Are you considering hiring a marketing agency? Often, people think all they need to do is hire the company and let them handle everything, but that thinking is often flawed. Although your outsourced marketing agency takes a lot of the work off your plate, you’ll still want to sit at the table and have some turkey, too.
Continue reading to find out the best ways to communicate with your outsourced marketing agency to make sure your marketing strategy will flourish in the months to come.
Why Communicating With Your Marketing Agency is Important
Just like any relationship, the only thing you can control is how you approach it—but that’s a good thing! It means you hold your success in your own hands, even if it can feel like you’ve placed it in someone else’s.
Good communication can also help you:
- Handle Change: When agencies and their clients do not communicate, sudden changes in campaigns or pricing models can lead to mistrust.
- Avoid Buyer’s Remorse: Effective communication will let you see how your campaign is working so you’re on the right track from the get-go.
- Maximize Advertising Campaign Effectiveness: Staying engaged with your agency will help them and you know when something needs to change, and when it can stay the same.
The Best Ways to Communicate with Your Marketing Agency
1. Set expectations during the contract phase.
A clear understanding of what you expect from the relationship is an excellent way to avoid miscommunication, disappointment, and unwanted surprises in the future. Ensure your agency understands how your company works internally, who their points of contact are, how often you want to be updated, and how you like to communicate.
In turn, they should set the same expectations for you. Clean communication going both ways is a huge marker for success.
2. Pay attention to communications.
Your agency will only be as reliable as you are. How will they know what you need if you don’t tell them?
Marketing involves a lot of moving parts, and a good agency will communicate with you regularly and explain their processes, where they are in the project, and what they expect from you. A thorough review of these communications will help prevent costly miscommunications further down the line.
3. Be realistic.
Because you know your business, you know what you can and cannot afford. Make sure your agency understands your business and goals so it can offer an honest assessment of how well they accomplish their work on time and within budget. Dream big, but don’t set unrealistic expectations for your marketing agency.
4. Meet your deadlines.
Be sure to establish concrete timelines for deliverables and approvals for each marketing initiative before the project begins. Can’t meet a deadline? Let the agency know, give a new date, and request an adjustment to the timeline. Your agency wants to make you a winner, but they can’t do that without your cooperation.
5. Listen to your agency.
If you hired a team of marketing experts, don’t ignore the advice of those you are paying for their expertise. The recommendations they have are supported by experience and motivated by their desire to see you succeed, so don’t dismiss them without following up and considering them carefully.
6. Speak up about problems.
If you are not satisfied with any part of your marketing agency’s work, speak up! Problems are rarely solved by ignoring them, and if they’re not addressed, they can quickly become big ones. While we don’t mean to take offense at every small error if there’s a noticeable issue or a process or approach that’s not working for you, ask for a meeting to discuss it calmly and work toward a solution together.
Keeping in touch with your marketing agency can be challenging since they are not in your office and don’t participate in every meeting and hallway conversation—but it doesn’t have to be difficult. At The Woodshop, we want our partnerships to be fun. If you want to learn more about how we can help you grow your business, get in touch with us today.
