Common Issues with Growth Marketing Agencies - How to Spot and Fix Them

Why common issues with growth marketing agencies matter for revenue

When a growth marketing engagement stalls, the impact is rarely just lower traffic - it shows up in higher customer acquisition cost (CAC), weaker lifetime value (LTV), and muddled attribution. This guide breaks down the recurring failures we see with growth marketing agencies, explains why they hurt profitability for US eCommerce and B2B businesses, and points to practical diagnostics you can run quickly.

Top recurring problems

• Poor tracking and attribution: missing server-side events, incomplete GA4 setups, and reliance on platform-reported conversions.
• Misaligned incentives: agencies optimising for clicks or platform metrics instead of profitable orders and retention.
• Shallow channel strategy: tactical ad spend changes without funnel or creative testing frameworks.
• Execution gaps: long implementation delays, insufficient QA, and lack of ongoing optimisation resources.
• Data quality problems: fragmented data pipelines, duplicate events, and unvalidated ETL processes.

Problem: Poor attribution and tracking

An agency that cannot demonstrate clean attribution will struggle to show true revenue impact. In the US eCommerce ecosystem (Shopify, Stripe, Klaviyo), missing server-side events and misconfigured GA4 can undercount orders by an estimated 10-40% depending on cookie consent and browser restrictions. A simple diagnostic is to compare orders attributed in the ad platform, GA4, and your commerce platform's raw order exports for the same date range.

Quick conversion-tracking diagram

Run this simple check to visualise where events can drop:

User → Ad Click → Landing Page → Client-side GA4 → Server-side GTM → Commerce Platform (Shopify)

If events are missing at the server-side GTM stage, platform-reported conversions will diverge from order data. For remediation steps and service scopes, see Prebo Digital services overview which outlines GA4, server-side tracking, and ETL capabilities.

Problem: Misaligned incentives and vanity metrics

Many growth agencies report on impressions, clicks, and platform-reported conversions that don't adjust for returns, refunds, or blended channel effects. That makes ROAS look good while margin and MER (Marketing Efficiency Ratio) deteriorate. Ask for profit-focused KPIs, blended MER, and a description of how they attribute multi-touch funnels.

Problem: Strategy without systems

Tactical campaign changes without a formal test-and-learn framework cause noisy datasets and non-actionable results. Growth should be systemized: strategy → build → test → scale → report. Teams that skip one step (often test) will scale failing tactics. Review an agency's playbook and request examples of test plans and sample hypothesis logs to validate rigor.

For background on Prebo Digital's approach to structured growth systems and how strategy maps to technical implementation, see About Prebo Digital.

How to diagnose and remediate agency failures

A practical audit checklist

• Compare orders: Ads platform vs GA4 vs Shopify raw exports for a two-week period.
• Check server-side tracking: is server-side GTM forwarding purchase events with order IDs?
• Review attribution windows and cross-device handling used by the agency.
• Inspect the test cadence: are there documented hypotheses, sample sizes, and significance thresholds?
• Validate crew allocation: named roles, hours per week, and tooling access for CRO/creative/data engineering.

Common fixes and estimated effort (US scenarios)

Funnel breakdown and where agencies often fail

Map your funnel: TOF (awareness) → MOF (consideration) → BOF (conversion). Common agency failures by stage:

• TOF: Overinvesting in reach without qualification metrics.
• MOF: Weak creative sequencing and poor email/retargeting timing.
• BOF: Checkout friction and untracked post-purchase revenue leaks.

Evaluating an agency: specific questions to ask

• How do you reconcile ad platform conversions with server-side order data?
• Can you share a recent test plan and the decision logic used to scale or kill a test?
• What personnel will work on our account and how many hours per week are committed?
• What does the onboarding technical checklist include (access, tags, server setup)?

If you want a realistic view of a structured growth engagement and deliverables, explore how a systems-first retainers map to long-term profitability and reporting. See our overview of core services and technical specialisms at Prebo Digital services overview and learn how clean attribution and GA4 work are scoped in practice.

When to replace vs recalibrate an agency

Recalibrate when the agency is transparent about diagnostics, commits to a 30-60 day reconciliation and testing plan, and assigns senior resources. Consider replacing when there is persistent resistance to server-side tracking, no testing discipline, or no named personnel accountability. For insight into our team model and experience working with scaling brands, see About Prebo Digital.

Next steps for founders and growth leaders

Run the audit checklist, prioritise server-side tracking and an ETL-backed single source of truth, and insist on profit-focused KPIs (MER, CAC, LTV). For a structured example of how an initial audit and remediation might be scoped, review our technical and performance offerings at Prebo Digital homepage.

Sources

• Google Analytics 4 developer guides - Google
• Analytics and reporting - Shopify Help Center
• California Consumer Privacy (CCPA) overview - FTC
• Agency relationship best practices - HubSpot

Explore the framework above, run the reconciliation checks, and see a real-world example of a tracking-first remediation to restore accurate revenue attribution.