Experts recommend asking marketing and advertising agencies:
- Have you worked on a project like this before? What about in this industry?
- What strategies or processes do you use to execute on their client’s goals?
- How do you measure success?
- What am I paying for? What is the cost-breakdown by specific service?
Choosing the right partner for an advertising or marketing campaign can be tough. Here are some tips from a few experts to help guide you in making the right decision.
Understand Their History of Work
Erin Milnes, Creative Director at Catchword suggests starting by asking potential advertising partners if any of their experience aligns with your specific challenge.
”What experience do you have in my sector and with my challenge? What is your process and who will be working with me? What deliverable are they responsible for?” Milnes said. “Then after interviewing the agency, ask yourself: Were you comfortable asking questions, and were they comfortable answering? Did their answers make sense? Rapport is critical in creative services.”
Align on Approach to the Project
Joshua Coffman, Founder of 502ads recommends focusing on understanding how agile your partner is in their approach to marketing and advertising by asking these two questions:
- Does your company have more than one path or method to support the goals of my business?
- What would each of those paths look like in execution?
Ask About Your Specific Needs
Preston Powel, Chief Marketing Officer at Webserv cautions that clients should ask their potential partners different questions based on their specific needs.
“Appropriate questions vary from project to project. If I was looking for paid search, for example, I would ask about bidding strategies and account structure. For organic search, however, I would ask about their off-page strategy.”
Keep Success Top of Mind
Christopher Lara, Boston Branch Manager at TheeDigital Boston says the most important question to ask potential advertising partners is: How do you measure success?
“The way an agency measures success can be very telling. Success takes time and planning — and, it should be measurable.” Lara said. “At TheeDigital, when we lay out a one-year marketing plan, we set expected milestones along the way to help show we’re making progress toward our goals.”
Discuss Payment Upfront
Nasir Jamali, Operations Manager at BrandLume knows that money is an important factor in any partnership and recommends clients ask potential partners to outline what specific services they would be paying for.
“If you don’t understand where your money is going, it will only lead to disappointment and confusion for both you and the agency you are working with,” Jamali said. “Agencies will often suggest $2,000 worth of SEO without the client knowing how SEO works. It doesn’t come from a place of malice, but most of the time marketers and advertisers will forget that some clients don’t even know what SEO stands for.”
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