Hiring a Marketing Agency in Türkiye as a Foreigner: What to Expect

Hiring a marketing agency in Türkiye when you don’t speak Turkish raises questions a local business owner rarely has to ask.

Who will you actually talk to? What does the monthly fee cover? What happens to your accounts if you stop?

I run a digital agency in Bursa, and we work in English with clients who don’t speak Turkish, both here and abroad. This guide is what I would want to know if I were on your side of the table.

If you haven’t yet decided which channels and language to use, start with how to market your business in Türkiye when you don’t speak Turkish. This post assumes you want help and are now comparing agencies.

What should you ask an agency before hiring it?

Ask every agency on your shortlist the same questions, in writing if possible. Then put the answers side by side. The differences tell you more than the difference in price.

Which language will we work in, and who will I actually talk to? Ask whether calls, messages and reports will all be in English, not just the first sales call. Then ask who is on the other end: the people who write your content and run your ads, or one contact who passes your messages on.

Both can work, but you should know which one you are buying. Also keep this separate from the language of your content. An agency can speak English with you and still publish in Turkish for local customers, which is its own decision, covered in Turkish or English: choosing a language for your brand in Türkiye.

What exactly is included each month? Ask for numbers: how many posts, carousels, reels and stories, and on which platforms. Ask whether ad campaign setup is included, and whether the agency shoots photos and videos or works from material you send.

Phrases like “regular posting” or “active management” can’t be measured. That means they can’t be compared either.

How many revisions do I get? A clear answer gives a number per content item or design. It also tells you when you see the content: before it is published, or after.

What do the reports look like? Ask how often you get one, which metrics it includes and whether it recommends what to change next month. Ask to see an example with client details removed.

What access do you need? You shouldn’t have to share a password. Partner access through Meta Business Suite covers your Instagram account, Facebook page and ad account, for social media management as well as ads.

Either way, the accounts should be in your name or your company’s name. When we start with a new client, one of the first things we check is who owns the Instagram account, the Facebook page and the ad account.

Whose card and whose ad account pay for the ads? The clean setup is simple: the ad account is yours, and Meta charges the budget to your own card. The agency manages the campaigns but never handles that money, and you can check what was spent in your own account at any time.

How campaigns and budgets work here is explained in our guide to Instagram and Facebook ads in Türkiye.

How long is the contract, and how do I stop? Ask about the minimum term, the notice you need to give and whether leaving costs anything. Get the exit terms in writing before you sign.

Who owns the files? Ask whether the designs, videos and texts made for you are handed over when the work ends, and in what form. Without them, your next agency starts from an empty folder.

How does agency pricing work in Türkiye?

You will usually meet two models: published monthly packages and custom quotes prepared after a call. Neither is better in itself. What matters is that the scope is written in numbers and you know what costs extra.

Published monthly packages. The price and scope are on the website, so you can compare before you talk to anyone. A package is built for a typical need, so check that it covers the platforms you actually use.

Custom quotes. The agency prices your situation after a call. This suits setups that don’t fit a package, such as several platforms or a large volume of content. Ask for the quote in the same terms a package would use: items per month, platforms, revisions and reports.

Whichever model you see, ask these questions about the price:

• Does it include VAT (in Turkish, KDV)?
• Which currency will the invoice be in?
• Is the ad budget included, or paid separately to the platform?
• Are extra platforms, shoots or extra content priced on top?
• When is payment due each month?

The VAT question matters more than it looks. For a business in Türkiye, invoices come in Turkish lira with VAT added, so a price listed without VAT is not the full amount on the invoice.

How that VAT fits into your own books is a question for your accountant (mali müşavir).

Compare scope before price. If one quote is half the price of another, check what was left out.

How do agencies in Türkiye communicate with clients?

WhatsApp groups are common. A group usually brings you together with the people working on your account, and it becomes the place for quick questions, approvals and files. Email and calls sit alongside it.

A group chat is convenient, but it works best when a few things are agreed at the start:

• Working hours. Türkiye time is GMT+3. If you are abroad, work out where your working day overlaps with the agency’s.
• Response time. Ask how soon a message gets an answer, and whether that also applies on weekends.
• Where decisions live. Quick questions suit the chat. Scope changes and anything about money are better confirmed by email, where you can find them later.
• Who approves on your side. If two partners both comment on every post, decide who has the final word.
• Holidays. Ask how public holidays affect the schedule. Ramazan Bayramı and Kurban Bayramı, the two religious holidays, move every year, so check their dates when you plan campaigns.

On our side, we reply within one business day, on weekdays between 09:00 and 18:00 Türkiye time.

What happens in the first month with a new agency?

The first month is for setup, not results. By the end of it, you should have a clear plan, working access, a smooth approval routine and a first report.

This is the usual order:

1. The first call. You explain what you sell, who buys it, how customers reach you and which language you want to reach them in.
2. The brief. The agency turns that call into a written plan: audience, content pillars, tone of voice and goals. Read it carefully, because everything after it is built on it.
3. Access and material. You give the partner access you agreed on, and send any photos and videos the content will be made from.
4. The content calendar. Before anything goes live, you see the planned dates, topics, formats and captions. This is the moment to correct direction.
5. The first content. Designs and copy come to you for approval, and revisions happen at this stage.
6. The first ads. Campaigns start from your own ad account, with the budget on your own card.
7. The first report. At the end of the month, you see what was published, whom it reached and what will change next month.

When we take over an account, we first analyze its current content performance, its competitors and the questions its audience actually searches for. The first calendar is built on that.

If you want to see what a practical content plan looks like for a foreign-owned business, read Instagram marketing in Türkiye: a practical guide for foreign business owners.

A good first month feels organized. If the calendar arrives late, content appears without your approval, or nobody can say when the first report comes, raise it straight away.

Red flags: which answers deserve a second question?

None of these automatically rules an agency out. Each one is a reason to ask one more question before you sign.

A guarantee of followers or sales. Ask what exactly is guaranteed and how it will be achieved. Ads are sold through an auction and organic reach is decided by the platform, so what an agency can honestly commit to is doing the work consistently.

If the answer involves buying followers or likes, keep in mind that fake engagement fills your account with people who will never become customers.

Ads run from an account you don’t own. Ask whose name the ad account is in and whose card pays. If the account belongs to someone else, your campaign history and audiences may not stay with you when the work ends.

The same goes for the money. If you are asked to send the ad budget to the agency, you can no longer see for yourself what was actually spent on ads.

No reports. Ask how you will know what worked. A monthly report should show the numbers and explain them: which content worked, why, and what changes next.

Unclear exit terms. Ask, “If I want to stop after three months, what happens?” A complete answer covers notice, any fee, the files and the accounts. When you do leave, remove the agency’s partner access and change any password you shared.

How long does it take to see results?

First meaningful ad data usually comes within two to three weeks. Lasting organic results on social media usually start from the third month. No agency can guarantee either.

Ads move faster because paid reach starts as soon as a campaign runs. Early numbers are not a reliable picture yet, though, so give campaigns those weeks before deciding which audience and which creative work.

Organic growth is slower. A consistent profile builds recognition over months, and the first two months lay the base for it.

A realistic way to judge the first three months:

• Month one: order. The calendar arrives on time and approvals run smoothly.
• Month two: the reports explain the ad data instead of just listing it.
• Month three: the organic trend becomes visible, and the plan has changed based on what the data showed.

If the plan in month three is the same as in month one, ask why. When you work month to month, spotting these signs early keeps the loss to a single month.

How we work with clients who don’t speak Turkish

We were founded in 2018 in Bursa, Türkiye, and work with clients across Türkiye and abroad. All meetings are online, and you can look through work we have done for brands in different sectors.

• We work in English by phone, WhatsApp and email, with a WhatsApp group that includes the people working on your content, design and ads.
• Our monthly packages cover social media management on Instagram and Meta ad management together, with no long-term commitment.
• You can stop at the end of any month with no extra fee, and all produced files are handed over.
• Every content item or design comes with two revisions, and you see the content calendar before anything is published.
• The ad budget is not part of the package: Meta charges it to your own card, on your own ad account.
• For a business in Türkiye, invoices are in Turkish lira with VAT, and we share the lira price before we start. Clients abroad see USD prices, excluding VAT.

What can you do this week?

• Write down what you sell, who buys it and how customers contact you today.
• Decide which language or languages you want to reach customers in.
• Check that your Instagram account, Facebook page and ad account are in your name and that you can log in.
• Choose two or three agencies and send each of them the questions above.
• Compare the answers on scope first, then on price.

If you’d like to go through these questions with us in English, contact us. The first exchange is free and without obligation.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to speak Turkish to work with an agency in Türkiye?

No, as long as the agency can work with you in English every day, not only on the first call. Ask who on their side you will talk to and whether reports and messages will be in English too. We work in English with clients who don’t speak Turkish, in writing — by WhatsApp and email.

Can I hire a Turkish agency if my business is outside Türkiye?

Yes. Social media and ad management run online: plans, approvals, files and reports all move through a screen. All our meetings are online, and clients abroad see our prices in USD, excluding VAT.

Should the agency open my Instagram and ad accounts for me?

The agency can help with the setup, but the accounts should be in your name or your company’s name. That way your content, ad history and audiences stay with you if you ever change agencies. When the work ends, you remove the agency’s partner access, and change any password you shared.

What should I prepare before the first call with an agency?

A few lines on what you sell, who buys it and how customers reach you today, plus links to your current accounts. Note which language or languages you want to speak to customers in. If you have photos and videos of your business, mention them, and ask whether the agency shoots content or works from your material.

Can I change the scope after we start?

Ask this before you sign, because the answer shapes how flexible the arrangement really is. With us, you can move to a larger or smaller package from the next month, and you can stop at the end of any month with no extra fee.