# Frequently asked questions on agencies, pitches and remuneration

The questions advertisers ask IKAg about choosing an agency, running a pitch, remuneration and working together. Every question has its own page, in Dutch, French and English. Where there is a number, the source is stated.

## The question before the question

Before you go looking: do you need an agency at all, and what exactly for?

- [Do I need an agency, or can I do this myself?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/heb-ik-een-bureau-nodig): You buy three things from an agency: capacity, craft you cannot keep busy full time, and an outside view. If you need none of the three, do it yourself.
- [Freelancer, agency or in-house hire?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/freelancer-bureau-of-in-dienst): A freelancer supplies hours, an employee supplies continuity, an agency supplies a team with several crafts in it. Choose on how predictable your work is, not on what looks cheapest.
- [What does an in-house marketer cost compared to an agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/eigen-marketeer-of-bureau): Do not judge an employee on gross salary: add employer charges, holidays, tools and management time. With an agency you buy that overhead in, plus the option to stop.
- [How many marketing people does a company my size need?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoeveel-marketingmensen): No table answers this by revenue bracket, and anyone showing you one is selling something. What can be settled: which work returns every month, and which work comes in peaks.
- [When is an agency too expensive for what I need?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wanneer-is-een-bureau-te-duur): The moment you are mostly buying execution you could steer yourself. An agency is expensive for hands and sharply priced for thinking, and most dissatisfaction starts with that mix-up.
- [What can I do myself and what do I outsource?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/zelf-doen-of-uitbesteden): Keep what needs brand knowledge and returns every week. Outsource what peaks, what needs a craft you cannot keep busy, and what benefits from someone who does not know your company from the inside.

## Getting your bearings

How the Belgian agency market works, and what counts as normal in it.

- [What does an advertising agency cost in Belgium?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wat-kost-een-reclamebureau): There is no price tag, but there is a public floor: in financial year 2024 the median Belgian agency made a gross margin of about 76,000 euro per full-time equivalent. That is what an agency person-year costs.
- [What is a normal hourly rate for an agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/normaal-uurtarief-bureau): The hourly rate is the least meaningful number in a proposal: it says nothing about how many hours are in it. Two agencies at the same rate can differ eightfold on the same line.
- [What does a rebranding, a campaign or a website cost?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wat-kost-een-rebranding): Each of the three runs from a few thousand euro to six figures, and the spread comes from scope, not from the agency. So never ask for a price before you have pinned down the deliverables.
- [How many advertising agencies are there in Belgium?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoeveel-reclamebureaus-in-belgie): IKAg tracks 1.217 across Belgium and the Netherlands; in financial year 2024, 804 Belgian agencies had a gross margin above 50,000 euro. The rest are small, and the names you hear are the same thirty.
- [What types of agency are there?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/soorten-bureaus): Roughly six families: creative, media, digital, PR and communication, activation and events, and the specialists. The labels are blurring, so buy on what an agency actually does, not on what it calls itself.
- [What is the difference between a creative agency and a media agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/creatief-bureau-of-mediabureau): The creative agency invents and makes the message, the media agency buys the places it appears. They earn differently and measure differently, which is exactly why the two rarely sit under one roof.
- [Network agency or independent agency: what is the difference?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/netwerkbureau-of-onafhankelijk): A network agency hangs off an international holding and brings scale, process and international coverage; an independent decides for itself and has its owners in the building. Look at who signs, not at what is on the door.
- [How big is the average agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoe-groot-is-een-gemiddeld-bureau): Smaller than you think: the median growing agency in the Belgian market had 7.1 full-time equivalents and the median shrinking one 7.8. The agencies you know are the exception, not the average.
- [What does an agency actually earn on me?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wat-verdient-een-bureau-aan-mij): Less than most advertisers assume: in 2024 the median Belgian agency kept about 22 percent of its gross margin as EBITDA, the bottom quarter 7 percent. One in seven ran a loss.
- [What is a normal margin for an agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/normale-marge-bureau): In financial year 2024, half of Belgian agencies sat between 7 and 22 percent EBITDA on gross margin. Anything in between is ordinary, and an agency at 15 percent is neither a bargain nor an alarm.

## Searching and choosing

From a market of over a thousand agencies to a longlist that holds up.

- [How do I find a good agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoe-vind-ik-een-goed-bureau): Start from work you admire and find out who made it, not from a list on Google. Then build a longlist of about six and test them on fit, capacity and financial stability.
- [What are the best advertising agencies in Belgium?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/beste-reclamebureaus-belgie): That list does not exist, and every ranking you find measures something other than your need: awards, revenue, or who paid to be on it. The best agency is the one that fits your brief.
- [Which criteria do I use to compare agencies?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/criteria-om-bureaus-te-vergelijken): Five axes are enough: the work, the team you actually get, the fit with your sector and your way of working, the price per unit of work, and the stability of the business. Weight them before you see the first presentation.
- [How do I know whether an agency is any good?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoe-weet-ik-of-een-bureau-goed-is): Call two clients the agency did not put forward itself, and ask about the time it went wrong. A portfolio shows someone at their best; a reference shows how they work when things go badly.
- [Which agency fits my sector?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/welk-bureau-past-bij-mijn-sector): Sector experience helps with regulation and hurts distinctiveness: an agency serving five players in your market knows the rules and has already applied them five times. Search by sector in the factsheets.
- [Should I pick a big agency or a small one?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/groot-of-klein-bureau): Size does not predict quality: the rank correlation between headcount and growth is 0.003. What it does predict is whether you will work with the people you met in the pitch.
- [Do I want one agency or several?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/een-bureau-of-meerdere): One agency is simpler to steer, several give you sharper specialists. The cost of several is not in their invoices but in your time: every extra party needs coordination that someone has to do.
- [How do I know whether an agency has experience in my sector?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/ervaring-in-mijn-sector): Do not ask whether they have experience but who they served, when, and who from that team is still there. The factsheets list stated sectors and reference clients per agency, and you can browse by sector.
- [What do I ask in a first meeting with an agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/eerste-gesprek-met-een-bureau): Three questions surface the most: who works on my account day to day, what share of your revenue is your largest client, and which brief did you turn down this year. The third answer tells you the most.
- [Do I need a specialist agency for B2B, pharma, retail or public sector?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/bureau-voor-b2b-farma-retail-overheid): Only where the rules drive the work. Pharma and public sector carry their own legislation and procedures that a generalist learns at your expense; in B2B and retail you are mostly buying audience knowledge, and that can be briefed.

## Checking out an agency

You have a name. What can you find out before you call, and where does it sit?

- [What can I find out about an agency before I make contact?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wat-staat-er-op-een-factsheet): More than you think, and most of it is public: founding year, address, services, reference clients, awards, group structure and the filed annual accounts. IKAg puts that per agency on a factsheet.
- [How do I know whether an agency is financially healthy?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/is-een-bureau-financieel-gezond): Four of the five numbers you need are free at the National Bank: EBITDA margin, gross margin per employee, the three-year trend and equity. Only the share of the largest client has to be asked.
- [How big is an agency really?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoe-groot-is-dit-bureau): Count full-time equivalents from the social balance sheet, not the faces on the team page. That gap is systematically large at agencies, because freelancers and interns appear on the site but not in the filing.
- [Who owns an agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wie-is-de-eigenaar-van-een-bureau): Shareholders are not in the annual accounts, but directors and every change to them appear in the Belgian Official Gazette, free of charge. A holding above it tells you the rest.
- [Which group does an agency belong to?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/bij-welke-groep-hoort-een-bureau): More important than it sounds: two agencies competing in your pitch can hang off the same holding. It is the axis most often skipped in a selection.
- [Which clients does an agency have?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/welke-klanten-heeft-een-bureau): Stated reference clients are on the factsheet, but the questions that matter are which client left recently and which one sits in your category. That last one decides whether they may take your brief at all.
- [Does this agency still exist?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/bestaat-dit-bureau-nog): A website that is still up proves nothing. The Crossroads Bank for Enterprises says whether the company is still active, and the Gazette says whether it was absorbed, renamed or wound up.
- [Is an agency reliable to work with?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/is-een-bureau-betrouwbaar): Reliability is not a property of an agency but of a team, and teams turn over: in 2024 the median Belgian agency lost 34.6 percent of its staff. So ask who stays, not whether the agency is good.
- [How do I compare two agencies with each other?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/twee-bureaus-vergelijken): Put them side by side on the same five axes and fill those from the same source, otherwise you are comparing sales stories. Two sets of annual accounts are comparable; two presentations never are.
- [Who works at an agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wie-werkt-er-bij-een-bureau): The question that matters is not who works there but who will be on your account, and whether that person was in the pitch room. Ask for names, not job titles, and put them in writing at the start.

## Running the pitch

How many agencies, which briefing, what fee, and how to judge fairly.

- [How do I run a pitch?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoe-organiseer-ik-een-pitch): In four steps: build a longlist, hold chemistry meetings, have three agencies work up a written briefing, and decide on a scoring grid you fixed before the first presentation.
- [How many agencies do I invite to a pitch?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoeveel-bureaus-uitnodigen): In IKAg-guided processes the median is six on the longlist and three on the shortlist, and that three is remarkably tight: across twenty measured shortlists it ranged from two to four.
- [Should I run a pitch or can I award the work directly?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/pitchen-of-onderhands-gunnen): Pitch if you do not know the market, or if the assignment is big enough to justify weeks of work by three teams. If you already know the candidate and the amount is modest, a paid trial assignment is fairer and faster.
- [How do I write a good briefing?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoe-schrijf-ik-een-briefing): Write down what has to change and how you will know it worked, not what the agency should produce. A briefing that already describes the solution buys execution, not thinking.
- [What belongs in a pitch briefing?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wat-hoort-in-een-pitchbriefing): Besides the assignment: the budget, the decision criteria with their weights, who decides, the calendar, and what happens to the work shown. Leaving out the budget costs you comparability, not money.
- [Should I pay a pitch fee, and how much?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/pitchvergoeding): Yes, the moment you ask agencies to make work rather than introduce themselves. A fee never covers an agency's costs, but it does change who takes part and how seriously.
- [How long does a pitch take?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoe-lang-duurt-een-pitch): Count on two to four months from first longlist to signed contract, and longer as soon as procurement or a board joins the decision. The agencies are rarely the bottleneck.
- [What does a pitch cost me internally?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wat-kost-een-pitch-intern): More than all the pitch fees together. Add up the hours of everyone who briefs, reads, listens and decides, and with three agencies you are quickly at several man-days per person involved.
- [May I use the work from a pitch if I do not pick that agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/werk-uit-een-pitch-gebruiken): Not without an agreement: copyright stays with the maker until it is transferred in writing, and a pitch fee buys participation, not rights. Settle it in the briefing.
- [How do I judge pitch presentations fairly?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/pitchpresentaties-beoordelen): Fix the grid and the weights before the first presentation, have everyone score alone before the discussion, and only then talk. Otherwise you are measuring persuasiveness in the room, not the proposal.
- [How much work may I ask an agency to do for a pitch?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoeveel-werk-vragen-in-een-pitch): As much as you can actually assess and are willing to pay for. Ask for thinking and direction, not a finished campaign: you are buying a team for years, and you do not judge that on two weeks of execution.

## Money and contract

Remuneration models, contract terms and the clauses you argue about later.

- [Which remuneration models exist?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/vergoedingsmodellen): Five occur in practice: hourly rate, project price, fixed monthly fee, commission on media spend, and performance-related pay. Most contracts combine two of them.
- [Fee, commission or hourly rate: which do I choose?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/fee-commissie-of-uurtarief): A fixed fee when the work returns every month, a project price when it is bounded, an hourly rate only for what you cannot bound. Commission on media spend rewards volume, not effect.
- [What is value-based pricing at an agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/value-based-pricing): Paying for the effect of the work instead of the hours that went into it. It sounds fairer than it usually is: everything hangs on a measure both sides accept up front.
- [How long should an agency contract run?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/looptijd-bureaucontract): Long enough to earn back the investment in learning, short enough not to be stuck: one to three years, with a review after the first. An open-ended contract is not freedom, it is postponement.
- [What do I put in a contract with an agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wat-in-een-bureaucontract): Six things decide everything later: the scope, who works on it, how you order more, who holds the rights, how you terminate, and how handover works. The rest is boilerplate.
- [What is a normal notice period with an agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/normale-opzegtermijn): Three to six months is common, and the length should follow from how many people the agency dedicates to you. Insist on reciprocity: a notice period that binds only you is not an agreement, it is a penalty.
- [How do I keep the costs from running away?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/kosten-onder-controle-houden): Almost every overrun comes from scope that grew without anyone writing it down. Agree that every extension gets a written estimate before work starts, and the argument disappears.
- [Do I pay by the hour or by the project?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/per-uur-of-per-project): By project as soon as you can describe the scope: then the agency carries the risk of surprises and you get certainty on the amount. By the hour, you pay for uncertainty you created yourself.

## Working together and evaluating

The phase where the money is made or lost, and almost nobody measures.

- [How do I evaluate my agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoe-evalueer-ik-mijn-bureau): On three axes that move independently: expertise, process and attitude. Have both sides answer the same questions, because the gap between those answers is what the conversation should be about.
- [What is a normal satisfaction score with an agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/normale-tevredenheidsscore): Across 137 COLLAB measurements where the brand rated its agency, the median is 7.33 out of 10. Attitude scores highest (7.68) and expertise lowest (7.30), and that has held for six years.
- [My agency is not performing, now what?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/mijn-bureau-presteert-niet): First work out whether the problem is the team, the briefing or the agreements, because all three feel identical. Switching agencies only fixes the first, and costs you six months.
- [Why is the collaboration grinding?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/waarom-loopt-de-samenwerking-stroef): Usually over something small nobody said out loud: too many decision makers, briefings that start verbally, or feedback that changes direction every round. Agencies score lowest on using data and on steering timing.
- [How do I give feedback to my agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/feedback-geven-aan-je-bureau): In one voice, in writing, and against the briefing rather than against your taste. Collected feedback from five people who contradict each other is not feedback, it is a problem you are passing on.
- [How often should I evaluate my agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoe-vaak-evalueren): Formally once a year, briefly every quarter. An evaluation that only arrives once you are already unhappy is not an evaluation but an indictment, and by then the conversation is lost.
- [Is my agency too expensive?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/is-mijn-bureau-te-duur): That is not a question about rates but about how much work you get per euro. Measured on identical proposal lines across agencies, that varies by up to a factor of eight while the totals barely differ.
- [Does my agency think things are going better than I do?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/zelfbeeldkloof-bureau): Almost certainly. In nine COLLAB measurements where an agency rated both itself and its client, the agency scored itself higher nine times out of nine, by 1.4 points out of ten on average.

## Parting ways

Switching costs more than the notice letter. What to settle before you send it.

- [When should I switch agencies?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wanneer-van-bureau-wisselen): Switch when the problem is structural rather than personal: the team changed three times, every proposal needs rebriefing, or the agency has outgrown your category. Disappointment in one campaign is not a reason.
- [How do I end things with an agency properly?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/een-bureau-opzeggen): Yourself, in person, before the letter goes out, and with the reason attached. The agency world is small: how you leave decides who shows up for your next pitch.
- [What does switching agencies cost me?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wat-kost-van-bureau-wisselen): Count on half a year in which less happens: the notice period, the selection, and the time a new team needs to learn your brand. You pay that learning cost twice if you switch too early.
- [Who owns the work when we stop?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/van-wie-is-het-werk): The maker owns it, unless it was transferred to you in writing. That holds even for work you paid for in full, and it is the most expensive surprise in an agency switch.
- [How do I make sure the handover goes well?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/goede-overdracht): Ask for source files, access and running commitments while the relationship is still live, not afterwards. A handover clause costs nothing at the start and weeks after the fact.

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IKAg is the business consultant for marketing and agencies in Belgium and the Netherlands. Market figures come from the Agency Barometer, calculated on the annual accounts agencies filed with the National Bank themselves. Figures on pitches and satisfaction come from IKAg-guided processes, and are always presented as such.