 8 | Content | Expert interviews, cost and comparison pages | |||
| 9 | Contract and ownership | Short or monthly terms, you own everything | |||
| 10 | Team and price | Named team, scoped price | |||
| Total (of 20) |
Treat a 0 on question 3 or 9 as a dealbreaker, whatever the total. And trust the zeros more than the totals.
