There are a lot of great agencies out there. And there are also many bad ones.
So how do you know what you’re really getting when you sign on with a new agency?
Whether you are a large or small company, you have a set budget, a set amount of resources, and a set amount of time to do it. Often times you need to rely on a team of partners who can help ensure you’ve spent your budget effectively and are getting the most out of it. Research, gut feeling, and experience aside, since the onus is on you, it’s important to make sure you have the right team working with you.
So what I thought would be helpful is to share some of my knowledge related to choosing the right marketing partner agency to help you in those times when you have questions or need to outsource your entire project to an agency.
Tricky question #1: Who will actually work on my account?
Well, that depends. Some agencies have a hierarchical process structure that requires a single point of contact between the client and the agency itself. It makes life easier at the agency end. From the customer’s perspective, you should ideally have direct access (phone, email, etc.) to everyone who works on your account. This includes everyone from the production artist to the person ultimately responsible for your business (typically an account executive or agency director). Ultimately though, those overheads can cost you time and money, which can make smaller projects more expensive.
My personal preference is to work with agencies that have a higher ranking person connected to my account. One who knows the ins and outs of getting things done or is even doing the project himself. It’s like when I go to a restaurant and order my food. I want a waitress who will listen, identify the costs of cart items that may or may not be needed, and know that special orders take longer or cost more. The same works for an agency. What has generally worked for me is working with a smaller agency where you have access to more senior staff, or making sure you have an experienced account executive who understands your processes, your business, and your own company’s cost structure (not ala cart). , surprise bills).
Tough Question #2: How will the agency measure marketing success?
That’s an easy question to answer, but only if you do. There are many ways to track results through software and systems… quality of campaign responses, number of new customers, media coverage, internet conversions, web traffic, email clicks, etc. . But, the first question to ask yourself is, what is most important to me as a customer, and what is important to my “boss”?
Before moving forward with a project, ask yourself what is most important to measure and then what results would be appropriate to justify the time and cost involved. However, be realistic and view your marketing agency as a partner, not a vendor. For example, you may have a goal of generating 100 qualified leads, but only have a limited budget, a small market, or don’t have the sales resources to follow up on the leads generated. This is also why an experienced account manager and marketing team are essential. They help you set your goals so you can meet them as a team. Once you’ve established your goals and objectives, you can create a plan to address the cause-and-effect relationship between your marketing program and your results. Lastly, I cannot stress enough that you communicate these frequently to your sales team, executives, and marketing partners, as each one will play a role in your success.
Tough question #3: Should I market to sell or market to educate?
Let me answer this question with a question. Do you like the pressure of sales? I do not. If you are looking to build a long-term relationship with a customer, then without a doubt, the best method to use is education-based marketing. People are tired of selling and the pressure of sales. Trust needs to be built. You do this by showing that you are a leader in your field and that you have solved the problem of others who are similar to them. Potential customers want information and advice, which is the foundation of education-based marketing. And until business owners figure out what customers want—and give it to them—many companies will continue to get a poor response to their marketing.
Look for multiple techniques to get your message across. Training videos on YouTube may work for some clients, while white papers on the same topic, delivered via email, may work better for others. Today, common educational techniques include blogs, white papers, case studies, articles, and videos…and most can be produced at fairly low cost. Just make sure you give people what they want in the medium they want it in.
When looking for marketing support, look for people who specialize in education as well as sales. It will help your reputation, your relationship and your SEO results.
Tough question #4: How will I be billed for services: on an hourly rate, project rate, or down payment?
A project can take 10 minutes or 10 weeks. That being the case, if you were to charge clients by the hour, you would need to know exactly how long the project will take and that there would be no surprises. An hourly rate means that you will be billed for exactly the time it takes me to do the job.
In the end, some agencies have to charge for the extra time, so they have to make it up in other areas. I’m not that big of a fan of an hourly rate because
- #1, different skill sets have different rates (i.e. a production artist will not be billed the same rate as a creative director),
- #2, I have to keep track of hours tied to specific projects. An administrative hassle.
Now, of course, for larger agencies, clients may have the advantage that clients can selectively pass over higher-level employees for those with a lower billing rate, but you don’t want to ask an artist from production on the overall marketing strategy.
For small projects, please request to be billed in increments of less than 1 hour. For larger projects, many smaller clients like to receive quotes per project. Together we develop the plan, I provide a quote, and then the project is completed and paid for in stages. It’s a good balance when you want to assess an agency’s performance and build a long-term working relationship between the client and the agency. However, it does mean that the agency is less likely to negotiate the terms of a deal as the long-term relationship may be uncertain.
As an agency owner, I personally prefer a down payment. Why? Because it allows me to assign costs and hours properly. And for the client, you can count on me for X number of hours allotted to them. This allows some room for negotiation with both parties. For example, when using a retainer, my discussion with the client would be that I would normally charge X for this amount of work, but in the interest of developing a long-term relationship, I would charge X minus Y%. Also, in the interest of fairness, I wouldn’t object if the amount of work in a given month went a bit overboard (and I wouldn’t expect the client to complain if a month was a bit light. In the end, it works even.
An alternative in the way that I offer projects compared to other agencies is that I add my services to larger projects with a set price structure. This allows the client to take advantage of a retention model (a set of integrated, low-cost deliverables) with a fixed price to complete the project.
The harsh conclusion
There are a lot of great agencies out there. And there are also many bad ones. Making the decision about which ones to use can be a long and laborious process without guidance or experience. Remember that taking the time to select the right agency and get answers to the right questions is key to your success. Hopefully this article helps a bit.
If you don’t agree with me, that’s fine. Anyway, I want to hear from you. Are these the hard questions you would ask?