How to Best Work with a Marketing Agency

6 TIPS ON HOW TO GET MORE VALUE FROM YOUR MARKETING AGENCY RELATIONSHIP

So, you’re new to the client/agency relationship and looking to make the most of your new partnership! Or, maybe we’ve been working together for years, but it’s time to up the ante on generating more value and better results together. Regardless, we’re lucky to have a client like you who’s vested in building a successful marketing program. Simply speaking, there are a few “rules of engagement” that help us all be more efficient and successful with our marketing resources.

Tip 1: Designate a Primary Point of Contact

Ask yourself: Does your business earn trust, credibility, and loyalty through these key digital touch points?

• Someone with the Time to Engage – Oftentimes, we want business owners to focus on their core responsibilities. Whether you’re the business owner or not, consistent progress is best achieved by empowering a dedicated team member to be our primary point of contact.
• Someone with Authority & Autonomy – It’s true that some decisions require higher-level approval, but when agencies can get answers quickly, it helps us all keep projects moving forward. A great point of contact is someone who has been empowered to give approvals.
• Someone with the Passion – Agencies are EXCITED to help grow your brand! By taking a partner from your organization with a shared passion, we all benefit from the added energy brought to the table.

Tip 2: Leverage Your Marketing Meetings

The best thing we can do is be prepared for our time spent together.  You’ll be surprised at how quickly meeting time flies by when we are managing a multi-media, comprehensive marketing plan. There’s always a lot to cover, so here’s a quick to-do list that will help you make the most of it:

• Review the Agenda Before the Meeting – Come prepared with any thoughts, company updates, or additional topics that may need to be covered. The more information you give your agency, the better they will get to know your business.
• Use the Meeting Time to Review & Approve Materials – While some items may require deeper thought or quiet time to review, the marketing meeting is a great time to review and approve tactics your marketing agency is presenting. Let’s cross it off the list in the meeting and save us all time later!
• Use the Minutes As a Tool – Within two to three days after meeting, you’ll receive minutes from your Account Manager. Please review the to-dos, ask/clarify any questions you have on next steps, and note your assignments as well.

Tip 3:  Properly Facilitate Revisions & Feedback

There’s nothing more challenging for an agency than getting revisions sent from a half dozen different people on different timelines with conflicting feedback. While we can do our best to organize work this way, we often can’t determine “whose changes trump whose” when faced with multiple viewpoints. Here are some tips to help:

• Gather & Consolidate Feedback – The best way you can minimize surprises is to gather feedback internally and then consolidate all changes onto one document to submit to your agency.
• Make the Call – When faced with conflicting ideas, internal discussion on the final direction is almost always the key to a successful outcome. Give it to us straight. Your agency can often help weigh in on issues of strategy or brand standards, ensuring you’ve chosen the right path for your brand.
• Reduce Rounds of Revisions – Most agencies include one to two rounds of revisions in their estimate (& start to charge hourly for changes that exceed that process). By taking a little extra time to capture ALL changes upfront and provide detailed explanations for your vision, you can reduce any unexpected expenses (& frustrations) that come from the back-and-forth of piecemeal feedback.

Tip 4: Practice Swift Communication

We get it, you are SUPER busy. And that’s exactly why you hired an agency to take things off your plate! Fortunately, we don’t need a lot of heavy lifting on your part, just a little swift communication to keep things moving forward. When we need business resources, usernames, passwords, approvals on projects, etc., we LOVE prompt communication:

• Be Responsive – It’s crazy how quickly a month goes by between regular marketing meetings; help your agency stay on track and have time to make the creative magic happen by being timely and responsive.
• Reprioritize When Needed – Something isn’t hot or critical to you? Let your agency know. We’re going to keep working the plan and calendar we built together, so if something changes in your business, give us the heads up and we can realign our priorities accordingly.
• Reach Out ASAP When You Need Something New – Unplanned work? No problem! Agencies are here to tackle the unexpected, adjust to your business, and help take things off your plate. The more time your agency has, the better. Even if you don’t have all the details, they can get the project cued up in their system for when you are ready. As soon as you know there may be something new to tackle, just give us a call, explain your request, and we can discuss an appropriate project timeline together!

Tip 5: Practice Proper Tech Hygiene

As your agency, we’re going to access a lot of your systems (web, socials, email platforms, CRM, and more)! In today’s cyber-scary world, we all have to work together to ensure we prevent breaches and lost account access, and here are some tips to help you out:

• Gather Account Access – From your domain and hosting access to email platforms and more, gathering up your accounts and either sharing account access or setting up delegate access will help your agency do the work behind the scenes that you don’t want to do!
• Follow Security Protocols – From two-factor access and strong passwords to sharing information via secure channels, we all stay safer. Help your agency minimize your risk by employing these security measures on your marketing tools and accounts.
• Connect Us With Your IT Team – You shouldn’t have to worry about domain settings, web technical details, or system access. We love partnering with your IT person (internal or external) and speak a similar language. Cut out the middleman, connect us directly and we’ll get to work together!
• See Something Say Something – Getting suspicious login attempts? Seeing more spam? Concerned about security protocols? Speak up, and your agency (along with that IT partner) can help correct the problem and prevent security concerns from becoming security nightmares.

Tip 6: Have Fun!

Yes, we saved the best for last. Building a brand can be a truly enjoyable experience!

• Don’t Forget to Have Fun – Enjoy the process and build a great relationship that can stand the test of time. Your agency is here to be your partner and your friend – let’s build a great brand together!

For more information or concerns about the client/agency relationship, contact your Account Strategist for a candid talk. One of our core values is “People before _____,” and we want to ensure a solid foundation for years to come.