Working With Two Agencies: Turf and Attribution

Many Malaysian businesses end up with two agencies without ever planning it. One was hired for the website and SEO years ago. Another came in last year to run Facebook and Instagram ads. Both send monthly reports, both claim a good month, and yet sales have barely moved. Somebody is taking credit for the same customer twice.

This guide from IZI Digital Marketing is for the owner or marketing manager holding both contracts. It covers where two agencies clash, how to split the turf so they stop stepping on each other, and which attribution rule should settle arguments about who drove the sale. The short video below explains how multi-touch attribution works, which is the root of most disputes between agencies.

PART 1 · DIAGNOSE

Should You Work With Multiple Marketing Agencies at Once?

IN BRIEFYes, if each agency owns a job the other cannot touch and you have someone with time to coordinate them. No, if you are hoping two agencies will compete and push each other harder. Before adding a second one, compare what a single digital marketing agency in Malaysia could cover on its own.

Working with multiple agencies is not a problem in itself. Large brands run five or six at once. The difference is that they also employ a marketing team whose main job is to coordinate them. An SME usually has the agencies but not the coordinator, so the owner ends up refereeing. The common setups carry very different levels of risk:

If you are weighing whether a second agency is worth it at all, our comparison of a full-service vs specialist agency sets out when one broad partner beats two narrow ones.

BENCHMARK BRIEFING 1 OF 4

Where Do Two Agencies Usually Clash?

IN BRIEFMost clashes come from four places: both agencies claiming the same conversion, overlapping audiences, bidding on the same brand keywords, and edits to shared tracking. Few are about strategy. Most can be prevented in the brief, which is why a clear digital marketing RFP should name boundaries before either agency signs.

The top row matters most because it drives budget decisions. If both agencies claim the same sale, you will fund both as if each earned it. Brand keywords are a close second in cost: a paid search agency bidding on your name can look brilliant while mostly catching people your SEO would have captured anyway. Our guide on whether to bid on your own brand name helps you decide who should own that traffic.

PART 2 · DESIGN

How to Split Turf Between Two Agencies

IN BRIEFWhen working with multiple agencies, split turf by asset, not just by channel. Name the owner of every account, keyword set, audience list, landing page and tracking tag. Put that list into each agency’s contract so boundaries survive staff changes. The digital marketing contract terms guide shows where such clauses sit.

“Agency A does Google, Agency B does Meta” sounds clear. Then Agency B starts a Google Display campaign for retargeting, or Agency A edits the landing page that B’s ads point to. A turf map closes those gaps. Cover at least these five assets:

• Ad and analytics accounts: each account is owned by your company, with one named agency holding edit rights and the other on read-only access.
• Keywords and search terms: who bids on your brand name, competitor names and core service terms, and who handles SEO for the same terms.
• Audiences: who owns website visitor lists, customer lists and lookalikes, and which exclusions each agency must apply.
• Landing pages and the website: one owner for edits, with a simple request process for the other agency.
• Tracking setup: one owner for Google Tag Manager, GA4 key events and the Meta pixel. Nobody else publishes changes.

Communication needs a home too. Each agency’s account manager should know who the other one is and have a direct line to them. Our guide to what a good agency account manager looks like covers the habits that make this work.

BENCHMARK BRIEFING 2 OF 4

Why Do Both Agencies Claim the Same Sale?

IN BRIEFBecause each ad platform counts any conversion it touched, using its own rules. A customer who saw a Meta ad and later clicked a Google ad can be counted once by each platform. Add the two reports together and you get more sales than your CRM holds. Google Ads conversion tracking with GA4 is where the fix starts.

Neither agency is lying. Google explains in About data-driven attribution that its model shares credit among Google ad interactions on the path. Meta’s About Attribution Models and Attribution Settings page explains how its own windows and view-through counting work. Each platform only sees its own touchpoints, so each tells the truth about a slice and neither sees the whole path.

PART 3 · DEPLOY

Which Attribution Rule Should Settle Disputes?

IN BRIEFPick one neutral referee that neither agency controls, and agree it before the first report. For most SMEs that is GA4 for channel credit, checked against the CRM for real lead numbers. Platform reports stay useful for each agency’s own tuning. Our guide to GA4 reporting metrics that matter shows what to read.

There is no perfect attribution model, only a fair one both agencies accept in advance. Google’s Get started with attribution page notes that GA4 now offers data-driven and last-click models only, having retired first-click, linear, time-decay and position-based models in November 2023. That narrows the choice to four practical options:

Write the chosen rule into both agencies’ reporting requirements. Our guide to agency marketing reports explains how to ask for a “shared view” page in each monthly report that uses the agreed referee rather than platform numbers.

BENCHMARK BRIEFING 3 OF 4

How Much Does Double-Counting Grow Over Time?

IN BRIEFWithout shared rules, overclaiming tends to grow as both agencies build retargeting pools from the same visitors. With a turf map, exclusions and one referee, it stays small. The gap is widest where Google Ads management and Meta retargeting chase the same site visitors.

The “no rules” line climbs because retargeting pools fill up with the same people over time. Early on, each agency reaches mostly different customers. By month six, both are showing ads to your recent site visitors, and both count the resulting enquiries. The “with rules” line never reaches zero because some genuine overlap always remains, and that is fine as long as the referee handles it.

PART 4 · DRIVE

How to Manage Two Agencies Month to Month

IN BRIEFWorking with multiple agencies runs best on one calendar, one shared report view and one joint meeting a month. Give each its own service levels so you can judge them separately. Our guide to a marketing agency SLA covers what each agreement should commit to.

Five steps to run two agencies without a turf war

1. Hold a joint kick-off. Put both agencies in one meeting to agree the turf map, audience exclusions and the attribution referee, then circulate the notes in writing.
2. Share one campaign calendar. Launches, promotions and landing page changes go on one calendar both agencies can see, so offers and timing do not clash.
3. Use one shared report view. Each monthly report includes a page based on the agreed referee, showing combined leads against CRM numbers.
4. Meet together once a month. A 30-minute joint call covers overlaps, tracking changes and next month’s plans before each agency’s separate review.
5. Review turf every quarter. Update the turf map when you add a channel, a market or a new campaign type, and re-sign it with both agencies.

Budget moves are where fairness gets tested. If you shift spend from one agency’s channel to the other, base it on the referee’s numbers, not on whichever report arrived first. This is also where two channels start to work as one plan, the idea behind an omnichannel marketing approach.

BENCHMARK BRIEFING 4 OF 4

How Much of Your Time Do Two Agencies Take?

IN BRIEFRoughly double the management time of one agency when turf is unclear, with much of the extra going to disputes. Clear turf or a lead agency brings it back down. Count that time as a real cost when comparing options on the digital marketing agency pillar.

The dispute hours are the ones to eliminate. Every hour spent arguing over credit is an hour not spent on offers, pricing or sales follow-up, which usually move results more than either agency can.

THE VERDICT

Two Agencies Work When Turf and Credit Are Settled First

Working with multiple agencies is a sound choice when each one owns a distinct job, one neutral source of truth settles credit, and someone has the time to run a shared rhythm. It is a poor choice when the aim is to make agencies compete, or when both are chasing the same buyer on different platforms with no exclusions.

If the setup already feels like refereeing, you have three options: write a turf map, appoint one agency as lead, or consolidate. Our guide on when to change your marketing agency helps with the last decision. Whichever you choose, the same rule holds for SEO services, paid search or Meta ads: settle ownership and the referee before judging results.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is it a good idea to work with multiple marketing agencies?

It can be. It depends on whether each agency owns a separate job and whether you have time to coordinate them. Splits by skill or market work well; splits by channel need a written turf map and one agreed source of truth for conversions.

2. Why do my two agencies report more sales than I actually made?

Because each ad platform counts conversions it touched. How much they overlap depends on your audiences and attribution windows, but a customer who saw both agencies’ ads can be counted by each. Compare combined totals against your CRM to see the gap.

3. Who should own tracking when two agencies are involved?

One party only, ideally the one with least to gain from the numbers. That may be an in-house person, a lead agency or an independent consultant, depending on your team. Everyone else gets read access and asks before tags change.

4. Should both agencies bid on my brand name?

No. Only one should, and only if brand bidding is worth it for you. That depends on whether competitors bid on your name, so assign brand terms to one owner and have the other agency add them as negatives.

5. Should I appoint a lead agency?

Often, yes. It depends on how much coordination time you have. A lead agency that owns strategy, tracking and the shared report usually cuts your management load and ends most disputes about credit.