How to Form a Results-Getting Relationship with a Marketing Agency

This is what I say to anyone who is nervous about not understanding all the nuances of what a marketing agency does: you don’t need to. It’s the marketing agency’s job to understand all the details. All you need to do is ask questions! What will make or break a potential agency relationship is the questions that you ask and whether you can follow along with their proposed plan or strategy.

Generally, if you can follow the conversation with the agency, and if the plan that’s being proposed makes sense to you, then you can reasonably expect that this is how the agency communicates, and expect that to continue as you move forward with them.

You don’t need to learn the basics of digital marketing overnight. But you do need to be a good partner with your chosen agency, and that includes:

• Asking questions.
  If the data or language used by the agency doesn’t make sense to you, ask them to slow down and explain. Your agency should be helping to educate you about what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.
• Setting expectations up front that are realistic.
  Yes, your digital agency should increase your website traffic and help increase your digital presence, but this does take time, especially if a new website is needed or if one of the phrases you want to rank for is ‘A/C repair.’ Setting mutual and realistic goals will help manage the expectations of both parties and help you hold your agency accountable to get the work done.
• Knowing baselines and key performance indicators (KPIs).
  Where are you now, and where do you want to go? Learning some basics about your business’s marketing numbers will help you as you review each month’s performance. It’s important to know what to look for and what the metrics mean. This is where a digital marketing coach can help – we can provide those baselines, which then can be communicated to your agency, and we can help you interpret data.
• Staying engaged and showing up.
  I see this all too often: a client gets comfortable with their agency and then stops attending monthly calls or responding to questions. If this is what happens, you’ll begin to lose control of your business because assumptions are formed in the absence of information. If you begin ignoring your agency and assuming they’re “taking care of everything,” your agency will begin to use their own performance KPIs and strategy to keep the program going. This is dangerous because their KPIs could be way off course from your goals. Maybe the agency is focusing on furnace replacement in their ads for you, and you’re trying to build you’re a/c repair business. This may sound fairly harmless and fixable, but when you hire extra employees and count on your boards being full, your agency needs to shift to increase leads to account for new people in your business. You need to communicate with your agency!

Think about how you want your technicians to engage with customers in homes. You want customers to be informed enough to ask questions, see the value in your work, and be pleased enough with the service that they recommend your company, right? Now, apply that thinking to your own agency relationships. If you’re not getting the results you’re expecting, do you really have a foundational partnership based on two-way communication and transparency with your agency? What do you need to do to change your course?

Communication with your agency needs to be regular and productive. By taking action and making sure everyone understands what needs to be done and what’s expected, you create authentic and transparent partnerships with agencies that lead to successful performance.

Because I’m a digital marketing coach, I spend time every day chatting with people who are responsible for the marketing in their businesses. And I’ve noticed a trend: when people are looking to partner with a new agency but don’t fully understand digital marketing, they often feel concerned that they’re being taken advantage of. They feel nervous because they don’t know what questions they should ask and don’t know if the agency is offering services they really need.

That’s completely understandable. Agencies are great; they help you keep all aspects of your marketing plan running. But there’s no need to be nervous! While marketing agencies are critical to your business, you are also critical to theirs. When you work with an agency, you are their client. They want you to be happy.

This is what I say to anyone who is nervous about not understanding all the nuances of what a marketing agency does: you don’t need to. It’s the marketing agency’s job to understand all the details. All you need to do is ask questions! What will make or break a potential agency relationship is the questions that you ask and whether you can follow along with their proposed plan or strategy.

Generally, if you can follow the conversation with the agency, and if the plan that’s being proposed makes sense to you, then you can reasonably expect that this is how the agency communicates, and expect that to continue as you move forward with them.

You don’t need to learn the basics of digital marketing overnight. But you do need to be a good partner with your chosen agency, and that includes:

• Asking questions.
  If the data or language used by the agency doesn’t make sense to you, ask them to slow down and explain. Your agency should be helping to educate you about what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.
• Setting expectations up front that are realistic.
  Yes, your digital agency should increase your website traffic and help increase your digital presence, but this does take time, especially if a new website is needed or if one of the phrases you want to rank for is ‘A/C repair.’ Setting mutual and realistic goals will help manage the expectations of both parties and help you hold your agency accountable to get the work done.
• Knowing baselines and key performance indicators (KPIs).
  Where are you now, and where do you want to go? Learning some basics about your business’s marketing numbers will help you as you review each month’s performance. It’s important to know what to look for and what the metrics mean. This is where a digital marketing coach can help – we can provide those baselines, which then can be communicated to your agency, and we can help you interpret data.
• Staying engaged and showing up.
  I see this all too often: a client gets comfortable with their agency and then stops attending monthly calls or responding to questions. If this is what happens, you’ll begin to lose control of your business because assumptions are formed in the absence of information. If you begin ignoring your agency and assuming they’re “taking care of everything,” your agency will begin to use their own performance KPIs and strategy to keep the program going. This is dangerous because their KPIs could be way off course from your goals. Maybe the agency is focusing on furnace replacement in their ads for you, and you’re trying to build you’re a/c repair business. This may sound fairly harmless and fixable, but when you hire extra employees and count on your boards being full, your agency needs to shift to increase leads to account for new people in your business. You need to communicate with your agency!

Think about how you want your technicians to engage with customers in homes. You want customers to be informed enough to ask questions, see the value in your work, and be pleased enough with the service that they recommend your company, right? Now, apply that thinking to your own agency relationships. If you’re not getting the results you’re expecting, do you really have a foundational partnership based on two-way communication and transparency with your agency? What do you need to do to change your course?

Communication with your agency needs to be regular and productive. By taking action and making sure everyone understands what needs to be done and what’s expected, you create authentic and transparent partnerships with agencies that lead to successful performance.