Before making an investment in hiring on a marketing agency to help promote your business, you’re going to want to parse them out a little. What you are trying to find out is not only if they are good at what they do, but if they are the right ones to be representing your business. These are all questions that an agency like Simple is happy to answer for you.
Track Record
What has this agency been up to? Are you their first client? Probably not, but take a look at who some of their clients have been and what kind of success they were able to bring them. The past accounts of the agency you are considering should be information they can’t wait to telling you. These are their successes and you can look for the parallels between their previous clients and yourself to get an idea of what they may be able to do for you.
Don’t be afraid to ask about accounts they have had that didn’t do so well. They may be reluctant to divulge this information, but it is a way for you to see what they have learned along the way.
Duration
How long does the agency typically keep a client for? This can give you an idea of the strength of the relationship clients have made with the agency. If the agency does not keep their accounts open too long, you may want to find out why. It could be that their clients find overwhelming success quickly, but it could also indicate that the agency is doing a poor job of communicating or going in a direction that the client doesn’t support.
Keeping you in the loop
You probably don’t expect to hire a marketing agency and never hear from them again. To work with a marketer means that you must communicate ideas to them and give them feedback regarding the campaigns that they are designing for your business.
Keeping these open lines of communication is critical to maintaining a healthy agency/client relationship. Ask the agency if they have a plan for meetings to keep you updated. In the digital age, this may not necessarily mean a face-to-face meeting, but a video chat session or e-mail update should be happening at least once a month.
Showing results
This is obviously very important. If a marketing agency can’t show you the tangible results of the work they are doing for you, it is difficult to determine if they are helping you at all. Ideally, the agency will have a list of ways that they measure their successes which they can simply show you. Be clear as to where they will be getting their information. Are they using the latest analytics software to measure traffic to your website, Facebook ‘likes’, customers walking through the door of business, etc?
Contract length
How long will you be locked-in to a contract with the agency? They will likely offer you a better deal for a longer contract, but you must absolutely sure that they are going to be a good fit for your business and they are going to be reliable and consistent.
If possible, attempt to get a hold of current or previous client of the agency and ask them what their experience was like. If they had a long relationship, how did that relationship fair over time? Did their business get less attention or did the agency keep the momentum going?
Remember, hiring a marketing agency is a serious step so don’t make the decision lightly and don’t forget to listen to your instincts.
Image Credit:
Tungphoto – FreeDigitalPhotos.Net