Most restaurant marketing pitches sound the same: local SEO, social media, "we'll get you found." The differences that actually matter don't show up in the pitch. They show up in the answers to a handful of specific questions, and a lot of owners sign a retainer without asking them.
Here are seven worth asking before you commit.
1. Do they shoot original photo and video, or lean on templates and stock content?
A guest can tell the difference between a real plate on a real table and a stock photo swapped into a template. Ask to see recent, unedited work from an actual client shoot, not a portfolio of best-case highlights.
2. Will they take on any client, or do they screen for restaurants healthy enough to actually grow from marketing?
An agency that signs anyone with a checkbook has no incentive to say no to a bad fit. A concept that's struggling for reasons marketing can't fix (food, service, location) won't grow from better photos and a faster GBP response time. An agency willing to tell you that upfront is telling you something useful about how they'll operate later.
3. Is pricing transparent, or bundled into a vague custom quote?
"It depends" is a fine first answer. A refusal to ever land on a number, even a range, after a real conversation about your business is a different problem.
4. Do they report on real outcomes, or just deliverables?
A monthly report that lists "12 posts published, 3 reels created" tells you activity happened. It doesn't tell you whether reservations, direct orders, or review counts actually moved. Ask what gets measured and how often you'll see it.
5. Who's actually doing the work?
A senior strategist who sold you on the call and a junior account manager who executes month to month are two different experiences. Neither is automatically wrong, but you should know which one you're getting before you sign, not after.
6. Do they understand Denver's specific pressures, or is this a templated national playbook?
Denver's full-service restaurant count is down and labor costs have climbed sharply since 2019. A local agency should be able to speak to that without prompting, along with the practical stuff: a $19.29 minimum wage, delivery-fee economics, and which neighborhoods are actually saturated with competitors right now.
7. What happens if it's not working?
Ask about the real commitment length and what an exit actually looks like. A month-to-month agreement after an initial term is a different risk profile than a 12-month lock-in, and you want to know which one you're signing before a slow quarter makes the answer matter.
None of these questions are a trick. A good agency will have straight answers to all seven without getting defensive. If a question makes the conversation uncomfortable, that discomfort is information too.
More on how we work: Denver restaurant marketing, or see the actual photo and video work behind the pitch on our photography and video page.