In short
Every agency will tell you it is selective. The useful version of that claim is a list of specific situations and what is suggested instead.
Here is ours. Each of these has cost us a retainer at some point, which is the only reason the list means anything.
The five
- A budget that cannot reach the marketAt a $30 click, $500 a month is sixteen clicks. We say so rather than take twelve months of retainer to demonstrate it. The suggestion is usually organic first, or a narrower market.
- No demand and no revenue pressureIf nobody searches for it and nothing is on fire, distribution is premature. The work is positioning, and that is consulting rather than campaigns.
- A guarantee requestRanking positions and lead volumes depend on competitors and algorithms we do not control. We will commit to the work, in writing, and not to the outcome.
- Claims we cannot substantiateMost often in health and finance. If the persuasive version of the copy is the unsupportable version, the campaign does not get built that way.
- An owner who wants the reporting to look a certain wayReporting that is designed backwards from a desired chart stops being reporting. This is the one that is hardest to spot at proposal stage and the most corrosive afterwards.
The easy money
The most lucrative thing an agency can sell a small business is a long content programme with no near-term accountability. It is easy to deliver, easy to report on, and can run for years without anyone establishing whether it worked.
We would rather sell a three-month paid test that answers a question. If the demand is not there, a client finds out for a few thousand pounds instead of finding out in year two.
Sources
- Educational Institution: a category where click prices do not scale down. Monastic Marketing case study. Read September 29, 2026.
- Criminal Defence Attorney: small volume, high value, correctly judged. Monastic Marketing case study. Read September 29, 2026.