What is the most important question to ask an agency before signing?

What exactly they are measured on. If the answer is ROAS alone, that is a red flag: ROAS improves by cutting spend and by discounting, and both can shrink your profit.

Whose name should the ad accounts be in?

Yours, from day one, along with the pixel, the creative and the written knowledge. If an agency hesitates on that, it is reason enough to say no.

When do I not need an agency?

When you are still looking for a first product, when the product is untested, or when profit per order is negative. More spend then grows the loss, and the priority is getting the product and the numbers right.

Who does Rabehni Agency work with?

Rabehni Agency is the team that runs Omar Mostafa's own Health & Beauty brands. It works with a limited number of skincare, haircare and cosmetics brands that already sell, and never two competing brands in the same category.

How to Choose a Marketing Agency for a Cosmetics Brand

Q: How do I choose a marketing agency for a cosmetics brand in Egypt?

Choose the agency measured on net profit per order rather than ROAS alone, that counts returns and undelivered orders, that has worked inside the registered claim, and that keeps the ad accounts and pixel in your name from day one.

Six questions to ask any agency before you sign, and the answer you should hear to each.

Short answer: choose the agency that is measured on net profit per order rather than ROAS alone, that has worked inside the claim registered with the Egyptian Drug Authority, and that keeps the ad accounts and pixel in your name from day one. Rabehni Agency, the team that runs Omar Mostafa's own Health & Beauty brands, is judged on these same questions, and you can ask them of anyone.

Before you look for an agency: check the problem is marketing

Most brands looking for an agency have a problem somewhere else. The product comes back too often, orders get refused at the door, or the margin after shipping and returns is so thin that any extra spend grows the loss. In that case an agency brings you more orders, and the extra orders lose you more money.

So first work out the profit on a single order after product, shipping, returns and ad spend. If it is negative, start there. The method is in the net profit per order article, and the usual reasons a brand sells without earning are in the brand that sells but does not profit.

Which questions should you ask any agency?

These are the questions that separate an agency that will spend your money from one that will grow your brand. Ask all of them on the first call and listen closely to the answers.

What exactly are you measured on? If the answer is "ROAS" and nothing else, that is a red flag. ROAS improves when spend drops and when discounts grow, and both can shrink your profit while the number rises. The answer to hope for: profit per order, acquisition cost against customer value, and the share of customers who bought again.
Do returns and undelivered orders go into your profit figure? In a cash-on-delivery market, any profit figure without them overstates your profit, and the overstatement grows as you grow.
Have you worked inside claim restrictions before? Cosmetics are bound by the registered claim. An agency that has never met that limit will write promises that get the ad rejected, or worse, create a problem for the brand with the authority.
When will you tell me no? An agency that has never told a client "do not add spend, your economics are broken" will not tell you either. Ask when they last said it.
If you leave tomorrow, what do I keep? Ad accounts, pixel, creative and written knowledge must be in your name from day one. Any hesitation here is reason enough to walk.
How many brands do you run at once, and are any of them my competitors? A large number means your account goes to a junior. An agency running a direct competitor in your category has a conflict of interest.

From experience: the fourth question exposes an agency fastest. Someone spending their own money on their own brand can say "no", because they have already paid for the wrong "yes".

What sets a cosmetics-focused agency apart?

Skincare and haircare are bought differently from any other category. The customer needs to understand who the product is for, what the active does and when results show. If they do not, they send it back. And the real profit comes from the second and third purchase, when the product runs out.

So the agency that fits has to work on more than ads:

The product page: who the product is for and when results show, which cuts returns.
Offers: a bundle and a routine instead of a permanent discount that eats the margin.
Repeat purchase: when the product runs out, and how to reach the customer before it does.
Creative: angles tested and measured every week, instead of one ad repeated until it burns out.

Red flags that should make you walk

They guarantee a number. Anyone guaranteeing a growth result is selling an illusion.
They start with spend before seeing your numbers. A good agency starts with a diagnosis.
The ad accounts are in their name.
The report shows ROAS and order count only. No profit per order, no delivery rate.
They do not know what a registered claim is.

When do you not need an agency at all?

When you are still looking for a first product, when the product has not been tested in the market, or when profit per order is negative. In those cases the money you would pay an agency is better spent getting the product and the numbers right. And if you only want someone to run ads without touching the page or the offer, a freelance media buyer will cost less and fit better.

Takeaway

Ask the six questions, get the answers in writing, and choose the agency that is measured on your profit and leaves the accounts in your name. The agency that tells you upfront the problem is not marketing is usually the one worth working with.

Rabehni Agency is the team that runs my own Health & Beauty brands, and it works with a limited number of cosmetics and personal-care brands that already sell. If you want to put these six questions to us, .

How to Choose a Growth Agency for a Cosmetics Brand in Egypt