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There comes a time in the development of your business when it makes sense to bring an agency on board. Agencies have the expertise and capacity to design and implement your marketing strategy to meet your growth goals.
It can be a difficult process to find the right agency, but the benefits are well worth it. A little planning and due diligence at the outset can increase the chances that you’ll find the right marketing partners.
When choosing an agency, here’s what to look for:
They walk the walk
You’d be amazed at how many marketing or design agencies neglect their own marketing. You want to know that the agency you choose can produce, especially when it comes to themselves. You wouldn’t hire an SEO agency that didn’t bother to work on its own SEO rankings, SEO company BWG rank highly themselves because they know how important it is.
They have worked with companies like you
You want a marketing agency that knows how to work with an SME and all that entails. SMEs are often constrained by budget and are slightly more cautious in their approach when they first start developing their marketing. Constantly butting heads with an agency that is used to working with large corporates isn’t going to get you anywhere.
They are happy to let you talk to their clients
When you hire a new employee, you take references. Hiring an agency shouldn’t be any different. When shortlisting your agencies, ask them for the details of some clients you can talk to. If they are reluctant, or won’t give you any details (without good reason), then you should treat this as a red flag. After all, if they can’t find anyone to say good things about their work, then the chances are that most clients have a problem with it.
You get along
The main thing that you are looking for in an agency is experience and a successful track record, but the account management relationship is vital too. You’ll be working closely with your account manager, and if you don’t like them, or don’t see eye to eye, this can affect the work they do for you. Open and friendly communication is the key to getting the best out of the client/agency relationship.
They aren’t afraid to challenge you
A good agency isn’t afraid to push back when they feel you are being unreasonable or downright incorrect. Agencies often have to set the expectations of clients in what their marketing strategy can and can’t realistically achieve.
Good agencies know how to set expectations with their clients, not because they don’t want to do the work, but that the relationship will become untenable if the client always believes the agency in underdelivering, even though they are doing a good job.
Takeaways
Finding the right marketing agency can be tricky, but there’s undoubtedly a good one out there for you. Be realistic with your expectations and thorough with your selection process, and you’ll weed out agencies that are a bad fit and find your perfect match.