How to Evaluate Whether Your PI Marketing Agency Is Actually Performing

Your agency sends the monthly report. Impressions up 18%. Cost per lead down $40. The deck looks polished. Then you check your intake numbers and realize you signed fewer cases than last quarter — at a higher all-in cost.

That gap is the problem. Most PI marketing agencies report on the metrics they control, not the metrics that determine whether the relationship is profitable for your firm. This article gives you a specific, data-based framework for separating agencies that are performing from agencies that are just presenting.

The Core Problem With Agency Reporting

Agencies measure what they can measure: impressions, reach, clicks, cost per lead. These are real inputs. They are not outcomes.

Your agency has no visibility into what happens after a lead hits your intake desk unless you share that data with them. They don't see your conversion rates, your rejection reasons, or which of their leads signed retainers. By default, their reports optimize for metrics they can access — not the ones that affect your bottom line.

The evaluation framework below changes that dynamic. You supply the downstream data. Combined with what your agency tracks, you get a complete picture.

The Four Questions That Matter

Question 1: What Is My Cost Per Signed Case From This Agency?

Start here. Add every dollar you paid the agency — management fees, ad spend, retainer, production costs — and divide by the cases you signed from their channels. That number is your cost per signed case.

Compare it to your firm's target. If your benchmark for auto accident leads is $1,800 and your agency is delivering cases at $3,200, that gap demands an explanation and a plan — not a slide deck about impressions.

If your agency can't help you calculate this number, that's diagnostic. Either they lack your downstream data (a process problem you can fix by sharing intake records) or they don't use cost per signed case as a success metric at all — which tells you exactly how they're measuring their own work.

Question 2: Is Cost Per Case Trending Up, Down, or Flat?

A single month of data is a snapshot. Six months of monthly data is a trend. Trends reveal what single months hide.

An agency producing cases at $2,100 this month but climbing from $1,600 six months ago has a problem that the current number alone doesn't expose. An agency at $2,100 trending down from $2,800 is improving — even if a competitor looks cheaper today.

Make 6-month cost-per-case trending a standing agenda item in your monthly agency review. If they can't produce it, build it yourself from your intake records.

Question 3: How Does Lead Quality Compare Across Channels?

Most agencies run multiple channels for you — paid search, social, LSA, display. Each one produces different lead quality. An agency reporting only aggregate metrics may be blending strong search performance with weak social performance in a way that obscures both.

Ask for cost per lead and — layered with your intake data — conversion rate broken out by channel. You want to know where their performance is actually coming from. It will also show whether they're concentrating spend on your strongest channels or spreading budget in ways that suit their workflow more than your case volume.

Question 4: What Changed and Why?

When performance shifts — up or down — your agency should be able to explain it. A 20% drop in case volume is significant. What your agency says when you ask about it is equally significant.

A strong agency has a specific hypothesis: “We saw a 22% drop in lead volume in March. Search impression share fell because two new competitors entered your target keywords. We're increasing bid caps on your top-converting terms and refreshing social creative. Here's what we expect in 30 days.”

A weak agency deflects: “March was tough for the whole PI market. We're monitoring it.”

Attribution of change — with a specific action plan and a timeframe — is the difference between a vendor and a partner.

Building Your Agency Scorecard

Score your agency on five dimensions every month. Use a 1–5 scale and track the composite. A falling score over 60–90 days is a signal worth acting on before it becomes a budget crisis.

1. Cost Per Signed Case vs. Target

Score 5 if cost per case is more than 10% below target. Score 3 within 10% of target. Score 1 if it's more than 20% above. This dimension carries the most weight — 30% of the composite.

2. Conversion Rate Trend

Score the 90-day trend in lead-to-case conversion from agency channels. Improving trend: 5. Flat: 3. Declining two or more consecutive months: 1. Weight this 25%.

3. Reporting Transparency

Do they provide channel-level breakdowns? Do they surface problems before you find them? Can they export data that plugs into your intake tracking? Score 5 for full transparency and proactive communication, 1 for aggregate-only and reactive. Weight 20%.

4. Strategic Value

Is your agency bringing new ideas — new channels, new creative, new targeting? Are their recommendations tied to your business goals or just to platform metrics? Score 5 for consistent proactive input, 1 for execution-only with no strategic contribution. Weight 15%.

5. Response and Communication Quality

How fast do they respond when you have a question or a problem? Are the answers substantive or generic? Does your account manager know your firm's specific situation? Score 5 for consistently strong communication, 1 for slow responses and boilerplate answers. Weight 10%.

The Benchmark Conversation

Before you fire or replace an underperforming agency, have the benchmark conversation. Share your cost-per-case targets and your intake conversion data. Make sure they understand what you're optimizing for and have everything they need to adjust strategy accordingly.

Many agency relationships underperform not because the agency is incapable, but because they're optimizing for the wrong metrics. If you've never told your agency your target cost per signed case — or shared your intake data — you haven't given them what they need to hit your goals.

Give the agency 60 days with real targets and downstream data. If cost per case doesn't improve meaningfully, the scorecard gives you a defensible case for making a change.

When the Data Says to Make a Change

These are the thresholds worth tracking:

• Cost per signed case more than 40% above target for three consecutive months, with defined targets and access to your intake data already in place.
• Conversion rate declining four or more consecutive months without a credible explanation and a concrete action plan from the agency.
• Inability to produce channel-level performance data after an explicit request.
• Scorecard composite below 2.5 for three consecutive months.

None of these are automatic termination triggers — context matters. A major algorithm shift or a new competitor in your market creates headwinds no agency can fully offset in 90 days. But each threshold should trigger a structured review and a specific improvement plan with defined milestones.

The firms that get the most from their agency relationships bring clear data, clear expectations, and regular structured reviews. Agencies perform better when they know exactly what you're measuring — and that's true whether the agency is outstanding or struggling.