Relationship With a Marketing Agency
The personality fit between you and the agency may be one of the most critical factors in choosing an agency. You should treat hiring an agency the same as you would hiring in-house staff. The most successful relationships are built on honest and open communication between you and the marketing agency.
It is critical to have a long term view when choosing an agency. Frequently switching between agencies or in-house personnel will be very costly. Beginning your search process with concrete goals and knowing what gaps need to be filled will set you up for long term success. It is important to communicate your goals and the holes you are looking to fill to an agency you are looking to hire.
Do not focus on price as very often you get what you pay for. A good agency should be able to tell you how successful a specific budget is going to be. A good agency will not let you put money towards a strategy they know from the start is destined for failure.
Interviewing Process
Questions such as how many hours a month they expect to be working on your project are important when choosing an agency. You should ask the salesperson if they can provide a list of all the items they will be doing and the hours they will put in. Even if the salesperson doesn’t know the numbers, they should be able to find out from their operational staff.
Be mindful of what the salesperson is asking during the interview. You should be highly suspicious if the salesperson is only answering your questions and not trying to understand your business and the problems you are looking to solve. A good agency will be asking you a lot of questions about your business, including past successes and failures. While it may seem uncomfortable, they are trying to learn if they can help you so they can confidently propose a solution for your business.
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