Choosing a digital marketing agency in Nepal: a buyer’s scorecard

Search for “best digital marketing agency in Nepal” and you’ll find dozens of agencies that say they’re the best. Some of them publish lists ranking themselves first. None of that helps you decide.

So this guide does something different. It gives you the questions, the red flags and a simple scorecard, so you can judge any agency on your shortlist, including us. (Yes, we’re a digital marketing agency in Nepal ourselves. We’ll show at the end how we answer the same questions, and you can score us like everyone else.)

First, decide what you actually need

Most bad agency choices start before the first meeting, when the business hasn’t decided what problem it’s paying to solve. Pick the line that sounds most like you:

If you need one thing, a specialist may be enough. If you need several things that must work together, look for an agency that builds a connected system rather than selling separate tasks.

Seven things that separate good agencies from the rest

1. They ask about your numbers before they pitch. What’s a customer worth? How many can you handle? Where do enquiries come from today? An agency that skips this is selling a package, not solving your problem.
2. They measure results in enquiries and customers. Likes, reach and followers are signals. If they’re the headline of a report, the agency is measuring what’s easy, not what matters.
3. They show proof you can check. Screenshots with dates, client names (with permission), or work you can visit. “500+ happy clients” with no names is a claim, not proof.
4. You know who does the work. The person who sells to you is often not the person who runs your account. Ask to meet whoever will.
5. Your accounts stay in your name. Website, domain, ad accounts, Google Business Profile, Analytics. If the agency owns them, leaving is painful.
6. They tell you what not to do. A good agency will sometimes say “don’t run ads yet, fix your offer first”. That costs them money, which is exactly why it’s a good sign.
7. Everything is in writing. Deliverables, fees, ad spend, reporting and how to end the contract.

15 questions to ask before you sign

About results

1. Can you show results for a business similar to mine, with dates?
2. What result do you think is realistic in three months, and why?
3. What would make this not work for my business?

About the work

4. Who exactly will work on my account, and how much of their time will I get?
5. What will you do in the first 30 days?
6. Which channels would you start with, and why those?
7. Will you build or fix the landing page, or only run the ads?

About measurement

8. How will you track enquiries from calls, WhatsApp and Messenger, not just forms?
9. What will the monthly report show? Can I see a sample?
10. How will we know if it’s working, and when will we decide?

About money and contracts

11. What’s your fee, and what’s the ad spend? Are they billed separately?
12. What’s included, and what costs extra (content, design, video, tools, VAT)?
13. How long is the contract, and how do I end it?
14. Who owns the accounts, the content and the data?
15. If I don’t have a dollar card, how will ads be paid for?

A good agency answers all fifteen without hesitating, and probably asks you some hard questions back.

Red flags

• Guaranteed results. “#1 on Google in 30 days” or “100 leads guaranteed”. Nobody controls Google or Meta. Google says it plainly in its advice on hiring an SEO: “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.”
• A price before a single question. They’re selling a package, not solving your problem.
• Reports full of reach and impressions, with no enquiries or costs per enquiry.
• Fees and ad spend mixed together, so you can’t see how much actually reached Facebook or Google.
• They own your accounts, or won’t give you admin access. Google Ads lets the owner give each person their own access level, so there’s no reason the agency should hold yours.
• Long lock-ins with no exit, especially for ads, which can be judged in two to three months.
• Proof you can’t verify: no names, no dates, no screenshots.
• Everyone gets the same plan. A clinic in Pokhara and an online store selling across Nepal need different things.

How to read a proposal

A good proposal reads like a diagnosis, not a menu. Look for:

1. What they found: specific problems in your current website, Google presence, social media or ads.
2. The goal, in numbers: enquiries, cost per enquiry, or customers, with a realistic timeline.
3. The plan, month by month: what happens first, and why.
4. Deliverables: how many pages, posts, ads or articles, written down.
5. What’s excluded: so nothing surprises you later.
6. Money: the agency fee and the ad budget, separately.
7. Reporting: what you’ll see, and how often.
8. Terms: length, notice period, and who owns what.

If a proposal is three pages of service descriptions and a price, it was written before anyone looked at your business.

What you should expect to pay

Prices vary with the services, your competition and how much work is included, so be wary of any article that gives one number for “digital marketing”. As one example, our own SEO packages cost Rs 32,000 to Rs 85,000 a month, plus VAT, with a six-month minimum because SEO needs that long to show results. Our SEO price in Nepal page shows what each one includes, so you can compare it line by line with any other quote.

Two rules hold for every service:

• Ad spend is separate from the agency fee. If an agency quotes one number for “ads”, ask how much of it actually goes to Meta or Google.
• Cheap usually means few hours. A low monthly fee isn’t a bargain if it can’t buy enough work to move anything.

Agency, freelancer or in-house?

Many growing businesses end up with a mix: an agency builds the system, and someone in-house handles replies and daily posting.

The scorecard

Score each agency on your shortlist: 0 = no, 1 = partly, 2 = clearly yes. Anything below 12 out of 20 deserves a hard second look.

How we answer these questions

Since we wrote the scorecard, it’s only fair to say how we score on it:

• We start with a free business test and audit, so we know your numbers before we suggest anything.
• We’re a new agency, so we don’t show logos or numbers we can’t back up. Every client result we publish will be dated, with screenshots and the client’s permission.
• Reports lead with enquiries, cost per enquiry and cost per customer.
• Your accounts stay in your name, and fees and ad spend are always separate. If you don’t have a dollar card, we pay Meta and Google for you and bill you in rupees.
• No lock-in longer than the work needs: SEO has a six-month minimum, because it takes that long to show results. Everything is in writing.

Score us honestly. If another agency scores higher for your situation, hire them.

The short version

• Decide what problem you’re paying to solve before you meet agencies.
• Prefer agencies that ask about your numbers, show dated proof and report enquiries, not likes.
• Ask the 15 questions, watch for the red flags, and read proposals for diagnosis, not menus.
• Keep your accounts in your name and the ad spend separate from the fee.
• Use the scorecard. Below 12 out of 20, keep looking.