Building and maintaining a healthy relationship with your marketing agency are the keys to any company's success. Unfortunately, many relationships fail because clients mistakenly treat agencies like their vendors instead of their partners. Here are 5 simple steps to help you get the most out of working with your marketing agency:
1. Identify your goals
Start with a simple discussion to make sure that all members involved on both sides agree with the objective for the project. Define what your goal is for each project, even the smaller ones. Ask questions like: "Who is the target audience?" "Does this follow our company's overall brand?" "Is our message clear for our customers?" Give the agency as much background details as possible, and clearly define what you are trying to accomplish. Each side will need to understand the scope of the work involved, which will clarify a timeline and cost.
2. Engage in mutual respect
Treat the agency like it's your partner and value its perspective. Often, a project can become so familiar to your company that you may not see how your own customers perceive it. Marketing and design agencies will give a fresh and unbiased look at the project and make suggestions for improvement. Like any long-term relationship, it takes a lot of hard work and constant communication to make a strong relationship. Ensure that there is an open, two-way communication.
3. Constructive criticism
Not everyone feels the same way about a particular design idea. During a creative review, it's important to include all the key decision makers. Start with positive feedback on the ideas that appeal to your team. It sets the tone for the meeting and will help the designers establish which direction to head. Keep in mind that creative feedback over e-mail can easily be misinterpreted and could cause unnecessary work on both sides. It is important to understand the thought process behind the agency's creative direction. There are many factors that designers consider for a design project including contrast, scale, color intensity, organization, negative space, fonts, and a clear message. Value your agency's opinions and understand that with every design, reaching your customers is the ultimate goal.
4. Problem-solve together
It is critical to engage in collaborative problem-solving with your agency. If there are any issues, they should be brought forth for a much-needed discussion. Determining your own solution without the agency's input can be risky. If you're being persuaded by another agency's products and services, first ask your current agency if they can offer the same thing. The other agency will know very little of your brand, and can very easily lead your business astray from your goals. On top of that, you will invest more energy and money into starting over again with another agency. You should be able to work through these issues with your current agency and come up with a stronger solution and better relationship moving forward. If not, then it may be time to move on. Especially in today's Real Estate market, many businesses are being lured by "to good to be true" Internet offers from opportunity seekers--those who prey on Real Estate businesses because of (1) the current market condition and (2) the lack of understanding of the process for Search Engine Optimization. Guarantees such as being number 1 in a Google Search is simply not going to happen. Like the Pyramid and Ponzi schemes of the past, there will always be those who prey on the vulnerable. Just read a few of the many articles on SEO scams: Article 1 & Article 2
5. Review the finished project
After each project, a short and simple review can be extremely helpful. It helps to identify issues and will show what needs accomplished as the business moves forward. Set up an annual or bi-annual review with your agency to go over the projects that have been completed and what successes came from each one.
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