Small to medium-sized businesses turn to marketing agencies to work alongside them to help maximize the brand’s potential and, quite frankly, their budget. There is a lengthy list of characteristics that describe a good marketing agency, but the question becomes, are they effectively following through with their responsibilities to drive results.
Here are a list of nine important activities your marketing agency should be doing to ensure success with your product or service.
Routine Communication
It’s essential that your marketing agency routinely communicates with you to touch base about any changes in deadlines and other requirements. A stronger line of communication will also strengthen the teamwork relationship, ultimately leading to a better chance of a successful marketing campaign.
Transparency
Everyone loves hearing good news, but the bad news must also be shared to correct failures and disconnects in the marketing effort. Transparency is key to promoting trust between the business and the agency. Concealing or failing to communicate any negative aspects along the way closes the door to making improvements in the project. Data must be shared openly to gain insights into the marketing endeavor.
Checking on the Account
You would be surprised how many marketing agencies sign on a client, get them set up, and then never check on them proactively. Unfortunately, that’s the industry we play in. This simple yet imperative activity goes hand-in-hand with routine communication. The agency needs to review the state of the account regularly, including metrics to measure the progress of the marketing campaign. This should be done by routinely scheduling sessions to review analytics and discuss any issues that need attention.
Recommending the Advertising Budget
There are many factors taken into consideration when formulating an advertising budget. Both sides need to discuss the goals of the campaign and come to an agreement on a budget that meets them. The nature of the business and how competitive the market is ultimately play a role in determining an appropriate budget that is agreeable to both sides.
Website Management
In this age of digital technology and instant information, the website is the most visible marketing tool. The agency should manage this aspect rather than the business. Installing updates, tracking, and other components can be done easily and quickly through a simple request by the client. The agency can monitor the site for necessary security updates as well as any problems should an update not work properly.
Referring Your Business
The agency should believe in the business enough to refer them to others without hesitation. This is also where transparency and trust between the agency and the business are important. An agency who has a good relationship with their client is more apt to refer them.
Call Tracking
Call tracking is a key metric that can pinpoint which campaigns are more effective than others. With the many marketing tools in use, you need to know which web pages, keywords, social media accounts, and ads are generating the most calls. This is especially crucial if a significant portion of the business is phone call generated.
Creative Idea Generation
An effective marketing agency should occasionally come up with new and creative approaches to assist the campaign. In fact, creativity was considered the number one attribute in a survey of professionals who work with agencies. Keeping up with the latest trends and adjusting marketing approaches to accommodate them will help businesses stay ahead of the competition.
Fair Charges for Services
The hiring of a marketing agency is a substantial investment that cannot be rushed into. It’s important for businesses to ensure they are being charged fairly for the services they require. Beware of agencies who charge very low prices as they tend to have lower quality results and should be avoided. On the other hand, don’t feel the need to rush into signing with an expensive agency, unless their fees are commensurable with the services they offer. If it feels too expensive but you are intrigued enough, then feel free to ask them how they plan to get you your return on investment in a more detailed way.
Trust Is Everything: Trust Me
These criteria are essential to having a successful working relationship with your marketing agency. Should the agency fail to meet your expectations and fail to provide the services as expected, there should be no hesitation in terminating the partnership.
There are many pop-up agencies that can market themselves well, but don’t follow through or have the client’s best interest at heart. It is an unfortunate aspect of this industry. However, there are trustworthy agencies out there too, and with any investment, perform due diligence to find them
GoEdison focuses on small business marketing and can make your product or service stand out from the rest. Contact us for a free marketing audit and more information on our marketing services.