Ok. So it's time to hire an agency... your business is growing and your internal marketing team needs more specialized work such as video work or paid media. Working with an agency can seem like a daunting experience... but it can also be exactly what your business needs to jump ahead in growth. Working with a dedicated marketing agency has many benefits, but it does require some prep work in knowing what to expect, how to communicate, and how to build collaboration and trust.
If you've never worked with a marketing or creative agency, this blog is for you! Or if you have before, that's good too, and this blog will help you to engage your marketing agency with the right expectations! Here is a checklist of items for you to consider when working with an agency!
Before working with any marketing agency, the first question you must ask yourself is "why work with an agency?" For some people, outsourcing to an agency saves them time, stress, a salary, and improves quality of work.
For others, a fractional agency allows them to focus on the bigger strategy of sales and marketing and not the deliverables. Others may hire an agency for higher quality work such as graphic design, video, or website development. And for some, an agency can provide relief and acceleration to your seasonal marketing or advertising campaigns beyond marketing the day to day. Many agencies specialize in design or production capabilities that are far beyond what a normal marketing director or specialist role can accomplish. From the start you need to be clear on why working with an agency is your priority and what your reasons are for coming to the table.
Pro Tip: Remember that hiring an agency can multiply your effectiveness and time if you're willing to trust. Letting go of some control over your marketing is key to your success! Listing out your reasons for hiring a marketing agency will hold you accountable to letting go and trusting when you don't feel like it!
Next, you need to define what success looks like. If working with the agency goes well, what does winning look like in 3, 6, 9, and 12 months? What revenue, clicks, video views, followers, products purchased, appointments booked will make you say "that was awesome!"? Once you have this written down, it's time to talk about it with your agency. Make it clear that you're looking for return on investment... and if they are doing their job correctly, they will design the scope of work, deliverables, timeline, and goals to match your vision and growth goals.
You also need to think about what a win looks like aside from pure marketing. Is a win greater team unity? A clarified message and mission? Is it reconnecting with your customer? Is it gaining more brand awareness or an improved reputation? Success is not always a tangible bottom line item but an internal win.
Pro Tip: Present your list of expectations, goals or success metrics in writing to the agency so they can understand your mission and design the strategy around your goals. If you have a sales or revenue goal, bring that to the table as that can determine the right budget and expectations on performance.
Your vision for your brand must always start with your values and then look to the future. What you value will determine the direction and drivers behind tactics and the future direction or decisions you will make. If you value the customer (which you should) then your vision should focused on making their lives easier and better through your product or services and growing to meet their needs.
Your marketing agency must have a clear understanding of your business mission, values, and non-negotiables. Furthermore, you need to set adequate goals beyond just making more money and make it clear about where you want to end up. If your brand grows to its full potential, how will this enable you to serve your customer better? What kind of culture and reputation do you want to maintain? What kind of services do you want to add in the future? What new territories and markets do you want to expand to?
Pro Tip: Walk your marketing agency through your vision, mission, and values. Then, let them in on the ultimate dream vision for your brand. This will help your marketing team to prioritize and design a strategy towards these long and short term goals.
The sign of a great agency is that they will likely start by asking a lot of questions. Instead of selling you on them, they will start with asking questions about you, your team, and your business. They will want to being with a thorough discovery process to understand your business or organization, how you differentiate, and who your customer is. Be prepared to lift of the hood and show off your engine. And don't be ashamed if things aren't perfect, sometimes an agency can bring light and attention to areas that need a revamp in your customer process. Some of the questions you might get include:
Who is your target customer and why?
What metrics or ROI are you measuring right now?
What has worked or not worked in the past?
What services or products are the most profitable?
What makes your organization unique in the market?
What growth goals do you have?
What style or design preferences do you have?
Once the agency has a good feel your business, they will turn their attention to designing the scope of work specifically around your business, your customers, and your future goals. They will also give you some consulting and recommendations based on your answers.
Pro Tip: The agency is on your team and asking questions is not about being defensive, but recognizing they want to help you! Don't be afraid to let the agency in to learn about where you are both weak and strong as a business.
When you're ready to move forward with a marketing agency, you need to come to the table with the right expectations. A few really important factors to consider before hiring an agency is who will lead the tactical, how much money you want to spend, how much time do you want to commit, and what deliverables or results do you want to achieve? You also need to determine what matters more to you.
A wise man once said, "You have three options but you can usually only pick two. A fast timeline, staying within budget, and high quality." When hiring an agency, this is also usually the same. Good work takes time and it requires the budget necessary to meet high quality.
Consider these questions before hiring a marketing agency:
Do I want to lead the marketing strategy and tactics, or am I willing to let the agency lead through market research, customer assessment, brand evaluation and strategy building?
How much money can I commit to my marketing on a monthly, yearly, and project to project basis?
What am I willing to invest in the growth of our business?
How much time can I commit to this agency relationship and what are my expectations for delivery?
What results will make me happy and what return on investment is considered reasonable for my spend?
What deliverables at what quality do I need to be able to walk away happy and thrilled?
Pro Tip: The national average for a marketing budget is about 10% spend of top line revenue. For businesses who are in aggressive growth, 20%-25% is more realistic. And for businesses who are looking to pull back on sales and marketing 5% of revenue is acceptable.
One of the major benefits to hiring a marketing or advertising agency is that they are coming with their own unique experience and they will likely think much different than you. Their job is to dig into your business, assess your marketing tactics, evaluate your customer journey, and bring new and fresh ideas to the table.... but this means that you have to consider other opinions and advice that is outside of your normal thought patterns.
Agencies thrive when they are given creative liberty and a runway to drive growth and make adjustments to your brand strategy. They need permission to go deep and uncover the stones that need to be moved. The last thing you want is to highjack their expertise or have a freak out moment because they aren't doing it "your way." Letting go, committing to an open mind, giving room for some risk, and letting the agency in to help can be one of the most rewarding things for your team and your business.
Also, don't forget that agencies have had plenty of practice from industry to industry and their marketing research and tactics have had time to mature. This does not guarantee that their plans always work, but it does mean the agency usually comes to the table with a hefty amount of lessons learned, wins and losses, and experiences that can help your business grow.
Pro Tip: If you do have any fears or reservations, be willing to say those up front with the agency so they can understand any concerns that you have. And if you've been previously burnt by another agency or a bad experience, vocalize this when and where needed, but don't let it deter your trust for the future.
Marketing agencies are not mind readers. They need your help to learn what you like and dislike, and that requires transparent communication and honesty. Be clear about what you love (green light), what you want to change (yellow light) and what you do not like (red light). The more clear you are about what you prefer, the easier it will make their job when it comes to meeting expectations.
Good agencies will ask a lot of questions around your preferences specifically related to look, feel, tone, message, and style. Give them examples of brands that you like or dislike. Use specific descriptions to relay the needs and expectations that you have. Additionally, remember that your agency is not only designing to match your preferences but they are also trying to balance reaching the customer and using styles that relate with them.
Pro Tip: Don't be afraid to ask for changes, BUT always come with a reasonable ask. Recognize that not all design styles are about your preferences, but for serving the target customer!
Finally, you must be willing to take some level of risk. Marketing results are never guaranteed (and anyone who tells you that they are is lying). You will likely lose some money in marketing at one point or another. However, with the right strategy, expectations, budget, and assets, return on investment can be much more predictable and you can make adjustments where needed to optimize towards better results. A great way to measure your risk appetite is to ask the following questions:
What amount of money am I willing to risk without making a return?
What is a customer acquisition worth to me?
What am I willing to invest into our business and customer?
Great marketing requires having a trustworthy and strategic plan... and this means giving up control, designing the right goals, and providing adequate budget to get results. Without some level of financial risk, there can be no reward. The good news is that by hiring a great agency, committed to return on investment, and following a great strategy with clear expectations, you can get great results. And, the results can become more predictable by using tested and proven methods of marketing with an agency that knows what they are doing!
