Now more than ever before, it’s critical that every marketer is actively creating and executing campaigns that help drive pipeline for their business. And if you’re a marketer, you know that marketing is critical to any organization’s success — and it’s often the lion we have no time to tame.
For some, the best method of marketing success is a combination of in-house marketing resources and hiring an external marketing agency. In this manner, you can have the most impact: Not only are your marketing needs staying on brand, they’re also being executed by experts.
If you’ve never hired or worked with an agency before, it may feel daunting. Here’s our advice:
Decide on Your Goals, Needs, and Budget
First, it’s critical to get clear on your marketing goals, needs, and budget. This not only helps you decide if hiring an agency is the right move but also answers what type of agency you may be looking for. Many agencies claim to be “full service,” but it’s still important to clarify what they mean. It also helps you understand what resources you may already have internally, allowing you to better define your scope of work with an agency. We define full service as the ability to go deep in a specific competency, then add value with great strategy, account management, creative, and reporting.
Conduct Q&As with Your Prospective Agencies
Tap your network for agency referrals. Once you have your shortlist and explain your needs, ask your prospective agencies questions in these topic areas:
- Objectives and success measurement
- Strengths and weaknesses
- Communication and project management
- Discovery and onboarding
- Initial thoughts on challenge and approach
- Fit with your business, industry, and needs
- Rates, contract and engagement terms
Talking about these areas ensures you and your agency partner are on the same page in terms of vision, contact, objectives and expertise.
Build Your Agency Relationship with Best Practices
Like any professional relationship, building a true partnership comes with time. But you can foster a great relationship with your agency out of the gate with these best practices.
- Know what you want … and what you don’t want: Be clear — and stay clear — on your goals. Also, be clear on what you like and don’t like. For example, if your schedule doesn’t allow you to join last-minute conference calls, let your agency know you need longer lead times before meetings.
- Use a project brief to share project information and context: Briefs are (hands down) the best way to make sure you and your agency are on the same page. If you don’t have a brief template on hand, ask your agency to provide one you can use.
- Treat your agency like a partner, not a vendor: Agencies aren’t just vendors delivering a product. They’re business partners invested in your success. Chances are you chose your agency because of their expertise and track record. Ask for their perspective. Bring them into your internal marketing conversations. The only side effect will be increasingly better work.
- Focus on what matters: When your agency presents creative work for feedback, don’t get lost in the weeds. Prioritize your feedback. Make a list of changes you want to see, then ask yourself, “Which of these will significantly increase the effectiveness of this deliverable?” Those are the changes to share with your agency.
- Let the experts do what they do best: You’ve hired experts. Let them succeed for you. It’s the same professional courtesy you appreciate from your customers.
When you leverage industry tools and combine that with a qualified agency, your marketing needs have a much better chance of being met. To learn more about the latest marketing best practices and what it takes to be successful in today’s competitive landscape, check out our Citrix Partner Marketing Snacks short video series.
In this series, you will learn about:
- Strengthening your digital marketing strategy
- Broadening your reach with social selling
- Seizing the opportunity of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
If you’re already familiar with our tools, take a deeper dive in our Amplify Your Brand with Citrix Co-branding webinar, in the Citrix Partner Marketing Kickoff 2021 video library.
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