# How long should an agency contract run?

**Short answer.** 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.

One to three years, with a review after the first year. Shorter is almost always too short, and open-ended is not freedom but a postponed conversation.

## Why not shorter than a year

A new agency does not know your brand. The first months are learning costs: questions you have answered before, a first proposal that is still off, a team that does not yet sense your sensitivities. That investment only pays back in the second year.

A six-month contract means paying those learning costs twice a year, and giving the agency no interest in investing in you.

## Why not longer than three years

After three years there is a good chance their team has turned over, your own need has shifted, and the price is no longer in line with the market without anyone noticing. A longer term without review is an invitation to sit still.

## The form that works best

**A first term of one year, renewable in one or two-year steps**, with a real review before each renewal. Not a tick box but a two-hour conversation based on the same questions you asked at the start. See [how to evaluate your agency](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoe-evalueer-ik-mijn-bureau).

**A reciprocal notice period**, usually three to six months. See [what a normal notice period is](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/normale-opzegtermijn).

**A price agreement per term.** Set when rates are reviewed and on what basis. Automatic indexation is normal and belongs in the contract; a price rise out of nowhere makes for a conversation nobody handles well.

## What to avoid

**Open-ended with no review moment.** It looks flexible and is the opposite: there is never a natural moment to open the conversation, so it only happens once someone is unhappy. And then it is no longer a review but a conflict.

**A term tied to a campaign.** Campaigns overrun, and then you negotiate an extension at the worst possible moment.

The review that should sit in front of such a renewal is what IKAg runs with COLLAB, answered on both sides. See [Agency evaluation & remuneration](https://www.ikag.be/en/agency-evaluation).

See also: [what to put in an agency contract](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wat-in-een-bureaucontract) and [how often to evaluate](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoe-vaak-evalueren).

## Related questions

- [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.
- [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.
- [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.

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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.

- All questions: https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq
- Last updated: 2026-08-19