How to choose a marketing agency?

How to choose a marketing agency?

How to choose a marketing agency? 2560 2560 Marketing Agency in Los Angeles

Even the best quality products or services will not gain more popularity if we do not invest in a well-thought-out and efficiently conducted marketing campaign. Of course, we can try to do it on our own, but a much better and more effective solution will be to entrust this matter to properly trained experts. However, it is not enough to hire any of the first marketing agency – in this industry we can also find both excellent specialists and people who do not know exactly what they are doing. How to choose an advertising agency and what criteria to take into account when making this decision?

More and more companies are struggling with the fact that despite paying careful attention to the quality of services and the attractiveness of the offer, they are still lagging behind the competition. The reason for such situations are errors related to business promotion. Good advertising is able to promote even the product of poor quality, while the good ones without proper marketing activities can go completely unnoticed. The online presence seems to be particularly important. A good website, a well-run blog and regular activity in social media can be more effective than expensive advertising in the traditional form. Positioning is also very important – it is thanks to it that the recipients are able to find our place on the web without problems.

Before we choose a specific marketing agency with which we will establish cooperation, you should ask yourself and her employees some important questions:

What services interest me? Do they coincide with what the agency offers?

It happens that by employing an external company, we mean very specific actions to be carried out. In this case, we must look for an agency that specializes in this type of service and has experience in it. The most popular services include positioning, creating websites, SEM campaigns, running profiles in social media, creating graphic company identifications (logos, logotypes, leaflets, company paper, graphics on the website, etc.) and outdoor advertising. Before we decide on specific ones, it is worth reading a little about their effectiveness in relation to particular industries and target groups.

Is there any chance to contact one of the agency’s existing clients?

Some of us are calmed by the very opportunity to read positive reviews about the company. However, if we care about a sincere, independent recommendation, it might be worth talking to someone who has already used the offer we are interested in. Most agencies pride themselves on cooperating with the most well-known and respected clients. If we feel like it, we can contact them and ask them if their services really are worth recommending.

What will be my role in creating a marketing strategy?

Some employ an outside company so that they do not have to deal with the issue of advertising anymore. For them, such a solution is convenience and time saving. Remember, however, that no one knows your business better than you. If you have a vision of what the campaign should look like or your own ideas that you could use, you have the right to share them. Good marketing agency is open to any suggestions and there is no problem with adapting your vision to customer expectations. Thanks to this, the final marketing activities are not trite and reflect the unique character of the company.

Will the campaign be consistent?

A good marketing strategy has clearly defined goals and is carried out on many channels at the same time. This means that the managers of particular departments must communicate with each other so that the whole could have a chance to be consistent, and the individual methods mesh with themselves. Once again, the principle that the most important thing is to get to know the company and give it its character holds good.

What will the contacts with the agency look like?

First of all, it is important that each company is dealt with by a specific, designated employee with whom we will always be able to contact. Such an employee will have an obligation to get to know our business as well as possible and to ensure that our campaign is consistent and in accordance with our guidelines. Secondly, it is good to determine how often this contact will take place. It is best for our client’s supervisor to send us regular reports, in which both the actions taken and their effects will be included.

Knowing the answers to the above questions, not only we better understand our own needs and expectations, but also find out the most important things about companies with which we can potentially cooperate. And what factors should be considered before making the final decision?

Experience

Contrary to appearances, this is not only about the number of years during which the agency managed to stay on the market, and the number of orders it has completed. It is also good to pay attention to the companies for which they were performed (were they reputable, large brands?) As well as the variety of tasks undertaken. Particularly important is whether at least some customers have a similar profile and goals to ours. If we have such a possibility, it is good to verify the agency’s achievements so far. Thanks to this, we will know what its style is and we will be able to think about whether it is comfortable with us.

A team of employees

Everyone who deals with business is well aware of the fact that the company is made up of people. The people we employ are able to determine whether we will succeed or fail. That is why it is so important to check to whose hands we entrust our company’s advertising campaign. It is important that they are not accidental people, and that the team should include specialists from various fields. Thanks to this, the service of our company will be much more comprehensive.

Opinions and recommendations

Most of us, intending to use the services of an enterprise with a particular profile, first seek information over the Internet. Regardless of whether we intend to buy new shoes, eat a dinner at an unknown restaurant or go on vacation with a specific travel agency, we check what opinions on them have other Internet users. It’s a very smart approach. Of course, you can often find unfair marketing messages, but in most cases they are quite easy to detect. And if a company has many positive comments, one can expect that at least some of them are true and honest. Recommendations from existing clients of the agency are the best proof that it is worth cooperating with it.

Positive communication

It is impossible to cooperate with another company without constant communication with its employees. A good marketing agency is distinguished, among other things, by the fact that client assistants are at our disposal, they care about answering our questions, dispelling doubts and building positive relationships. Such things can be “sensed” even before the contract is signed – if we have problems with effective communication at the beginning, we do not feel understood and respected, later it will only get worse. Lack of good contact with clients may also be a sign that the people employed in the agency do not have the ability to win the sympathy of others, which may translate into poor contact with fans in social media and the readers of the website or company blog.

Realistic offer

Most of us pay particular attention to those offers that are financially most advantageous to us. In fact, high or low price is often associated with quality. So if we want an effective, professionally prepared and comprehensive campaign, we can not pay attention solely to the price. In most cases, saving is apparent – we pay a little for advertising, but we also earn little on it. When getting acquainted with the offers of individual marketing agencies, one should pay attention to their realism. Remember that our order must be profitable to the company we entrust promoting our business. Therefore, the less we pay for its services, the less time and attention it will be able to devote to them.

Creativity and unconventionality

Reviewing the existing agency projects is not only a way to test its effectiveness and experience, but also an opportunity to look at the methods it uses. Remember that each customer is different, which requires different ways of acting. It is not worth opting for an agency that always acts habitually and does not show any willingness to adapt to the needs of the company being served. The advantages of a good marketer are creativity, passion and unconventional thinking. Our goal, after all, is to attract attention and stand out from the competition. We will not achieve this if our website and social media profiles are similar to others.