Ok, so you have started your own business and you have done all you can to make things work. You even hired an extraordinary marketing agency (say for example San Francisco marketing agencies) – they are professionals, have enormous experience with businesses like yours and they are not asking a small fortune for their work! Well that must mean you can sit back and relax, and they will do all the hard work for you while you will be sitting at your office enjoying your success, right?
Wrong! If you have really found such agency, the work is far from over when it comes to marketing. It differs from working with a company which supplies you with materials you use in your business because marketing means personal involvement and dedication. If you are clever, you will do your best to stay involved in the work and progress of your marketing agency which, in turn, will help achieve the best possible results for the business.
Be specific when talking about what you need and want from the agency
Let’s face it – people cannot read other people’s minds. So, it can easily happen that you get something you are not entirely satisfied with from your recently-hired marketing agency. It can be the case that marketing jobs and campaigns simply go wrong, and this usually happens because the client who hired the company was unclear about what they were looking for and what they were expecting from the marketing agency.
It is imperative that your goals, aims, wishes and needs are well-thought and clearly set before you approach any marketing company. If, however,there are problems which you believe occurred because the marketing firm you have chosen was not following your specific instructions, feel free to be clear and straightforward with them and let them know that you there is something wrong.
See if you can help them practically
Sometimes, your marketing agency might come up with a campaign or a marketing move that might require you to make a practical change of some kind. For instance, they might need you to make adjustments to your offer, to your website or even to your logo. If these changes will not be compromising the recognizability of your brand and as long as these changes will not harm the way in which you do your business, hear them out, perhaps they are onto something there.
Their advice can be helpful
Your marketing agency has trustworthy and reliable employees who are experts in their fields and who have much more experience than you do. All these qualities lead to one thing: they know how to do their job and they can help and improve your business. However, they are not miracle workers and they might need some help from you too. Trust their judgment and follow their advice if you think it will help and not harm your job.
Give them freedom to do their job
Let’s just for a second put things this way: you are hired to do your job, you put effort and enthusiasm in every project that you do and people are expecting great results out of you. However, your employer just can’t stop calling you on the phone and asking you what you were doing, kept suffocating you with new ideas and suggestions on your own improvement. You wouldn’t like that, would you? That is the case with your marketing agency as well – don’t leave them hanging, but try not to meddle in their work. You being a nuisance is probably the last thing these people need. Have faith in their work, stay involved but know the limits.
In short, your relationship with your marketing firm will not be a one-way street. At least if you want to ensure the best results.
