How do you choose the right marketing agency that will give your business the best return on investment for your marketing and advertising budget?
Meeting with a marketing agency might feel like an interview, you only have a short amount of time to figure out if the agency is the best fit for your brand and values. Therefore, it’s important to make sure you’re asking the right questions to ensure you find the perfect fit.
Look for an agency that complements your company’s personality. A great cultural and organisation fit will go a long way to forming the foundation for success, and ensure your collaborative working relationship is efficient and enjoyable.
If you’re thinking about an agency change or hiring a new marketing partner, here are several questions you should ask and consider to make an informed decision.
What Types Of Companies Have You Worked With & In What Industries?
It’s important to learn more about the agency’s experiences and recent work in your industry. If they don’t have any, find out how they will gain the knowledge they need about your industry, competitors and goals.
Obtain details about who else the agency is working with in your industry and if there are any competitive relationships you should know about. You should be wary of any agencies that work exclusively in one industry as there may be conflicts of interest.
How Do You Handle Account Management?
Communicate your expectations from the start, this helps the agency schedule how often you’ll be meeting. Maybe you want to meet in person once a week, or your schedule and location permits you to join forces via Zoom.
You need to discuss whether you feel comfortable handing over the implementation of the strategy to the agency’s team and who to call if you have any questions or problems. You may also need to look at your own schedule and organise another member of your team that you trust to coordinate the communication if you’re too busy to collaborate on projects.
Collaboration is the key factor to an effective agency and client working relationship and it’s important that you feel confident in the experience and expertise of the people responsible for your success.
What Is The Size & Scope Of A Typical Marketing Engagement?
To have a competitive advantage, you can’t afford to waste money on a marketing agency that doesn’t deliver. It’s important that the agency understands your business and is able to relate each deliverable back to your company’s goals.
When it comes to putting a strategy together, the agency should be able to provide innovative deliverables with tactics and strategies. Understand how work will be managed, the approval process, collaborative tools used and expectations around timelines. Working on this together is a good sign that the agency has the vision to forge a long-term working relationship.
You may even like to ask the agency whether they can provide project examples and case studies that show what kinds of clients they typically work with, and their ability to turn deliverables from a strategy into results.
How Do You Measure Results?
It’s important to understand how and why the agency will be measuring the things they do, such as website traffic, social media followers and lead generation to name a few.
How they will be sharing their progress and results, and what tools and resources they use? Your chosen agency should be able to provide data with insights and recommendations and be able to communicate their industry-specific language in easy-to-understand formats.
To get a full and comprehensive view of the market, you both need to be committed to working together on long-term goals. It can take time to see substantial results, so it pays to be patient and refer back to your long-term goals if you’re not seeing a return straight away.
At Think Communications, we find that a collaborative and honest approach sets the foundations for a successful long-term relationship, whether as partners or mutual referrers.
If you’re interested in meeting with us to discuss your marketing strategy, get in touch at info@thinkcommunications.com.au
