How to choose a digital marketing agency in Mumbai (a D2C brand's checklist)

Choose a digital marketing agency in Mumbai by matching its type to where your orders come from, then ask eight questions about reporting, account ownership and fees before you sign. A brand that sells mostly on Amazon, Flipkart or Meesho needs an agency that runs marketplace ad accounts. A brand that sells mainly on its own website needs one that runs Meta and Google well. Where the agency's office sits matters far less than which of those two it has done before.

Start with where your orders come from

Look at your last three months of sales and split them by source: your own website, Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho, Nykaa or other marketplaces, and offline. The biggest slice tells you which kind of agency to hire. Most agency websites in Mumbai look identical, with the same list of services, so this split is the fastest filter you have.

Four types of digital marketing agency in Mumbai

Many brands end up with two of these. That works if one partner is clearly responsible for profit per order, after ads, fees and returns.

Ask eight questions before you sign

1. Who will run my account, and can I meet them? The person in the pitch is often not the person doing the work.
2. What do you report next to ad spend? An agency that reports only clicks and ROAS is reporting its own results. Ask for profit after returns. Returns on Indian marketplaces can be a large share of orders, and the ads screen does not show them.
3. Who owns the ad accounts? You should. If the agency owns them, you lose your history when you leave.
4. What is the fee, in rupees, in writing, before the first rupee of ad spend? Ask for it worked out on your last three months of spend.
5. Is the fee a percent of ad spend, a flat fee or a revenue share? A percent of spend pays the agency more when you spend more. Ask which one you are signing.
6. What is the notice period? Ask how long you are locked in and what you get back if you leave.
7. Show me work in my category. Ask for a brand like yours, and ask which clients the agency turned down.
8. What will you not do? An agency that does everything has not chosen anything. A short list of refusals is a sign of focus.

What a fair fee looks like

Fee models differ, so compare them in rupees on your own numbers. Our model is a fixed fee of ₹25,000 plus GST a month (half our usual rate) plus 5% to 10% of marketplace revenue, set per brand, and it covers advertising on every platform you sell on. Additional services cost extra. A brand doing roughly ₹5 to 9 lakh a month on marketplaces usually pays less on a fixed monthly package of up to ₹50,000 a month, because past a certain size the revenue share costs more. Whatever agency you pick, ask for the same worked example.

Red flags in a Mumbai agency pitch

• A guaranteed ROAS or a guaranteed ranking before anyone has seen your numbers.
• No case study in your category, only a logo wall.
• The agency owns your ad accounts or your domain.
• A report with ad sales and no returns.
• A contract that locks you in for a year before you have seen one month of results.
• A pitch that names five platforms and cannot say which one your product should start on.

Does the agency need to be in Mumbai?

Only if you need people in the room: product shoots, store visits, creator meetings, a founder who wants a weekly in-person catch-up. Everything else is a screen and a call. Highprime Co works from Thane, part of the Mumbai region, and most of our clients meet us online and sell across India. If you want to meet us first, you can. See our digital marketing agency in Mumbai page for what we run and what we do not.

Where to go next

• Questions to ask an Amazon agency before hiring
• Local agency or marketplace specialist
• Our revenue share plan