Your First 90 Days With a Minneapolis Digital Marketing Agency: What Should Actually Happen

Signing with a new marketing agency comes with a mix of relief and nerves. Relief that someone else is taking it on. Nerves about whether it will actually work, and how long it will take to know.

The first 90 days are where that question gets answered. Not because every result shows up in three months, but because a good start makes it obvious whether you are in the right hands.

Here is what should happen in the first 90 days with a Minneapolis digital marketing agency, or any agency worth hiring.

Before day one: a clear agreement

A strong partnership starts before work begins. You should know:

• What is included each month, in writing.
• Who your main contact is and who does the work.
• How you will communicate, and how often you will meet.
• What success looks like, in business terms like leads, booked jobs, or revenue.
• That you own your accounts. Ad accounts, analytics, your website, and your domain should stay in your name.

If these are fuzzy, sort them out before kickoff. For more on choosing well, see How to Choose the Right Minnesota Digital Marketing Agency.

Days 1 to 30: listen, audit, and fix the foundation

The first month is mostly unglamorous, and that is a good sign.

Discovery

Your agency should ask a lot of questions. Who are your best customers? Which services are most profitable? What does your sales process look like after a lead comes in? What has worked before, and what has not? Which months are busy and which are slow?

Access and audits

Expect a review of everything already running: your website, Google Business Profile, ad accounts, analytics, reviews, and social channels. The goal is to find what is broken, what is wasting money, and what is working that should be protected.

Tracking setup

This is the most important step in month one. Before spending more on ads or content, the agency should make sure you can measure results:

• Conversion tracking for calls, forms, and bookings. Google Ads has a clear overview of conversion measurement, including phone calls.
• Analytics configured correctly. Google's Analytics setup guide covers the basics.
• A way to connect leads to outcomes, even a simple spreadsheet, if your CRM cannot do it automatically.

Without tracking, every decision after this is a guess. Our post on how to tell if your marketing is working explains which numbers matter.

Quick wins

Some fixes should not wait: a broken contact form, a Google Business Profile with the wrong hours, ad campaigns spending on irrelevant searches. A good agency fixes these early.

Days 31 to 60: launch and learn

With the foundation in place, the work you hired them for goes live.

Depending on your plan, that might include:

• Paid campaigns on Google or Meta, built around your highest value services.
• SEO improvements to key service pages and your Google Business Profile.
• Website updates that make it easier for visitors to call or request a quote.
• Content and social built around real projects and customer questions.
• Email to past customers and leads who have not booked yet.

Month two is a learning period. Ad platforms need data to optimize. Early SEO changes take time to register. You should see activity and early signals, but not final verdicts.

Days 61 to 90: optimize and report

By the third month, the agency should be making decisions based on real data, not assumptions.

Optimization

Expect adjustments: shifting budget toward the campaigns producing leads, pausing what is not working, refining keywords and audiences, testing new ads or landing pages, and tightening targeting to your best service areas.

A real 90 day review

At the end of month three, you should get a clear review that covers:

• Leads by source, compared to where you started.
• Cost per lead, and cost per customer where it can be measured.
• What changed and why.
• What did not work and what was learned.
• The plan for the next quarter.

If the report is full of impressions and clicks but has nothing about leads, ask for more.

What results to expect in 90 days

This depends on the channel.

Paid ads can produce leads quickly, often within the first few weeks, though performance usually improves as data builds.

SEO is slower. Fixes to your Google Business Profile and key pages can show early movement, but meaningful ranking gains often take several months. Our post on how long SEO takes to work gives realistic timelines.

Website improvements can lift conversion rates as soon as they launch, if traffic is already coming in.

The most important result at 90 days is clarity: you should know what is working, what it costs, and what comes next.

Your role in the first 90 days

The best results come from partnerships where the business stays involved. Respond to questions quickly, share feedback on leads, give access to photos and project details, and tell your agency when something changes, like a new service, a staffing shift, or a busy season coming early.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to see results from a digital marketing agency?

Paid ads can generate leads within weeks. SEO usually takes several months to show meaningful ranking improvements. Within 90 days, you should at least have reliable tracking, early results from faster channels, and a clear picture of what is working.

What should a marketing agency do in the first month?

Discovery, audits of your current marketing, tracking setup for calls and forms, and fixes to obvious problems. Month one builds the foundation that makes every later decision measurable.

What should I ask for in a 90 day marketing review?

Leads by source, cost per lead, what changed and why, what did not work, and a plan for the next quarter. The review should connect marketing activity to business results.

When should I worry that my agency is not working?

Worry if you cannot get clear answers about what was done, there is no tracking in place after the first month, reports never mention leads or cost, or nobody can explain the plan for the next quarter.

Start with a clear plan

At Evoke, we are a Minnesota agency based in Hopkins, and we start every engagement by getting tracking and fundamentals right so the results are measurable from day one. Get in touch if you want to talk about what your first 90 days could look like.