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The world of advertising is constantly evolving, and businesses need to stay on top of the latest trends in order to remain competitive. Hiring an experienced advertising agency can be an excellent way for businesses to accomplish their marketing strategy, but how does hiring an advertising agency work? To help you understand the process better, we’ll outline some important steps to consider when hiring an advertising agency.
When it comes to any business decision, it’s important to understand all the benefits involved. Working with an advertising agency can provide a variety of advantages for your business.
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Increased ROI: An advertising agency will be able to measure and track your results, allowing you to maximize your return on investment (ROI). This can help you increase the effectiveness of your campaigns and maximize your budget.
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Cost-Effective: Agencies often have a wide range of talented employees collaborating on your project. You’ll usually pay less than hiring someone in-house and enjoy higher-quality results.
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Time-Saving: Hiring an advertising agency can save you time, as they can take care of the research and development process, leaving you free to focus on other aspects of your business.
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Professional Experience: An advertising agency has the knowledge and expertise you may lack, providing valuable insights into effectively marketing your brand or product.
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Increased Brand Awareness: An advertising agency can help create creative campaigns that stand out from the crowd. This will increase your brand awareness and make a lasting impression on potential customers.
Steps to Hiring an Advertising Agency
Do Your Research
The first step in finding the best advertising agency for your business is doing research. Before you even make a phone call or send out an inquiry, it’s important to take the time to browse through portfolios of different agencies and get a better understanding of the kind of services they offer. An easy way to do this is by visiting their website and social media profiles, as well as reading customer reviews and testimonials on websites like Google, Yahoo, Yelp, and Foursquare.
These days digital agencies come in all shapes and sizes. Some agencies offer comprehensive digital marketing services including, search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing, social media marketing, public relations, web design, and more. Others focus more precisely on things like graphic design or user experience.
Beyond service offerings, some agencies employ full-time professionals with years of experience while others employee entry-level freelancers that are able to work for cheap. Finding the right agency means considering all of these factors. It’s also important to get a feel for the kind of experience and background each team agency has by researching their personnel. Awards, certifications, and accreditation can all be good indicators of the quality of work, as well as industry expertise and knowledge. Taking a look at the portfolio of services each agency provides can also give you a better sense of which one is the best fit for your business.
Finally, make sure to look into the ethics, values, and vision each agency has when compared to those of your business. It’s important to find an agency that shares the same goals and understands the needs of your company, as it will help make sure that you get the most out of the collaboration. Doing research upfront can save you plenty of time and hassle in the long run. Taking these few extra steps to make sure you are making the best decision for your business can be key to a successful advertising campaign.
Ask Other Business Owners for Their Opinions
When you are looking to hire an advertising agency, it’s a good idea to get advice from other business owners who have gone through the process. Madison Brooks from ToCanada says, “it gave me firsthand insight into the experiences of working with different agencies and how they were able to achieve results. I asked friends about their overall impressions and whether or not they would recommend the agency in question. I was surprised by how many people were ready to share their experience and recommend new service providers”.
If your contacts had positive experiences with an agency and shared that information with you, it is definitely worth keeping in mind as you start forming your shortlist. Asking around can also help you better evaluate the quality of work done by any given agency, so take advantage of this valuable resource.
Hear From Industry Experts
Read the latest tips, research, best practices, and insights from our community of expert B2B service providers.
Evaluate Every Relevant Case Study
Evaluating case studies is one of the most important steps in hiring an advertising agency. Every agency will have different case studies that demonstrate their know-how and success with previous campaigns and clients. It’s important to evaluate each relevant case study from the agencies you are considering to understand the scope of their work and gauge the results they can potentially produce for your small business.
When evaluating a case study, look at the goals and objectives of the campaign and how they were met in terms of results. Also, consider the budget that was used for the project and analyze if it was reasonable or not. Finally, try to gauge what kind of digital marketing strategies they employed to reach their desired outcome. After assessing all of these factors, you should have a better understanding of the agency’s capabilities and whether or not they are a good fit for your project.
Focus On Data-Driven Agencies
Data-driven agencies focus on using analytics and research in order to create effective campaigns that are tailored toward your specific audience, while traditional agencies may rely more heavily on their creative abilities and gut instincts. Data-driven agencies are able to take the guesswork out of campaigns and give you a more accurate picture of how your campaign will be received through specific insight into key performance metrics.
These agencies typically use market research and customer segmentation to develop strategies tailored to your target audience. They have access to databases that allow them to develop profiles of the types of customers you want to reach and use this data to create campaigns that are more likely to be successful.
Do They Specialize In Your Needs?
Look for marketing agencies with experience in working with businesses similar to yours in size and scope. This will give you an idea of the kind of work they have done before and how well they understand their clients’ needs.
Make sure that the agency has a deep understanding of the goals you want to achieve with your marketing campaigns and how they plan on achieving them.
A good way to determine if an agency is a good fit for your needs is to ask them questions such as:
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How have you helped businesses similar to mine in the past?
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What strategies do you typically employ when working with clients in my industry?
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Can you tell me more about your processes for creating targeted and measurable campaigns that focus on specific audiences?
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What is your media-buying process like?
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Can you share examples of specific ad campaigns you’ve worked on for clients like us?
Talk to at Least Three Finalists
Talking to at least three finalists is an important step. It’s essential to get a good understanding of their experience and capabilities, as well as how they plan to approach your project.
As you talk with each agency, ask what makes them stand out from other full-service advertising agencies. Make sure to ask about their timeline and pricing for completing your project; you don’t want to incur extra costs during the process.
It’s also a good idea to get a sense of their customer service skills as this is often indicative of how they will handle any changes or issues. Be sure to take notes in order to compare all the finalists and make an informed decision.
Once you have spoken with all three finalists, it’s time to narrow down your selection to one agency you feel confident working with.
It is important to remember that no two advertising agencies are alike, so finding the right one for your project should take some time and effort. You don’t want to waste your hard-earned advertising budget on marketing efforts that simply don’t pan out, so considering multiple types of agencies and talking to at least three finalists is essential.
Set Clear Goals & Objectives
You finally selected the agency you’ll be working with. Now it’s time to set some goals and objectives.
Having clear goals and objectives from the beginning can make a huge difference in how successful the partnership with an advertising agency turns out to be. It’s important to clearly articulate what you want to achieve for your business so that you and the agency are on the same page about expectations. It’s also important to outline what responsibilities your in-house marketing team will handle and what your new agency partner will take over.
Some of the most common goals include increasing brand awareness, boosting sales, reaching a larger audience across various social media platforms, and hitting a certain ROAS (return on ad spend). It’s vital to ensure each goal is measurable so you can track progress and adjust as needed.
The objectives should also be detailed and specific. This will help the agency develop a strategy tailored to your business’s needs and give you both an understanding of what success looks like.
By having clear goals and objectives set from the beginning, everyone will be able to work together more effectively towards achieving them, and evaluating the overall performance of your agency will become a piece of cake.
In conclusion, hiring an advertising agency can be a great way to get your business noticed and reach a larger audience. It’s important to take the time to research agencies that specialize in your industry, speak with at least three finalists, and set goals and objectives before making a final decision. With the right agency by your side, you are sure to reach success with your marketing campaigns. Good luck!