Posted In: Hidden by
Dan Howard,
May 12, 2016
Many companies will reach a time when they seek to appoint a marketing agency. This could be down to capacity – a start-up outsourcing their communications; or a need for expertise – a growing business seeking an experienced partner to challenge and grow their internal capabilities.
Choosing an agency is a bit like choosing the right pair of shoes: when you find the perfect fit you’re proud to be seen in them, confidence shines off you and you’re comfortable in the knowledge that the shoes will take you where you need to go (without causing any pain).
At We Are Boutique, we strongly believe there are certain agencies for certain brands. It’s important you find the right fit to encourage a positive working relationship and ultimately, to achieve results.
Operating as an independent, full-service agency with core disciplines in Digital, Media and PR; our clients can work with us in an ‘integrated’ capacity (where we work on all aspects of their marketing); or with just one of our implementation teams.
In this short guide, we’ve highlighted a few things you should consider when looking for and appointing a digital marketing partner.
Why use a digital marketing partner in the first place?
First, it’s important that you consider why it is you are looking for digital services. The answer to this core question will help you narrow down your search in the sea of partner agencies fighting for your marketing budgets.
Your business is unique. That means you need to ensure your campaign and the channels used are based around a water-tight strategy, which has been compiled by a team of professionals, with the in-depth understanding of what works, and when.
Using an agency means that you don’t just have the eyes of one person, in-house looking after your campaign. You have a whole team of individuals, with time to spend, driving great results. Digital marketing can be a labour-intensive task, so an agency will call on appropriate individuals, to give the right insight and skills, as required.
In a good digital agency, you will meet a team that carefully meshes a mixture of knowledge and previous experience, across all channels and industries; and the specific tactics that work for each.
A dedicated digital agency won’t just ring-fence the work you’ve instructed them to do. They keep an eye on the market and will give their two-pence on business development if you’re happy for them to do so.
How do you find a recommended agency?
Word-of-mouth is a persuasive way to choose your agency partner. A trusted testimonial on their website, or a personal referral from a business you trust will demonstrate the agency’s ethos on client intimacy, strength of knowledge and specialist implementation skills.
Looking further afield, awards such as the RAR (Recommended Agency Register) is a great way to find recognised agencies, who are experts at what they do.
Another telling factor is whether an agency works well with other agencies. For example, your digital agency might not offer creative design. Therefore, it’s important you can trust each of your partners to work collaboratively, for the ultimate benefit of your business. It’s also a great affirmation to see that other agencies enjoy working with your chosen partner – it shows they really are leaders in the industry.
What do you want to achieve from the campaign?
Some agencies will thrive working with certain types of clients (e.g. those in a particular industry or niche).
Whatever your product or service, it’s important to lay out some goals you’re hoping to achieve through your various communications activities and map them to each stage of your customers’ journey. For example, you could be seeking to drive awareness though sign-ups, convert leads into sales, or turn loyal customers into advocates.
Each activity will have its own relevant measurements (often called Key Performance Indicators – or KPIs) and your chosen agency should be able to define, analyse and report on the right metric, at the right time.
Start by considering these points and you should be well on your way to finding an agency that is the perfect fit for you and your business.
After all, if the shoe fits…
When it comes to digital, our partners (both brands and other agencies) use us to deliver their paid and organic communications over all relevant channels (think search, social, display, content, video, mobile…you name it!)
Our digital specialists work in partnership with our PR and media functions, meaning they work day-in and day-out with brand heroes and sophisticated global tools.
Our baked-in client services structure ensures that we’re always delivering best-in-class digital work; whilst being aware of the other crucial elements of the marketing mix. That means we can collaborate efficiently with other specialist agencies (in Media, PR, Creative, Web Development, etc.) to effectively deliver complex scopes of work.
We like to work with transformational businesses and ‘challenger brands’ who are new to market. It allows for ground-breaking strategy and the opportunity to offer real growth to our clients, through our chosen channels.
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