So you’re going to hire a marketing agency?
Hiring a marketing agency can lead to great opportunities for your company. Marketing agencies can use their connections, as well as providing expertise and resources to take the burden off your business. But, it’s an immense leap of faith, essentially, you are turning over your companies image to complete strangers. It’s all about trust and how can you be sure that your entering into a relationship that can be beneficial and honest? Well never fear, we’ve established a short guide of some things to consider when entering into a partnership with a marketing agency.
The first thing to consider is the image of the company itself. Visit their website and ask yourself a couple of questions. Does it look visually appealing? Is their brand carried in a professional and streamlined manner? Ultimately, the question you want to ask is, is this the way I would like my brand to be look? If you visit a site and red flags start to go off in your head it’s probably a good sign they’re not the agency for you. They way the agency handles it’s own marketing should be the first indicator in the kind of company you are dealing with.
Secondly, you want to look at their track record. You want to be able to see examples of the company’s work. Any established agency will have portfolios set up where you can view their clients and the work they’ve done for them. This is always a good exercise to practice as you can see if the agency is compatible with your business. If you are a small to medium-sized business and the company boasts relationships with Nike and the Home Depot, it may be a lofty ambition. Use portfolios to align yourself with an agency that can best represent you.
You can also use client testimonials to gauge the competency of the agency. Be aware, no company will use defaming testimonials on their site. Taking the extra time to try and get into contact with some of their clients can give you an analytical advantage. Send out some emails, make some phone calls and ask about your potential partner. The more research you do, the better you can understand the agency.
Another thing to consider is accountability. How many times have you involved yourself with a company only to be pushed around from person to person when you only try to get a simple confirmation or question answered. An established well oiled agency will provide you with a dedicated representative that you can remain in contact with and make decisions about propelling your brand forward.
The third thing we would like to bring to your attention is proximity. Although it seems inconsequential in this day and age with the prevalence of emails, being close to your representative and being able to talk to them in person is vital. Meeting with your rep and bouncing ideas off each other is so important when it comes to the creative process and branding. Look for marketing agencies within your area so you can have a competitive advantage.
These are some of the things to look for, if your company’s aspirations are to push your brand forward with an agency. Remember, trust is vital and look for qualified and experienced agencies who can be accountable and accessible.
These are some goods tips. I definitely look at the layout of a site first and make assumptions if they seem credible or not. Talking in person unfortunately seems like a lost art.
This information is highly relevant This information is highly relevant as I have found in the past that finding a marketing agent can be quite hard. Its process is quite similar to how my wife had found our wedding planner—it didn’t happen overnight. After many meetings and much consideration, we had finally had met the right one that was a good fit for us. This in many ways is the process of finding an agency as you’ve mentioned. I believe that with some tenacity and grit mixed with a little scrutiny one might find their perfect market agency. Thank you for the high quality information.
You know, that actually makes sense. A marketing company should operate as an example of the work it can do – if it’s not appealing on its own, something is wrong. The rest of these points are just as helpful, I will definitely use them to my advantage when it’s time for me to make that intimidating decision….
Whenever I advice a friend on whether or not they should consult with an agency, consultant or outsource the work themselves I always tell them that its a self-reflection of themselves.
They have to ask themselves the following questions:
• What are our needs?
This is important as there are many people simply clueless in marketing in general. These types of people are definitely most suited to hiring an agency as they do not have the knowledge nor the resources to adequately run a campaign. The agency should be responsible to identify the core needs of the business and be total and complete concierge until the completion of a campaign.
If they have an internal marketing department or perhaps the resources to manage their own brand but lack the strategical element than an individual consultant could be an option as well as the agency. Somebody who could just steer the ship for them and map coordinates whilst the groundwork may be covered by the internal staff.
In identifying the right supplier for these services, the easiest way is to actually call up their last 5 clients and see how the service helped them out and if it was worth it overall. Whether its a Marketing agency or a Web Design Company or an Accountant, calling up clients and seeing them relate to their own customer experience should help shape any smart business choice in choosing the right supplier.
I’ve only had one bad experience with a marketing agency. Unfortunately, one of the contractors they worked with decided to use Fiverr, and the results were disastrous. Many agencies contract out to get work completed. This isn’t necessarily a problem. You just want to make sure that their contractors are reputable as well.