How To Choose A Marketing Agency

Uh oh.  You’ve just been named responsible for the task of finding a marketing agency to take care of all of the marketing needs of your business.  In today’s world we unfortunately struggle with having too many options.  With the internet and all other mediums blasting different companies left and right, it can be overwhelming when trying to choose the best option; especially when it is something that is so important to your business like choosing the correct marketing agency.

First, we should nail down exactly what marketing is, because marketing is a broad term that covers an umbrella of things that you as a company may need.  Let’s break it down into three main categories:

Traditional Advertising

Within this category you may be looking for a marketing agency that can place your media buys and help you with your marketing budget.  These main media outlets will be print, radio and T.V.   These mediums have been traditional marketing outlets before the internet took over and changed the world of advertising completely.

Digital Marketing

This is a fairly new realm of marketing that plays a huge part in the plan today.  If you are not utilizing the internet then you may be falling behind the competition.  Digital Marketing includes websites, search engine optimization, social media management, search engine marketing, email campaigns and more.

Branding

This is one of the most important categories, because without it, you have nothing to market.  Having a strong, cohesive brand is the core of any business.  This is where you will find graphic design/logo design, custom marketing collateral, signage, etc.

Now that you know the main categories, you can start to dive deep into the tips for choosing the best marketing agency for you:

1. Decide what you need: This is the best place to start. Have a clear vision of where you want your company to be and what you need in terms of marketing.  This will not only help with researching a good marketing agency, but will help you get the most of your consultations.
2. Get multiple consultations: Always compare apples to apples.  Whether it be the services, presentation, or people- marketing is a collaboration.  It must be transparent and you must feel comfortable working with this agency.   Visiting and doing a comparison of the different agencies will help you get a better feel for which one you would like to choose.
3. Get references: Do you know someone that the agency is already working for?  Ask that person how their experience has been.  Ask the agency for a case study from a previous client.  If they don’t have one, they’re probably not the right agency for you.
4. Assure your confidentiality: Collaborating with a marketing agency requires 100% confidentiality as you will be sharing your business proprietary information inclusive of trade secrets, budgets, etc.  Keeping these private and confidential should be important to the agency, and if they are not offering this it’s a sure sign that they cannot be trusted.
5. Is it all under one roof?: You may decide that you need someone to help with your traditional, digital and branding needs.  So, you’ll want to find an agency that can do all of this in-house.  And by in-house we mean, truly in-house.  Outsourcing isn’t always a bad thing, but just make sure that you do your research, and that the outsourcing isn’t for the agency’s benefit alone.

These are just a few tips to help get you started on your search.  Looking for a reputable agency to add to your list of companies to schedule in a consultation with?   Reach out to Business House, LLC marketing agency for a FREE consultation.  With our talented team of marketing professionals, we’ll be sure to be your one stop shop where you can do it all and do it right!